Plants By Post

Back in June, my husband gave me a gift voucher for a company called Rocket Gardens.  The voucher entitled me to a compact herb garden mini plant pack.  I didn't really know what it was all about, so just followed the instructions to redeem the voucher on their website and thought no more of it.

A couple of days later, I arrived home to find a cardboard box on the doorstep which said "Plant me, grow me, eat me" on the side.  There's nothing quite like coming home to a parcel, it's a bit like your birthday or Christmas, you can't wait to open it and see what's inside.  Quickly opening the box, I was met by a whole array of baby plants, all neatly  packed for transit.

As I carefully unpacked the plants, I could not believe the variety I had been sent.  I had expected some herbs and herbs I got, rosemary, chives, thyme, parsley, mint, sage, basil and marjoram to be precise.  Not only that, I got various types of lettuce, calabrese, cabbages and rainbow chard.  It was an absolute feast!  Well it would be when they had all grown.

I have to admit it did take a while to plant them all.  As there was far more than I was expecting, I had quite a job scouring the garden shed for pots.  The lettuces ended up sharing but I don't think they were bothered.  As well as the plants, which were all clearly labelled, there was also clear instructions for planting and care of the various plants.  You couldn't really go wrong.

I did wonder how well the plants would do, particularly with my tendency to forget to water for days on end in the summer.  The plants were really healthy though and all thrived, in spite of me.  The only problems I encountered were with the caterpillars which I have already mentioned in a previous blog entry.  Even now in the depths of winter, with a foot of snow recently, the herbs, cabbages and rainbow chard are all still flourishing in there pots on the patio.  The cabbages have made an amazing comeback having been stripped bare by the caterpillars.  Even the calabrese managed a small head despite having hardly any leaves.  I haven't had the heart to eat it!

Looking on Rocket Garden's website, www.rocketgardens.co.uk, you will see that they offer a whole range of plant packs suitable for the window box gardener to allotment gardeners.  All of the packs clearly show the number and variety of plants in the pack, as well as the space required for planting.

The pricing seems to me to be very reasonable for the number of plants and the quality.  Obviously it would be cheaper to by packets of seeds and grow your own from scratch but if you don't have the time or a greenhouse, Rocket Gardens offer the perfect solution.  I will certainly be using them again next year, so roll on the spring!