Experience with Ordering from Brecks or Royal Dutch Catalogs??
bobk_stl
16 years ago
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Comments (15)
fayeraven
16 years agohopflower
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Mail Order Catalogs vs. Local Garden Centers
Comments (11)I've ordered from a couple catalogs: Spring Hill, Wayside, and White Flower Farm. The last two- the quality of what I received was wonderful. I would NOT recomment S.H. I would say, unless you're going to get a bareroot plant/tuber/bulb, you're probably better off buying locally. I haven't purchased any annual plants from a catalog. I have purchased seeds and have been happy with them. But I enjoy trading seeds and doing swaps, so I don't really need to purchase many. I enjoy the whole experience of going to the nursery. I like walking through the greenhouse and seeing all the plants laid out. They often have wonderful combinations that I never would have thought of. Plus, like others mentioned, the people are so helpful. Home Depot's selection is decent and their prices can be pretty low compared with nurseries. But sometimes the quality isn't there. I find Lowes quality to be much higher than H.D., plus their selection is better. Prices are lower on some things but higher on others. If I'm going to buy plants, I usually end up purchasing from a local nursery. I just enjoy the experience there better; but I do make a few purchases from Lowes. I think you should purchase from wherever you have the most success and are the most satisfied with. I know some gardeners who only get their plants at Walmart or HD and have great success. And others only use mail order catalogs. Your best bet might be to place a small order with one or two of your favorite catalogs just to test the quality. Then go from there. Have fun! Tracy...See MoreBreck's Catalog?Any good?
Comments (13)just1morehosta, I've never dealt with Breck's but wanted to make some comments on a few things you're thinking about ordering. I don't know if you're trying to attract butterflies to your garden or not, but I noticed that you want to order turtlehead and rue, so I thought that maybe you're into butterflies. Now that I've learned that specific types of plants have to be bought for butterflies, I can pass the info along to you if you don't already know it. Perhaps that turtlehead mix does have the specific turtlehead (Chelone glabra) that is a host plant of the Baltimore Checkerspots. Either way, I think the flowers are really pretty. I have Chelone glabra here because I'm trying to attract Baltimore Checkerspots. I also have Chelone lyonii because I saw it in a local nursery and thought the flowers were pretty and they really do look like a turtle's head. I hope to find some BC cats munching on that Chelone glabra someday, but I'm not sure whether or not they will eat the other one. I also saw that you have meadow rue on your list. I have no idea if you want the rue for Black Swallowtail and/or Giant Swallowtail cats or not but thought I'd tell you that meadow rue isn't a host plant for them. If you want to have those two types of butterflies lay eggs on rue, you have to get Ruta graveolens. I got BST cats on mine last year but being that it was my first year to plant it, I didn't get any seeds off of it yet. I bought the seeds from a vendor on ebay. I wish there were some type of columbine that blooms a fairly long time, but the ones I bought last year only bloomed for a short period of time. They were pretty though. I try to start almost everything from seed because it's fun to watch them grow from seed and a lot cheaper. I never tried to start anything on your list from seeds except the columbine though, which was easy to start. I guess you could always try the company and find out if nobody else reports on them here. If you prefer not to grow your plants from seed or if they're difficult ones to start from seed, then I suppose a company like Breck's would be a good thing to try and see if you're happy with them. I only ever ordered plants from a company one time (it wasn't Breck's though) but didn't have very good luck. They replaced the plants, which still only some of them came up so I gave up on it. Yet I've seen here and there where other people have luck with that. I don't get it! *scratching head* I think I'm jinxed at some things. lol...See MoreAnyone familiar with Royal Dutch company??
Comments (4)I second bambi's advice. Before anyone takes offense I will state that I am Dutch by heritage. Now, having said that, I would be cautious of plants coming from Holland as they probably have one of the most advanced and aggressive tissue culture programs going - not just daylilies either. It think they do quite well with Hosta and others but daylilies have yet to be mastered to perfection. You may be fine, but there's no guarantee. I suspect that I have about 6 daylilies in my garden that are TC bought locally from a garden center before I became aware of tissue culture. I'm still waiting to see some of them bloom. Interestingly enough I bought Startle locally (summer 2007) which I suspect is TC. Then I received a field grown Startle as a bonus (summer 2008) and I planted it right beside the TC so that I would be able to see if there is a difference. The field grown Startle bloomed last summer but I'm still waiting to see the TC. Maybe this summer......See Morebreck's catalog sale of iris
Comments (4)Check Garden Watchdog - they have a 56 out of 100 rating - not very good. I ordered iris' last year from Touch of Nature and was very pleased with them and they are blooming magnificently right now. I got them on sale for $1.60 each! (toward end of summer) And they have a 100% rating at Garden Watchdog. http://www.touchofnature.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: Brecks at Garden Watchdog...See Morelaceyvail 6A, WV
16 years agoChemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
16 years agoofionnachta
16 years agocovella
16 years agojoyinflowers
11 years agoPaul Jones
9 years agoJudy Biller
7 years agoewillborn
6 years agoRand Carter
3 years agoHU-443690933
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3 years agomary_md7
3 years ago
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