I’m shocked at these alliums !

[ERICS MUM]

I’ve got the gardening show on while I catch up with paperwork.

Looked up to see the presentation of these alliums, nice big clumps of bright pink flowers. Nice but pricey. THEN I saw the 2 pots I would actually receive - each containing a small bunch of weedy looking leaves. For the cost of £13 per pot inc p&p.

 

[Breeze]

They’re far cheaper to buy as bulbs & plant them yourself
Last year I bought 100 mixed allium bulbs for £20
Don’t know if those are supposed to be Purple Sensation but they look SO short they look more like chives, @£1 a pot from supermarkets or 50p in Asda if you don’t need a pot as they come in a paper pot.

 

[Patsy]

They’re far cheaper to buy as bulbs & plant them yourself
Last year I bought 100 mixed allium bulbs for £20
Don’t know if those are supposed to be Purple Sensation but they look SO short they look more like chives, @£1 a pot from supermarkets or 50p in Asda if you don’t need a pot as they come in a paper pot.

I thought exactly the same,they look like the chives in our garden. Aliums are tall and stately but they get smaller every year. Start off as massive blooms.

 

[ERICS MUM]

I often laugh at their prices but this to me is in a different league, sunk to a new low. How can the presenter and brand guest in all good conscience compare those 2 tiny pots with the plants in the pics at that price ? It’s ludicrous.

 

[donna255]

There are quite a few complaints on the QVC Facebook about plants received, dead or noting like those shown on air.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Last year I bought perfumed trailing begonias from B&Q and for the first time I overwintered them in the shed, then laid them in a shallow tray of compost so cost very little as had my moneys worth last year.

This year I purchased a small bag of 3 tubers from local garden centre for £3.98 potted then up so probably a fiver including compost.

Yesterday B&Q we’re selling 3 for £7 in individual small posts ready to plant out.

Today Q are selling 30 for £34 (inc post) but they will be tiny, won’t be sent out until the end of June, half will be dead on arrival and the other half will probably never have time to fully develop. So although 30 seem a good bargain I reckon they wont really be that great.

On the downside i sowed begonina seeds and not a single one germinated so that was a dead duck!

 

[candycane]

I think I read that begonias are really difficult to grow from seed. I've got some lovely alliums coming up that I forgot I'd planted. I had a bumper sale pack of mixed bulbs from P2G last year and they have all been lovely. I think these alliums are part of that pack. I have resisted buying a lot of plants this year as I'm concentrating on growing veggies.

CC

 

[Toril]

I bought two euphorbia plants from B&M two years ago. They were £3.99 each and about 6 inches tall, but healthy. They are now over two feet tall, three times the width and are stonking plants.

Having bought plants from QVC in the past, the only ones that I can vouch for (because you get what Ken shows on the programmes) are those from Plants2gardens.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Due to 7 bliddy manholes in a small garden we use a lot of containers so I concentrate on those but having cleared a small area for a greenhouse we have some more ground to work with but it’s all on a very small scale.

Tomatoes in greenhouse but honestly I haven’t a clue what I’m doing, peas in pots, beans in pots, lettuce doing great and a load of tall annuals waiting to go in plus some climbing roses but digging is hard work for Mr L to finish digging out the last of the roots and getting the ground ready.

I did morning glory from seed and the bliddy things are going berserk twining themselves around anything and everyth in sight!

Its too late to sort out veg but that’s for next year. Problem is I don’t like veg so it’s hard to decide what to grow!

 

[Breeze]

If anyone is interested Asda are selling clematis, 3 for £5, & some lovely varieties. They’re small but they soon take off. I’ve paid, in the past £15 per plant from a specialist nursery that didn’t do as well as the small ones I’ve bought from supermarkets. They soon take off if you pot them into a slightly bigger pot for a year before planting out. I bought 15 more recently from Asda. My poor garden is in a bit of a sorry state at the moment as couldn’t do much last year due to falling down concrete steps badly damaging my spine & not getting X-ray for months because of nhs hold ups so need to get it back to something like. It’s a big plot, nearly two acres, but at least some of the stuff is bravely trying despite the current weeds & wilderness.

 

[Loveinamist]

Some years back I bought 40 alliums off Q, all grew blind and very weak except for three flower heads. I was not impressed and they were planted in perfect conditions. What a waste of time.

 

[boffy]

QVC are well overpriced for gardening items.I buy bulbs and seeds and plants from WILKO's / Lidl/ Aldi exceptional quality and 100% success rate. If you can afford PTG they do larger plants and some god varieties but still not great VFM. The DIY chains are fab. If you want seasonal stuff cheap as chips.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

We don’t have many of the big stores and those we do don't look after their plants and our garden centres are very expensive and often not great quality either.

I would only consider Q if it was something very unusual and something I know will have time to grow and recover as annuals and bulbs usually arrive too small and too late.

I did get some unusual RJ primroses last year and I’ve got to be honest and say they.all arrived in perfect condition and were super. I have several containers at the front step and several people stopped and asked me what they were. Actually they have some different ones available at present l’m interested in.

If anyone is interested Asda are selling clematis, 3 for £5, & some lovely varieties. They’re small but they soon take off. I’ve paid, in the past £15 per plant from a specialist nursery that didn’t do as well as the small ones I’ve bought from supermarkets. They soon take off if you pot them into a slightly bigger pot for a year before planting out. I bought 15 more recently from Asda. My poor garden is in a bit of a sorry state at the moment as couldn’t do much last year due to falling down concrete steps badly damaging my spine & not getting X-ray for months because of nhs hold ups so need to get it back to something like. It’s a big plot, nearly two acres, but at least some of the stuff is bravely trying despite the current weeds & wilderness.

Gosh Breeze that sounds horrendous- hope you are recovering well now but that’s a big plot to work with never mind with an injury so I hope you have a big strong helper.

 

[SnowMoon]

If anyone buys plants from Ebay I've had some lovely healthy plants from Direct Plants. Latest being a lovely climbing rose. Sent in a pot not bare-rooted.

 

[Breeze]

I agree about Aldi & Lidl, had some lovely plants & their seeds are cheap but always grow

 

[boffy]

I buy a lot of shrubs and some bedding from Lidl. Discovered the quality and cheap as chips prices during lockdown. I have a basket with just trailing geraniums this being the third summer and looking fab

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

I’m very fond of geums as they flower from April right through to late October. I purchased one from Lidl with a plant label saying it was red however it turned out to be yellow which is the most common.

 

[boffy]

I’m very fond of geums as they flower from April right through to late October. I purchased one from Lidl with a plant label saying it was red however it turned out to be yellow which is the most common.

Geums are a very recent discovery of mine. I have the deep orangey red and the yellow. They are flowering really well this year with all the sun we have had

 

[boffy]

If anyone buys plants from Ebay I've had some lovely healthy plants from Direct Plants. Latest being a lovely climbing rose. Sent in a pot not bare-rooted.

I bought a beautiful Lady Diane clematis from eBay last year its beautiful. Came well packaged like PTG do and was an excellent garden ready size. £8.00 inc postage.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Geums are a very recent discovery of mine. I have the deep orangey red and the yellow. They are flowering really well this year with all the sun we have had

There are some beautiful peachy ones and all are fairly easy to split.