Perils of buying plants from QVC

[frenchie]

I have, in the past, ordered a few plants from QVC, especially TSV's, but although I have a lovely garden and am confident with plantcare - I am very disappointed at the quality of plants I have received.
To be fair, I haven't complained to QVC because by the time I accept they really have given up the ghost it's either the end of the season, or the following spring.
For example, I ordered a set of 3 Magnolia trees 18 months ago which we were assured would be flowering last year.... one plant didn't even come into leaf last spring, one did but had no flowers, and one plant had one flower. I had high hopes for the 2 survivors this year.... yes, they have both come into leaf...but not one flower between them...
Other disappointments include Tree paeonies ordered 2 years ago that are a distant memory as they died after one pathetic attempt to produce foliage, and giant lily bulbs that only grew and flowered for one year..... the plants just haven't lived up to QVC's promises.
Is it just me, am I just unlucky and get duff plants???

 

[boffy]

I think one in ten thousand of those tree peonies flowered so you are nt alone there. some plants are ok when posted some are not. I find the trend to sell most plants as plugs a bit of a money making excesize. last week there were some acer bare roots acers can be very fussy to grow on these had no stem so if they grow how long will it take.

 

[mossie]

There is no doubt in my mind that going to the garden center is buy far the best way to do it but of course not every one can do that , having said that i have had some really good buys on ebay although i make sure i don't pay a lot for plants that come through the post.

 

[sharon-s]

I too bought a magnolia tree but about 2 years ago, it was just a stick with roots that I received. I planted it and looked after it. A year later and it still looked like a stick to I contacted QVC and they said there was nothing they could do so I will never buy plants again from them

 

[madmax]

You are by far in being alone in your problems with plants from Q.
I brought several lots over the first 2 or 3 seasons when they first started selling them and very quickly came to realize that I was throwing good money after bad.
So now I buy my plants from the likes of Aldi and Lidl where not only are they dirt cheep but I can see what I am buying.

 

[Jazzydrury]

My dad has bought quite a few plants over the years, which never really came out very good, definitely not like the pictures RJ shows, its the same pictures he shows all the time though, so he hasnt bothered over the past couple of years, he would rather go down B&Q and get like the 3 trays for the price of 2.

Only thing he managed to work was there Strawberry plants, he bought them in a lookey likey terracotta tumbler thing, the tumbler fell apart before the plants died, so thats a plus

 

[mossie]

What really gets me with RJ is every thing is fantastic, new generation, etc but i would still rather see what i am buying.

 

[Autumn]

Morrisons have some great deals on bedding plants atm. I got some lovely striped petunias from there the other day, there £2 for a tray of 10 or 2 trays for £3, they have started to flower already :clapping:

 

[BusyLizzie]

I gave up buying plants from QVC years ago because all those I received were utter c**p! I bought some BusyLizzies once when they did a TSV package of both the plants and some round hanging ball containers and they were virtually all dead. To be fair, they did refund ALL my money without any hassle and I still have the containers which have never been used to this day! Much prefer to buy from B&Q, etc. now as at least you can check the quality beforehand.

 

[ERICS MUM]

Sometimes what they say are downright lies ! This morning they had perennial wallflowers small plants (i.e. rooted cuttings), 5 for £14.96 (£2.99 each) free p&p. Usual story - would cost £9 per plant grown-on in a nursery.

Well, I bought a grown-on plant in our local garden centre yesterday for £2.49, it's about 10 inches high and covered in buds already. This sort of thing happens in every RJ programme and is really mis-leading, should be stopped.

 

[Toril]

I've bought a few plants from QVC in the past, athough I now get them from Homebase or my local garden centre. I've had some good successes and a few that have 'conked out.' I bought some helibores two years ago because I wanted some colour during the winter (they allegedly flower just after Christmas, according to RJ) and, you've guessed it, they didn't appear at all. However they suddenly shot out of the ground earlier this year and I now have three beautiful plants that are covered in flowers. I'm assuming the other two are burrowing their way down to Australia now as I've not seen sight and sound of them.

 

[mossie]

I will say this for RJ he knows how to make money.

 

[frenchie]

Aahh... I feel so much better now I know I'm not alone! lol
RJ always tries to tempt us by extolling the virtues of the rare or new varieties, and the price.... but that's no good if they turn up their toes within a season! I'm sticking to buying my plants where I can choose my own quality healthy plants, and will never buy plants from QVC again.
I agree B&Q, Lidl and Morrisons have some super buys - for example I have bought 4 or 5 acers from Morrisons, for myself and for gifts, and they're beautiful, healthy, and so cheap!

 

[iloveshopping]

I bought 5 perennial geraniums from qvc recently, all different ones. Only 4 out of the 5 show any hope of surviving. Last year I bought 3 clematis mainly because there was one I wanted. They had bugs on them and little hope of survival. Customer services got some more sent out. I checked them a few days ago and they have barely survived the winter. Decided I prefer to buy less but more quality plants. I live near RHS Wisely and their plants almost always survive and their perennials have a 2 year money back guarantee if you keep your receipt.

 

[mossie]

I find i prefer to go to my local garden centers in Edinburgh Dobbies and Klondyke to browse and pick my plants rather than have the bad experiences i have had with plants from TV.

 

[Simon Sims]

Also add Aldi to the list of great plant suppliers - get in quick and their plants are outstanding and far cheaper than QVC.

 

[rubyrat]

I too have no luck with Q plants tried all sorts bare roots and plug plants.The only things that were OK was the bulbs.I too would recommend Morrisons and Aldi .

 

[madmax]

How Q keep on getting away with selling/ sending out plants that are all ready "past their sell by date" ie: half dead I don't know.
I could have built my own Chelsea garden with the amount I spent including P&P before I realized I was just throwing my money straight onto the compost heap.

 

[ERICS MUM]

I will say this for RJ he knows how to make money.

must be that Flower Power - it makes money grow on trees !

 

[OscarFelixJake]

I've bought lots of plants from QVC and more than 50% have died within the first couple of months. The good ones were the Black Bamboo plants, they are still doing well and are a few years old now. The worst ones I bought were cat scare away plants. My Siamese cats just took every opportunity to pee on them, they saw them as a challenge and quite quickly all 8 plants died a stinking, slimy demise.