Comments regarding Prairie Moon Nursery

These folks really have it together. The bareroot plants that I ordered for last fall have come up almost without exception. My spring order, in which I took advantage of some of their sale items, was also well packed, and the plants healthy. I have never been shortchanged on barefoot plants, on the contrary, many of the plants they send are able to be further divided and occasionally they simply send more plants than ordered. I appreciated that bonus, and look forward to my fall order.

To those that feel unsure about taking care of bareroot plants, I would suggest you try this company, pot up what you're not ready to plant, and just watch them wake up into beautiful healthy plants. Don't be afraid!

excellent prompt service, plants arrived in great condition. Very pleased with the plants I received!

Everything I have read about Prairie Moon Nursery has been positive. However, most of what I have read has referred to plants. I ordered $50 worth of seeds (25 species) for my nursery and across the board I have had very poor germination rates even after stratification. Their selection is great, and the quality is poor. I will never order seeds from them again.

"On Apr 23, 2012 10:06 AM, Prairie Moon Nursery responded with:

Hi Nativeblooms,
I'm sorry to hear of your difficulty in getting some of our seed to germinate. Can you please contact us 866-417-8156 Ext. 210 or bill@prairiemoon.com Our goal is to do the best we can to have no unsatisfied customers. A number of the species we offer can be difficult to germinate. In the future we plan to specifically mention the difficult species which may require fall planting outside.
Thanks, Bill"

Ordered 36 Actaea rubra, and overall the plants are healthy though the sizes varied greatly. Some were larger than expected, but others were really tiny. It would have been nice if they had sent a couple extras to go with the small ones, and that would have made this an extra positive review. As it is, the large ones sort of balance out the tiny ones, which might be what they thought too, but I was slightly disappointed. They are all actively growing and several are going to flower and I would order from them again.

"On Apr 23, 2012 10:26 AM, Prairie Moon Nursery responded with:

Hi Chris,
We appreciate your review. I thought it might be a good opportunity to explain how we pack plants. We try to be consistent in the sizes we supply but sometimes when we only have a certain number left we have to supply plants of various sizes. Even the smaller plants should have been at least as large as the root shown on our website for that species. It is our "minimum" size. If it was not of minimum size or if that plant fails to thrive then we will provide a replacement or refund. I will also follow-up with the folks who pack the plants to make sure we are doing a good job.
Thanks, Bill
"

If you are a native plant enthusiast, PMN is your source! Such a fabulous selection of native plants. I've placed several orders with them over the years, and the bare root plants arrive healthy, robust and sprouting! Plus, there is sometimes 1 or 2 extra roots in the bunch, which is a nice bonus! Courteous customer service, great selection and timely accurate shipping all add up to a superior company to do business with!

Love, love, love Prairie Moon. I've been ordering from them for three years now, and have had good success with their plants. Their plant finder makes the experience easy.

I just received my first order from them, and was delighted with it. The plants were in excellent condition, healthy and vigorous. They were extremely well packaged, and came with clear, detailed planting and care instruction.

I have placed several seed orders with Prairie Moon and been pleased each time to receive a correctly filled order without delay. One variety that I purchased was rather finicky, and I emailed for help. The staff at Prairie Moon replied with excellent and friendly advice.

Prairie Moon has an excellent selection. I especially appreciate their automatic inclusion of any required inoculant for leguminous species. In particular, they offer inoculant for Desmanthus species, a type of inoculant that I had been completely unable to locate despite extensive searching online--if only Google had known that Prairie Moon carries it, my searching would have been done much quicker! (For some reason, Google had dropped that ball.) Whenever I am looking for perennial legumes, I go to Prairie Moon first--and then while I'm there, I find myself tempted my many other fantastic plants.

In short: highly recommended.

Posted on July 2, 2004, updated May 27, 2011
I have ordered seed and plants from this nursery over the past ten years and have never been disappointed. Plants are of high vigor and seed has great germination rates. Their packaging and shipping is always prompt and reliable.

I ordered some Astragalus, Delphinium, and an Amorpha. Everyting had some top growth and should acclimate just fine, as a rainy week is expected. I was a little leery about the Astragalus as the tap roots were cut back a bit. I am hoping mature plants can survive this treatment. Astragalus are notoriously difficult to transplant, so it will be interesting to see how they grow. I also appreciate the metal labels. All told, an inspiring experience!

"On Apr 25, 2011 1:28 PM, Prairie Moon Nursery responded with:

These Astragalus plants were too small last year so they are two years old but nothing like mature salvaged plants which probably would not transplant. We have not had problems with these before but please do call us (toll-free) if anything fails and we will replace or refund. Thank-you for taking the time to comment! Bill"

Have purchased numerous times over past few years, seeds and bareroot, and have nothing but praise for this company. Had a small problem with 1 seed pack. Ann suggested a different germination code to try and sent 2nd packet . Excellent selection of natives and super service. Buy with confidence.

I was very wary of the concept of a bare-root perennial when placing my first order, but am now convinced it is a wonderful idea. Without all those pesky leaves in the way, shipping is much simplified. I received plastic bags full of dry loose peat containing roots much as pictured on the website. While the packing material was dry, the plants themselves were no drier than any other dormant plant, and some had beginnings of new white top-growth. The roots I planted much like a regular transplant, and dumped the extra peat on top so as not to shield delicate emerging leaves from the sun and temperatures without crushing them. The plants all did well.

One of the plants I ordered (lobelia cardinalis) had some very small root clusters, but there appeared to be one or two extra to compensate. After observing the plant for a while, it seems to just be that plant's habit to have lots of very small plants, rather than a few large ones, but I appreciate the consideration shown in shipping multiple 'mini plants' in the place of the larger plant that might be expected.

You do have to be sure to order early, as you are essentially planting things before they break winter dormancy. If you cannot plant immediately, they did very well potted up, but do not hold barely for any time at all as shipped - you really need to un-bag them and expose them to light and water within a day or so (duh?).

Posted on February 6, 2010, updated January 25, 2011
Finally, a company and people who know the difference between "wildflower" and "native". Before finding Prairie Moon, I had ordered wildflower seed mixes and individual species of wildflowers from several different companies and found that their mixes often contained non native "wildflowers" that were invasive. Staff at Prairie Moon is very helpful and knowledgeable. Catalog is full of great information, prices are very reasonable and service is quick. A true find for anyone looking for true natives.

Prairie Moon has a great selection of interesting seeds. My seeds were well-packaged and sent quickly. LOVE the wishlist feature on their website.

1/16/11.....Placed an order to Prairie Moon Nursery in
January of 2011....Received the seeds ordered quickly
and well packaged....Customer service called due to a
choice not made on an innoculent....very courteous and
helped me decide on an alternative option....generous
amounts of seeds for the price....lots of native seeds
available, along with plants....great information on cold
stratification required for some seeds....

This company has EXCELLENT customer service! 9 days ago, I received 5 Amelanchier stoloniferas and the peat was dry - a packing error. I planted them immediately and 2 seem to have a couple of swelling buds, but I'm not sure. I called because I knew their stock was low and Steve replaced all five - no questions asked! I said if the two woke up, I would send money for the replaced ones and I will. Great place!

Have ordered seeds from them for several years. They have a wide selection and give good quantities. Service is fast and staff is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

Excellent range of offerings, reasonable prices and very quick shipping. Very good germination rate.

I recently placed my first order with Prairie Moon, and I'm very pleased with their service and selection. Their catalog is tremendous, as well! I will definitely be placing future orders with Prairie Moon.

The best place to get American native plants that I know of. Their staff is knowledgeable and very helpful and will answer your questions, plants are packed neatly and come with metal plant tags (one per species), and their catalog is beautiful, loaded with information. I will definitely order from them again.

I have turned into a regular customer with Prairie Moon Nursery. This year I had 4 separate orders--2 for seed and 2 for plants. I can't say enough good things about them--good variety, good quality, good prices and good service! Just an overall great place to order.

I ordered a mix of Central Illinois prairie grass seeds from them last year and was very pleased. Excellent packaging and the seeds really took off last year and this year as well. Couldn't be happier with the results!

I ordered plants from their spring sale. The iris were all great, definitely worth the price. The roots I ordered looked good too. There was one perennial that was a bit dinky in the root dept., but is alive and for the cheap price, I'm not going to worry about it.

I placed an order for several bareroot praire plants. My order arrived when I requested and was well packaged. I was very pleased with the size and condition with one exception. This plant was very small with almost no root system. I emailed the company and received a response the next day. They apologized and are shipping me a replacement immediately.

I would certainly order from them again. Great plants and great customer service.

I wish there was a Super Positive rating to give. Background is needed:

My Norfolk home borders the river and has some wetlands on the edge that have been overrun by invasive species like Phragmites, Multiflora rose and Japanese Honeysuckle since Isabella hit. It got worse when someone clearcut an area near it, sending vines seeking shade in my trees.

Estimates from professionals ranged from 10 to 25 thousand to clear and re-naturalize that area of only about 2500 square feet. Not gonna work for me.

After much searching and hand tool work, I found Prairie Moon and they had ALL of the stuff that these professionals were going to use and, even better, knew how I should use it!

I received orders for seeds super fast, packed correctly and with great germination rates, even for plants who generally don't have good germination rates.

I'm well on my way to having a truly restored bit of the riparian buffer zone and emergent wetland edge thanks to these very fine professionals!

A great company! Even though they don't normally do international orders, they have for me to Italy. Great customer service...quick to respond to emails, and the seed is good quality...no germination problems...Highly recommended.

I am a first time buyer with Prairie Moon Nursery, and am totally impressed. Great Service!

We have installed a considerable amount of Native Landscaping in our business. We have ordered many specialty seed mixes from Prairie Moon with tremendous satisfaction.

I ordered about a dozen bare root plants. The shipping was a bit slower than I expected, but the order arrived in great condition. I received a generous amount of extras for two of the species, which was a nice surprise. I definitely recommend them and plan on ordering more bare roots in the spring.

I ordered a variety of bareroot plants from Prairie Moon Nursery. I was very happy with the packaging and quality of the plants I received. The planting instructions they sent along with the plants were very detailed and I greatly appreciated the information. I will definitely order from them again.

Received their paper catalog that was filled with unique seeds, some endangered, with beautiful color pictures, growing and germination information, and prices that are
very reasonable......generous amounts of seeds for the price
of $2.00 per packet.......This company seems to care about
Mother Earth's plants and seems to work hard to preserve seeds of plants from all zones.....Sent in a check for my order and received it promptly......credit memo given for something they were out of.........will order again from them.....maryanne

I've been dealing with Prairie Nursery for the past 6 years now and have nothing but good things to say. The only plant that hasn't grown for me out of the 100s is Rattlesnake Master.
Kevin Sprague

I ordered 5 prickly pear cactus plants August 12, 2007.

On August 27, the plants had not arrived, so I emailed kathy@prairiemoon.com to inquire about the status of the order. No response.

It's now September 1, still no plants or any communication from the company. Not good.

It's going to be too late to get them established before frost at this rate. I'm very unhappy.

They have an excellent and varied selection of native seeds and plants. Many I couldn't find anywhere else. They have super fast service. My seeds came in within a few days of ordering. The seeds are of great quality as mine had sprouted very quickly. I will definitely buy from them again.

I've placed several orders with Prairie Moon, and they are consistently one of the best online web stores & the best online garden companies I've done business with. They are fast, have great communications, and their plants and seed have been top notch and well-shipped. They have minimum shipping charges, so don't order just a $2 packet of seeds - but they are in line with the other native plant nurseries I've ordered from (a bit lower than some), and they ship so your package doesn't spend too much time in transit .

Their site is one of the most informative for growing and planting native prairie plants, with excellent detailed germination guidance. Their bare root stock plants each come with a picture that make clear how that species should be planted (depth and root arrangement). I've interacted with several of their people when I had questions and found them helpful and knowledgable. They've been around for over 30 years now, and are worker-owned.

They deserve an extremely positive rating rather than just positive.

I ordered from Prairie Moon twice this year, first for seeds, and then for plants when they had a sale. The seed packets were generous, and the seeds of high quality. The plant order arrived yesterday, and despite it being late in the season, the roots were in excellent shape, with growth present on all varieties. They were carefully packed in peat moss in plastic bags, the moss was not too wet so that they would rot, nor so dry that they would dessicate. Size of roots in many cases exceeded my expectations. They are also good at keeping one informed about when the order will ship. They also have a huge selection of native plants, many of which are not available elsewhere, and some of which are quite rare/endangered. A great company filling a pretty much unique niche.

I ordered some bareroot plants from Prairie Moon this spring and was very pleased with the large, healthy looking plants I received. Everything was nicely packgaged. A very good value for the money!

I have ordered from Prairie Moon for the past 4 years and have never had a bad experience. The germination rate of the seeds (which is what I predominantly purchase) is excellent!
This is the first year that I have purchased forb seeds and have most germinating already! Absolutely tremendous!
I have also just received my first elderberry plants. I ordered two and was extremely happy with the size and healthiness of the plants.
With the continued excellent seeds, plants, and service, it is an easy decision to continue working with Prairie Moon!

Great selection, fast shipping and great customer service. There was a slight mix-up on my order: Eupatorium perfoliatum was sent instead of Eupatorium purpureum. An understandable mistake to be sure. I sent an email and the matter was resolved immediately. Even though this is a busy time of year I still got a nice handwritten note explaining the mix-up- a rare touch these days. These are good folks and I look forward to doing business with them again. Highly recommended.