Comments regarding Breck's Bulbs

I recently ordered spring-blooming bulbs from Breck’s with an order amount that qualified for free shipping. I got a notice from Breck’s that three items were shipped on Oct. 12th with an estimated arrival date of Oct.14th. (The other item was changed to an expected arrival window of 10/25-11/08.) Several days later Order Tracking revealed that my order had had a shipping label applied at Breck’s Indiana facility on Oct. 12th, but was not picked up by FedEx until the following day. The estimated arrival date was changed to “Pending.” It stayed “Pending” through several FedEx sites (sitting for several days at hubs in PA and NJ) until being delivered on October 20. I checked with FedEx on why my order was being held for days in PA and was told that my shipper had selected Economy Ground, which can arrive as late as 10 business days (2 weeks) after being picked up and has no guarantee for refund if product is damaged. FedEx Economy Ground is lower priority than FedEx Ground and can sit for a while at each FedEx transfer hub on its way to its destination. This was verified by the Breck’s customer service rep, who stated that they guaranteed arrival within five to 10 business days (a 2 week window) after shipment. How Breck’s could originally estimate an Oct 14th arrival date in the shipment notification they first sent me is puzzling. FedEx Economy Ground is not the “most efficient and fastest” way of shipment as stated in the Breck’s catalog. (Check consumer ratings of this service. I’ve had items shipped this way take three weeks to arrive and one was lost at a hub in NJ.) I personally do not think FedEx Economy Ground an appropriate way to ship plants or bulbs, both of which can suffer through long transit times or arrive too late in the season to be planted. Plants can dry out or can be damaged if boxes are exposed to heat or cold or if moved around too much. I order bulbs and perennial plants in fall from a variety of vendors. It is not unusual to see delays in the time bulbs are shipped, as there are often delays in getting bulbs to the seller’s US facility from Holland. But none of the other vendors I use ship bulbs or plants via FedEx Economy Ground. My orders from other vendors reliably arrive within 2 to 3 days after being picked up from the vendor.

After the first part of my bulb order arrived, I checked Order Status for the remaining item in my bulb order. I found that it had been back ordered, and the new arrival estimate was between Nov. 25th and Dec. 8th…too late for digging where I live in New England. Anyway, FedEx Economy Ground would be overwhelmed by Christmas orders at that time and Lord knows when my package might actually show up. I notified Breck’s customer service that I wanted to cancel the remaining item in my order and they quickly agreed to do that.

In short, I have not encountered any problems with the quality of Breck’s products or their customer service response. However, I’m not likely to order from them again given their choice of FedEx Economy Ground. It is possible that this service is used only when they do free shipping. In that case, it would be better to pay for postage that guarantees date definite arrival (like two-day ship) once the package is picked up from Breck’s.

Placed order June 19, 2020 and credit card was charged June 20, 2020. Expected ship date was August 2020. Received partial shipment 9/22. Checked on remaining order 10/23 and noticed part of order had been cancelled but no cancellation of charges on credit card. The remaining order had ship date of 10/2 but had not been shipped. Contacted firm and was told they only deal with live plants. Funny, it took 4 months to figure out they were not going to have live plants for part of my order. Now we are getting into questionable planting time and have received word the remaining items had been shipped. They have held my money for 4 months. Wonder how much money they make on this scam of taking customers money only to cancel the order months later. Will definitely not be doing business with them ever again.

Posted on October 30, 2019, updated November 3, 2019
I never buy from Brecks anymore. Though their bulbs are nice, their shipping policies are terrible. My spouse ordered two peonys from them in Late October in my name as a gift to me. Oooops! I'd have ordered from someone else. Now I'll be getting reams of junk mail from them for years about some sale or other almost every day. And now they have my e-mail address and are filling my SPAM file daily.
Regarding the Peonies: They claimed they'd send them at the proper planting time. That would have been a month ago. So are they waiting until next year? No clue. No more communications. I'm hoping my spouse will contact customer service, but expect he will get no satisfactory answers. It's snowing here and way too late for Peonies to root themselves before winter. The ground will probably freeze in a week. My advice is to never order from Brecks. They pay no attention to shipping times for the zone you live in. You can find plenty of responsible dealers who offer the same plants at reasonable prices who will ship them at the proper time. You'll find them listed right here at Dave's Garden Watchdog.

For now I'm giving Breck a neutral rating, but I'm not happy. I placed an order and received an email telling me the order had shipped approximately a month ago. I have contacted them twice to find out what happened with my order and still have no idea really when to expect the bulbs. I told them I hoped the order wasn't held up in a hot warehouse rotting away somewhere and that I just wanted to know whether it has shipped or not. If not, I would like to know when I might expect it. Purchase at your own risk, but after two companies have not delivered what I paid for I've decided not to order from any company that is not within the top rated companies in the Garden Watchdog or unless I can see the bulbs, hold them in my hand, and physically leave with them from a store.

just received the plants I ordered from brecks, first time ordering and found some columbine that were not available elsewhere, at the same time I ordered some other columbine from another mail order that I could not find locally. brecks came as bare root, I mean really bare root, a few roots which were moist, and a stem about 1/4" long, also ordered the yarrow on sale, 5 in one plastic bag w/ some peat, moist roots but no stem, no leaves, just roots. could barely find the top of them, all matted together so had to tear them apart. I did plant them so I hope they grow. the other plants I ordered from the other company came as pots and look very healthy. considering the state I received the bare root, it would have been better to have ordered elsewhere. also the daylily tubers are miniscule, smallest I've seen. I usually order daylillys from Oaks but these were on sale and gorgeous colors in the photo. sure hope they grow but w/ that size of tuber I'm not that pleased. i'll report later when they have a chance to grow.

I ordered six shrub roses and 12 peonies from their spring sale. That was on April 27. Shipping had already opened for my zone and the first e-mail I received said to expect the roses by May 5, but the peonies would take until June 11. I called on May 8, got someone in a call center that I could barely understand, and asked if there was any way to move up the ship date for the peonies. He told me they are being shipped from Holland and will take 3-4 weeks to arrive. This was never mentioned on the website, and now I have to take delivery of peonies that have been sitting in a box for a month. The roses haven't even been shipped yet and won't be here until "the middle of the month".

I just hope the plants are healthy. This shipping delay is causing me problems and had I known it would take this long to get the plants, I never would have ordered from this company. I'll update when the plants arrive.

Posted on November 11, 2010, updated November 29, 2013
I ordered a collection of 8 begonias and planted in fresh potting mix.
5 never grew and of the 3 that did only 1 had a few small flowers.
They use to send large healthy bulbs but those days are gone.
Will not order from them again.

"On Nov 15, 2010 6:32 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We do offer a lifetime guarantee on our products. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information.

"

Posted on April 22, 2013, updated April 24, 2013
So far I am feeling very agitated by this company. I placed 3 pretty substantial orders over the last few months and recieved my first order a few weeks ago. Upon inspection of my order, I found that most of the plants were in good condition but some of the bulbs were damaged and one of the root based plants I ordered was moldy. I e-mail Breck's Customer service about a week ago and have yet to hear back from them. I am very dissappointed in their customer sevice and do not plan on ordering from their company in the future. I ordered from Michigan Bulb Company last year and had great results and their customer service was exceptional when I contacted them. I should have just stayed with Michigan Bulb. Lesson learned.

This was my e-mail to them:
______________________________________________

Hello. I recently placed a substantial order with Brecks. I’ve received all of the items from this order. I’ve been telling all my friends and neighbors how impressed I am with the plants that I have received so far and that they should order from your company. Many of the bulbs and roots are better than I expected. There are a few bulbs that I received that looks like they were crushed during the shipping process and 1 root that is moldy. I’m not sure if Brecks would replace these bulbs and root or not. Below are the bulbs that have been damaged:
Order # 30351342300
20248 Redwing Butterfly Glad
19281 Peacock Orchid
66938 Hardy Cyclamen
85192 Geranium Laura
Anything you could do to help replace these bulbs that have been damaged and moldy root would be greatly appreciated. I wasn’t sure which category to choose as there is no option for damaged goods.
I thank you for your time in this matter.
Have a nice day.
__________________________________________

This is what I ordered and recieved for my first order.

Qty Ordered Item Number Item Description Delivery Estimate

2 66977 BLUE BOY PHLOX 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 19562 LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY 04/05/13-04/11/13
2 66980 TENOR PHLOX 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 83631 ASTILBE MIXTURE SUPER SAK 04/05/13-04/11/13
2 73728 TALL HYBRID PHLOX MIXTURE 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 85192 GERANIUM LAURA 04/05/13-04/11/13
2 68189 DWARF ASTER MIXTURE 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 85201 JAPANESE BOTTLEBRUSH 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 81318 LAVENDER & WHITE SEDUM MIXTURE 04/05/13-04/11/13
4 19489 FIRE AND ICE HOSTA 04/05/13-04/11/13
2 20248 REDWING BUTTERFLY GLAD 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 83629 DELUXE GLADS MIXTURE SUPER SAK 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 19281 PEACOCK ORCHIDS 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 19323 SUMMER CHEER DAFFODIL 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 66894 RANUNCULUS MIXTURE 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 85693 POPPY ANEMONE BURGUNDY 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 66938 HARDY CYCLAMEN 04/05/13-04/11/13
1 71158 DISCOVERY DUTCH IRIS 04/05/13-04/11/13
__________________________________________

Now I will be going back to my neighbors and tell them to avoid ordering from Brecks based on their customer service alone.

"On Apr 23, 2013 1:01 PM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

Thank you for your post. I apologize no one has gotten back to you about your email. I have reshipped the items to you. Your new order number is 31130627800."

So far so good. I ordered 300+ bulbs on Oct. 12, 2011. I was billed out right away. However, 12 days later I recieved an email stating that my shipment would be sent out any time between Nov 4- Nov 23. REALLY! I called customer service and explained that I live in upstate NY and by then there will be at least 6 inches of snow on the ground. She said she would place a priority shipping status on the order. Low and behold, the shipment arrived 4 or so days later. WOW. I have planted the bulbs today. They look great. I just hope that they look great when they flower. I have ordered from several of the sister companies and have had no problems with service, refund, or delivery. Hopefully I can update this post in the spring with a true positive. Reading others comments, I am a bit nervous. Looking forward to the display of colors. My only real complaint/recommendation is don't bill the customer until the Item ships. When billing right away, it gives the customer the sense that the shipment will arrive within 7-10 days maximun.

"On Oct 31, 2011 11:26 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate what our customers have to say and use your comments to better improve our company. Please let us know if you have any problems. Happy Gardening!"

Posted on May 28, 2011, updated June 20, 2011
I place my order (10341171900) on Feb 3 (it was a long Indiana winter and I was excited for spring!). The estimated delivery date kept getting pushed back by weeks at a time until they weren't estimated to arrive until mid-June (which is dry and hot here).
Finally I email them and they told me they were shipping my order from Holland so it would take 3-4 weeks. I got the shipment a couple of days later because they actually shipped from Indiana.
However, the shipment did not fulfill my order. I checked back today and they canceled the rest of my order without any notification. At least they didn't charge me for it but now it's too late to get the plants I needed for my landscape. I am very disappointed in how Breck's manages orders.

"On May 30, 2011 9:23 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

We apologize for the delay in shipment. I checked on your order and your bulbs were shipped from Holland. A customer service representative will be contacting you about the rest of your order."

I have looked at their guarantee //brecks.com/article.asp?ai=138

Ordered 2 grab bags last year, half of the bulbs never came up

Just sent an email to breck's using thier feedback link

Lets see what happens

"On May 5, 2011 3:54 PM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

We apologize for the problem with your bulbs. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and have the bulbs reshipped to you."

I have tried several times recently to place an order on-line, but Breck's site won't accept their own $25 gift coupon ("no strings attached"). No 800 #, so I was going to mail it - until I read these comments. Sounds unreliable, and like too much of a hassle. Catalog is out for recycling!

"On Apr 16, 2011 8:29 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

We appreciate your feedback to let us know of the problem you were having. Unfortunately we do not have an 800# but we do have a notes box at the end of the order process where you can type in that you have the coupon. When we process your order we can then apply the coupon for you. We apologize for the problems on the website and this will be checked into."

Selections and quality were good for bulbs. But the customer "order status" function was empty for so long that I gave up. I ordered the item from another company and had it planted in the ground before learning that Breck's was about to ship. I've appreciated their parent company for many years, so this experience is especially disappointing.

"On Nov 9, 2010 9:28 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We use your comments to better improve our service to our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

I ordered two sets of Dahlias from them this year, Maki and See Wood Glorie. I really liked that they have the See Wood Glorie, which is hard to find, very expensive, and often runs out at Old House Gardens.

The Maki dahlias did not arrive because they need a street address, something that their computer system should have taken care of. The company never informed me of this problem. When I called for a refund, they initially only offered to refund the price of the dahlias tubers, not the shipping, which was $10.95. I insisted that they refund the shipping since this was their fault. They did do this, although the person helping me was huffy about the whole thing.

Meanwhile the See Wood Glorie tubers all started nicely in pots and have been transplanted to my garden where we are all very happy to have them.

I think this company has a good product but that they need to work on their systems and their attitude.

"On Jun 8, 2010 11:06 AM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Your feedback is taken seriously and used to help provide better service to our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information. Thank you and Happy Gardening!"

Posted on April 5, 2010, updated April 8, 2010
Posted on April 6, 2010, updated April 6, 2010
This is the first time I try to write a review. I'm giving one positive and one negative rating for this company.

I've purchased from Breck's, Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill, Gurney's and Henry Field's several times. Sometimes for some unkown reasons, plants just don't grow. When that happen, I just have to drop them an email asking for a replacement. No question asked. It's that easy. Their lifetime guarantee really gives me peace of mind. In fact I just got my replacement daylily from Spring Hill today. What a nice policy. I will give them two thumbs up for this. Keep up the good work.

However...please read on...(to be continued in my next review)

"On Apr 6, 2010 4:13 PM, Breck's Bulbs responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you to get your account straightened out. We aplogize for the inconvenience."

There are 2 Breck's Bulbs companies. One operating in Canada and one operating in the USA. Each are their own and not operating together.

I have ordered calla lily, gladious, iris, double freesia and baby's breath this spring.

Because of back order, it took me so long to get my iris and double freesia. Breck's ships the orders from Holland, so the shipping time is usually longer than usual. Once the shipment arrives to USA, no further tracking for the shipment.

The baby's breath are rotted. 6 freesia are dead and 6 are turning yellow and dying. I have just requested for a refund.

The planting instruction is not detail enough for the baby's breath. I called the customer service when I received the shipment. I was asked to describe the look of the bare root. The representative said' " I THINK the bean sprout liked part is the top, the stick is the root. Put the whole thing a couple of inches below the ground." Seeing that she's not quiet familiar with planting, I requested to talk to someone more experience. She said:"That person is gone for the day (Friday). I will ask him to contact you next Monday." I then provided her my phone no and email address, but I've never heard any reply from them.

When I ordered the baby's breath, I called the company to find out the planting details. One representative couldn't find the information. I called again, another represenative was able to provide me the spacing, height, ...

Overall, the customer representatives' manner is not so friendly.

The iris, gladious and calla lily are growing well. I received the 3 irises on 4/8/09. One has already produced 2 flowers. The other two are still growing. Hopefully, the gladious and calla lilies will produce flowers. I have both good and bad experience with the products.

I have ordered numerous bulbs and perennials from Breck's, with mixed results. The larger bulbs (tulips, hydrid daffodils) have all done very well, though being expensive they should! The smaller bulbs, like crocus and some other plants, seem to be hit or miss. I've been most disappointed with their perennials - some lillies of the valley didn't even come up at all, and the hostas have been very slow to get going. I also think it helps to order well in advance of the season, so you are in line for shipping early. Everything I've ordered in season (in the spring) has taken weeks to arrive - too long when American Meadows ships so promptly and includes stakes with pictures of the plants so you can mark your garden!

I would give this company a neutral rating. I have had orders that have surpassed my expectations, as with their begoia collections. Alas, I have also have had orders that have simply been rotted/moldy upon delivery. I have also experienced bad online ordering. Placing merchandise in my cart, then applying a coupon code, only to be told that those items were out of stock. If they were out of stock, then they should have noted such on their web page before I placed the order. I feel that if you are trying to save money using a code you will be disappointed. I will try the begonia collection again. However, I will find my other blubs at local nurseries so that I can actually see and feel them.

Placed an order in August of 2008,changed my mind after seeing the reviews a week later and canceled the bulbs.order was confirmed canceled by e mail. They did offer me a discount and thought that was very nice of them but said no.I even canceled the credit card I used.For some reason I didn't trust them.So after two confirmed cancellation notices. I recieved bulbs yesterday Just left at my back door (9-10-08). I sent them an e mail. Then got a bill today. wow was I mad I hadn't even opened the box since I didn't order from them.I spoke with Keith on the phone yes it was a long distance call which pissed me off. So to make a long story short I was told to keep the bulbs and that my account would be cleared ( lets hope it is cos Im not paying for something I canceled a month ago). They really should keep better track of there customers especially the loyal ones I read about.Almost forgot I did cancel because the original date of delivery would have been at the end of Oct. Then they said they would rush the order,I still said no. I found cheaper bulbs at the store today 30 for $10. At Bjs and they looked great .Im going to stick with buying my plants and bulbs locally .. Karen P

I've been a loyal Breck's customer for years, but this year was not good. The begonias I ordered (10), only 1 has come up. Some of the bulbs were mushy when they arrived- not impressive as they usually are. And of the 8 lily trees, only 3 came up. I called and was told 6 weeks ago that new ones would be shipped, but I haven't received any replacements yet. Up until this year, I had never had a problem with bulbs from this Company, but now I question whether or not I should order from them again. Their sister Company is no better. I've been waiting 2 months for that order- although the cheques were cashed immediately!

I just (this morning) placed large orders with both Spring Hill and Brecks; then, suspecting they were the same company, located this forum...yikes. I'm a little nervous about my orders after reading through these comments. I ordered oriental lilies, daylilies, bittersweet, and irises...I called back because I've received no e-mail confirmation from Breck's and the operator insisted my first name was different than it is, finally recognizing she had it wrong. Has anyone had good/bad success with these specific bulbs/plants? I'm wondering if I should cancel my orders.

Just FYI, Breck's is currently offering $25 for free (no strings attached) if you rec'd the coupon in the mail. I used mine because what have I got to lose, BUT I ordered 2 "tree lily" bulbs 4 weeks ago and my ship date isn't until late May. A little late for lily bulbs, but maybe I can enjoy them next year. So far as I have seen, Breck's is the only place that has the tree lily bulbs.

Brecks is always hit or miss. That's why I only get what's free.

"

Orders are shipped in the order they are received, whether it is a "freebie" order (this Customer paid about $3.00) or a $200+ order. Bulbs can only be shipped after they are harvested (we don't keep bulbs around from year to year - each shipment is freshly harvested and either transported by freighter or flown over from Holland). The Customer's order was delivered on May 29."

I didn't read any reviews of this company until after I had already placed my order, so I decided to wait to see what would happen before commenting. I found their site through Google while searching for English bluebells. I couldn't the English bluebells anywhere else, so I decided to order them through Breck's, I thought they seemed reputable at the time. Along with my "English" bluebells, I ordered two different varieties of crocus. My crocus all came up fine, they were what I ordered, and I didn't receive any moldy bulbs. But the English bluebells which were the reason for my entire order, were unfortunately Spanish bluebells.

I'm not usually very picky about these things, and I hate leaving negative reviews, but I'm very very disappointed. I gave away some of my bulbs as a gift, to someone who grew up with in Britain with English bluebells and loves them, so I'm not the only person that's disappointed. Furthermore, only one bulb out of the 15 has flowered despite all being given the same care. I certainly won't be ordering from Breck's again.

As part of a larger bulb order that I am satisfied with, the "Persian Blue" blue alliums arrived and were planted. The alliums that are blooming now are not Persian Blue, but the shorter, smaller, magenta, more common (and less expensive) "Drumstick" allium. I am a bit upset - with the color not corresponding with the rest of my gardening, and with getting a less expensive plant after paying for a more expensive one. Fortunately because of their short height, they are not easily seen where they are planted, as I was counting on the higher allium.

I have contacted the company and am waiting for a response. Seems like a substitution was made without any notice - but the shipping receipt states "Persian Blue." Stay tuned for the company's response. I will change this rating to NEUTRAL if the company corrects this somehow.

"

I have been in communication with the Customer; it appears he did receive the incorrect bulb. He will be receiving a reship (at no charge) in October."

I ordered tulips from Brecks in the fall. They arrived in good time and looked great. They all appear to be up and growing very well. I had placed anouther order from them in January or Febuary from a buy 1 get 1 offer I had recieved from them. Here is the only problem I have with them: I sent an email the end of Febuary to cancel the order after changing my mind and never recieved any answer. The order was in my mailbox last weekend and the plants did look good. I am a bit upset that their costumer service ignored my email. Besides that my experience with them has been positive.

"

Customer has been contacted and told that her purchase price has been refunded, and she can keep the bulbs with our compliments."

I ordered from Breck's using the $25.00 coupon, so the actual cost to me was very low. I figured "what the heck", if the plants don't grow then I'm only out a few dollars. Naturally I was hesitant to spend more after reading all the negative comments. I ordered a collection of "mixed large crocuses" and it did take forever and a day to receive them. I knew they were coming from Holland ,but would be shipped in time for Fall planting. They did come, although I would have preferred to get them a few weeks earlier. It can be a bit cold here in NE Ohio in Mid October. I waited to post anything until now (the spring) , so that I could see if the crocuses would grow and bloom. I do see them popping out of the ground and some of them have started to bloom, so I'm quite pleased about that. The reason my rating is not positive though, is for two reasons: 1. The very long wait for the arrival of the plants. 2. So far my crocuses don't appear to be "mixed". They are all the same color, so that is disappointing. I will probably order again, but only if I have another coupon to use. I won't bother trying to contact the company about my plants not being what I ordered, because quite frankly, I don't need to deal with the hassle that I see so many others have dealt with.

My first experience with Breck's was last fall, I ordered a Dafodil collection from them. I received them promptly, and was impressed by the size of the bulbs. I made a special raised corner bed for them, and they came up this year and bloomed beautifully along with several anemone that were in the collection.

So, I didn't hesitate to order two more orders from them for delivery this Spring. Well, I am making this neutral for a reason. I received two emails on March 15 that said my orders had shipped direct from Holland along with a UPS tracking number. The UPS site reported the tracking number was invalid, so I sent an email to the company, just to double check. (They do not get back to you within 48 hours like the auto-response email says.)

I did finally receive a few emails responding that my order shipped directly from Holland... and to allow 3 - 4 weeks to receive my order. UPS does finally recognize the tracking number, however the only information is that they have received the package information as of 3/26/08.

The information on the website regarding my order number still says the orders should be here between 3/29 - 3/31. Today is April 3...but I am waiting the appropriate 3 - 4 weeks. Unfortunately if they don't get here soon, it will be warm here in NC, and I will have to baby the plants a little more than I would have if they had arrived when promised.

"

On April 17, I emailed the Customer asking for her information so I could check on their order; no response."

I ordered 20 snowdrops in October 2007 and planted them as soon they arrived, I believe early November. Now is March, all my crocuses are blooming, the daffodils are halfway growing, but no sign of my snowdrops whatsoever, not even a single leaf is showing where I planted them. I had hesitations ordering from them based on the negative reviews and inflated prices, but decided to give them a try. Very disappointed.

Ordered fall bulbs last year from Breck's and though everything arived in good condition, the bulbs were a smaller that I had anticipated (and I wasn't expecting all that much for the prices). I was also disappointed with the results this spring. Small flowers, some didn't bloom, and some were not what I ordered. Not sure if I would order from Breck's again, even with the coupon.

They do take a while to ship but they tell you when you order that your items will be sent to you at the right time for planting in your zone. Also, the bulbs come from Holland so that may explain why the order takes time to complete.

I ordered a huge quantity of bulbs (300+) from Breck's Canadian Order Centre in Port Burwell, Ontario in 2005 and planted them when I received them in the fall (Sept). There was a wide range of bulbs (their 120-day bloom collection, times 2)

Spring 2006 rolled around and not a bloom in sight. I was disappointed but hoped that maybe they just needed some "settling in" time and would bloom the following season. Yes, I'm a gardening rookie.

Spring 2007 arrived and still nothing was blooming. By this time I was just sick, thinking about all the money, not to mention the time and effort planning and planting, all gone down the tubes. I'd decided to chalk it up to experience when an envelope arrived from Breck's bearing a special offer. I was on my way to the bin with it when I noticed their guarantee:

"If, for any reason, you're not completely satisfied with any item upon receipt, after planting or once it grows and blooms, just contact Breck's anytime - no time limit - for as long as you garden. No need to return any item. We'll send a full refund or replacement, whichever you prefer."

...so I called their customer service dept. and described my experience. There was no hesitation whatsoever - a complete replacement is (apparently) going to be shipped to me at planting time again. I was even given advice and tips!

Rather than a -ve rating, my rating is neutral for now, as we'll have to wait and see if they follow through with their commitment to me. If I do receive a replacement order and they actually grow this time I'll gladly change my rating to +ve!

I, too, only ordered because I had the coupon. Like everyone else said, the shipping is SLOW. I will consider changing this to a positive rating once I see how the glads, dahlia, and sedum perform.

I received a note almost three weeks ago saying my dry root plants are on the way. I still haven't received them. I wrote to the company for help over 48 hours ago (this is the amount of time they say in which they will reply) and still am waiting for a reply. They don't have a 1-800 number listed on their website or I'd call. I guess I'm going to have to pay to call to find out what happened to my order. Or maybe the plants will arrive tomorrow and grow up to be beauties? If so, I'll let you know.

I ordered from them about two years ago. I too used one of those $25 coupons. I ordered just under $25 worth of products, so I only had to pay for shipping. I found the prices a bit high; I was only able to get two items, green tulips and some Vallerie Finnis muscari. I ordered the items in the summer and recieved them just in time for planting. The muscari were nice and large, the tulips were of average size. In the spring the muscari came up beautifully. Only three of my six tulips came up though. This could have been my fault, since the place where I planted half of them was a bit harsh on bulbs. The ones that did bloom were gorgeous though. Most times I can find what im looking for at a local garden nursery, for about the same price and quality. But I would probably order from them again - if I had another coupon.

On the negative side, I don't think our family has ever placed an order from Breck's where all the bulbs were exactly as expected. For example, we've received the wrong bulbs (that we could see automatically were wrong, due to the label). The company was very kind at letting us keep the mis-shipment. However, at other times it seems the bulbs, once they bloom, don't match the labels. We've ordered various types of allium (including blue allium), and basically everything comes up the same shade of purple allium. With this type of mistake, it takes months to realize you have the wrong bulbs. The company also solicits by phone. We have very limited garden space and thus these solicitations really are not of interest.

On a positive note, I have, in the past, received $25 coupons with no minimum order. This type of deal would possibly encourage me to order again, and there are few customers who wouldn't appreciate some free bulbs. It's just nice to know what they are before they bloom!

This isn't a comment about the company so much as a notice for those who like to be aware of related businesses: my Breck's order arrived (in good condition... for bareroots and bulbs, at least; the bareroots grew, if not spectacularly; still haven't planted the bulbs, as this was a springtime order, not a fall one) from Spring Hill Nursery's mailing address. I don't know what the formal relation between these two companies is, but those who wish to order from Breck's might want to check out the comments on Spring Hill.

The bulbs I bought from them last fall arrived far later than their initial estimates, which was annoying, but the plants are doing great so far. I'm not likely to order sensitive bulbs like lilies from Brecks in the future, but I've had good luck with their other bulbs - their perennial tulips were some of the largest tulips I've ever seen, the hyacinth were gorgeous, and their daffodil bulbs were huge and the flowers beautiful. Brecks would be a better company if they got their scheduling in order.

I had some positive and negative comments so the overall rating is neutral.

1) The bulbs were big and much better quality than I can purchase locally.

2) Unfortunately, they shipped the bulbs very late. I ordered (large order, hundreds of bulbs) in May-05. I received a couple items in late September, but did not receive the bulk of the large order (daffodils, giant crocus, perennial tulips and others) until mid to late October. That is a real problem in MN, especially for daffodils that need about 6 weeks to root before the ground freezes. Because they arrived so late and I had so little time to get them planted so that they could root well before winter, I ended up taking vacation time from work to plant them all.

3) All of the tulips, the grape hyacinth, snow glories, and the snow crocus planted last fall were stunning this spring. The red tulips in particular-- wow. About 3/4 of the the oriental and asiatic lilies came up, though it is too early still for blooms.

4) Other bulbs performed marginally if at all. The daffodils were disappointing. Fewer came up then expected (~65%), and only about a third that came up did not bloom. The yellow were true to type but the Salome were not pink. Considering the amount of work required to plant hundreds of bulbs, I was not happy. Only about 20% of the giant crocuses came up, and all of those were yellow (supposed to be a mix). None of the snow drops or wood hyacinths came up.

5) I do not know whether the poor performance was due to the late planting secondary to late shipping, but I do know that locally purchased bulbs planted at the appropriate time performed well.

6) I have not had a chance to contact customer service yet regarding the poor performers-- wanted to get through spring and confirm that they really weren't going to come up before complaining.

If their customer service is professional when I contact them, I'll give Breck's another try. However since late fall shipments are really a problem for my zone, if it happens again I'll stick with buying bulbs locally so that I can dig them in at the correct time, even if they are smaller.

I ordered toad lilies on special and some water lilies. At the same time, I ordered a lot of day lilies from Paradise Gardens and some water lilies from Pong Megastore. I was unhappy with what Breck's sent when I got it, I was angry when I got the OTHER vendor's plants.

Both Paradise and Megastore shipped me huge, healthy plants. Both communicated well as to status, and both were prompt.

The items from Breck's were tiny. The toad lilies were barely one rhizome each, compared to the hand-dug ones from Paradise (and more expensive). The water lily was a tiny shrivelled carrot with no roots. Compared to Megastore which had a huge root system and some leaves (same price).

Lesson learned... The specialists do better at there speciality. Buy water plants from water plant vendors, and flowers from the breeder.

I think Breck's expertise is bulbs. I won't be trying tho.