Poor value?

[DannyK]

I ordered two 1 litre hydrangeas from Gardening Express.
The "Euphoria Pink" had lots of stems but the Quercifolia "Ruby Slippers" has only one stem. It seems a bit mean?
Your thoughts please.

[Nicos]

Well, basically I’ve no idea but I know what you are getting at.
Maybe different varieties???
Why not send those photos to the company and ask for their thoughts on it?

[smallblueplanet]

If it were me I'd email them with comments and pictures and ask for their opinion. I'd hope for either a partial/full refund or another plant.

When I've had problems with plants from T&M they deal with it by either another plant or if pushed a refund.

[Snoop Puss]

Hard to know. I've just looked up the plant on their website and there's no indication of the size of the plant you should receive. No picture, no text. I see they only have one customer review for it. "Small plant, but has grown a lot." Worth asking but maybe this is what you get for this plant. Good luck.

[DannyK]

Thanks.
It's just that I have never propagated hydrangeas and I would have expected more than one stem from a 1 litre pot sized plant. I was hoping that someone more experienced could say if it appeared that there was more than one year's growth there.

I will be contacting them later.

[DannyK]

This is their answer:-
"Thank you for sending the photos of your Hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' and I apologise for any confusion or disappointment caused.

These plants are as we would expect them to be upon arrival to you, and should with the correct care and planting conditions continue to thrive and grow.

The photographs on our website shown are of full-sized plants at the height of their season, and plants will look different depending on the size of the plant/pot, the time of year, and the plant's growth cycle.

Taking all of this into account, please rest assured that your plants are as expected and if given some more time to settle after planting or repotting, should flourish into the full-sized, in season plants that are shown on our website.

Please also take a look at our Knowledge Hub (currently located on the 'Contact' page on our website) where you will find a wealth of advice, hints and tips, articles and FAQs: https://help.gardeningexpress.co.uk/"

It was £16.97 reduced to £10.97. I wouldn't have bought it if I'd known it was only one stem. I'd rather pay more for a better plant.
Burncoose and others show photos of what they are selling.
I have had some bargains from Garden Express and odd duffers, which I don't mind if they are very cheap.

I'll be potting it up. There are pinhead buds showing but I won't plant it yet as the slugs and snails will have them

[Snoop Puss]

I wondered what the reply was. I was surprised there was no picture or description at least of what you would receive.

Hope it grows well for you, though.

[DannyK]

I wondered what the reply was. I was surprised there was no picture or description at least of what you would receive.
.

There are too many vendors taking gardeners for a ride. They use macro shots of tiny flowers, give us blue roses, fail to say whether plants need acid soil, and stretch the hardiness, which is why I prefer to buy on line. I have at least time to research the plants.
There are the rip off merchants usually advertising in the press plants in 9cm pots that are almost the same price as properly grown plants from specialist nurseries.