The plants from Big Dipper arrived today and they look very, very good. I guess everyone got the anti-styrofoam memo because there was none in this packing box either. The box is lined with newspaper, and each plant is dug fresh, encased in plastic film, and then wrapped in newspaper, with the label taped to the outside of each little packed plant. This is the top layer of plants (I ordered six, so they were in two layers).
I ordered Pulsatilla 'Red Clock,' Primula 'Ken Dearman,' Primula capitata 'Noverna Deep Blue,' Lewisia cotyledon 'Regenbogen,' Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Group,' and Lewisia cotyledon 'Rainbow Mix.' All of the Lewisias are semi-unknown commodities because the cultivar name refers only to the strain, so they could be almost any color at all. The Pulsatilla is dormant, and the Primulas are just waking up, but the Lewisias are rarin' to go.
These six plants cost $41.94 and the shipping was $8.00. I'm very happy with this order.
This is actually my favorite mail-order nursery for perennials. The plants in this order are quite small, but that's due to the season. If I had ordered them in spring, they'd be much larger. Edelweiss' packing methods are superb. The plants are topped with straw and then the entire container is wrapped in newspaper. The partially unwrapped one shows the straw topping the plants and keeping the soil moist and in place.
The plants in this order are Primula 'Green Lace,' Primula auricula 'Fred Booley,' Gentiana acaulis 'Holzmann,' Gentiana paradoxa 'Blauer Herold,' Gentiana sino-ornata 'Eugens Allerbester,' Globularia incanescens, and Alstroemeria 'Princess Anouska.'
Aside from the impressive-looking Alstroemeria, the plants are still quite small, but the sweet little Gentiana acaulis is already blooming.
These seven plants cost $54.25 and the shipping was $14.50.
So here's what happens when you don't have a family: You spend Thanksgiving Day shopping on line instead of eating. It's healthier for your body, but not so healthy for your bank balance. As a result of my shopping day, I received two packages today, one from Joy Creek and one from Edelweiss, and tomorrow or the next day I'll receive another package of plants from Big Dipper and two packages of bulbs from Brent & Becky's and Holland Farms.
I was delighted to see that Joy Creek had recycled an Office Depot box for my order.
I was even more delighted that there was no styrofoam inside. The box was crammed full of newspapers, and when I removed them, I found all of the plants, some in pots, enveloped in something like Saran Wrap.
In spite of all the wrapping, two of the pots had only half the soil they should have had. None of it had fallen out into the packing box, so they were inexplicably shipped with only half of the requisite soil. Here's a sad little Gentiana with most of its roots exposed:
One of the Clematis pots was also only half full, so I had to go outside and get some potting soil to fill up the pots right away. Here are the plants. The two in the 1-gallon containers are Clematis 'Kiri Te Kanawa' and Clematis 'Hoshi-no-Flamenco.' At least I hope they're in there. They've been pruned back so far that it's hard to tell. If I were ready to plant them, I'd post a photo showing the size of the root ball, but I can't do that yet. The photo on the right is that sad little Gentiana septemfida, but with its roots covered this time. It's a little irritating to pay $6.50 for something that little, but the local nurseries never have any Gentianas.
The other three plants in this order are a Haberlea rhodopensis, a Fuchsia 'Double Otto,' and a Jasione laevis 'Blue Light.' I couldn't take the plastic off these because they're not in pots. They're sad-looking little plants, especially in comparison with the plants Sequim sent me not long ago.
These six plants cost $65.50. That includes a handling fee of $4.00. I'll learn the shipping charges when I get my credit card bill. Joy Creek charges the actual shipping charges, so I'm not worried.
Here's a funny thing, though. When I ordered these, I filled out my name and address in the conventional way. The package, however, was mailed to my name, followed by "ZuZu." Does this mean I'm famous? I didn't say anything about Zuzu when I placed the order. I may have used that name on an order sometime in the past, but I haven't bought anything from Joy Creek in years. Very odd!
Four roses from Vintage Gardens arrived today. They were mailed just yesterday, so I like to order from Vintage. There's no possibility of shipping stress.
They are Shades of Autumn, Cymbaline, Blue for You, and Silver Star. The last two are new to my garden. The Cymbaline is a replacement for one the gophers ate. Shades of Autumn is a duplicate. Not only is this rose beautiful enough that I want two of them, but the first one was sort of a dud. The one I received today is already larger than the one I've been growing since 2008.
As luck would have it (and I certainly don't mean good luck, because I've been worn to a frazzle by various things other than gardening), I haven't planted the little roses from Heirloom yet, so here's a comparison shot:
Notice, please, that although the little Heirloom plants in front are appreciably shorter, they're well-formed for their size and mostly likely will grow well as soon as they've been planted.
The four Vintage roses would have cost $72.80 (mainly because Blue for You is rather rare and cost $21.95), but I qualified for a 10% discount because of my HMF premium membership and I received a $10 discount for ordering them on Small Business Saturday, so the price of the four was actually $55.52, and shipping for all four was only $13.25.
These roses actually arrived a week ago on the 22nd, but I've been busy with other things and haven't had a chance to post them. They've been planted by now, but here's how they looked when they arrived:
Note to self: Always take pictures inside from now on. There's so much autumn debris on the deck that it's hard to distinguish the plants.
Palatine is the very best of the bare-root rose nurseries. It's more expensive than the other two Canadian standbys (Hortico and Pickering), but the plants are much larger and the roots are much longer and more plentiful. That third rose from the right has nine (9!) canes.
The Canadian roses are particularly valuable to me because they're grafted onto Multiflora stock, which doesn't appeal to gophers. The canes and roots of roses grafted onto Multiflora look thin in comparison with the canes and roots of roses grafted onto Dr. Huey when they arrive, but they quickly grow into veritable monsters in my garden.
The price of these eight roses was $148.60 and the shipping, all the way from Ontario to California, was only $25.75 for all eight. Most U.S. nurseries charge much more. I pay Roses Unlimited $8 per rose for shipping, which would be $64 for these eight.
