Comments regarding Henry Field's Seed & Nursery

I ordered quite a bit of seed from them and then found this site so i was very nervous about what i would get. The seed all came and looks to be in good shape. The live raspberry bushes i ordered will be shipped at a later date when I can plant them outside. It is too cold here to plant right now. The customer service was very good and overall I was very pleased with what i received for the money. I will do a follow up after planting and let you know how everything grows but so far I am happy and would definitely buy from them again.

Last year (2002) I purchased most of my garden seed from Henry's; it all arrived on time and all grew well. The only trouble I had was that one type of onion seed was back-ordered, and in June they sent me a credit voucher for this year because they said they had run out and could not get any more seed this season. Every company I have ever ordered seed from (with the exception of Pinetree) has had at least one item back-ordered, I've learned to order early enough to be able to place another order with another company before the growing season; so I don't consider one item to be a negative. Henry's also sent me a questionnaire about their service, explaining that they were under new ownership and would like to know what to improve.

I have ordered from others companies like Spring Hill and Henry Field's and was please with the results, more with Henry Field's because the bushes were bigger but they are all alive and healthy.

I just received eight raspberry canes, two bush apricots, and two dozen bulbs from Henry Field's. They arrived in fine shape, sooner than they said they would. One raspberry was missing, but I called Monday and they said they would replace it immediately. The canes were small, but I think they will grow. They now have a toll free number for customer service, and are open 7 to 7 (Central Time); 24 hours for ordering. I wonder why the numbers and hours for the two aren't the same. It seems like the same operator should be able to handle both jobs. If you need horticultural help they transfer you to somebody who actually knows what they're talking about anyway.

[One of] the best places that I have had luck with is Henry Fields. (They are 100% guaranteed or your money back.)

I have shopped both Henry Fields and Gurneys for over 20 years and have NEVER had a problem with either company. Anything that didn't grow was replaced promptly and without a hassle.

Henry Fields is a very good and reputable company in my personal experience. My parents and I have done business with this company for fifty years or so and I have never had a complaint and cannot remember hearing one from my parents.

I am new at ordering seed catalogs, etc. Heck, I am fairly new at growing anything from seeds! This year I ordered a bunch of stuff from Henry Field's as well. A special on everbearing strawberry plants (roots) from Henry Field's gave me happy little green leaves in only a few days and even some blossoms that I pinched off. Since I am such a novice, I ordered a few other specials (did not want to invest much in something I would probably kill anyway), and then failed to plant them for an extra month. (They were in the refrigerator as specified.) Well, most of them are fine, but 2 are looking dead. I have to agree with other comments that the shipping packaging could have been improved. But I have no real complaints about the company.

Having ordered cheap plants (I mean honestly--$.49 for a perennial that sells other places for $5 to $8?) I expect cheap plants. Several years ago, after the initial shock of bare root pieces of what looked like garden debris, and the realization that I was clueless about mail order plants, I soon found that these little roots take better to my soil than most larger plants I have bought. I am thrilled that I can find such low cost plants now that we are planting over a thousand feet of fenceline. I have had only one order where thanks to a package sitting in a sweltering mail truck all weekend, I found some things a bit slimy. They were replaced immediately. Perhaps some of the trouble is not the company but rather the delivery services where stuff sits in hot trucks for days. I will continue to gratefully order from Fields and Gurney's.

I have shopped both Henry Fields and Gurneys for over 20 years and have NEVER had a problem with either company. Anything that didn't grow was replaced promptly and without a hassle.

On the other hand, Gurneys and Fields were great! They were quick to answer the phone, fixed the problem (short on a few items) immediately, and all of the plants were alive when I got them (and still are!). But best of all, they arrived earlier enough to plant. I just love Henry Fields; they are the best. I've been doing business with them for 5 years now and will continue.

I recently purchased some "Field Grade Lilies" from Henry Field's. When I opened the package, the contents were rather steamy and wet. In fact, half of the bulbs were mildewed/molded. I immediately called the company, and to my surprise they were extremely helpful.The gentleman I spoke with apologized several times, and even went so far as to ask ME how many I would like replaced. When I had asked if they wanted me to send back the bulbs that were in question, I was told "No need to trouble yourself". THIS WAS SO REFRESHING! I wasn't very happy at first, but they definitely made up for it, and gave me the impression that although this type of thing did not happen often, they were not about to argue about it. The one thing about all of this that surprised me was that this was my first purchase, and my entire order only came to about $17.00!! I don't know how well they'll grow (I just planted yesterday), but the customer service is some of the best I've seen!

I have ordered from Henry Fields for 2 years and have to say I am pretty satisfied with them. I ordered a lot of the special offers they had, and some of the items (allium bulbs -6 for 0.69) were moldy. However, I called them back and explained. Without any hassles they said they would send out a new batch. So I can't really complain, especially since they are on special sale they are probably older bulbs. Most if the other bulbs I planted didn't look so great either, but I planted them. They came up in about a week.

I recently ordered from Henry Field's and have to say that I think their seeds are wonderful. Actual germination times exceeded the times listed on the packets and nearly every seed came up (I was planting individual flower seeds in flats).I also ordered thornless blackberries and a pink smoke tree. I got six, 1-year old blackberry plants, three each of two varieties for a special price. One variety hasn't done so well (one dead the others struggling), but the other variety is practically exploding out of the ground. Haven't called Field's yet regarding the dead one. The pink smoke tree was a 2-foot twig. It has been in the ground for about a month and a half, but only broke dormancy and started sproutinga week ago. It seems slow moving, but I'm going to give it a chance. Field's prints a guarantee with the order that you can discuss problems with customer service for up to a year following the arrival of any plant order. I thought that was a good deal. One other point, you can't beat their shipping charges by regular mail. $2.50 flat rate. If you are just ordering seeds you might have to order a lot to justify the price, but combined with the large plants I ordered, $2.50 was a bargain for two bulky packages.

I've had excellent luck with Henry Field's. I ordered about 50 perennial plants from them last fall and most of them started thriving right away. The few that didn't were replaced immediately, without any hassles, as soon as I called them on the phone and explained the problem. This Spring I ordered some berry plants and, being a new gardener, asked for some information about how to grow them and support the canes. They sent me a big envelope of growing information about the berries I'd asked about, plus some other stuff that was very informative. I have also had wonderful luck with their seeds, with a germination rate well over 90%. I am absolutely amazed at this, too! In short, I feel their prices are quite good after having compared them to a LOT of other mail-order nurseries, and their order processing turnaround and customer service are excellent.