Ordering plants from mail order suppliers can be a risky business, a new survey uncovers. Hannah Stephenson reports

Shopping by mail order is meant to make our lives easier, but the reality is often a little different – especially, it seems, if you’re a gardener.

In fact, according to a recent survey carried out by Which? Gardening, the Consumers’ Association magazine, some 38% of customers have experienced at least one problem with mail order plants.

The Association first investigated customers’ experiences of buying plants through mail order back in the summer of 2012. While around eight in 10 said they were happy, 36% of people said they had experienced problems, the most common of which were the quality of plants or bulbs provided, packages being left on the doorstep while customers were away and damaged packaging. Others received dead or dying plants, specimens that were too small or which quickly succumbed to disease and some which were rotten on arrival.

In response to this, the Consumers’ Association came up with The Which? Gardening Best Practice Criteria, a 10-point plan retailers should adopt to ensure a better experience for gardeners, with points such as giving an accurate description of the plant (including its size), flagging up any particular growing requirements, adopting strict quality control measures before the plants are sent out and ensuring packaging is secure enough to completely protect the plant in transit.

So, did the measures work?

To find out, Which? carried out a follow-up survey of more than 2,500 people in September 2013, and the 2,597 members who’d bought plants by mail order in the previous year recalled their latest experiences.

There were mixed results. Top-scoring suppliers included Blackmoor, Bloms Bulbs, David Austin Roses, Crocus and The RHS Plant Shop, while at the bottom were Bakker, Spalding Bulbs and Garden Bargains.

So clearly some companies have improved their service, but others haven’t. Either way though, whoever you chose to order your plants with, you need to know your rights.

If you receive a plant you think is dead, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 says you are entitled to a refund, as long as you have notified the retailer of the problem within ‘a reasonable time’. What is ‘reasonable’ depends on the circumstances, but is typically three to four weeks, or less, from when the goods are received. Contact the seller as soon as you know there’s a problem.

If a plant you receive is diseased, you can ask for your money back, again within a reasonable time, or a replacement. In the first six months, the onus is on the seller to prove the plants weren’t supplied diseased rather than you having to prove that they were.

It makes no difference if the plants were damaged before they were sent or in transit, it’s the seller’s responsibility, so you can ask for your money back, within that reasonable time, or a replacement. Don’t let the seller put the onus on you to take it up with the courier they used.

If you’ve had a problem with a plant you ordered and have asked for a refund immediately, but the seller has offered you a credit against future purchases instead, don’t accept this offer if you don’t want to. Where the contract is breached, you are entitled to a refund or, if you prefer, a replacement. The seller cannot decide you will only get a credit note. Any part of their terms and conditions that might suggest they can, would be unenforceable and could be challenged as unfair.

:: The full report is in the January/February issue of Which? Gardening. Sign up to Which? for a one month trial for £1 and get access to all its product reviews, test scores and Best Buy or Don’t Buy ratings. Visit www.which.co.uk/signup for more information.

I was very fortunate in 2013. Not only was I able to finally marry my partner of 20 years; we were able to spend our honeymoon, including the holidays, on Kauai, in Hawaii. We enjoyed every minute of our time on the island.

As I tried to write this column from my lanai (porch)—looking out at a tropical natural garden and the distant ocean, as I listened to the birds and the waves crashing—I thought about how to bring a touch of the tropics back home to the desert.

Freezing nights are rare in the Coachella Valley, so we are able to stretch our plant choices a little further than those in many other desert areas—as long as we can provide most of our plants with heavily filtered sun or afternoon shade.

The south side of my home, with an 8-foot-wide side yard, is shaded by my neighbors’ towering oleanders. This is really the walkway to the backyard, but I was able to turn the side yard into a mini-oasis which tends to be about 10 degrees cooler than other areas of my landscape.

Many plants that we have come to know as house plants are actually tropical plants that cannot survive the cold temperatures that most of the United States experiences; we are familiar with names like pothos, dracaena and philodendron. In full shade, and with cold protection if the temperatures go below 40, these plants can offer tropical wonders for our patio oasis.

Plants that will tolerate more sun (but still will want afternoon shade most of the year) are the Rose of Sharon, hibiscus, sago palm (Cycas revoluta), daylilies (which offer clumps of arching sword-like leaves and can be evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous, depending on the species), agapanthus, butterfly iris, cordyline and coleus.

Full sun plants include many of our palm trees; the entire Yucca family (many of which are very tropical in appearance); and many broad leafed agaves.

Design tips:

• Plan your tropical garden to be near your home, perhaps as part of your seating area. The majority of the plants require heavily filtered light; since you can appreciate similar conditions, why not make the garden part of your outdoor living area?
• Plan the flooring to be as cool as possible. Non-reflective colors in earthtones or blue hues work well. You might consider adding an outdoor carpet to the seating area.
• Think in levels or layers of plantings, as you would see in a tropical garden. Low plantings around the seating areas in low pots will do well; they’re also good for bordering walkways. Then add mid-height plants in taller pots or pots up on pedestals, as well as pots with trellises for some vines.
• Further back—toward walls or away from the patio—think about larger plants and trees, while still trying to keep the layered effect of the three heights of plants. A couple of citrus or palm trees would work well, as would an evergreen pistache tree, with a mixture of hibiscus and a blue-leafed agave such as the Agave colorata. Definitely keep in mind your bougainvillea and birds of paradise, both tropical (shade) and Mexican (sun)!
• Consider adding a water feature to your garden. It will add a lot to your tropical paradise in the desert.

Aloha!

Marylee is the founder and former owner of The Contained Gardener in Tucson, Ariz. She has become known as the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
, and follow the Potted Desert on Facebook.

My grandson got a grow light as a gift. What would be good for him to grow and eat this winter?

Many lettuce varieties or leafy greens in the cabbage family, such as arugula or kale, can provide quick satisfaction. For tips on how and when to harvest, look at the Salad Table information in our website’s Grow It Eat It section: http://ter.ps/saladtables. As spring approaches, he can start transplants to move into a garden later. Remember to keep the grow light only 1-2 inches from the plants.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information. Call 800-342-2507 or send a question to the website at extension.umd.edu/hgic.

Plant of the week

Hydrangea

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’

Stunning winter interest can be achieved by juxtaposing dry hydrangea flowers against a dark background. Annabelle, a cultivar of our native hydrangea arborescens, is particularly effective, with extremely large flower heads up to a foot across on strong erect stems. Blooms start in late spring and continue into fall. Annabelle grows rapidly to 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide and can cover large areas. It can be pruned back to about 6 inches in late winter to early spring to reduce expansion without sacrificing blooms. Plant it near a water source and in some shade since it will wilt when the weather is hot and dry. It prefers well drained soil, high in organic material. —Ginny Williams

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Ailish O’Hora

– 06 January 2014

No matter what your goal in 2014, these Discover Ireland tips will help you learn new skills from gardening to cookery and if the aim is just to relax, there are plenty of options without having to leave the country.

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1. Get green fingers in the garden

Enjoy the wonderful surroundings of Connemara on a residential gardening course at Cashel House Hotel. Learn to plant and prune, grow herbs and fruit or how to design or restore a garden.

Or learn how to grow your own garden from scratch at Dunmore Country School Garden at Durrow, Co Laois.

And if you just want to enjoy the surroundings try Achill Secret Garden, Achill, Co Mayo which has eight chambered gardens.

2. Just chill out

Whether it’s a detox you’re looking for or simply a relaxing trip, there are lots of Discover Ireland trips to choose from.

Book an eco-lodge at Ard Nahoo, Co Leitrim or sign up at Cloona Health Retreat just outside Westport, Co Mayo which offers a mix of guided walks, yoga, sauna and massage.

3. Country walks

Ireland is not short of countryside and most of it is free.

Forest walks are another alternative. Take Lough Key Forest Park in Roscommon or Ards Forest Park in Donegal which boasts beaches and salt water lakes with a boardwalk and hides for birders.

4. Tap your creative side

Learn to write or paint. Try Anam Cara at Eyries, on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork or a painting holiday at the Avoca Painting School in Co Wicklow.

 

5. Cook-off

Combine a break in the capital with a course at Cooks Academy Dublin or spend some time checking out the various food trails around the country.

Alternatively, visit food festivals like a Taste of Dublin or a Taste of West Cork.