Sick of Sarah Raven.. she has no idea..literally

[BlueAce73]

I’ve worked so hard in horticulture & agriculture.. her advice is crap

Do you pay customs on Farmer Gracy? I thought when I looked that it seemed to be shipping from the Netherlands.

@SarahAndQuack No. I think it does come from the Netherlands, but maybe to a British Warehouse before delivery. However, it works, it was a UK delivery to me. Fast and the average delivery cost. No customs.

Ordered three times from Sarah Raven, every time was dire. Weeks and weeks waiting although money was taken day one. Last time was October last year , ordered some lights for Christmas. They never turned up , kept saying they are delayed. I too am lured by the brochure but after three bad experiences I asked them to take me off the mailing list. Ordered from Farmer Gracy as recommended here, excellent bulbs, quick delivery and no extra charges to import. I will order again for the spring.

I don’t get on with plug plants and never buy unless it’s the sale . Have just bought some things and delivery was very fast (quicker than normal), first parcel In good condition and need to open second later.

Had a look at lights last year and found I could buy a lot cheaper elsewhere.

This is a really interesting thread. Like pp I've never really got on with her seeds or plugs but I took it as my own fault. A while back she had a guarantee that if your seeds didn't grow you get a refund but I didn't take it up as A:couldn't be bothered and B:blamed myself.

Different naming: I remember looking up the 'Black & Blue Salvia' and a particular Pelargonium a while back and they didn't seem available elsewhere so yes it does seem she (ie. her business) is renaming things to avoid internet comparison, she clocked this early on!

I follow the head gardener of Perch Hill on social media. Not sure how much gardening SR actually does herself.

However I do still happily receive her brochures in the post as the photography is inspiring and it makes for good toilet reading

Her site is massively overpriced. This is my only contribution, I'm also here for the gossip.

I find her plug plants don’t thrive reliably. I have bought stuff from her for several years. I’m always disappointed and each year, I swear I won’t be lured in again. Finally, this year I have stuck to it!

Absolutely this. I have had plug plants delivered at the end of the season with advice to plant for next spring and they haven't survived the winter and it was a mild winter! They did refund me when plants broke in transit.

I now get the catalogue in the post and look at the pretty pictures but never order anything!

I would probably argue that most horticultural literature is quite meaningless as it goes to great length to exclaim that nearly every general garden plant in the planet must be grown in ‘moist but well drained’. How I wish to banish this meaningless term - think of the ink

Absolutely agree with this too!

She has the loveliest catalogue and I enjoy looking at and using it for inspiration for what I’m going to buy from elsewhere for 1/3 the cost.

this

its eye watering my expensive.

Following as intrigued

I love her calendar but plug plants are a massive failure, as other mail order sites have been, I just go to the garden centre now.

I've decided not to order from SR anymore, all the plugs arrived months late in terrible condition. If I can nurse back to health I always lose 50%, fed up with the bad quality and the seeds don't sprout. Don't know how they keep going really!

Either deliveries are cancelled, late or the the plants don't thrive.

I used to like her and occasionally bought from her catalogue although I found her stuff overpriced. Then about 15 years ago we moved nearish to Perch Hill and she had an open day so we were keen to visit.

We were really surprised to find the garden was in a poor state, it looked like no one really cared about it (I'm sure it's not always like that, but you'd think on an open day it would be looking pretty good). The open day seemed to just be a chance to sell her merchandise and courses, and it left me with the impression she is not really that bothered about the plants and gardens, just about selling. I've never bought anything from her since.

I always thought it was me with the plug plants so very pleased to read it isn’t ! I’m another who usually uses the catalogue for inspiration . With things like her tulip combinations I’d find you could find some of each combination elsewhere but there would usually be a couple you couldn’t and cam to the conclusion she just renamed those .

I've had a few plants from her website and been disappointed each time. Each time they were in pots way to big for their root ball. A couple died a few weeks after planting and those that survived, never really thrived.

I avoid her now.

I think she has nice styling ideas, but I like Hayloft and Crocus for mail order.

Sick of her constant emails, even though i have unsubscribed!

I always enjoy her books and catalogues, but I suspect her real talent is surrounding herself with gifted people - it's the photography by Jonathan Buckley that brings her publications to life.

I don't think her ideas are particularly original - her use of bold and brilliant colours was inspired by Christopher Lloyd (who really was groundbreaking and a genius).

I think she stepped in with a catalogue of great colour mixes and gorgeous arrangements when all there had been before were Thomson and Morgan, Parker's etc whose catalogues look like they're for a 1970s municipal public park. No doubt T&M etc are highly skilled and respected plants people but she cornered the market with her great pics.

Despite my comment earlier I did visit her garden about 6-7 years ago and loved it.

But I still don't credit her necessarily for the garden.

OP what was it particular that you referred to in your original post???

J R Parkers are a very good company to buy from. l ordered alot of plug plants from them this year, they arrived in good time in excellent condition, all thriving, l plant on mass and am growing Salvia Amistrad for a change. I have brought alot of plants online over the years, but this is one of the best. Anglian bulbs are also very good, their Dahlia bulbs are good value and packaged well.
I do like Sarah Raven and youtube videos of her beautiful garden, agree however that her products. are very expensive and l had a couple of dahlia tubers that didn't do any good, and a couple that must have been incorrectly labelled, not what l ordered which was disapointing.

I have her cookbooks and they are quite good. I buy plants from her when in the sale. She appeals to a kind of upper middle set that also drool over Emma Bridgewater. I enjoy leaving through the catalogue and then finding items I like cheaper elsewhere - she has decent taste.

Except for Arthur Parkinson who is an utter nob. I called him on some stuff to do with zoos online - very nicely, pointing out facts. He blocked me. Nice.

I’ve never got on with plug plants either until this year. I wanted more Astrantia and found it’s stupidly expensive, so I ordered plug plants from Farmer Gracy. When they arrived, I took greater care than I did previously. I potted them up in decent size pots with compost with a feed in, kept them carefully watered and grew them on for two months. They flourished and were good sized plants by then. They are now doing well 🙂