I never buy plants by mail order (except plugs) as I'd much rather see what I'm buying but seeing as it was a gift you didn't have much choice. Just spend the voucher and grin and bare it. For you own satisfaction tell them that you won't be buying from them in the future and let them keep their plants!

That's a bit annoying, but I have to say, having ordered from them myself, although they're expensive, they are good, and efficient - one of the plants I wanted wasn't available, so they've given me a voucher code for free delivery to be used within 1 year. The only trouble is, you're not entirely sure when they're going to deliver, unless you pay an extra £2 for a selected delivery slot. All that said, I keep an eye on their site and order when there's a sale on!

Oh, I hadn't realised that you they can't determine the approx. delivery date - that is a massive disadvantage esp. when dealing with plants...

I don't drive so am at the mercy of the occasional lift by a non-garden lover or get to them via public transport. The latter is more often the case and this restricts on what I can buy (no trees or shrubs or pots, sadly).

I was hoping daughter to take me but the place where I wanted to go to was closed over the Christmas period, so Crocus was the only option.

There won't be a next time with them, that's for sure. Once my order's gone, never again!

Well, to be fair, Iridium, unless you've got an unusually old fashioned garden centre cum nursery nearby, the chances of finding a particular plant you're seeking in any garden centre these days are remote, unless you look for it when its actually in flower. They tend to stock what looks good right now rather than plants that will flower in a few months or whatever, so increasingly, in the last ten years, almost everything I buy I order on line, and I only go to a garden centre for a browse occasionally, or maybe to pick up some bedding. I still recall going to three different garden centres over ten years ago with a list of 12 plants - I didn't find a single one in any of them, hence switching to online ordering. I'd prefer to look at and select my plants, but that now doesn't seem to be an option.

Crocus are very reliable, if a bit expensive . . . but look at it this way, you are going to get £50 worth of plants for free!

Still umming and arring over the order, so have been put off for now.

My plants are bought from a variety of sources, though usually in the when seen in the flesh and this can be from a hardy plant fair that comes to my city monthly and the occasional garden centre. The latter is usually when I'm hoping to rescue near-dead plants bought at super cheap prices.

Mail-order isn't my preference at all.

If you had a voucher, what would you lot order?

I wouldn't go to a garden centre with a pre-conceived list of plant(s), that's just silly, not unless I was someone looking for something quite ordinary/common that you know that the centre would definitely have in. I'm a gardener with a love of distinctly different looking plants, so it's not going to be likely that the centre will have what I'm looking for. I like looking at the bargain section in the hope of finding something I might like, and generally in any given season, there might be one or two plants that will catch my eye.

Last year, I bought a hellebore harvington hybrid at 50% - £6 which I thought was v. reasonable for a 2l pot, and still looking very healthy too.

I'd consider precisely what plants I'd actually like to get for your garden - is there anything you've always wanted but never actually bought, like maybe a tree or a particular shrub? A patio fruit tree? If not, then check out the tool shed and outdoor living sections - maybe you fancy a stainless steel spade or something decorative for the garden, something you wouldn't buy for yourself if it weren't a gift voucher.