I shouldn't be allowed within 10 miles of a garden centre.

Like others on here, we find garden centres hard to resist ( so we don't resist!)

I got DH's back up yesterday when we went into town, taking the tram instead of the car. We passed a market stall selling wonderful alpines and perennials. "Get them from the garden centre" he said, "it's easier". But no, they were superb plants and about half the price of the GC, so we came back with a bag full of alpines, and another full of perennials and, as my hands were also full, guess who had to carry them from one end of the town centre to the other, back to the tram stop, cursing all the way. I said "I think I'll go and get some more next week." to which he replied "Well you can b****y well go on your own then". When he'd calmed down, and they were in the garden, he had to admit they were a good buy!

As a great garden centre is just up the road from us (literally) we called in on our way back from shopping earlier today, not to buy anything just to look;
we bought..... A purple Erysium plant, a lovely pale green ceramic pot for it to live in, a pinky purple Azalea, and a tray of small dahlias.This has got to stop.

I avoid garden centres that are full of un-gardeny things like scented candles, ornaments, books, country clothing and the like. The plants seem to come second to all this stuff in so many of them. There is a wonderful nursery in St David's. The man that runs it raises most of the plants himself. He always has unusual things you don't often see anywhere else and he's a mine of information. When we holiday down there, we have to leave space in the car because I can't come back without something from him.

I cant resist the poor dying plants i should set up a plant rescue site and dont get me started on poundland 99p shops wilko where they never tend after the selling plants. Get em in dont bother with them throw them away.

There is a nursery near us which has grown and grown over the years and now resembles a garden centre without the clothes, scented candles etc.

We are spoiled for choice around here for GCs so the nursery has always been my first choice because they have always been so much cheaper but their prices are now creeping up.

In the good old days perennials used to be 12 for £10. I used to fill the boot of the car and spend no more than £20. Yesterday I was dismayed to find you now get 5 plants for £10.

Still cheaper than the big garden centres though.