Clematis sieboldi

Good for you Marge, Im sure they will do fine. You are luckier than I am with T &M plants. They always seem to arrive very much worse for wear, so I only ever use them to order seeds from now

Glad you are succeeding DESPITE the best efforts of T&M

Very inventive with the pop bottle and buttons.
Well done.
Glad the plants are surviving :o)

They don't get very big, Marge. I planted mine out 2 years ago then had to move them. Two out of the three did flower, but they only grew about 3' up the trellis. I think they'd do better in a large container, with a wigwam to scramble up. Hope that helps.

I beg to differ spritz. My sieboldii had reached over ten feet the year before last so got a REALLY hard pruning last spring. It took a long time to recover but still got to six feet by the end of the summer. I think they are just very slow starters

Ah, yes, Andrew - but YOURS didn't come from T&M. did they?

I've had plants from T&M and not very good success, i've found plants from Parker's have always been good though.

I don't buy anything from T&M any longer, Clarice. I have had too many bad experiences with t&M and even when I've complained, the replacements have been just as bad!

I agree about Parker's.

I've stopped using T&M for the same reason. Bulbs from Parkers are OK but the few plants I've had from then have been VERY small (hence the low prices I suspect)

I've just been looking at their latest advert - they don't say how big the pots of perennials are. I don't think I'm going to risk ordering what I thought I'd like, after what you said, Andrew.
I've only had bulbs from them before - all good quality.

It's sad Spritz but I think you're right, they will be small. I was really tempted by their border collection, just to save me some time but the last lot of perennials I ordered had a despatch date on the front of the packet and they'd sent them out prior to a bank holiday so when I received them they were tiny plugs plants with brittle roots, all the compost had fallen from the roots and not one survived. They'd been in transit for over a week in May! I was so angry because of the disappointment. The free buddleia and azalea fared much better though!
I ordered shrubs and climbing roses just before Christmas and am much happier with the quality of these.
It's difficult especially with such a lovely catalogue of flowers in front of you too!

To be honest, I much prefer to choose a plant myself - so when I go to the Garden Centres, I take several off the racks and line them up on the ground to find the best shaped one!

You can't do that ordering mail order, can you? I have decided - I shall be happy to buy plug-plants mail order, but that's it - unless I see something really special and KNOW what size pot it's coming in!

I will never buy anything from a cataloge that has pictures of bright blue roses or tulips in it

Od dear! what have I started? I do agree, there is no substitue for seeing before you buy. I have made the decision that is what I shall do in the future. We have a lot of Garden Centres in our local area that I visit on a regular basis. (Question being, will they all keep going? one is having an "everything must go sale")

My other problem is, I have a small garden and it about full up, so I shall really be only replacing things that die off.