| Negative | ArtsyDi
(3 reviews) | On Jul 25, 2021, ArtsyDi Thomaston, ME wrote: Posted on October 8, 2020, updated July 25, 2021
After living for many years in a dark city apartment that got very little light, I was pretty discouraged about growing houseplants. The few I tried to grow all died and, not being knowledgeable about plants, I gave up and resigned myself to not living with any plants - for over two decades! Recently, I moved out of the city into an apartment with windows facing south, west, and north, which allow for a lot more light than I've ever lived with before. Thrilled with the chance to have plants in my life, yet lacking confidence about being a good plant caretaker, I picked up the book, 'The Indestructible Houseplant' by Tovah Martin to use as a guide.
There are several garden centers near me but they both focus on outdoor gardening, with very small selections of houseplants. I bought a few and started building my confidence. Soon, I wanted more, but was hoping to find some of the plants in Martin's book, and they just weren't available locally. So I turned to the internet and found Studley's.
The site is easy to use, although the Houseplants section is apparently a separate entity from the rest of their site, which means that when you create a login to order houseplants there, you have to make sure to navigate to that section to login and see your orders. I couldn't login from the Gardening side of the site. Still, it was easy to figure that out.
Their descriptions and photographs are helpfu, and they offer some "collections," which are a package of three plants of a particular kind, chosen for you. I ordered one of their Coprosma Collections and added a note to request a specific variety, if possible. They fulfilled my request. I also ordered a mini Schefflera and a Cuban Oregano (plectranthus). The shipments only go out at the beginning of the week so that plants won't sit all boxed up over the weekend, which is considerate. Mine arrived quickly and all were packaged well, though some dirt did spill out and one of them had a cracked pot. Being my very first time ordering live potted plants online, I had no idea what to expect.
The Coprosmas all looked great, and were surprisingly large for the little pots they came in. The Schefflera looked healthy, its leaves nice and shiny, with new growth on the top. Plus it was over a foot tall! It did look like it had been growing in a corner because all the leaves were just on one side of the stem, but I've been diligent about turning the plant so that they reach for the sun in the other direction, and now it is full and lush one month later. The Cuban oregano was tiny but had about three or four main stems, and all of them looked like they'd been chopped down for cuttings, with dark callouses on their tips. So that one was a little disappointing, but it seems to be thriving now, and the fragrance when I lightly brush the leaves with my fingertips is just wonderful.
I transplanted all of them into clay pots immediately upon receipt and none of them seemed "in shock" afterwards. They were all healthy and hardy plants and I'm very happy with them. For my first experience ordering plants online, I am glad I found Studley's. As my confidence grows, I will order from them again.
On July 25th, 2021, ArtsyDi changed the rating from positive to negative and added the following:
The only thriving plant from my October order is the plectranthus "Cuban Oregano." The three Coprosmas and the mini Schefflera, suddenly and all at the same time, had most of their foliage turn black. This happened around February or March, so they only lasted a few months. They all shriveled and lost leaves. I gave the Schefflera to a neighbor who is a wizard with plants and she said she'd never seen roots like that - they had all remained balled up and never spread out into the pot. There was no hope, so she had to toss it out. As for my formerly beautiful Coprosmas, the leaves on top of all of them turned black, shriveled, and dropped. They looked dry but, oddly, several times mold formed on the surface of the soil in their pots. They were not anywhere near the Schefflera, and none of my other plants were affected. I threw out one of the Coprosmas, but the two straggly survivors are barely hanging on. I've had to prune off the denuded branches, so they are basically just a few sticks with a couple of leaves clinging for dear life. I spent $28 on 5 plants, plus $13 for shipping, for a total of $41 - with only one $5 plant doing well. Disappointed. |
