Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

This past Spring I ordered a collection of 120 bulbs, etc. from Spring Hill through QVC. First, I didn't even receive the entire collection ordered. I contacted Spring Hill directly and Finally received one of the items that was missing but I never received the rest.After planting what I did receive-according to their instructions, only about 1/5th of what I put in actually grew. The rest never even cameup. Of those that did grow, the only plants that actually thrived and produced were the daisies and 8 glads.I did contact the company a second time but received no response. I finally contacted QVC and explained the problem and THEY finallyreturned what I had paid. Will I order from Spring Hill again (or from Breck's if they are part of the same corporation)? Not in thislifetime.

I have been ordering from Breck's & Spring Hill for the better part of 25 years. The plants are usually great & when there is a problem I have no trouble getting replacements/refunds. My only complaint about them is lately they seem to have a problem with "billing". If I order early & am billed with shipment I start receiving bills immediately after & then comes reminders & thencomes nasty letters even though I am paying for the shipments as they arrive! I called last week & was told that customer service has been trying to get the big guys to stop doing this to their regular, longtime customers as they've been getting a lot of complaints. The same old answer comes back"BLAME IT ON THE COMPUTER". My husband & I recently decided to stop doing business with companies that we have ordered from & spent money with on a regular basis & receive no consideration in return & there are a lot latelyit seems. These two (especially Spring Hill) may be next.

I ordered a starter shade garden from Spring Hill this past spring and it is doing great. Everything has bloomed, or is blooming, and looks great. Although in the future I will purchase perennials from a nursery in our area (the plants are bigger, more established and cheaper than Spring Hill), I've gotten some good ideas just from looking at the catalogs. I would recommend that anyone give them a try at least once.

Speaking from the numerous experiences I have had with Spring Hill, I would rate them very high on customer service. I purchased about six variegated hostas from them about 9 years ago along with a few other items. The Hostas did remarkable even in this yucky Georgia clay, theyare now about 3' high/wide. I did have a problem with a few plants I ordered but when I wrote to them explaining about the problems, an immediate check was cut and sent to me.

This spring I ordered 10 roses from Springhill and received two free. They had the exact size, types, and colours I needed. All but two have leafed out great. I have requested a replacement for those. If I expand my rose garden, I will order from Springhill again if these bloom well.When considering the shipping and handling costs, one must factor in gas and travel time. I will gladly pay to have plants and merchandise delivered to my doorstep if I am allowed the convenience of armchair shopping. No traffic,parking, clerks, lines, lugging to auto and unloading. Heaven on earth!

…This was a great resource for me, a novice gardener, and it made planning a garden much less overwhelming. I purchased approximately $250 worth in collections and hydrangeas. I ordered full sun and shade plants. I received everything I ordered and in better condition than I expected. About 70% were potted plants that were larger than I expected. They were packaged EXTREMELY well.Nothing could have possibly hurt these plants during shipping. And the bulbs were healthy and had good root systems. One out of probably 100plants didn't make it. And three out of over 24 bulbs didn't make it. As soon as I called them, they sent me more replacements than I needed.They arrived right away and in the appropriate time for planting. Their customer service reps are extremely nice and don't question you whensomething doesn't make it. They told me they would send replacements however many times I needed them to and not to worry. I am so pleased with the plants and so relieved as well, for I had read all of the comments at this site after I ordered but before I received it. I can't tell you how happy I am with them. My gardens look great. My bulbs are out and many of my plants are already blooming! [update 10/1997] I wrote to you in Spring 1997 about my order and the condition my plants arrived in. The order arrived great; however, the performance of thegardens I purchased left much to be desired. I am a novice gardener and thought that by buying full gardens from Spring Hill, I could still have nice gardens by the end of the summer. All the plants did grow, but they did not look well together at all which is the point. Some looked sickly after germination and some didn't bloom. Although I think we did a great job planting them and watering often, this could have been our fault or the plants may need more than a year to establish themselves. Even if all the plants had done well, I think the plants selected for the gardens and their layouts look terrible. My greatest pet peeve is that they sold me "weeds" that were re-named so that I couldn't recognize them. For example, they re-named goldenrod to something I didn't recognize. I now agree with you that I should be leery of catalogs that do not publish the botanical names of the plants they sell. And I'll also be more careful about buying garden sets. Spring Hill's customer reps immediately gave me a credit for all the gardens, but what I really wanted was my effort to pay off. And if not, then I wanted my money back, but by the time I realized that the gardens weren't working, the money back guarantee ran out and I had to besatisfied with a credit. I don't really want to buy anything huge from them again. So much for the credit :(

I have been disappointed in the plants & bulbs received from Spring Hill.

We have ordered many times from Springhill and fine them to be an excellent source for bulbs and plants. We ordered 18 rose bushes from them 3 years ago and couldn't be happier with them. We did lose one rose bush (due to my laziness in not planting it right away) they replaced it quickly and with three more bushes not just the one I killed! We highly recommended them to our friends and family. Our orders have arrived at the correct planting time, fresh, undamaged, and already growing. I just can't say enough good things about dealing with them.

My problem with them has been with the color of the plants. I've ordered two separate collections of Japanese Iris of assorted colors only to find once they bloomed (2-3 years after planting) that the red (in both collections) was white, the pink was white, and the kicker was the yellow iris was not even Japanese, it was a two tone blue SIBERIAN iris. I should have noticed the difference in foliage earlier, but as small as the plants are, who can tell? I've had the same problem with their astilbe - ordered six red, ended up with one white, two pink, one red, and two still waiting to bloom so I know what color they are. And then there is the poppy collection. I got replacement poppies from their wonderfully efficient service department and you guessed it, the red poppies bloomed pink. This place really plays havoc with color schemes. Needless to say, I'm a former customer.

I agree that their customer service is pretty good. It should be, since they probably get enough practice. I don't want good service after the majority of my order has died. I want good plants that grow when promptly planted and properly protected. Spring Hill does not provide them.

We have ordered from Spring Hill many times in the past. Every time that we have ordered from them the plants have arrived in very good condition except for a couple of times. We ordered the hedge roses from them, and they were delivered in the fall very healthy. After planting they did not make it through our Texas Panhandle winter. We called them in the spring and they credited us for the roses plus gave us an additional $10 worth of merchandise for our trouble. The only other time we had some plants die it was only two plants out of a set but they replaced the whole set. You will find me buying from them in the future because of their seeming commitment to making their customers happy. For all of you that have had a problem with them I would suggest that you contact them with your problem and see if they are willing to help make things right.

I have also had good luck with plants from Springhill.

I've ordered Chinese Elm from Springhill, and they grew very fast & healthy on ground that I thought I was taking a chance with. (I am also new to this). They did great for three years, but now we've moved & I have been looking for their phone # to get a new catalog. We plan on ordering more for our new yard and I look forward to more good quality for a good price.

I have to add to the many comments regarding Spring Hill. I'm in zone 5 here in Denver and when we recently built a new home, I ordered well over $1500 worth of stock from Spring Hill and planted in the Spring. We had a very cool and wet Spring that first year, and some of their stock did not establish itself. They replaced not just the single items, but the entire collections for the few items that did not seem to bounce back. I have since then continued to order from them and will continue to. My garden is now completing its second summer and looks absolutely great! Spring Hill will tell you that the pictures in their catalogs are in year three (not year one.)

I order a large order (about $168 worth) in the Spring of 95. I received it in plenty of time for planting, but with most of the plants nothing happened. I read the catalog and in several places it said to wait and be patient. I waited, and waited, and waited (until this June). Very few of the plants came up (about 6). I called them and they were very receptive. They said that they will mail out my entire order again in September 1996. I feel that it will be a big waste of time planting them but I am going to give them a chance. Could someone please let me know if they have ever received their money back. I decided that if I couldn't get the new plants to grow satisfactorily I'm going to ask for a complete refund. I doubt if I would ever order from them again or recommend them.

I order from Spring Hill constantly. In fact my entire garden is from Spring Hill and it looks beautiful. I have nothing but good things to say about them. They even refunded my money when the squirrels dug up my bulbs. Their customer service is great. I will definitely continue with them.

Several years ago, we ordered from Spring Hill some pampas grass and a few collections. Nothing ever survived beyond the first six months but Idid not fault the quality of the plants for the failure.Now, five years later with more acreage to plant I have found that Spring Hill (and others) offer great opportunities to pick up collections for a good price. The trick is to learn to grow their kind of product that they send you. The bulbs need more care than those bought (locally), but they do just fine the second season around.Nonetheless, these companies are trying to make a profit while someone's trying to plant with their product. At the very least, they let an inexperienced gardener try to grow his/her green thumb and with as many retries as necessary to get it right. Why get mad at such a great agreement? Didn't we all agree to it when we signed our check? We expect a lot for very little for being consumers.

Spring Hill has sent me good quality plants, and all are doing fine as of this writing. I will continue to do business with Spring Hill

My experiences with both of these companies (Breck's and Spring Hill) have been generally favorable. With Springhill, the box of plants I received was a mess, and I was sure they were all dead. With the eternal hope of a gardener, I planted them anyway, and some plants didn't come up. I called them (10 months later, when I was really sure they weren't going to pop out of the ground), and received an immediate refund. In their second year, all the plants are doing beautifully, although one of the peonies is a single pink, not the double white I ordered. Can we truthfully blame the company 100% of the time when a plant fails, or could it be poor planting, insects, or the weather, too?

I had no problem with Breck's and Spring Hill. My plants always grew. Once I lost my strawberries and they replaced them free, no questions asked.

I ordered peonies (sorbet) two years ago. The first season (last year), they were quite small, and no bloom. This year (so far), they are still much smaller than I could expect, and they will not bloom. I grow a lot of peonies, and I have never run across peonies that needed more than one full growing season to 'recover' from being divided. I have never seen these kinds of peonies offered anywhere else, so maybe I just don't understand them. But, they did arrive in good condition, and they do seem to be surviving well.

This year was the first year I have ordered from them. The Hosta collection though only roots have grown great in only a couple of weeks. I also bought a prepackaged garden and had two of them die. I called the nursery and they are sending replacements. Their customer service is great! I'm not sure about the quality because I have nothing to compare it to. This is the first time I've ordered plants mail order.

Two years ago I ordered 50 lily of the valley pips and several Hostas from Springhill. The order arrived with rather wimpy (very dried out) looking specimens. I planted anyway as I was new to the gardening scene and didn't know any better. Two of the lily of the valley pips came up and not one Hosta survived. I will not order from this company again. NO MORE SPRINGHILL!!!

When I first bought my house, I was excited, and ordered a complete set for flowers for the whole front yard. One plant of over 50 came up the next year. I called the company, and they replaced all plants. The second year, only 3 plants came up. I checked with local gardeners to make sure the plants I ordered would grow where I intended them to, and got thumbs up. I ended up going to a local nursery in the third year, and once again replanted the whole garden (with success). I won't use this company in the future.

NEVER BUY ROSES from this place. They have a great customer satisfaction department - they will replace anything that won't grow and believe me they have replaced a lot of stuff, over and over. I have spent many hundreds of dollars with this company, especially with the complete garden kits. The plants are very small. Some survive, most don't - some you need a magnifying glass in order to see their beauty. I would say that at least 90% of the fantasia mums that I ordered came delivered covered in a fungi of some sort...I ordered about 120 of these plants and Spring Hill has replaced at least 90 of these. The last shipment I ordered (30 plants) all died; I did not call the company to have them replaced - a waste of time. The shipment before that all died (60 plants) I had those replaced! The ones that have survived (4) are absolutely huge. I had one whole (except for 1 plant) shade garden not even grow! Prices are great, BUT STAY AWAY!

I have ordered from Spring Hill and Breck's. The customer service was great. But the bulb/rhizomes were not always great. I have had trouble with the irises, poppies, hyacinths, crocuses, and some other types of spring flowering plants, more so with Spring Hill than Breck's. I have had great success with the jonquils and daffodils. I cannot say enough great things about the perennial tulips! The bulbs were huge. The plants were huge. The flowers were stunning, long-lasting, and hardy. I moved last fall, and took as many bulbs as I could find with me. They are coming up right now!

I have purchased from Spring Hill and found their customer service outshines the plants they sell. I ordered $183 from them in Fall 1994 and requested a refund of $63.00 in Spring 1995. They sent it by return mail and a coupon for an extra $20 if I reordered with the $63 check. That's $83.00 worth of plants. I did not reorder since I had already bought replacements. I would probably order from them again.

I do agree that the service is good, and they will replace plants, or credit your account without a fuss, but their roses are to be avoided at all costs. I received the climber Viking Queen from them and it had mosaic, the scourge of roses. They were happy to credit my account since I no longer wanted ANY roses from them. The reason? They didn't care that the rose had mosaic, and saw no need to inform their grower about the problem. Other plants received from them seem to be doing well though.

I've had bad experiences with Spring Hill Gardens…[they] mail small, runty specimens and frequently arrive in bad shape, with broken stems or non-producing stems. Worse, some of the plants I received from them had mosaic virus and had to be destroyed. [They] do, however, grant refunds without question or request for returning the specimens.

I have ordered a variety of perennial plants from Spring Hill over the past three years and have been very happy with the plants I have received. All of the plants grew successfully. I agree that they don't give as much information about hardiness or Latin names as would be desired, but for a gardener who knows what they want, Spring Hill is a reliable and inexpensive source of older plant varieties.

Springhill and Breck's has been extremely good to me. I've been very pleased with the quality. If the plants or bulbs fail to grow they have replaced the complete shipment with no hassle. I will continue to order from them.

You are "ALL WET" when it comes to your truly ignorant comments about Breck's, Spring Hill and Michigan Bulb. The parent company, Foster and Gallagher maintains the highest standards in the industry with respect to customer service, and product quality. You should do your homework and ACTUALLY research the facts before you spout off about something you know very little about. If you would care to come to Peoria, I'm sure my wife could arrange a tour of the Foster and Gallagher facilities, where you could meet her customer service co-workers.

Springhill and Breck's has been extremely good to me. I've been very pleased with the quality. If the plants or bulbs fail to grow they have replaced the complete shipment with no hassle. I will continue to order from them.

I order (sometimes) from Spring Hill. Have to say that they are pushy when it comes to mailing unsolicited catalogs & *special* offers, but must agree that they DO have great customer service. All my stuff has arrived on time, and the one's that didn't make when planted out side are few & far between. Vast majority of roses have done *great*.

You are "ALL WET" when it comes to your truly ignorant comments about Breck's, Spring Hill and Michigan Bulb. The parent company, Foster and Gallagher maintains the highest standards in the industry with respect to customer service, and product quality. You should do your homework and ACTUALLY research the facts before you spout off about something you know very little about. If you would care to come to Peoria, I'm sure my wife could arrange a tour of the Foster and Gallagher facilities, where you could meet her customer service co-workers.

I have found Spring Hill to be famously awful! The plants received were anemic, soggy and dead. They were friendly and almost expectant of the dissatisfaction. Avoid them!

I think you are being way to hard on Spring Hill. I realize that they do not supply hardiness information, and that some of their plants are not in the best shape - their customer service is very good. I purchased the carnation collection (15 plants) and 2 of them died. I got credited for all 15 as it was a collection. I ordered a lot of stuff from them (over 100 plants) and just about all are doing just fine - what isn't I get credit for. If nothing else, seeing color pictures of *everything* they sell is nice.