Online plant retailer

Abbafan1972

Hello. 

I am looking at buying a tri-colour buddlia for my Garden and as these are hard to come by (we already have one in the common purple colour). Can anyone recommend a good website to order from please? 

Googling, Gardening Express came up, but checking on Trustpiliot, there are quite a few negative reviews. 

Any recommendations please? 

Thank you. 

Farway

If you check on this forum for GE you will find also loads of negatives, avoid if you can

Regarding tri colour buddleia, surely these are just a con for the unwary?

They are three separate coloured buddleias growing in one pot, you can do the same for yourself by buying three of the colours and varieties you want and plant them in the same hole.

For added MSE should any suitable coloured buddleia twigs fall off as you walk by a plant, then stick it in the ground with any others that may also be a bit brittle as you walk by

serpico100

Have you considered Ebay? There are several sellers with Tricolour Buddleias for sale, which as mentioned are basically three different coloured  Buddleias in the same pot. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275758694786?hash=item40347fc182:g:dxAAAOSw50BkHdZA&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4NNu%2FhC%2B9TAqhSTysMtW%2FIdd7ABiK7KIHW2z7Nnlw76bULLh3eYmtsqpcNTT9InqZXPBu%2BkFCQX%2F4%2FcWeNj04RdWPDZb%2BkpJg3K9mJr0c273rnpJS9Ht3adBcjxWQkfjm3tlhzqGD7oSiPs1pw1f9m7MhuHcfqwX%2BEH%2BN2Hbe5KUdVPminy2ln%2FwiovfNIdmsvyOGG2%2BNHvb8ENDNSZ3pO4vWkcWjb1zT9%2Br63Pv44m9XNJio3nJj1oxCBlNc4hN0MD9oX31vfwbaq0ymHn1Yt%2FXLQax41urMkbEX4%2BODIOc%7Ctkp%3ABFBM4OuSj_Nh

Here are the reviews for this sellers’ Tricolour Buddleias


https://www.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/feedback_profile/gardenersdreamuk?filter=feedback_page%3ARECEIVED_AS_SELLER&q=252257681320

Abbafan1972

Thanks for your comments. 

I am no professional gardener and I genuinely did think that a tri-colour buddlia was a variety and not 3 separate ones! Needless to say I feel really daft now, lol! 

I do still want something to plant on the opposite side of the garden. 

I will look at EBay and thanks for the link posted above. And will steer clear of that GE site. 

Speak soon. xx

[Deleted User]

There are quite a lot but they'll vary massively -

DO be very aware of the pot sizes and do your comparing carefully because the best deals need studying.

There's a big difference in prices and that always dictates the pot size therefore the plant size = the age of the plant.
There's also a big difference in delivery costs.

Paramount Plants, Grasslands, Jacksons, Wykehams, are just a handful that i've bought from, can't remember the others at the moment.

Scott_Chegg_

Hi - I have bought from J.Parkers, Thompson and Morgan and D.T.Brown but Browns are mainly seeds.
not a recommendation of course but just saying what i have used in the past.
Maybe worth further investigation

Sarahspangles

As others have pointed out these are often three different colours of buddleia in one pot. Or sometimes they are three colours grafted onto a rootstock plant. If one of these dies or you hard prune - often recommended for buddleia - then you get left with two colours or even the rootstock colour, likely mauve.  Plus the three colours don’t intermingle like the photoshopped illustrations. You get one colour per branch.

OH bought a hibiscus that is three colours. It’s okay, but the three grafted plants flower in sequence so I wouldn’t say it’s ever very impressive.

Dustyevsky

Always ask yourself "Is there a nursery, or are these people middle men (women, alphabet people etc)? Even if there is, some plants may be sourced from elsewhere, but if there's a physical presence, and you can see it in your Google car/ helicopter, then that's a positive.

Sarahspangles

Dustyevsky said:

Always ask yourself "Is there a nursery, or are these people middle men (women, alphabet people etc)? Even if there is, some plants may be sourced from elsewhere, but if there's a physical presence, and you can see it in your Google car/ helicopter, then that's a positive.

This is so true - the plant label may be from a well-known nursery but it’s how the plant has been cared for and transported that counts.  There’s a garden centre near us that we call ‘The place that good plants go to die’ because even if they look okay they’ve probably been allowed to dry out or been wind burnt.

[Deleted User]

I know of a few places like that @Sarahspangles !
And also the reason i prefer to buy online !

The places i referred to, earlier, are nurseries and not garden centres - plus, they're independents - which i prefer to support rather than large multiples.

These nurseries have grown the plants and what you receive are better quality and more importantly, better age so you're getting something far more established.

Garden centre stock is very different - smaller pots, younger age, probably transplanted into that sized pot immediately before dispatch to the GC, you think you have a 3 year old plant (pot size guages) but it's likely to be a 2 year old one in reality.
Not good value for your hard-earned money.

SuzyQ52

Thompson & Morgan by Mail order. I bought one : pink purple and white. They’re actually 3 small individual plants. I bought one(3) last year and it’s growing beautifully.