Underwhelming Nursery Delivery

[maybeCornish]

I am new to this and have never ordered direct from a nursery before. I planned a new border using Crocus.co.uk for inspiration and ordered a new plants from them. They arrived today and I don't know if this is normal or to be totally underwhelmed and complain.

It's a shady border so a selection of ferns, geraniums, astilbe, epimedium. I know they are perennials and they die back every year but I just have pots and can barely see if there is a plant in them! I wasn't expecting a big fancy plant like from the garden centre but at least a bit of greenery would be nice. The hellebore looks like it has been dragged through a bush backwards!

is this normal or should I complain?

They do look a bit sorry for themselves!

Did any instructions arrive with them (such as water immediately on arrival, don’t worry if they take a few days to brighten up - that kind of thing)?

At this time of year they are probably fine, but maybe send pictures of them as they are now to the customer service line so that if nothing grows properly when you plant them out you can go back and prove that it wasn’t your fault.

My local garden verge had a big display of hellebore at the moment and they look beautiful. This is an awful specimen, I'd be asking for my money back. (For everything).

Buy local in future so you can choose your own plants.

The ferns don't surprise me. I planted some ostrich ferns that looked dead and they thrived. The hellebore does look very sorry for itself. I bought some with white flowers at the range a couple of weeks ago, they were beautiful and only £12 for 3. They had some fancier names varieties for about £10. Well worth a look if you're on a budget.

For most of them, pretty normal at this time of year. My deciduous ferns aren’t showing yet, my epimidiums are all cut right back and the flowers just beginning to peep up if you know where to look, and my earlier hellebores have gone over. I agree you can get a prettier hellebore at any old garden centre at the moment though - was that a specific one, or just a generic white/pink/whatever hellebore?

Crocus have always been a bit more specialist and design-focussed and less about immediate impact. I suspect they are pretty good plants, but for longer term nurturing rather than instant effect.

I used to love their open days.

I find crocus overpriced and underwhelming. But I agree that's just a hellebore that's gone over. If you selected a variety that's early-flowering, then that's how it would look (though I'm a bit shocked at them not bothering to snip off the dead flower stem/dead leaf - I would!).

The hellebore at the front was from The Range. The one at the back was a random local garden centre and is taller (but was triple the price).

Yeah, that's fairly normal, I've planted things wondering if I'm just planting a pot of compost but a plant appears when it's ready.

I usually buy plug plants, from J Parker's usually as a cheaper way to buy plants and have had lots of success.

You could grow them on in pots for a while if you'd prefer.

I spent hundreds at Crocus last spring, and was very unhappy with most of the plants I received. I had a thread on here about it at the time, you could search for it if you’re interested.

I complained, and got nearly all of my money back. I won’t order from them again. It’s a shame, as they have some unusual varieties, which would really suit my garden. The varieties of plants I see in garden centres near me are the same every year and I am getting to the stage where I’d like something a bit different, or not as tall, or whatever, and crocus would be good for that.