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“A good budget source of plants”

written by Allyson364 on 14/06/2015

I am stocking a new garden, so I went to Parkers to pre-order bulbs for Autumn planting. I've been buying bulbs from Parkers for years so I know they are very reliable.

I also ordered a shrub (Chaenomeles, pot-grown) and three perennials (Veronica, pot-grown) at full price. The shrub was as I expected - a 9cm pot with a healthy young plant, attached to a cane appropriate to the length of the longest shoot. The perennials were in 7cm pots in a plastic pack to protect the foliage. They were a little dry and starting to look a bit yellow (outgrowing the food in the pot), but alive.

Lots of plants on the site were marked down in price for quick sale. I bought two shrubs (Magnolia, Viburnum) and some packs of bulbs (Lily, Crocosmia) and also qualified for free perennials and begonias. Both shrubs were healthy but outgrowing their 9cm pots, the leaves of the Magnolia were tatty. The lilies and begonias in their packs of dry peat had been trying to shoot as it was past the start of their normal growing season. Similarly the bare root perennials (Hemerocallis, Helenium, Geranium, Anemone) had started into growth.

I expect some of the begonia to fail, and possibly a couple of the perennials, but that's not a concern given the time of year means they should have been planted two months ago.

So was this order good value? I would say "yes" on the basis that as an experienced gardener I got what I expected - young plants needing some care to be ready to plant out, but obtained at a very good price.

As the order was placed in late May, I expected that what I purchased would be in need of potting on very quickly, particularly the sale items. I wouldn't have wanted to plant any of the items straight into the garden without some TLC, except perhaps for the Chaenomeles as it is a tough thing. Also, anything planted in mid-June is likely to need a lot of watering to get settled in through the warmest months.

As an example, a Chaenomeles from a garden centre would be in a larger pot, but cost more than twice as much. I can get this one to that same state by potting and growing it on myself to plant out in Autumn, and save £6-7. With all these plants, I can accept some failures and still be getting them at below half the garden centre price.