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Online Nurseries - Part 1Read the article this discussion is about
This archived discussion is "read only".
» CarolWallace - Marge, Have you ever ordered from Collector's Nursery, or know Marge, Have you ever ordered from Collector's Nursery, or know of anyone who has? I looked at their online catalog and found several plants that I've been searching for -- good prices on them, too! I guess I must still basically subscribe to the old "You get what you pay for" theory -- because when the prices seem lower than I see the plant for elsewhere I wonder about quality. Any ideas? Carol virtually gardening-- posted by CarolWallace » GrahamL - Hi Marge, Thanks so much for two great links that have eluded Hi Marge,Thanks so much for two great links that have eluded me, Heronswood Nursery and Collector's Nursery! You are dead right, these on-line nurseries are very hard to find, at least good ones and these are great!! Thanks again. Graham Leatherbarrow -- posted by GrahamL » Marge_Talt - No, Carol, I haven't, but I mean to in the not too distant. The No, Carol, I haven't, but I mean to in the not too distant. There are just too many plants I really have to have on their list that I haven't seen elsewhere.I'm not expecting large plants in 4" pots. I'll find out about quality when they arrive :-) As for pricing, I am suspicious when it seems pricing is *really* low, but I notice that Collector's prices for plants that are really rare or hard to propagate aren't all that low. I think plant pricing has a lot to do several factors: 1) what the overhead is for the seller and 2) what kind of profit margin they need or want and 3)what the market will bear. For instance, Wayside's plants are way overpriced in almost all cases. From what I've gathered, they don't propagate many of their own, but buy them in from other growers, so they have to add their markup to the markup the grower put on the plant when they sold it wholesale. They also mail that glossy 4 color catalog to anyone who asks for it -- free -- and someone's got to pay for it and I'm sure it is pretty expensive to produce and mail. Especially as they buy mailing lists so that some people (like me) end up with two copies to slightly different names:-) Smaller nurseries with lower overhead who propagate their own stock can often still make a sufficient profit and sell their plants for a bit less than nurseries with more overhead or who want a larger profit margin. There are some smaller nurseries that you and I both know who have fairly hefty prices on their plants for the size they ship...no names.....so it's really caveat emptor until you've placed an initial order and discovered for yourself what the quality of the plants and the nursery are...don't you agree? I have a net buddy in Holland who is aghast at the prices for plants here in the US; they are so much less expensive in Holland. On the other hand, when you think about the time and labor involved in propagating and caring for plants until they reach sale size, you realize that most nurseries are not raking in vast amounts of money. Of course, as you know, it's always wise to place a relatively small "first" order, so that if the plants do turn out to be in some way inferior, you haven't gotten too burnt. Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt » Marge_Talt - Graham, you're most welcome! Glad to be of assistance :-) I'll Graham, you're most welcome! Glad to be of assistance :-) I'll see if I can't find some more for you.Marge -- posted by Marge_Talt
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