Sarah Raven Pot collections

[Surpriseeggsforbreakfast]

Does anyone buy these collections? They seem fairly expensive for annuals but look beautiful. I'm just wondering if I can do something similar by buying the plants at garden centres myself or would it work out more or less the same?

[AlternativeTentacle]

A pound for a plug plant?

No.

I'd go to a local garden centre or nursery, and get the same plants from there. You can probably buy a tray of 6 or 9 plugs for around £2-3.

Or I'd sow my own. All my annual flowers were sown at the weekend. And I'll pick up larger ones or perennials at plant fairs over the next few weeks.

[Roystonv]

Very expensive way of doing things, look online for design/planting suggestions and then buy plants from local garden centre/b and q type place etc.

[Surpriseeggsforbreakfast]

Ok thanks, sounds like I should try and be more thrifty! I have sown some antirrhinum and cosmos already

[Polyanthus]

I definitely use the sarah Raven catalogues for inspiration. But I do buy seeds from her - they are fairly priced abd great varieties. And I have bought some plug plantsof pelargoniums and perennial wallflowers from her and they have been fantastic quality, But no, I couldn't bring myself to buy the annual seedlings...

[gladisgood]

I got a gift card and bought some last year from SR ....never again. They look beautiful in the catalogue ( and in a vase, to be fair) but they look SHIT in a container. Completely wrong heights/balance. I often buy her "cutting garden" flower seeds - they really are beautiful as cut flowers - it's like having a designer bouquet every day for almost free, but you will need to just have a spare patch of your garden to be a "cutting garden"

[SeaRabbit]

I bought this collection last year:
www.sarahraven.com/flowers/plants/flower_plant_collections/blue_pink_silver_pot_collection.htm

And it was lovely - but I too wouldn't buy annual plugs - there's a limit to my extravagance. This year I got the seeds for www.sarahraven.com/anagallis_monellii_sky_lover.htm
Because it was so fantastic- beautiful blue flowers all summer long. I plan to sow them today.

I do think she has good taste, she offers unusual things and puts them together well, and they are good quality so I am a fan. Maybe slightly more expensive than other places but as she offers things other places don't, it's hard to compare. Good customer service too.

[GingerKitCat]

Free delivery until midnight Monday GWEASTER17

[SeaRabbit]

Thanks for that I have just saved £5 on quite a big order. Every little helps... Not for pots, but plants for putting in the garden. This thread had reminded me of the quality of SR plants compared with the garden centres round here - both in the varieties she offers and the quality of the plants themselves. And looking round the garden I saw the evidence of the latter in that so many things I have bought from SR have survived.

I have also realised that some SR tulip bulbs that I had flowering in pots last year, and I which put in the garden but didn't expect to do anything have also been flowering with very few failures.