Good Online Nurseries and Plant Sellers

I'm sorry to hear that @Debs64 . I have always had excellent plants and service from Brookside (no relation to the company I hasten to add).
Have you contacted them with your complaint and maybe a photo of the plug plants ?
They can be very tiny on arrival (particularly things like begonias), but once potted on into seed trays etc l find they grow away well.

 

Maybe I was unlucky and to be fair I should have checked the sizes but I was annoyed that I was unable to cancel my other order even though it had not been dispatched. Customer service was friendly but very unhelpful. Lesson learned I won’t shop online for that type of plants again I will stick to my local nurseries and support them.

 

I don't think it would do any harm to contact them again and let them know how you feel. It may not change things but I'm a believer in giving feedback if I'm not happy (and when l am).
Brookside were given a good write up in the Gardening from Which magazine a while back which probably brought them to more people's attention and therefore more pressure in terms of supply.
I take your point about using local suppliers, but some people don't have that option for various reasons, so anything that improves online suppliers is of great help.
I hope the plants keep growing for you .

 

Such a great point @AnniD it's useful to give honest feedback to online sellers especially when it's not a complaint framed just to get compensation. Nobody is in business to piss off their customers, especially first time customers.

 

Anything described as a large plug plant should be exactly that - large. IMO they would be around two to three inches in plant height, with a root system that's a good inch in every direction.
A smaller plug would be smaller than that - and should be described as such.

 

This is Brookside's plug plant size guide @fairygirl as shown on their website.
Plug Plants Size Guide

Obviously with living plants it can be difficult to grow them to a uniform size, but in my personal experience they do meet that criteria. I have 40 penstemon plugs arriving later this week, and have made a note to check.
As I have said previously and as @Debs64 has found, buying online can be a lottery, but @amancalledgeorge is right. Any nursery with a good reputation would want to keep it that way.

 

I have emailed several times attempting to cancel my second order but it was still sent out. I didn’t feel I wanted the stress of returning plants with no guarantee of a refund as it would have cost a considerable amount and that would not be repaid. I just felt they should have cancelled the second order when they were asked to do so. I gave them 8 days notice that I didn’t want the plants and they sent them anyway and I would have to return them at my own expense. I would just say read the small print and be aware.

 

At least they give an idea of plant size, some don't. We've bought a few plants this year from Bali-Hai here and they have been superb on quality and delivery. I have to say I was put off by their use of a site name with "mailorderplants4me" in it, but still took the risk. Let's face it, it is a risk getting plants online.

 

I have ordered some bare root plants from Farmer Gracy (Polemiums and Hardy geraniums). I have found them to be bit "hit and miss" on occasion, but they had a Bank Holiday offer and I decided to risk it. I know they ship direct from the Netherlands, so we shall see.

 

My latest online experience purchasing plants was very disappointing - two that were too tiny to be viable and one that was better except it was not the correct variety. I haven't complained as it is difficult to make a living for small scale sellers. You win some, you lose some.

 

Just for information, here is one of the 40 Penstemon "Heavenly Blue" plug plants that arrived from Brookside this morning. Every one had an identical root system. Still waiting on the Farmer Gracy order.

 

Wow @AnniD, very nice specimens. I was impressed with the quantity also, where are you going to fit 40 just out of interest?

 

I will probably keep 5 @Meomye.
The rest will go to the charity shops with other plants. I price them up, then deliver them to my local branch. Depending on how many there are, they are then distributed to other shops in the area.

 

Well done, that is very kind of you @AnniD