Comments regarding DeVroomen Garden Products (formerly Northwest Bulb & Perennial)

I expected my first order and experience to be excellent, of quality service, and well grown plant material, but I was a little put off by the disorganization, lack of communication and the condition of the plant material I ordered.

I called and placed a basic order of 50 plants of Corydalis elata to grow on and sell for spring plant sales. I spoke with their representative who informed me that they would be ready the first week of April. I called around early-March and didn't mind the April delivery date. I gave my shipping and payment info. and asked for order confirmation and their current availability list via email. I didn't hear back from them after 2 weeks assuming they were just really busy, but I eventually called back to confirm that my order was received and delivery was still scheduled for the first week of April.

When I spoke to a different representative, I learned that the original woman who took my order no longer worked there, but they did have my order and finally sent me the confirmation.

The order arrived on time, thankfully, but as I unpacked the box, I was disappointed with the quality of the plant material. It was decent, but not the kind of quality I was expecting from such a reputable company. Some of the plant material in the 3" pots were poorly culled liners, a small number were not really finished off, and most of the pots were covered in liverworts, moss and I discovered 3 live slugs on top of the pots.

I sent them a friendly email to bring to their attention these issues so that their future shipments to their customers are free of these problems. I've yet to hear back from them about my message.

Overall, I expected much better. I bet their other materials are top notch, but these Corydalis were disappointing. While I could have gone through the trouble of returing the parcel for a refund, it would just be more time and money. And also, I have to keep them and grow them on because I have clients already waiting for them.

On top of all this, they charged my credit card TWICE! Thankfully, the caught their mistake.