Audubon Workshop

It is vitally important that we know if plants are treated with neonicotinoids or neonics as they will kill the bees yet this catalog does not mention this fact at all. Those neonics stay in the perennials (the roots) year after year if they were treated systemically with neonics, so that every year the flowers will have the neonics in them, thus these bee loving plants will not serve as a food supply to the bees but rather a death supply. I emailed Audobon Workshop to find out this vitally important information and am awaiting their reply.

I ordered a birdbath water heater for my wife on 12/10 and was given a delivery estimate of 12/27 to 12/29. That was reasonable given the timeframe. Today, 12/23, checked the order status as sometimes companies will give conservative time estimates. I found the item had not even shipped and would not arrive until February. They did not notify me or ask if I would consent to wait as this goes beyond 30 days. I cancelled the order and found it elsewhere. What really upsets me is the poor customer service in not notifying me. Additionally, I believe the FTC 30 day rule applies here: //www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule

Ordered four items on March 5th, 3 items arrived today with one item backordered. One item, Hello Yellow Butterfly weed, grown in their BioPot arrived desiccated with little sign of life. I have placed in water, but have little hope for a healthy revival. (I will wait further results before contacting the company for return) One item, Gay Butterflies Butterfly Weed shipped bare root appears very healthy. A potted plant, Ruby Slipper Oakleaf Hydrangia, hade several branches broken off on arrival due to poor packaging, but appears healthy. The backordering of a honeysuckle vine has me concerned.

I ordered 2 plants at the end of March. When I saw a ship date window that stretched from 4/14 to 5/6, I had my misgivings. When I received an order update 4/21, moving my ship date to 5/6 to 5/26, I called to cancel my order. If there was an indication on the web site that stated something about these long ship windows and delays, then I'd order (or not) accordingly, but I would simply say that they failed to set my expectations. I'll probably never know about the quality of their plants...sorry.

On 3/2/12 I ordered 7 plants from the Audubon Workshop hoping to have them in time for a garden walk in June. I kept on checking the status of my order only to find the ship date moved back. I made 2 telephone calls to the company and was told that they would put a rush on the order. It is now 6/19/12 and I just received a E-Mail notice that the last of my order has been canceled because the plants are not available. So I got 0 plants from my order made in March.

On 3/13/12 I placed an order for a Fragrant Cloud Honeysuckle vine. Ever since I was a wee lad, I've always loved the smell of honeysuckle. On 4/13/12 I received a shipping confirmation with estimated delivery date of 4/16, a tad optimistic I thought, since it was shipped via USPS. The order arrived today, 4/19......I was reluctant to open the box after reading on Dave's Garden where Audobon is affiliated with Plants Alive ( now THERE'S a misnomer!); however, I was pleasantly surprised when I found a plant in amazingly good shape. A sip of water and it perked right up. Unlike Spring Hill Nursery, Audobon seems like an ok place to order.

Posted on April 10, 2012, updated April 14, 2012 I should have read these reviews first before ordering 7 white dwarf butterfly bushes. I ordered them in February and was told the shipping date would be the end of March. Then I received several emails moving the shipping date to the end of April/first of May. I have emailed the company twice asking that they ship the plants because I was planting everything but was holding planting some waiting for the order from Audubon. Their response to my first email was that the order was shipping the first of April. I have not received them and their emails still tell me it will be the end of April first of May. I did not get a response from my second email. I will never order from Audubon again because of this problem.

I have been waiting for a Nuthatch Nestbox my mom ordered for me and it still hasen't been shipped yet. The estimated delivery day keeps changing in the order status. I wonder what is taking them so long to ship the nestbox out. I wonder if it will be shipped out at all.

Posted on July 19, 2011, updated August 7, 2011 Posted on June 29, 2011, updated July 19, 2011 I got an end-of-season email that advertised 10 chokecherry trees for $10. Wow, great deal, and the shipping was cheap, too. Along come the chokecherries, and they look pretty good for a buck a tree. I set them out in the shade until I could get them planted. Good thing I waited, because a day later I got a postcard in the mail that said my order was canceled because chokecherries are prohibited in this state. The local extension service tells me they are on a "prohibited" list because they could bring a fungus that could damage the fruit crops! Did I mention that I live next to an 80 acre orchard? I called customer service for what I thought would be a simple request for a refund. They won't issue one because of a canceled order with one of their "sister" companies. I don't have any idea what they're talking about, but sending plants to a state where they are illegal, and then refusing to refund the money FOR ANY REASON is just plain bad business. I'm letting my state Dept of Agriculture know, and I'm filing a complaint with the BBB.

Posted on June 24, 2011, updated June 24, 2011 Posted on June 10, 2011, updated June 24, 2011 I ordered the "$100 for $20" special at the end of May. Back then the estimated delivery date was set between June 6-24th but it's been creeping later and later since. Today it says it won't ship until June 24th or as late as July 15th! That's way too late for planting stuff, and it could end up coming even later than that. I tried the customer service but aside from an auto-response, I haven't heard back and the date continues to move. I can't imagine what state those poor plants will be in by the time they get to me, if they get here at all. :-( Neutral until I see the condition of the plants; again, if they come at all.

I ordered two varieties that I have never seen in my local nurseries: Mexican Flame vine and Mayan Gold Trumpet plant. I asked that the plants be shipped the end of April/beginning of May to escape the late frosts. Plants were shipped per my request. The packaging was great! The plants were healthy , well-rooted plugs, in sturdy six packs with the soil still moist. The price was great for three of each variety. They are growing well, and I expect them to bloom by the end of June. I would order again from Audubon Workshop.

I ordered three lobelia cardinalis 'Fried Green Tomatoes' PPAF. I got them in the mail today. All three were tiny, moldy, and one has severe root rot. It will be a miracle if they survive. Terrible plants for $12.99 ea. I feel VERY ripped off. I will not order from this company again.

Posted on April 13, 2010, updated April 15, 2010 I ordered some tender coreopsis, z7-8 for my zone 5 area, to use as an annual. I ordered in March to take advantage of their special. I received the plants 1 week later! I called and complained and was told to just put the plants in a dark garage and keep moist. I fully expected to get the plants no earlier than mid May, since they state that they pay attention to zones and weather conditions before shipping. I now have to try to nurture these tiny plants for 6 weeks before I can plant them, and pray that I don't kill them! On top of everything else I am having surgery tomorrow and may not be 100% for a while. This was my first attempt to buy a live plant online and may be my last. The one good thing is that the plants were healthy. I am not very happy with the current outcome.

My friend ordered with them and bought a few plants for me. Plants arrived healthy and we're well packaged. I was really surprised when I read they were associated with Garden Alives. Our experience with this order was excellent.

One of three Garden's Alive companies that I have had a pleasant experience with (the others are Brecks and Michigan Bulb). The flowers for the hummingbird hanging baskets were potted, alive and are growing. Bird supplies I have ordered were as described and in perfect condition. Always use a coupon.

Decided to take a chance with the $25 coupon, also took advantage of a buy-one-get-one-free special. Plants were held until the right time for me to plant. I was very impressed with the packing - special plastic snap together containers for each plant. The plant themselves were a nice size and seem quite healthy. I would purchase from this company again.

I recieved a coupon for free 25.00 worth of free plants and ordered two arrowwood verbernum. They emailed me and let me know they were shipped... Thet arrived in great condition. The soil was moist. There is great roots and the shrubs were a nice size for mail order, I got them in the ground and a week there is already growth on them!! Very satisfied. I have ordered from them before and will in the future. Ronna Bonneau

I received a coupon in the mail and decided to try them out. I ordered some ground cover plants and was pleasantly surprised. They were well packed in pots and the soil was still moist, even though it took me 2 days to get to the PO to collect them. Plants look nice and healthy and should do well.

After receiving the catalog for a few years and thinking it was too good to be true ($25 coupon), I decided to give them a try last year. I placed my order in February 2007 and received it in May. I ordered 1 each of Keys of Heaven, Red Dragon Periscaria, and Variegated Weigela. All items were extremely small upon arrival but I planted them promptly into my flower gardens. I waited and waited for the items to grow but they never did. I e-mailed the company and they have scheduled them to re-ship this spring. I am posting my rating as a neutral and I will change it to either a positive or negative depending on the condition of the replacements when they arrive.

D-mailed Customer on 4/22/08 - as of today have received no response.

SInce I've ordered bird food from this company and was pleased, I thought I might try the plants, especially when a $20.00 coupon was included on my last catalog. So far I've received half of my order, 2 different iris and some Autumn daylilies. They are incredibly tiny, tiny, tiny, and barely alive. It's been 2 weeks and the rest of my order still hasn't arrived. I don't feel the plants I did get were a good value for my money, all things considered, they should have been embarrassed to send such poor specimans in the first place. I hope I get the rest of my order soon, but I certainly will not order from them again.

I placed my first order with Audubon Workshop for a butterfly bush garden. It arrived packaged nicely, plants were healthy, hardy looking, and all went into the ground the following day. But we had a doozie of a snow storm that weekend and I thought I would lose the whole "crop", but I only suffered 1 casuality, a pink butterfly bush. I immediately emailed that I had one black shriveled up plant and they replaced it pronto. The replacement is in and the whole garden pkg is growing nicely. I was happy with the product, service and replacement. So I would be happy to recommend this company!!!

I received the $25 coupon from Audobon Workshop but when I attempted to redeem it a nightmare began. I ordered online and the coupon was not accepted. I sent them an email and was told to indicate in the comments section that I wanted to redeem the coupon. I did so, but my credit card was charged anyway. I sent them an email again referencing the previous email. This time I was told that I could not use the coupon because I had already received a 30% discount. I responded that I had never ordered from them before so that was not possible. They responded with apologies and said that they would honor the coupon. At this point I thought the issue was resolved, but then received yet another email from them stating that they would not honor the coupon because I had received a 30% discount. After all the hassle and their flip flop responses, I told them to cancel the order and credit my account. They said they couldn't do that because the order had already been shipped. This went on and on for days until I finally told them that I would dispute the credit card charges. After a number of emails they finally issued the credit, but I'm certain they only did so because they knew I would dispute the charge and they wouldn't get paid anyway. The experience was a nightmare! Nothing is worth the hassle and frustration they put me through. Their customer service is about the worst I have ever experienced anytime, anywhere. I will never order anything from them again.

I received a $25.00 off coupon last Fall on their catalog. I ordered the the blue and white dutch iris collection. The order came quickly at the correct planting time for my area. The order was perfectly packaged and the bulbs were large and in excellent shape. We had some very warm winter weather here in Illinois earlier in the winter and the plants have already sprouted. Now we have been in the deep freeze below zero temps and I am wondering if the plants will grow again in the Spring? I was extremely happy with everything from this company and am now placing an order with them as I type. They again have given me another $20.00 coupon and I am more than happy to make use of it.

I have ordered twice now, and everything I have received was very healthy and vigorous! I plan to continue doing business with them as they have some hard-to-find plants (like Partridge Berry). VERY PLEASED with quality.

I have been a customer of Gardens Alive! for several years so when I received this Audubon Workshop catalog I thought I would try them. The order arrived in a timely fashion and I was quite impressed with the type of plant containers they used. They were packed well and arrived healthy. I will order from this company again.

I ORDERED THE BUTTERFLY-HUMMINGBIRD COLLECTION LAST YEAR WITH THE $25. COUPON.THE ITEMS ARRIVED AT THE END OF MAY DUE TO THE WEATHER IN ILLINOIS.THEY DIDN'T CHARGE MY CREDIT CARD UNTIL THE ITEMS WERE SHIPPED OUT, WHICH WAS NICE, SINCE I PLACED MY ORDER 2-3 MONTHS EARLIER.ALL 16 PLANTS ARRIVED ALIVE, THOUGH SMALLER THAN I EXPECTED AND I PLANTED THEM RIGHT AWAY.BY THE END OF THE SUMMER THEY WERE LUSH, FULL AND FLOWERING!NOW IT IS JUNE AGAIN AND THEY ARE BIGGER AND MORE BEAUTIFUL:) I HAVE GOTTEN MANY COMPLIMENTS ON THIS OASIS FOR THE BIRDS & BUTTERFLIES AND I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THIS COMPANY!I TRIED OTHER MAIL ORDER COMPANIES THIS YEAR FOR MORE FLOWERS AND I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE QUALITY I RECIEVED.A FEW PLANTS HAVE ALREADY DIED AND WERE SHIPPED MICRO SMALL.PLEASE DO NOT MAKE MY MISTAKE AND ORDER INSTEAD FROM THIS COMPANY.YES, IT SEEMS NOT EVERYONE HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE, BUT THE COMPANY SEEMS EAGER TO RIGHT A WRONG.UNLIKE THE COMPANIES THAT I AM NOW DEALING WITH THIS YEAR! (MY MISTAKE) I WILL BE ORDERING FROM THIS COMPANY AGAIN NEXT YEAR:)

I ordered a complete garden (made up mostly of ornamental grasses). I received the order at the beggining of May which was good. All of the grasses were in good condition - though smaller than I thought they would be. I was also supposed to get two "shrubs". The shrubs were smaller than the grasses and both dead. I emailed them and they sent two more within 2 weeks - one looked great - one was dead. I emailed them again and they apoligized for the problems and said they would ship another right away. All of the grasses seem to be doing well in the garden. I was pleased that they replied to my emails so quickly and also re-shipped so quickly.

Plants arrived as listed. I didn't have high expectations, but things went pretty well.

I placed a small order with this company this spring. Plants were small but healthy and the shipping was fast. Overall, a good experience.

I received several grasses, creeping phlox and shrubs from them last week and all arrived in good condition with the exception of one blue fescue, however I think it will bounce back so I will give them a positive rating for now. Also, the Spirea shrubs were smaller than I expected, but still seemed like a good value for the money. I had no problems with the order processing or the shipping and they were packaged well. I will return later to post any updates after they begin to grow.

After some deliberation about my rating (neg vs neut) I decided on neg because the overall experience left me feeling that way. I ordered an upside down woodpecker suet feeder for sm. birds & woodpeckers. Only squirrels came, and eventually knocked the feeder to the ground. Since the item did not come w/placement suggestions, I called the C/S dept. Although the rep. was cheerful, she had no suggestions to offer, after looking up their product info., but said she could have a product specialist or somthing like that contact me within 24-48 hours. That was about 2 weeks ago. Still waiting. In the meantime, I did receive another ad. on a special on their healthy bird attracting plants. If they could only devote the same energy into customer care, I think their rating might improve.

On 6/26/05, I ordered a simple bag of bird seed. Two weeks later I e mailed them to inquire status of order and received no reply. I sent them two additional e mails 5 days later and still no reply. Today I e mailed them and told them to cancel order (if they ever read their e mails). I will not call them because their phone number is a toll call and will not pay additional money to to contact them when e mail is just as efficient, if they would answer any. 5 weeks is way too long to receive such a small order. I will not be ordering from them again because of not receiving order and not answering 3 e mails.

On July 22 we contacted the customer and aksed for their account infomation to help take care of the problems with their order. As of today we still have not received a reply.

My husband and I ordered a complete garden from Audubon Workshop meant to attract songbirds. I understand that conditions have been difficult in the midwest this year, between late frosts and then droughts, but their shipping took FOREVER and then, when it shipped six weeks late, it was supposed to arrive when we were out of town and they gave us quite a hassle about delivering it at an appropriate time. The first shipment arrived as "box 1 of 2" but we had no tracking # and box 2 never arrived (the larger plants, including a tree). The poker primroses died as soon as we put them in the ground, and the pink mist scabiosas withered. We called and they reshipped the dead/dying plants, as well as the box that had never arrived. The reshipping and customer service was prompt and helpful and we were quite pleased with that. The poker primroses died again, and only a couple of the scabiosas survived. I can't really say if this is their fault or mine because I'm a novice gardener; we also haven't had much luck with the black-eyed susans, but that might be the drought. We received two or three sets of paperwork on everything, presumably because of the reship, and the customer service just seemed CONFUSED at this company. Nobody ever knew when anything was shipping or why I had three sets of receipts or what happened to box 2 or whatever. However, they were quite prompt and helpful when I asked for replacement plants for the dead ones, so that offset the confusion. I might shop here again, but I think in the future I would only order one thing at a time. Apparently multiple plants in multiple boxes is just too confusing.

I decided in March to give this company a try using the $25.00 coupon that came on their catalog. I ordered their butterfly bush collection (4 plants) and their "wild romance" aster (3 plants). They have a spot on their order form to put special instructions, so I asked them specifically to not send my order till May since I'm in Minnesota and planting here before then is just too risky. I received my plants at the end of the first week of May, and my card was not charged until the last week of April, so that impressed me. I'm also extremely pleased with the quality of the plants I got and how they were packed. The butterfly bush plants are huge compared to any other mail order plants I've ever gotten; probably 6-8 inches tall with a good sturdy main stem. The asters came in 2 inch pots and the plants were at least 3 inches tall and very healthy. The stuff was very well packed and everything was nice and moist. I would definitely order from this company again.

I received 4 plants from Audubon Workshop today all in great condition via a free 25$ try-out offer. They even paid for shipping and handling! The 3 moonbeam coreopsis plants were well packed and larger than I expected. The dwarf bleeding heart had a great root system and a few green healthy sprouts on top. I would definitely buy from them again if these plants are an example of what they have to offer.

I recently took advantage of the of the $20.00 coupon that came along with this catalog. I was very leery about ordering anything from this company because of the negative reviews. I ordered the 3 roosting pockets for birds @$14.95, so even with the shipping it came to under $20.00. I placed a phone order, the customer service rep was very friendly and told me I would have the order next week. I truly did not expect to receive anything. About a week later the box arrived, the roosting pockets were exactly as in the picture and the box was wrapped well. I am still not sure if I would order from them again. I am glad to have found this website because just days before I had filled out order forms for several other mail order catalogues that turned out to be associated with Gardens Alive, and after reading the negative reviews, I am so very glad I saved my money and have used this forum to place orders with reputable companies. Thank you for doing a great service to us gardeners.

I ordered a HUmmingbird Arret container garden. When the plants finally arrived- 2 were fine, 3 were bone dry, 3 were soaked and rootbound, 1 was dead , 1 almost dead. (they have since keeled over). I had a coupon for a first time buyer- $20 off a $20 order so I got the thing for $5 and some change- so even with the dead plants a good deal. THEY DIDN"T APPLY the COUPON! They charge me the full price, and while they are will ing to "fix" it by sending in some paperwork and sending me a check, that will take several days and my account is now in a negative balance! They took the $ electronicly but they can't retun it that way. I will NOT be ordering from them again. Do not use your CC people - Mail them a check. Heather

I've made a couple purchases in the last 6 month's. I had no problem with the first purchase, it cost me nothing with the coupon. Recently I tried to purchase with a 50% discount coupon. They lost my order, even when I produced the order number they couldn't find it. After being on hold for about 20minutes, I decided to e-mail my problem to them. I am now waiting for a response and will update in the near future.

I used the $20.00 gift certificate that came on the catalog. I ordered 4 packets of seeds, and was not really expecting to see them. Less than 2 weeks later all 4 packets came. I started the seeds indoors, and with in a few days they had all germinated. I was very pleased with the quick response, and the quaility of the seeds.

Based on the experiences that others have had with this company I was hesitant to order. I like others also had the $25 off coupon offer. I decided to place an order, but only on items other than plants...just to see what my experience would be like. I ordered a hummingbird feeder and a bird feeder. I received each under separate cover as the hummingbird feeder was on backorder. The bird feeder was advertised as having a clear outer container that would hold the birdseed. When it arrived, the outer container was blue...something I did not want. I contacted customer service and not only did they send me a bird feeder with the clear outer container...they also told me to keep the one they sent in error. They were very pleasant and were eager to correct the problem. Because they took care of the customer...me...in such a timely and pleasant manner I will do business with them in the future.

I used a free $25 coupon. My order was overbilled on my credit card by $13 even though when I made the order on the internet the amount showing to be billed was correct. i called them to explain and they reversed the entire charge so I got the order for free. I received my shipment very quickly and everything was in good condition.

I ordered 27 plants from Gardens Alive DBA Audubon Workshop, in early March. When my order arrived some plants looked healthy and strong, others hadn't been packaged properly; were dried out and sickly looking. I planted all of them in hopes the sickly ones would perk up, but it was too late. They were dead the next day. I emailed Audubon Workshop to tell them the problem and to request replacements for the 9 plants that didn't make it, but received no response. Since then I have sent three more emails and, in case there was an internet problem, a fax, as well. They haven't responded. At all. Since then 3 more plants that looked like they were going to turn around, have died too. I'm a lifelong gardener. These plants were in good soil, with appropriate light and water, surrounded by other thriving plants. I'm very disappointed that Garden's Alive DBA as Audubon Workshop would be so responsive while taking my money and so non-responsive when called upon to make good on their consumer satisfaction pledge!

I received a catalog with a coupon for $20 worth of free merchandise. I ordered a natural log bird feeder that included a large package of non-animal suet for $19.95. I only paid for shipping. I received my order within 1 week and was very pleased with the quality. The feeder was much larger than depicted in the catalog, and was made of a fresh cut cedar log that smelled wonderful.

I ordered some trees from their catalog. I received a Winter King Hawthorn (which I had a hard time finding elsewhere reasonably priced), two fringe trees and three blackhaw viburnums. Unfortunately, because of delays in some work in our yard, I had to put them in pots, but all six trees are thriving and have grown a lot this summer. I will get them in the ground in the fall. The prices were better than I could get locally. The plants were not huge, but were healthy, well-packed and as advertised.

I ordered the 'hummer station' feeder. First off is miss repersented in the catalog. It is shown was ant trap that isn't included, but nowhere in the description is that mentioned. Second it way over priced. 18 dollars + S&H compared to 4 dollars for a similar feeder at Wal-mart.