It lists the best places to buy for different types of plants, from alpines to roses. The downside is that these are limited to the bare-root planting season (generally October to April).įor things needed now, Gardeners’ World has a list of the nurseries that kept supplying customers a year ago. They are easy to package and generally travel much better than plug plants. Companies are answering the phone again and should advise when orders will be sent out.Īmong the most successful items to buy mail order are bare-root trees, roses and perennials, which, as the name suggests, arrive without a pot and the roots bare of soil. It is worth doing a bit of homework to make sure what you want is really in stock before you give your card details. It is worth doing a bit of homework to make sure what you want is really in stock before you give your card detailsīy choosing your plant and seed supplier with a bit of care, you will hopefully avoid such delays and have a fighting chance of getting those tomatoes in before the end of May. When delays occur, it says, it always offers the customer the chance to be refunded. The selling of plants that are not ready to be dispatched is a repeated complaint, although the company says problems such as this are inevitable when selling a live product. However, the firm’s Trustpilot page suggests history may be repeating itself – with 56% of customers complaining about the service they have received. At the time, the company blamed the problems on a new IT system. Two years ago, Guardian Money featured a complaint about Thompson & Morgan failing to deliver a reader’s plants as promised. It’s been a familiar story over the past few years from keen gardeners ordering plants and seeds – and a source of great frustration for those eager to get on with their planting. I am very sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.” Y ou choose the plants online but before you’ve even decided where to plant them, a second email arrives: “Unfortunately, there has been a delay with the dispatch of your order.