On 2013-10-29 22:39:35 +0000, Pam Moore said:

On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:38:48 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

On 2013-10-29 16:00:09 +0000, Hugh Newbury said:

Thought I'd better report back. Taylors turn out to be very efficient.
Their website allows you to choose the day you want the plants
delivered, so I chose today (Tues) because Steph comes on Wednesdays.
Taylors duly ack'ed my order and gave a tracking number on the
carriers' website. The parcel duly arrived today at 11:30, well packed
to protect the plants. I've unpacked them and put them away to await
Steph tomorrow. They look in fine order.

So Taylors seem to be the goods. I wish some (nameless) other plant
sellers would let once choose a day for delivery and give a tracking
number.

HTH

Hugh

Some do but it depends on the carrier used and that - for the sender -
depends on the prices the carrier charges and whether they have a
minimum 'order', in that the sender must send out a certain number of
parcels per week. We've only ever used two carriers and both give a
tracking number and also allow us to choose the day of delivery and
whether or not we want a 24 hour or 48 hour service but one will pick
up one parcel a week, while another won't take less than ten or indeed,
more than ten! The 48 hour is usually a little less expensive.
Many/most nurseries will despatch Monday to Wednesday but won't send
out on a Thursday, for example, because the plants would be in a
warehouse over the week end until delivered on Monday. Saturday
delivery also incurs an extra charge and there's usually another to the
sender for delivery in the parts of London where there's a congestion
charge. Large companies sending out dozens or even hundreds, of
parcels per week, can probably dictate terms to some extent, too.

I do a lot of my own shopping online for all sorts of things and like
you, find there are very few companies, other than supermarkets, that
allow one to choose a specific date of delivery and this may be to do
with volume, either because it's low or because it's very high. I know
of at least one nursery that tells you that at busy times of year, your
order will be sent out when they have time to do it because everything
is in a queue and to be fair, I'm assuming they want a first-come,
first-served system to operate.

Of course if you visit Charlie's nursery you can chose your own plants
and bring them home with you!

Pam in Bristol

Indeed and have the pleasure of their garden and teas and company and
the gorgeous Monte! But it's a bit of a way from e.g. Inverness to
Cornwall for even the most dedicated gardener!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon