Why would I buy something ‘unseen’ you may ask…? Surely I want to go to the retailer or DIY store, and choose my own plants..? But, are you sure they’re always the best quality, some of those plants outside supermarkets leave a lot to be desired! And, if we’re honest, aren’t the retail sections just filled with a carousel of Hebes, Surfinia Petunias and mushy Begonia semperflorens??
Don’t you want something more….?
Mail order plant companies can offer varieties that the shops can’t.. think about it, those shiny red Geraniums haven’t necessarily been bred for summer garden performance, they’ve been bred for ‘pack performance’, i.e. being in flower and looking cute on the bench! When buying by mail order, it doesn’t matter if those plants flower young.. Wouldn’t you rather have a plant that held on, then flowered for longer, through the summer…?
Think about fruit and vegetables too…? For example, strawberries and tomatoes often have thick skins when you buy them in the supermarket.. they need this, so they can stand up to all that transportation. Grow at home, and you can afford to experiment with those thinner-skinned, sweeter varieties!! From plot to plate innit!
And, the mail order plant business has been around long enough to know what it’s doing in terms of packaging. A lot of packages now slide through letterboxes, so your plants are even fresher, and aren’t rotting at the sorting office. You wouldn’t believe the technology behind this, rectangular plugs et al! Of course, we don’t always get it right, and very often we’re at the mercy of the postal service, which we can’t help. But, to try and combat this, we post test each variety before we list it; some products just don’t travel, especially quick-growing annual poppies for example!
And, TV, why tune in to those shopping channels and buy plants..? Well, as opposed to a website or a catalogue, we can show you the plants ‘in action’, either live or thanks to VT (video transmission!), so you can get a real feel for what those plants can do for you, in your garden! Plus, above all, we can have a bit of fun while we’re doing it.
So, why don’t you tune in to Ideal World shopping channel every Sunday at 11am, and see just how straight my face can stay when I introduce that fragrant alstroemeria called “Uranus”… Professional, me!
Sky 644, Freeview 22, Virgin 747 or Freesat 812
Keep up to date with me and my plant hunting:
facebook.com/planthunter.uk
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