Trans-Pacific Nursery (WorldPlants.com)

This company is closed due to the owners death 1-2 years ago. They sold what remaining plants they had left in 2013. I ordered jap maples from there for over 10 years. They were hands down the best place to get 1-2 yr old grafts. They had several hundred varieties and were very fairly priced $15-$25 per tree. The website, which is now down, was a great source of information and photos. I have many nice trees thanks to this wonderful company. I wish the family and all their employees the best.

It appears that they may have gone out of business or are doing so. At least in terms of the Search Service they provided. It returns 404. Repeatedly. Other links do likewise. Too bad - they provided a valuable service and there is nothing like what they did.

Posted on September 18, 2012, updated September 25, 2012 I'm placing a neutral rating on what appears to be a respectable company that's going through changes. I placed my order in August realizing they would begin shipping in September. However, most reputable businesses will not charge your credit card, which was done six weeks ago, until they ship, which hasn't yet happened.

Posted on August 21, 2007, updated November 16, 2011 I didn't realize Trans-Pacific Nursery was listed on GWD. I've been a customer of theirs over four years and never received an unhealthy plant. Plants arrive healthy, fairly large, (especially for the price,) and well-packaged during shipping. Emails have always been answered without long delays. They sell interesting plants I haven't seen elsewhere. TPN has plants for various zones, another good quality. Though most of the plants I buy are raised in containers as house plants since I'm in zone 5. Toni

Ordered three plants. Poncirus trifoliate 'Flying Dragon' and 2 Chilean Guava. Plants arrived in a crushed priority mail box, but the soil in each of the pots wasn't even disturbed. Plants are very healthy, and a good size for the price in my opinion. The Chilean Guava was something that I had great difficulty finding and I am especially happy with these two particular plants. Great experience and I added worldplants.com to my list of favorites and doubt this will be my last order from them.

I ordered two one-year japanese maples from them. They arrived in good shape, despite the box looking like someone took a hatchet to it. The sizes were comparable to what was depicted on their website, or perhaps a bit larger. Both plants appeared healthy, though the grafts are not as pretty as they could be. One of the rootstocks is significantly bigger in diameter than the top, leaving quite a large stub to the side. I understand they are young plants, and will give them time to grow out of it, but at this stage they are a bit less seamless than I had hoped. They were prompt and helpful over email explaining what to do with the plastic and rubber band still wrapping one of the grafts (answer if you're curious: remove it as soon as you don't expect the plant to get bumped around anymore)

I am giving them a Neutral because the first time I ordered from them I got great plants. The second time, however, was a different story. I ordered about $40 worth of stuff and here I am almost 2 mos later and no plants or correspondence from them. Sent them an email inquiring about my order but never received a reply. I have sent them a second inquiry and hopefully they will be able to resolve as I love their unique selection and would hate to stop doing business with them if I cannot trust that I will receive what I order.

I've been a customer for years, and consider this nursery to be one of my "hidden secrets". They offer unusual and exotic plants that can't be found anywhere else. Their shipping is unsurpassed, they literally tie the pots into the box, so they don't move around. They also use packing material and 2 rubber bands to keep the dirt and soil in the pots. This year I ordered my usual large purchase, and received 2 boxes that had been shipped together. One was severely damaged in shipping, about half of it was smashed. I had a terrible sick feeling about the plants, but when I opened the box I was in for a surprise- only one plant had fallen out of it's pot, and one vine had broken. I contacted Gerry and he immediately sent out a replacement vine, no cost for the vine or the shipping. I HIGHLY recommend them, but hesitate to do so, I'm afraid the more people that order, the less likely they will have enough plants to go around! LOL. If you like unusual and rare plants, this is the place for you!

I have to say that my positive rating in this case is not very emphatic, but it's still positive. These folks offer reasonably priced plants, some at bargain prices. My last order a month ago included a Brugmansia, an Oxalis, Stapelia, Stylidium and Selaginella - an entertainingly wide range of uncommon material. I have not found them to be particularly quick shippers in the high season. A species Impatiens I ordered arrived dormant with a label indicating such - a nice touch. Their packing leaves a little bit to be desired - though they obviously go to some trouble to keep things from shifting around too much, my last shipment arrived with about half the soil out of one pot - not a problem, but not as good as some others. Their plants are usually vigorous growers and healthy. Some are larger than I expected, others smaller. It seems to be a small operation providing rare and interesting material - I'll be happy to continue to provide them business on occasion.

I placed an order via the website Monday morning and I had my plant by Thursday afternoon. Great turn around time, the plant arrived well-packaged and healthy. I will definitely order from them in the future.

I've purchased from this nursery over the past 2 seasons - '07 & '08. Delivery is prompt and the plants are well packaged. In fact, it provided difficult for me to remove them. All my plants have arrived healthy.

just received my first order and could not be happier - the plants are nice and healthy with no signs of stress - the packing was superior - another nice touch was a reduction in the shipping costs - they used a flat rate box which reduced the shipping - I have NEVER had that done before!!! Highly recommend this nursery

It's been about a month since I got my first order, and everything has transplanted easily and smoothly. The Heliconia and Lycoris are already pushing out growth, and arrived extra large and perfectly healthy. Even the unusual white fuchsia (I usually kill fuchsias in short order) has taken off remarkably. The "Walking Lily" looks like it will bloom this year. I only wish my budget allowed me to order one of everything! One little quirk was that the shipping ended up being about 75 cents less than what the check-out totaled. So in the future I would use my credit card instead of my debit card to pay, as I had to use the white-out in my register. That's not a complaint, just a suggestion for those of us with a penchant for plants and balanced checkbooks! :)

I ordered 4 Eucalyptus plants near the end of their shipping season, and although I was told the plants would ship in 1 to 2 weeks, the order arrived within a week from Oregon to south Florida! Everything arrived in good shape and was packed well. I'm very pleased with the service and will certainly order again.

I ordered 6 plants and they were shipped promptly. Some were going dormant for the season and this was noted on my order form. All plants look good and the packaging was excellent! They are very conscientious folks and I would definitely order from them again.

I purchased 3 Japanese maples from this company earlier this spring and when the order arrived I was so impressed with the quality, price and packaging of my order that I immediately placed a second order. I was equally impressed with the plants I received the second time and I will surely order from this company again and would recommend them to anyone. I have never received mail order plants that were as well packaged and arrived in such good condition as from this company.

I ordered 3 Japanese Maples from Trans-Pacific Nursery (World Plant Shop). I was so pleased with the trees and how fast I received the order that I ordered two more maples and eagerly await thier arrival. This company is outstanding!

I ordered Five Japanese Maples in two seperate orders. The plants are shipped in a manner that would make it impossible to damage (other and smashing the box). The shipping time is within their estimated time, I ordered the plants and recieved them with a month - just as the front page of the website stated. The plants themselves are in excellent shape and are better than described. I will order from the company again and wouldn't be affraid to recommend this company to friends and family.

Communication with this vendor was very timely. Plants were very healthy and packaging was excellent. They are a good source of rare plants and the pricing is very reasonable. I would definitely order from them again.

I just received a very nice Gunnera from this company. It is the nicest plant. I'm very pleased with it. Very healthy looking and packed very well. Took a week to get here but they say up front they are a week to 2 weeks out on shipping. I don't mind waiting at all if I get a nice healthy plant. Robinz

I ordered trillium, erythronium albidum, umbrella palm, and some jack in the pulpits. I am very impressed with the packaging, and the size of the plants. The shipping charges were minimal, and I feel that this is a quality nursery that provides such good mail order service (this is rare). The packaging was wrapped very well, and the packaging was actually stapled to the box. It was very secure, and they arrived in perfect condition. The plants were large with leaves for mail order, and I am very pleased. I am going out to plant them right now. Thank you very much World Plants for this wonderful delivery! I will definitely be buying from this nursery in the future.

I was very plaesed with my order from this company. They have good service and attention to detail. Plants arrived well packed and in good condition.

I ordered 2 japanese maples from World Plant and were received in about a month. I was shocked at the care my order was packed. They were so carefully and snugly packed it would have taken much to have damaged my plants. Not many firms will go to this extreme in the safety of packing orders. The order traveled from Oregon to Mississippi, a distance of some 2,600 (driving) miles. I was delighted with the condition of the plants (very healthy) and the size was actually larger than I expected. Remember these were $15 items (other places want an arm and the leg). Although one plant was substituted, as per my authorization, it was a most reasonable selection according to the intructions I gave at the time of order. I will order from this firm again and look at other selections in their online catalog. To say the least I am highly pleased.

I just got my order yesterday. The plants are very good size for the price. Healthy, and packaged very well-nothing moved, not even the soil. The Geranium plants have buds and even a full bloom ; one was in a bigger pot than specified, but the same price. I would definitely order from them again. I was also surprised at how quickly they arrived from Oregon to Long Island, NY-I think they shipped on the 21st and I got them on the 25th. Great selection of unusual plants at excellent prices.

This is a great company. I purchased some dodecatheon from them and they look healthy. Now if the slugs dont eat them I will relly be happy. Time to get the bait out. The only thing i would recomend is that they have a little bit more variety. But most of the plants are hard to find and at great prices who really cares!

These folks are great to deal w/- everything I ordered is beautiful, healthy, etc. I recommend them and use them often!

Small plants but of very good quality and well rooted. Reasonably priced for the size too. Will order again.

Small plants but good roots so they make it fine they will just need a little TLC for a few years before they are trees.

First, I must say that this nurseries prices are what led me to purchase from them. Beyond that, the shipping was very fast(2 days from the west coast to the east) and reasonable. The plants were in good condition and packaged well. If all nurseries would use them as an example, and ship priority mail, then shipping would not cost the consumer so much. As far as the plant quality and value for the money, I was very satisfied. The plants appeared as they had never been shipped. They were not extremely large, but considering the price I paid, I was satisfied. I would not hesitate ordering more plants from this nursery in the future.

Ive orderd from this company two times. Both times plants arrived bigger than expected for the price and very healthy. Plants also arrived very well packaged.. They have a great interesting selection and I will order from them again.

I placed an order, received prompt emails, the plants arrived healthy and in a timely manner, even during their busiest season! I'm happy and will order again.

I'm surprised by all of the comments about small plants on this page. I received my first order from this nursery recently, and the plants were quite large for the price. The ones that are just breaking dormancy don't have much showing above ground yet, but their root systems are quite substantial. I found several plants on this site that I had never seen anywhere else, and at prices that seem incredibly low for exotics. The packaging system is the best I've seen, the shipping method is extremely quick, and the plants arrive without the slightest sign of stress. I would recommend this nursery to other gardeners without hesitation or reservation.

I have ordered many times and always been happy and the plants always look healthy. I did have a problem with overbilling once but they fixed it right away. I plan on continuing ordering from them again and again....

These people obviously care about what they are doing. I have ordered from them twice. Both orders came very well packed and promptly. They ship potted plants, albiet, small, but healthy. Some of the plants in the second order were smaller than normal, so they sent a partial refund check in the box!

I ordered two varieties of Japanese Maple from Trans-Pacific earlier in the Spring, and will probably order more things from them in the future. As others have mentioned, their site and ordering system are a little funky, but just go with the flow and you will not be disappointed. Shipping did take a couple of weeks, but they announced that clearly, and when the little trees arrived, they were in lovely, moist condition. I was extremely impressed with the variety and exoticism of Trans-Pacifics offerings. And considering that all I can find locally are the standard 'Bloodgood' maples, in much larger sizes costing upwards of $100 each, being able to choose between dozens and dozens of cultivars for $15 each (albeit much smaller -- but hey, I'm not in a rush!) was a treat indeed. Next year I'll probably give some of their exotic perennials a try as well.

I ordered a couple of hard-to-find Acer palmatum cultivars for my collection from World Plants last Tuesday. Their on-line ordering facility is a bit novel -- but apparently functional. Within two hours, World Plants had contacted me via e-mail to ensure that I was prepared to accept winter delivery. They shipped the trees on Wednesday and I had them on Friday. The trees were well-packed and appear to be healthy, well-grafted specimens. I ordered, and expected to get, small trees (e.g., 4" pot). Compared to young grafts that I have acquired from other internet vendors, the trees that I received from World Plants were as good or better than I expected. All in all, this was a very smooth transaction and I am very happy with with World Plant's quality of service and quality of product. I will be ordering from them again in the future.

I was very pleased with the excellent communication, accomodating the changes I made to my order, and good plant price and selection. Although the order took two weeks before it was shipped, it was clearly stated on the web site. Once the plants were shipped they arrived quickly. I would order from this company again.

I have ordered from this nursery several times over the years and have never been disappointed. Great service and quality plants add to the experience.

It took about two weeks from the time I placed my order until I received it, but to Trans-Pacific's credit, they didn't charge my card until they shipped the plants two days ago. Trans-Pacific also warned on their website that orders were taking two to three weeks to ship. The plants arrived well-packaged, and in good condition. What I got were two nicely leaved "stick-trees" and a 4" Zantedeschia, all fair (as in equitable, not as in less-than-good) value for the money. The Japanese Maple ('Viridis')I received for $15.00 was about normal for a maple of that size, and the Kousa dogwood ('Satomi') was a bargain at $10.00. The Zantedeschia was $5.00--a fair price for a seldom-seen 4" perennial plant variety. I prefer to start from "stick-trees": 1-2 foot tall pencil-thick well-rooted saplings. They cost less, and catch up to their 3 to 5 gallon brethren very quickly. They are also much easier to plant, and tend to survive the rigors of my climate and my garden better. Overall, I'm quite pleased, and will probably place an order next year.

Speedy delivery, good communication. Got three tiny plants clear across the country (Oregon to Florida) in 6 days, including a weekend. (Plants were in a box for only 2 days) A safe bet for professional service.

I just recieved my plants and am so pleased! the shipping method of sewing the plants to the box is excellent and they arrived looking far better than the paper packed one's do. the total cost of my plants plus shipping also could not be beat, great prices. I can't wait to be able to order japanese maples, which apparently will be in may. best mail order experience this season!

I had a shipping problem which was swiftly resolved (damadged plants replaced VERY promptly). It was not their fault as the pots had been SEWN to a heavy cardboard backing; the box must have undergone a violent adventure! The site is a bit eccentric, and they stress that you not call (you won't get anyone. An email is the way to go.) The site has a lot of images which are useful; there is a lot of good info there too. It is also entertaining; I have read it for some time without buying anything! They have many unique items impossible to obtain elsewhere; I will certainly use them again.

Very good doing business with them!! They have a good variety of plants and good prices. Both times I've ordered, the plants have been a little small, but none the less healthy. I recently ordered about 8 or 9 plants, including 5 different Jap. maples. The order was shipped timely and all the plants arrived in great shape but one. I e-mailed him and within a week (4 days, actually) I had a replacement which was in fine condition. Hey, accidents happen and this guy knows how to handle them!! I will definitely keep him in mind for future ordering!!

They have so many intersting and hard to find plants! I love their selection! My order came in one week and I'm really happy with my new 'babies'!

I think mail order nursery shopping rarely gets much better than this place! I just received the most beautiful shipment! They have a wonderful packing system - they actually sew the plants to the base of the box by threading twine through the pots. This eliminates the need for packing material which can badly crush some plants. The prices are more than reasonable in price, especially since they are growing in much larger pots than one ordinarily gets from a mail order for perennials and woodies. I ordered over the internet and shipping was within 2 wks. I do wish they had a substitution place on their order form, but that is just a tiny thing compared the enormously interesting selection of high quality plants, promptly shipped and beautifully packed! I have also used their world plant finder in the past to find a particularly rare bulb. They promptly did a search of their resources and found a source for the plant! This is a free service - and so gives an indication of how absolutely wild these guys are about collecting plants and keeping up with what's going on in the plant world.

I have ordered plants and seed several times from World Plants and gotten great service and excellent quality for my money. The orders are packed well and all have made the trip from Oregon to Georgia with no problems at all. They are great people to deal with and will also help you find plants that they don't offer. World Plants is my favorite source for unusual and hard to find plants.

Very good nursery to do mail order business with. The owner is very knowledgeable and helpful with japanese maples. I ordered 8 varieties at very reasonable prices for 2 year old bare roots (you generally only get these if you order during the winter, otherwise you get plants that have just been grafted). The plants were in excellent shape when received. They have a large number of difficult to find perennials, grasses, and woody plants at reasonable prices. Very pleasurable to do business with them.

Another satisfied customer here. Very nice plants, excellent selection and great service. Highly recommend them for those who want to push the zonal envelope; you can get a healthy small specimen of something you'd like to try very inexpensively and see what happens.

Ordered for the first time from this company - what a treasure-trove the catalog is! Very ingenious packaging even prevented the infamous US Postal Service from damaging the contents. Plants were larger than I had expected considering the prices, all are thriving. I will order again from this company. They do seem to have some problems with their online ordering software.

Trans-Pacific is a nursery specializing in rare and exotic plants. Among other things, they have a large variety of Japanese maples (acer palmatum, more than I knew existed), and a number of cold-hardy eucalyptus (for us transplanted Californians). The owner makes periodic collecting trips to China, working with the Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan. The results of these trips, both small plants and seeds, are available from the nursery. Plants are all shipped in pots, not bare root. If you live in the Portland, Oregon, area, you can pick up your plants in person at the Beaverton Farmers' Market if desired. I've purchased about a dozen plants from Trans-Pacific. All have arrived in excellent condition. (Note that I picked them up in person, though, since the nursery is local to me.) Plants are typically small, but they're also inexpensive: $3-$4 for most. This is a small nursery, and the items in stock seem to vary constantly. It works both ways though: they may be out of stock on some items in the catalog, but they also often have items that aren't in the catalog at all yet (such as new varieties under trial and seeds). They've always been responsive to my email questions.