best place online to buy plants?

[humptydidit]

Any recommendations? Looking for good value and good quality... Anybody?

Crocus

Thompson & Morgan

www.woottensplants.com/index.html

www.spaldingbulb.co.uk/

www.davidaustinroses.com/english/advanced.asp

www.bethchatto.co.uk/nursery.html

www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/?gclid=CJ-k7ODXxbECFYwhtAodH0UAFg

www.plantsforshade.co.uk/

I find 'crocus' over priced and I therefore do not buy from them on the principle that I would be encouraging others to put their prices up.

Local fetes/fairs/friends/family and Lidl are good.

I use Dobies. Good plants well packaged

many thanks, will check out those links

Crocus have good sales, where their prices come down to match everyone else's.

I agree that offline - such as at fetes and NGS open gardens - is often the best source of bargains.

I've found Crocus plants to always be of excellent quality and very healthy, and well-packaged for the journey through the post. Agree they cost a bit more, but equally have had less healthy plants from elsewhere.

I brought a hydrangea paniculata kyushu from our local nursery (quite small and run by a friendly old guy) for £7.50 yesterday. Crocus are selling the same plant, same height as mine but one pot size larger for..... £34.99.

Have never brought plants online, like to seek out nurseries from time to time... visited Plants For Shade a while ago and loved it, the plants for sale bit was small but all plants so well cared for and brought on advice of the nurseryman rather than what I wanted and turned out fantastically...have a lovely woodland boarder now!

My garden is full of lovely, healthy plants that I have purchased from ebay, at a fraction of the cost of garden centres.

Yes, I've had some good stuff from EBay, too, although sometimes the postage costs outweigh the saving.

I use public transport though and it's 4 buses in total to my nearest garden centre, so I don't mind the postage if it comes in lower than £10

Well, quite. And buying online also saves money on all the little extras that jump into one's trolley at the garden centre.

Crocus. Expensive yes, but they have almost everything and the quality is good.

'little extras' sigh...how many times have I gone in there to get something specific and come out with something else entirely! Online has been a boon for me.

Truth be told, I tend to find little extras on Crocus too.

And have we mentioned J Parker's yet ?

I'm a bit disappointed with Crocus. I ordered a paeony flower for my husband's birthday and, like Maud, added a few extras that were on sale (to justify the postage charge I told myself.) His birthday came and went and no delivery. Then Sunday, I received an email saying the order had been dispatched but the tree had been canceled because the quality was poor. I called to complain (had to wait until Monday) saying that the tree was the point of the order and that I wouldn't have payed the shipping for a bunch of bamboo canes and I should have been given the option to cancel the order or choose something else. The woman on the phone was very helpful, took my details and said someone in sales would call me later that afternoon to resolve the issue. Never heard from them again.

I have ordered a bunch for Dutch Bulbs which is the wholesale arm of J Parkers. They are rediculously cheap if you need a lot of plants but it's a bit of a crap shoot. I;d never seen bare root plants where the roots were just whispy threads, packaged en masse in a plastic bag. Those didn't survive my black thumb. Other things like the lavendard modules were great value, sent in sort of egg-crate type purchasing and 4 monthly later I'm well on my way to having a 10 meter lavender hedge for under £20. Really looking forward to my bulb order...

(Ps, they aren't really wholesale but if your order comes to under £50 there is a £5 charge. Still bargainous.)

I do rate ebay, it's usually amateur gardeners just supplementing their income, and I've had some really decent sized plants for under £2 each. I make notes of things I've seen that I like in books and at garden centres, (and on crocus!) and then go and source them on ebay.

I agree. I've had better quality plants from ebay than the garden centre, and much cheaper too. Ebay is always my first call and I've never been disappointed.

(sorry, unimportant correction, I ordered a peony tree for DHs birthday...)

I really wouldn't use Thompson and Morgan. Their brochures are photoshopped to heck and they sell a lot of stuff which has to be shifted quickly before it dies, and it shows. Lots of their plants are tiny plugs and the novice gardener would be very disappointed if they started here in their gardening life.

Crocus is very good for reference - as a garden designer I send their links to clients to explain what a particular plant looks like. Then I buy the plants elsewhere, more cheaply.

If you're gardening in shade www.plantsforshade.co.uk/ has an amazing choice.

www.avonbulbs.co.uk/ also has a great selection of plants and a very good service.
I use www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk/ for seeds - their flower and veg catalogues are great and the range is very wide.

Wootens that Funnyperson recommended are wonderful if you want to guarantee quality - I use them for presents in particular. When they have a sale that's a good time too. The information on the plants is really good.

If you want to order flower bulbs directly from Holland go to dutch-bulbs.com

I expect I will get shot down but I think sarah raven do good quality plants and have great customer service in case of issues. However not that cheap but they have a few special things I can never find cheaper elsewhere. I also think the catalogue is beautifully laid out so I am clearly a sucker for advertising!