Basket & Bedding Plug Plants

“Basket & Bedding Plug Plants”

Written on: 23/07/2012 by nataliecbird (3 reviews written)

I ordered a 40-plant basket and bedding mix based on seeing a special offer for £15. Apparently these would ordinarily cost about £100 (see below).


£100 of plants for £15 incl delivery
Limited stock
What: 40 plants for £15 Get by: Sun 10 Jun 2012/before 20,000 go

How: Order the '40 plants minimum bumper value pack' online at Van Meuwen*. The offer will be displayed on the page so there's no discount code to enter.

What do I get? A minimum of 40 plants, usually £100, for £9.99. Delivery's £4.95 making the total cost £14.94. Since each pack varies, Van Meuwen can't tell us which varieties will definitely be included, but it has confirmed each pack will contain fuchsias, petunias and geraniums. Other plants it might contain include begonias, dianthus', becopas, asters, violas and bidens. This offer has proved popular with MSE users in the past, but it's always best to do a quick price comparison before buying. We found similar bundles cheaper elsewhere, but since this is a mixed pack, it's difficult to compare value.

It took 2 weeks from the original order prior to despatch this pack. That said, I am still waiting on the second part of my order; I ordered on the 7th June and just received an email to say they'll be despatched by the end of August.


A delivery was attempted on a Saturday afternoon but I was not at home and therefore had to wait until Wednesday evening to collect from the post office, when they're open late.

Now, whether this contributed to the appalling state of the plants I can't be sure, but they were in very bad condition. Some were completely dried out and looked dead. Others were mouldy(!); some were wet and brown and smelt bad too. Nevertheless I persevered, soaked all the plants in a bucket of water and planted them out.

I would say about 10 of the plants have survived; they're still pretty small, so let's see how well they do now. I'm not really excited by the idea of the second part of my order coming by the end of August either; it's a primrose mix of 48 plants but I am very doubtful of what will show up.

All in all, I'd say you're much better off going to a garden centre and buying plants there. Instant gratification and no doubt the plants will be in much better condition - if I was going to spend the £100 Van Meuwen claimed these were worth, I would come home with a lovely variety and number of plants. Perhaps the 4 day delay in collecting my plants from the post office was the problem with my order, but honestly, why take the risk. This was not good value for money in my opinion and I wouldn't bother with it again.