Beware of Parkers Bulbs. .

Parkers Bulbs catalogues are inserted in Gardener's World magazine, unfortunately all the plants I have bought from them have either been wrong or died, except three ferns, which are not as advertised. I hadn't ordered from them for years, but decided to give them another go and bought a Damson Merrryweather tree which was dead on arrival. I waited til now to ask for a refund, to avoid being told it was winter dormant, and they have ignored all three of my requests. Beware this company!     On the other hand, Crocus send beautiful large plants, and Plants for Shade are excellent quality plants, worth every penny and great customer service.

The plants I bought were VERY small,spindly,soft grown.Stood no chance on being planted out.Also two sets of 6 geraniums, supposed to be a mix were all the same ,pink common geranium

There have been many complaints about this dreadful comapny over many years.  They often picture plants growing together which do not flower at the same time, their bulbs are often soft, and their plants incorrect.  I guess they must pay for  all the magazines to put their horrid leaflets into the magazines,  but the editors are not responsible for what advertisers say.  Best place for a leaflet from them is in the recycling bin. 

oh no.. i have just load of tulip bulbs from them.. now thinking i have thrown my money away..

I shared an order with a friend earlier ths year the plants have been a disaster

dear garfening fanatic, hopefully your bulbs will not be too bad, sometimes they are passable - lets hope yours are the better ones.  Maybe try a better compay, avon, or any of the specialist bulb companies.  There is a reason that company are cheap - as with anything else, you get what you pay for in this life. 

I've bought bulbs in the past from them too and they've been very good, though I agree about their plants. They sound cheap but generally are very small. While size isn't everything when planting, some have been too small to thrive. For the same price you can get much better at Wilkos! If I buy online I generally find Crocus good. They are good quality, large plants. With herbaceous plants I've often managed to split them into 2 or 3. If possible though I use my local garden centres. Use them or lose them

marigold, I suggest you wait and see how the flowers are before you give judgement.  Many people avoid this firm like the plague.

I use Parkers - not too expensive and I am planting up a good sized garden. The shrubs and trees always smaller than expected ( get what you pay for)  2 plants have not been successful - bought last year and nurtured but died. I love the size and health of Crocus, but pricey, one plant never lived and was re-placed after sending photos. Not heard of Plants for shade so may try them. Also bought what I thought would be a 'Parkers' type sized plant from gardens direct and was surprised by health and size of it. 

I have used my local garden centres for years but at 70, without transport ;I have to resort to mail order. Besides, occasionally some speciality plants etc. are only available online. I try to get to the local GC on public transport but it is not so easy.

What beats me is the cavalair attitute of the mail order companies!

I tried Parkers wholsale when we ran our own business. I bought mainly young plants to grow on for our customers. many were D.O.A., a lot were sickly and died anyway. It took me months and months to get a refund. I wouldn't use them again.

I buy everything from our local GC now. The plants are fabulous, and they will deliver locally for just a fiver.

I buy a fair few bulbs from Parkers each year ( mainly tulips which i treat as an annual) but also brought some Fritillaria persica and Fritillaria imperialis and they were fab .... once the lilly beetles were picked off that is . Other companies charge over £5 per bulb and as far as I can tell mine flowered as well as bulbs from other companies. 

Maybe Parkers is overstretching themselves after all they are called J Parkers Dutch Bulbs so I would expect plug plants etc to not be their forte.

I did buy a Cercis from them last autumn and it was a little bit smaller than i was anticipating but considering it was nearly a 1/2 of the price of any of the other places I had seen it online I was not so bothered, anyway isn't patience a virtue.

As i have said on other threads on this subject, and not wanting to be a Parkers apologist, if you worry about plug plants getting smooshed in the post or being poor quality buy them from a garden centre. I mean if you were a little bedding plant I expect you would not take kindly to Royal mails treatment of you.

That does not excuse the lack of a refund issue which isn't acceptable

Parkers is a name that comes up on other forums as a not very reliable mail order company. I've had problems with them in the past and when I complained that the sickly plant I ordered would not survive, I was sent a very curt reply. The plant did die and I have never ordered from them since. I order specialist plants from other online companies (when I can't find them in garden centres) without any problems whatsoever.

Two years ago I ordered a couple of the herbaceous border special offers. Complete disaster.  The plants were pathetic little specimans and some plugs only contained nettles and groundsel!  Being a wimp I didn't complain, but will never order from them again.  I would sooner spend a little more and order from nurseries like Beth Chatto, brilliant plants and service I cannot fault them.

I ordered from parkers last autumn and had a mixed bag of plants/bulbs delivered.  The trees were 1 year old maidens but are doing well.  Some of the bulbs were not good at all and i managed to get replacements sent and a refund for out of stock items.  The plants are  generally small as they need to be sent by carrier and they usually tell you what they are in say7cm pot.  Well you are not going to get a monster plant in a small pot are you?  I will stear clear from now on and use my local hilliers.

Must add for fairness that i have had some real bargains in the years that i have dealt with them, tulips are good as are the alliums, fritillarias,and dutch iris so on reflection i might just order bulbs from now on.

I spent over £100 last year and many of the perennials were just little pieces of plant.  I complained at the pathetic pieces of one of the species (I forget which) and after getting the usual "wait until Spring" from Parkers I continued to complain and they then replaced the plants.  Two of my three Agastache Black Adders plants did not survive the winter and Parkers replaced them. The catalogue is very seductive but the plants you will get will not look anything like those shown.  However, I will still buy from Parkers as you get much more for your money but if you want instant results then it is best to buy from a Garden centre.

I've had the free bulbs from T& M advertised in GW mag, you pay P & P so, suppose they aren't really free but never had a problem with anything from them. Sometimes they take a while to arrive but are well packed and everything has grown providing the instructions are followed.