Flowers by the Sea

I have had positive experiences with them so far but I have to say that their shipping increased from $21 last year to $42.00 this year. Will definitely have to shop around. Ridiculous!!!!

I have been buying salvia from FBTS for several years. In the past, while I found the prices and shipping to be quite high, the quality of the plants was fine. This year, I ordered close to $300 worth of plants. I am an experienced gardener and the plants were planted in sunny spots and given sufficient amounts of water, fertilizer and lots of loving care. 6 weeks later I still have no flowers on any of the 12 plants so I contacted FBTS indicating that I thought there was something wrong. Despite their "Money Back Guarantee" (and the fact that over the years I have spent thousands of dollars at FBTS and never once lodged a complaint) they basically told me that whatever was wrong with the plants was my fault and to go away. What terrible customer service and how foolish can they be? They have just lost a very good customer who consistently purchased plants from them just because they couldn't and wouldn't do the "right thing." If they had even given me a partial credit for the "non-flowering plants" I would have been satisfied. Now, I am not only out the $300 for the bad plants from FBTS, I also have to buy several new plants that actually will flower. Extremely frustrating.

I've been buying plants from FBTS for a few years now and have always had an excellent experience. The selection of salvias is unmatched. The website is loaded with useful, pertinent information. When I reached out to them with questions I received a long, thoughtful and well informed answer from Kermitt. Shipping has always been excellent, plants always healthy and with an excellent root system. They've always performed superbly in the garden or the container. Definitely, my go to place for salvias.

Read the fine print. There is no "100% Our Unconditional, Money Back Guarantee" They are a CA company that shipped plants in the heat to CA, then when I requested replacements, replied "we specifically exclude extreme weather in our guarantee." Fortunately this was an initial small test order. Their compost will prevent further misfortune.

Posted on June 15, 2017, updated June 13, 2018 Made my first purchase from FBTS and I am very satisfied! Plants very well grown. Packing maybe not as tight as I've received other plants from other companies, however the plants came in good shape. Prompt service and fast delivery. and a GREAT selection of salvias!

Posted on May 13, 2016, updated August 8, 2016 Flowers By The Sea provides such robust, incredibly healthy plants that we rarely shop elsewhere for salvias. Every plant ever purchased from FBTS has flourished in our hummingbird garden and even survived our winters. Besides having a selection of hard to find plants, their website allows navigation by flower color, culture, zone plus interesting and accurate information about plant history and care. I'm glad that good businesses like Flowers By The Sea exist and at worthwhile prices.

Great company with a fantastic selection of salvias! Hurray for me and my hummingbirds!

My own interactions with FBS have been very positive with orders arriving on time and in good health. As a gardener from the east working at the very edge of hardiness for many western plants I have found their plant profiles extremely helpful when came to choosing what next to grow. I would recommend them to anyone like me who grows plants for their nectar, who wishes to feed hummingbirds and butterflies.

Posted on October 26, 2015, updated November 15, 2015 After purchasing about 200 plants from this company, I am no longer a customer. With their poor shipping practices, questionable horticulture, and poor treatment of customers, I see no reason to continue ordering from FBTS. I advise gardeners to look elsewhere. Shipping: Plants are wrapped in several layers of newsprint-type paper, then stacked in too-large shipping boxes filled with polystyrene peanuts. If you have a large order, plants will be stacked on top of each other in several layers. In all of my orders the bottom plants arrive squashed and bruised, with a lot of breakage. Some were completely broken off at the base. I even received a very heavy one-gallon plant in the same shipping carton as several tender, brittle plants in three-inch pots. The first plant I received that arrived with a main-stem split was replaced. After that, all problems with shipping were blamed on my local delivery person, or on me. Ordering: They have started carrying many plants only as "special order" options, to be shipped in six weeks. If you want to include in-stock items with your order, you must place two separate orders (double shipping fees) or face a "split-order" charge (a surprise to me when I ordered, as this was not made clear at the time). Either way, your costs will double. Ridiculous, if you want to purchase more than a few plants at a time. And what do you get with six weeks of growth? A poorly rooted cutting. Don't bother. Customer service: My last order was for 38 plants, five of which were special order. I requested that the bulk of the order be sent immediately (why wait six weeks for 33 in-stock plants?). They held back a normally in-stock plant for delivery with the SO plants, and then tried to claim it had been shipped already. Then when the SO plants where shipped, I was short two plants, with no credit issued and no explanation given. When I inquired, the owner would not credit me for the missing items (or for the ridiculously non-viable plant I had received in the previous order) claiming that those three credits ($30) would not even cover the shipping for the SO plants. So he decided to "call it a wash." I call that fraud. Civility toward the customer declined precipitously with each transaction I placed with this company. The first order or two came with bonus plants. The rest with hostility. Horticulture: Yes, the plants tend to be big for their pots, but this is often not a good thing. Many, perhaps most, of the salvias I received from FBTS were horribly pot bound. One was so bad that even with soaking in a bucket I could not get moisture to the center of the root ball. The owner, when I contacted him, stated that "we don't worry too much about salvias being pot bound." Really? I assume that overgrown stock is why they have gone to the "special order" plan. I made the mistake of placing a very large order when FBTS had a clearing-out sale. They sold all plants as-is. Several of the plants were so poor they should never have left the nursery, and some arrived badly broken (and that, too, was considered "as-is"). The non-viable plant I mentioned above arrived so flaccid and weak that it had been tied, in several places, to a stick. They actually shipped out an already dying plant. Enough said. Do not recommend!!!

We have placed several large orders with Flowers By The Sea every season for at least the past five years. We garden for hummingbirds in the Upper Midwest and absolutely depend on their outstanding selection of salvias to create a hummingbird garden. Most of these plants are unavailable for sale locally or from other mail order nurseries. Since we have a large community hummingbird garden tour every September, maintain a website with photographs, and present programs about hummingbird gardening throughout our area, having these plants is absolutely essential to our work. We have developed a wonderful relationship with the staff of Flowers By the Sea and they send wonderful, healthy plants each season and give great advice. We certainly deal with challenging growing conditions and a short growing season and their plants arrive ready to grow and bloom quickly in our garden. We have always been very pleased with plant quality, shipping, packing and every other aspect of their operation. We are so impressed with the staff as people, their exciting and sometimes rare plant selection, and their wonderful website, which offers so much more than most online gardening company websites. They send us free plants to try too, and one of those became a hummingbird favorite and we plan to purchase it next season again. We have never once had a bad experience or a plant death in over five years of ordering from Flowers By The Sea. The plants grow beautifully either in a container or in the ground. While shipping costs can sometimes be a little steep if you live in the East or Midwest, getting these beautiful and difficult to find plants (sometimes they are even blooming as we unpack them!) is definitely worth it. I think I can speak for myself and many people on The Hummingbird Forum----our world of hummingbird gardening has been transformed with this quality plant nursery, Flowers By The Sea.

I have been ordering plants from Flowers By The Sea for four years and have 250 different varieties. I have never received a plant that was not healthy. Plants have not been damaged as they were carefully wrapped in newspaper and packed in Styrofoam, which can be recycled at a UPS store. Some are root bound but very quickly grow to a nice plant when repotted or put in the ground. The price of the plants is no greater than any other supplier for the quality you get. Where else can you find the vast variety of plants that they supply. Questions you may have are quickly answered in a way that is easily understood. I highly recommend Flowers By The Sea.

Positives: - Healthy plants - Carefully packed - Plants bloomed within 1-3 weeks of arrival - Great selection of Salvias - Wish / watch list is great Not so positive: - Prices rather high for size of plant - Shipping is average-high, wish it were better - Your plant reviews do not show up immediately on website, nor confirmed ever - you wonder if you wasted your time... - Proactive communication could be improved (see below) I had to reach out to them after receiving my shipment short 1 plant. Granted I'm glad they did not ship out that diseased plant, they did not reach out to me first beforehand letting me know and providing options. Whatever the reason (small business, forgot, etc) the fact that customers have to reach out to them asking what happened and why the shipment wasn't complete is not a good first experience. I waited another 1.5 weeks to receive a replacement plant also in good condition. However, again during that 1 week of back and forth, while they would respond to most emails in a few hours, they again required me to follow up on status despite them stating they would update on a specific day.

I ordered 12 plants from FBTS. They were well packaged and recieved minimal damage from shipping, the plants looked vigerous and should grow well. The roots were well established in their 4 inch pots. Ordered some hard to find plants form them. I am pleased with my order, and thanks for the free Lobelia, it will go nice with the other 3 that I ordered from you. I will most likely order from you again, Waiting on the Kniphofia's to get back in stock. Love their website full of information on Salvias and other gardening advice!

I ordered plants based on recent reviews. Wonderful collection of salvias and companion plants. I received my order within a week from ordering. I was thrilled by the large size and superb quality of the plants!! Will definitely order again in the near future.

TOP NOTCH. Large, healthy plants. Excellent packaging.

Great plants and excellent customer service.

Beautiful selection of plants and everything said here is true. But really the prices are out of reach for most people because shipping East of the Rockies is crazy expensive. $30 for two small plants.

This was my second order from FBTS and I couldn't be happier. The plants are large and healthy and the packaging was excellent. Prices were reasonable, communication was top notch and shipping was prompt. Couldn't ask for more!

I am very pleased with the plants I received from Flowers By the Sea several weeks ago. Most of the plants were much larger than I expected them to be, and all arrived looking quite healthy. I found their website to be helpful in selecting plants that are best suited to my climate. I will definitely order from them again.

I ordered 9 plants - mostly salvia that attract hummingbirds - they were all very large healthy plants despite a cross country trip from California to New York. The plants had great root systems and were package with care. One of the best mail order plant company I have experienced.

Posted on June 19, 2011, updated May 3, 2013 Just found out about them this year and so glad I did! Love, love, love their selections of Salvias and that's what I ordered! My order consisted of approx. 6 Salvias and I received a bonus gift of another Salvia! Very happy with my order and the speed of delivery! First time ordering, but won't be my last!

I am extremely impressed with this nursery. In recent years I have stayed away from CA vendors as I have learned the $$$hard way that not all zone 9s are the same and many of the CA purchases have succumbed to the unforgiving TX heat. Enter FBTS. Their plant descriptions are so detailed, that it helps any gardener, beginner to advanced, to make more informed selections. I especially like their website. Their plants are organized by several categories--color, use, cultural needs, etc. I wish ALL nurseries had their catalog in this format. Prices are reasonable, including shipping. I got salvias that I could not readily find locally. Ck them out.

Posted on June 27, 2011, updated June 27, 2011 Posted on June 27, 2011, updated June 27, 2011 Posted on June 1, 2011, updated June 27, 2011 I received my plants late yesterday evening, even after being in a box for seven days they look good. My fault it took so long, I opted for fed ex ground... Won't do that again! The plants are all very large, the only small one was Lanceolata, which I believe is a smaller sage. I am pleased with these plants, and I have already placed a second order. I would highly recommend Flowers By The Sea. They have a wonderful selection. I will definately look here first when wanting to add more salvias. Rose

My plants arrived in perfect condition. Healthy, well branched, and happy, as I am with this fine company.

Good healthy plants with strong roots. Good source for plants in the salvia family.

Like other Dave's recommended suppliers, Flowers by the Sea grows quality, well-established plants; definitely worth the money in my opinion. A couple of my plants were damaged because of a late-season shipment, due to heat exposure in the box; UPS. The supplier shipped replacement plants via Express Saver (Federal Express) at no charge. For those of us living in the south (especially late season) I would recommend arranging to pay a little higher shipping rate in order to assure quick delivery via Priority Mail, Express Saver or some other dependable means.

I love these guys! Don't be fooled by the limited selection on their website. They have a much more extensive listing they are working to get online and happily worked with me to put together an extraordinary selection of salvia I was looking for. So, for anything they carry, do ASK if they have something additional you should be looking at. And if you have questions about a variety they carry, they have great info and are happy to provide it. They really helped me sculpt my garden plans. There were some small communication and shipping issues, but the company was quick to respond and I am a very happy customer. Already placed my second order! Will return!