This week I received about $300 worth of plants (according to the invoice anyway) all of which would fit in a kid's lunchbucket with room left over for the lunch. These are mostly kinda rare things, so the fact that they cost three times the price of common things doesn't bother me; that shipping makes them more expensive still is just part of how things work. But when a monkshood vine consists of one leaf sticking out of some wrapping-moss, barely distinguishable FROM the moss, I'm not convinced I'm getting bang for my buck.
And this vendor told me last year before I placed this order that they ship plants much more mature than does Heronswood (whose shipped seedlings are gigantic compared to this!) & ready for the garden. But on Monday, the day the plants were shipped, I got a chatty e-mail that included the information that some of the plants might seem a bit small but it was cheaper due to the health permit for the plants to ship them all at once, & the Famous Paghat being such an amazing ace gardener & all, the shipper was sure I wouldn't mind. Well butter my buns -- if I put these in the garden they'd dry up & die their first hour in the sun, & flattering me about it makes me more rather than less annoyed.
I don't have a greenhouse & I don't like to raise my own seedlings. But, well, I'll pot these babies & put plastic bags over them & in a few weeks they'll be big enough for the garden, & if nothing dies on me it'll be worth the imposition. But this is a reminder of why I so rarely mail-order any plants except bulbs. It's no fun to pay a maximum-high price plus shipping & end up with a handful of little sprouted seeds.
The lesson remains: See what you're getting before you plunk down the money, & SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NURSERIES.
-paghat the ratgirl