Exotic Plumeria (Exotic Hawaiian Lei Flower)

I ordered one rooted Celadine plumeria, since I was a little hesitant after I read the reviews on this website. My plumeria arrived 8 days after I ordered it. It is a large, two-tipped cutting with lots of roots. They sent it bare-root, which surprised me since I was under the impression that it would be sent in one of those black plastic pots most nurseries send their plants in. No problem. I planted it the day after it arrived in a terra cotta pot and within three weeks it is forming leaves. Terrific! The company also sent me a thin but long "mystery" cutting that I am excited about. I would purchase from this company again.

I have ordered cuttings three times from Exotic Plumeria. In each case the packaging was well done, the cuttings were shipped promptly, and every single one of the cuttings has grown into a big healthy tree. That is 100 percent success and that is not always the case with plumeria. I will continue to do business with these folks; if you read between the lines of every Negative comment on here, you will see that Exotic Plumeria has not been the problem.

I am a repeat customer of Exotic Plumeria and still pretty happy with them. They are the only plumeria provider who I've had success with. I've tried everything from Flower Shows (best way!) to eBay (never do this!). I've decided that since I live in New England, it is a huge chance of failure if I purchase cuttings by mail (even if they're large, center cuts with multiple branches). Therefore, I've always ordered 3 - 4 ft. rooted plants from E/P. The 1st order a few yrs. back was a Plastic Pink which is doing great but still hasn't bloomed (through NO fault of E/P as it's a testy, red plumeria & I moved which stressed it a little). My recent order (March 2009) for a Waiola rooted arrived in 2 calendar days! ...though this time, it was sent to me absolutely bare rooted (without a wet paper towel & saran wrap like the last order) and very dry! I was worried though I know they're hardy plants. It's been about 1.5 wks. now so I can't tell how it is but I'm sure it'll be fine! Weather's still cold here. Also, they didn't have a Waiola as tall as my request so I received one about 18 in. tall and kind of skinny (though I requested a thick center cut). I was ok with this b/c I have been waiting for a tall Waiola for yrs. & I am happy that they actually have one for purchase this year! I hope that the dried roots upon arrival will be ok and it won't have to re-root itself... I should also mention that Customer Service on the phone used to be nicer a few yrs. back too but it wasn't too bad. Maybe the recession's hitting them too. So far, I highly recommend this vendor (if you are willing to spend the money to get rooted plants and asking for what you want!).

In June of 2006 my friend and I took a trip to Exotic Plumeria. She spent close to $350 for 6 cuttings. My friend bought me 3 cuttings for my birthday. 5 of the six cuttings died immediately. The 6th, a $160.00 cutting, is the only one that survived-thank heaven! I emailed him twice, but he refused to do anything about it. We did everything right trying to root these cuttings but since they were cut too short (6-8") and too green, they died. We swore we'd never buy from them again and knowlingly didnt. Later in 2006 or early 2007, I went to a local nursery. There I saw a big Candy Stripe and dwarf singapore pink. Purchased both, which were very expensive. Found out later, or should I say too late,that this nursery purchases from EP. The CS ended up with a borer beetle,which is deadly to Plumeria and the DSP has been nothing but problems since day one. I have never had problems with my 70+ other plumeria. My opinion is that EP does not sell healthy plants yet they charge 3x as much for plants you can find elsewhere by more reputable companies. Needless to say, I wont be buying from the local nursery again either!

It is with some trepidation that I respond to this comment. In doing so I am participating in a process which I feel is significantly flawed. First of all, bulletin boards like this lend themsleves to unsavory actions by individuals who have malice in their heart for whatever reason (see comment below). Please understand I am not accusing you of this at this time. I am simply setting the environment for my response to you and whoever should read this.

How do I or anyone else reading this account know whether you are a conpetitor or his agent trying to discredit us to gain some sort of competitive advantage??????

I will respond to your second comment first. We do not and
have never sold rooted trees to anyone in your part of the state. Rarely, we sell unrooted cuttings wholesale to nurseries but not rooted trees. Unfortunately, because we have an established name and reputation, (19 years) (regardless of your comments), quite a few unsrupulous individuals and nurseries claim to be assocaited with us and in many cases use our copyrighted catalog for their own personal gain. It provides them with instant credibility in the market place. We have a customer base of over 4,000 customers and have sold millions upon millions dollars worth of plumeria.

Therefore the trees which you were told came from us, there is less than 1/1,000th of 1 % of that being the case.

Your first comment is concerning a purchase which took place according to you, over 2 years ago. What has taken you so long? Something current must have taken place more recently to dredge up the distant past. Do all plumeria cuttings survive the rooting process? Of course they do not. Which is precisely why we have a 90 day one time replacement guarantee. This the most liberal policy that we are aware of on plumeria. No business can indemnify the world against loss with all of the variables that come to play in rooting any kind of plant. Had you or your "friend" come forward during our guarantee period there would be no question that we would have replaced your losses unless we had information that led us to believe that you or anyone else was not being forthcoming with true and accurate accounts.

This commentary is not intended to make us appear infallible. Have we "messed up"? Of course, but you have our guarantee that if we do and we are given the opportunity to fix our shortcoming on any situation we will do our very best . We have not grown to be as large as we are from not providing a quality product at a fair price. The free enterprise system in our country insures that.

This will be our final and only comment in this forum for this post or any past or future posts. With kindest regards, The Exotic Plumeria

The package came with $26 postage due. Difficulty contacting them.

I first stopped by the nursery last Winter and found no one around to help me. So I left disappointed and eager to cast my vote with the other negative reviews on this page. Thankfully, I tend to become forgetful over time. I was in the neighborhood today and thought I would try again. This time my experience was completely different. Alan, the owner, was extremely helpful, provided extensive advice on growing Plumeria and took me on a tour of the nursery. I bought two Plumeria, a Celadine and a Singapore, and will likely be back again. As Alan says, "Plumeria are addictive" and I'm willing to forgive occasionally poor service to develop a passion for Plumeria.

The nursery is about an hour's drive from my new home. I wanted to purchase 3 plumeria, but since it was only an hour I figured I would make the drive and hand pick my plumeria. The Saturday I drove there only 1 person was working, helping someone already and 2 more waiting besides me. We tried wandering through the nursery ourselves, but since very little is labeled it is not a 'help yourself' type. We waited, looked and waited some more. Finally left when the one person was still helping the same individual from when we arrived, could not offer us any one else to help (we interupted, apoligized and asked) and he could not even point us in any direction for the 3 plants we wanted (asked for that too). We left and e-mailed the owner. He replied he would look into it, but that is all. He did not even offer to hand pick the 3 we wanted and ship them to us. The owner even advertises plumeria is all he grows. Not true - I saw several palms and other tropicals in pots. I am sure they were for sale though there was no one to ask. So Mahola for nothing.

I have never grown plumeria before but got interested from reading about it on the web. I happened onto the Exotic Plumeria's website and decided to take a trip up there today. When I got there I met David who was both very knowledgeable and very patient. He took time to walk me around the nursery, show me all of the trees I was interested in and answered my list of many questions. I can't speak for their mail order business, but the service I received on site was wonderful as was the selection and quality of plants. I will definitely do business with them again.

I am still waiting for my order after a month. After making numerous phone attempts I finally got a hold of someone who said I would receive it early this week and it still hasn't arrived. No one has bothered to follow up with me. At this point I will be happy just to get my money back.

Poor Communication: Website stated item would ship immediately. Credit card charged immediately, yet my order shipped almost 3 weeks later, after numerous emails and calls. During this time, I spoke with owner who said the package had already shipped. Infact the package had not even shipped when he made this statement! It shipped a week later after yet another email. This was frustrating to say the least. Quality: I ordered a "3 gallon rooted plumeria". What I received had no viable roots (roots were dead) and had bugs on the leaves. It did not resemble what was shown on the website. I found the packing to be just barely good enough. When I brought the package to the post office to send it back, the postal worker told me that Exotic Plumeria had underpaid the postage and that I should have been charged "postage due" when I received it! Exotic Plumeria apparently shipped priority mail but only paid the Parcel Post rate. + The only positive thing about this whole experience was the owner's willingness to refund my money. I will not be doing any more business with Exotic Plumeria.

Just received my order and I am very pleased. I was a little worried based on other postings, but I am glad I gave them a chance. I ordered two cuttings. Both are huge ! One even had a root ball. The loretta has two tips and a thick stem. I will be ordering from this company again. The order did take 3 weeks but worth the wait. Linda San Diego

I would like to say what a pleasure it is dealing with your company. The plumeria plants I recently received were much more that I had expected. Even though I had so many questions prior to ordering, your staff person, David was both helpful and courteous and generous with information and advice. Your website is absolutely amazing and the catalog I received is indeed a work of art. The photography is superb and is a great help in deciding which plumeria I wanted. My experience with you has to be the best I have had in dealing with anyone on the internet. I could not recommend you more highly.

The folks at Exotic Plumeria are such a breath of fresh air. I have dealt with Alan a number of times, and I continue to be amazed at his knowledge about plumeria, not to mention his helpful nature. I find it hard to believe that anyone would have anything but good things to say about this establishment, from their business ethics to the quality of their material. The nursery is like walking into a tropical paradise. It's a wonderful experience to just be there, and to do business with them as well.

A note to commend the folks at The Exotic Plumeria for their quality products and kind and efficient service. It is a pleasure these days to find a company who backs up their claims with a customer service level that I thought had vanished for ever. I have had some nightmares in dealing with some other companies over the internet. They shall remain nameless in that I was taught if I did'nt have something good to say I should say nothing at all. I just don't due business with them anynore. The Exotic Plumeria is a breath of fresh air. David is awesome.

I cannot believe what I read in the two negative posts on this company. My experience with them has been nothing short of fabulous. Mr. Bunch, the owner must be the easiet person in the world to deal with. I have dealt with Eddie, Freddie, and more recently David and they are all very courteous and knowledgeable. Their plumeria are second to none in quality. I have dealt with them from their website as well as a number of visits to the nursery itself which is worth the trip alone even if you purchase no plants. They by far have the largest selection and best quality of plumeria anywhere in the state of Florida. They have trees all the way up to 12 ft with 16 ft spreads for sale. I know of no other nursery anywhere offering this quality a product. I have been to them all.

I just read another posters comments and review on Exotic Plumeria and feel they were harsh in their review. The person could have just laid out the facts and left out alot of their emotional extras. I also have had a bad experience dealing with Exotic Plumeria, since I do not want to rant about it I will condense it. I bought several cuttings from Exotic nursery and they all arrived in bad shape. When I called I did not get any customer service and was basically told to return them for refund. This establishment has their policies printed on their website, but they refuse to honor them. I will never do business with this nursery and will try to warn anyone I know about them also. Thank You.

Absoulutely the worst business people that I have ever, ever delt with. The product I ordered came in with Mealy bugs and yellowing leaves, the Singapore plant I bought was suppose to be fully rooted in 3gal. When I receved the shipping tube, not a box this wrinkly, twiggy, nasty cutting came out, it had yellowish leaves and mealy bugs on the tips and on the back side of the leaves, and there were no roots at all, there was a callous and that was it. I called to complain and was told either the worker or Allen Bunch (owner) would call back. After 48hrs and no call back I had to put the effort forward and call them. I was told to return the plant in question and that they would send me a new rooted plant. I sent the defective product they sent me at my expense and proceeded to wait for 3weeks. At the 3 week mark I had not received my exchange, nor had I heard from anyone at Exotic Plumeria. I had to call several times and than was lied to saying they didnt know what I was talkng about that they would try to look up my order and get back to me. I waited 4hrs and called them back and spoke to the same person I had been dealing with the whole time. I was told that they never received my package so that they would not replace it. I notified the person that was lying to me that I had a tracking number and the package was received and gave them the date and the name of the person that signed for it.....Surprise surprise it was the same person I was speaking to. I was told that they didnt want to do business with me and that they would credit my credit card back, which they did. WARNING NEVER BUY FROM THIS NURSERY. If you look at Gardenweb and Maui Plumeria gardens and Plumeria Pals they all talk badly of EP and there service and their nasty product

I went with NO real knowledge of Plumeria. The guy who helped me, his name is Freddy, was FANTASTIC! He suggested plants for different scents, all of which are amazing. They are pricey compared to Home Depot, but I feel that the knowledge that I gained from going there and talking with him (for over 2 hours, btw!) was worth the extra cost. Of course, I ended up spending over $120 for 4 plants. I received 2 cuttings and 2 rooted plants. I would go back there again because their knowledge and enthusiasm was really commendable.