The BEST time of year is during dormancy yet not when freezing cold outside; translation - Fall or early Spring. However, I've been moving plants around all summer with much success.

Think very carefully before buying from T & M they are notorious for supplying very small plug plants that need growing on before being planted out.

As above. I think you'd need to pot them up and leave them in an unheated, even a frost free greenhouse before planting out in spring

I too have reservations about plants from T & M, having seen so many people have problems, mostly heard about through this site.

If they're plugs, I'd wait till spring, otherwise, unless you've got a nice greenhouse, you'll be keeping them inside until they've grown, and if they're really tiny, that might mean being stuck with them inside all winter, where it'll be a real struggle to keep them going for six months. If you bought proper plants in good size pots, you could plant those out in September, but not so much with small plugs.

I wouldn't buy plugs unless you are getting them on offer - Gardeners' World Magazine often teams up with T&M to offer plants for the p&p cost only.
Geum seeds are readily available from the major seed companies and you'll get far more seeds for the same cost.

Hi, just to give you an idea of the size of their plug plants, several years ago, I bought 42 plug plants of Echinacea, when they arrived, I was disgusted to find that they were in 1 tray, which fitted nicely into the palm of 1 hand, each cell was smaller than a sowing thimble, and over half of them were dead, needless to say, I've never bought anything from them since, and have no intention of ever doing so, Derek.

I have bought from T & M a lot -- plus from others- nearly all plants purchased from these companies come as plugs and yes they are small
(hence the name PLUGS) - and YES you will need to plant them on until mature enough to place in the garden at the correct time - Also if any plants are damaged or your not happy with them as some people are saying- All you need to do is ring them and they will replace post free -- One last word -- They state in the Catalogue -- SUPPLIED as PLUGS - so if you don't want them don't buy them - I have never had a problem with any suppliers in the past - and I'm sure others have not either other wise T & M would not be in business still to-day

I, too, found T&M plants to be ultra tiny, as are those from Hayloft Nurseries, healthy looking though the latter are. Far too small to plant in the ground and they have to be potted on until they're big enough. This has meant waiting till the following year in most cases.

The best plants in my garden are the ones I've grown from seed. Many of the plants in the garden centers here are juiced up on "steroids" to entice shoppers, and collapse when you get them home.

Triffid, there are plugs and then there are plugs! I bought a load of lavender plugs (on offer, cost of postage and packing only). I wasn't too bothered at that price that the plugs were barely 1/2 inch. Not quite what we generally think of as plugs - maybe 2inch deep x 1 1/2.
Given that of my 30 lavender plugs, I think I have 5 clinging to life, I could have spent the money on a reasonable size plant from a local nursery.
Beyond that T&M don't have the best reputation in the world (though I'm pleased with the bareroot hostas I had from them - again, on offer for price of p&p only) I wouldn't want to pay full price for anything from them.

Triffidkiller, when I say I've had problems with t&m, I'm not saying it for the sake of it, and yes I did contact them, and yes they did offer a replacement or a refund, but the plugs were not the only problem I had with them, and there are probably hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting gardeners, who are not members of GoY, who see their adverts and think they're getting a bargain, and plug plants should have 2 or 3 sets of true leaves, not 1 set and the cotyledons, so as far as I'm concerned, t&m supply rubbish at a high price, Derek.

Well said Derek

Agree with all of the above about avoiding plug plants from T and M (and also Parkers). Mine were tiny and needed a lot of nurturing and potting on until they were ready for planting out. With winter beckoning, I'd be circumspect unless you have a greenhouse.

People bite so easy on here -- wish you were all fish I would take up fishing (lol)

Hmm, Triffidkiller, does that mean that what you reported as your experience with T & M plants wasn't true, it was just bait? Shame, I was rather hoping it might be true - if everyone was dissatisfied with T & M they'd go out of business, so some poor souls must think they're getting a deal. Maybe cos they don't know any better, I don't know, never used 'em myself, I like to examine my plug plants before I buy, personally.

Funny, I thought the idea of this site, was for people to ask questions, and hope that other members would be able to give them an answer, and maybe advice, I didn't realize that the idea was to 'bait' members by saying that what they had said was untrue, because it didn't coincide with what you said was your experience of t&m, which now turns out to be untrue, Derek.