Comments regarding Jené's Tropicals

I went to this store today, for the first time. It is about 45 minutes drive from my home, but I have wanted a Kaffir Lime tree for a long time, and they have them. I chose the smallest one, because it had fruit.

This is a small business. Two employees were working, there were 4 customers in person and the phone rang almost constantly. They have a great selection much more inventory than their web-site implies. The plants are well cared-for, and the service was VERY GOOD (considering the number of people working). They even carried my plants to my car for me, even though they were doing a million other things. I did call to confirm that they had the Kaffir lime trees before I drove there. They were polite on the phone and went and counted the number of trees in stock for me. Any bad experiences (slow shipping, phone not answered, etc.) probably stem from the fact that they are quite busy.

Posted on March 28, 2010, updated March 29, 2010
Posted on March 28, 2010, updated March 28, 2010
Very poor customer service. Searching gardening forums will often yield several accounts of negative experiences with this company. Although their trees are reputed to be healthy and large by many, a comment from a forum user on Gardenweb sums up my feelings for Jene's: "They seem to be operating without a clue as to what's going on". It's now been 16 days since I placed my order, and it has not shipped. They did not respond to my email inquiring as to the status of my order. I've sent them another email requesting that the order be canceled. They have not yet charged my card, but if they do, I'll most definitely dispute it. If they cannot handle the burden of responding to emails, they should not be operating a mail-order business.

Jene's! I am ecstatic about Jene's!
Lucky me, they are local.

She stocks an impressive assortment of rare, economic and ethno- botanicals.

My calls are always answered. Jene is very nice, and Alex is a cool dude.

Contrary to the Negative post below, do go to the fruit tasting festival. Yes, the place is small, adds to the intimacy of the place.

Peace

I can only comment on the actual "site" not shipping as I went there to find plants. I have been twice, the first time was during a fruit tasting and it was horrible, it is such a small place and was packed with people trying to try the fruit, noone was there to help and I ended up just walking out. I went back a year later (last try) and was lucky that I was the only customer and spoke to the owner herself. She was very helpful and was happy to answer all my crazy questions and pick out plants for my needs. Plants were very healthy and well priced. So I think that if you would like to go, go when it's not a fruit tasting and you'll be happier.

So far I am inlove with the company. I'm a fitst time customer and everything has been smooth as of rightnow. Customer service is great. I feel bad that I called them many times in one day asking lots of questions and canceling an order, but they were very patient and more than willing to help. Linda was the lady whom I spoke with on the phone each time I called. Anyway, I have not received my tree yet (ordered an atemoya tree), but as soon as I receive it, I will let you guys know how it is! :)

I placed my order on August 31 for 1 Julie Mango and 1 Wurtz Avocado. Today, Sept 5th, they are sitting in my kitchen. 5 days from order (Florida) to delivery (Wisconsin), fantastic! The Julie Mango is in perfect condition. The Wurtz Avocado got a little cramped but now that it's out of the box and in it's new container it looks wonderful. I will order from Jene's Tropicals again. Great job guys!

May 5, 2008 I ordered off the internet a Cherry of the Rio Grandeon the 20 th of April and it arrived on May 1, 08. The tree was in excellent shape with a inch and a half trunk circumference with strong well proportioned branches, and the packing was done so well that it was actually difficult to get into. It was in a three gallon pot with a soil barrier to prevent spill. I was quite impressed with Jene's.

Well, I got a pleasant surprise today. A certain "child" aka sapling came to my door quite unexpectedly. I had ordered a white sapote McDill from Jenes a few weeks ago. Most confusing was this automated return email stating order didn't go through (even after an order confirmation). So I tried twice and then just gave up.

Anyway, the sapote is in good condition. It was shipped in its own soil and pot. The root system was fairly developed as expected in an air-layered tree. I wanted this one as I also have an 8 inch Suebelle sapote with a lousy root system...so I needed one with a good foundation.

Overall good service but communication could have been better. I recommend the air-layered plants they offer. True quality!

I have visited Jene's several times, buying most of my fruit plants, as well as palms and crotons from them. My daughter who lives near me also has purchased plants. The people are fantastic, helpful and highly knowlegable. The plants are gorgeous and doing well, despite the drought we are currently suffering from (No rain at all since mid-February) Lemon tree is setting fruit as is the mango and pomegranite, and the fig tree is racing to take over the garden, in competition with the bananas. I love going there and my daughter is disappointed that she will miss this year's fruit tasting festival!!

I visited Jene's Tropicals in person on 3/25/06 when I was in the St. Pete area with the thought of just "looking" at some lychee and brown turkey fig trees. The plants in the nursery were all very healthy looking and well-cared for, and when I wasn't able to find the Emperor lychee trees myself (there were a LOT of tropical fruit trees there, LOL) a staff member helpfully led me around to the in-stock lychee varieties and pointed out the cultivars I specifically wanted. I wound up purchasing two 3-gallon Emperor lychee trees (see photo here - //maggiewang.com/photos/albums/Spring2006/20060325_jenes_garden_lychees2.sized.jpg)from the nursery. All of the air-layered lychees I saw had strong, thick trunks and averaged 3 feet tall in their pots with healthy foliage and blooms. I was given a detailed instruction sheet on lychee care before I left.

Overall, I had a very positive experience--fantastic selection, reasonable prices, knowledgeable and friendly staff, and healthy plants. I'd definitely shop there again in-person or online for hard-to-find tropical trees.

I ordered 3 citrus trees & fertilizer on 3/21/05. Total came to $113.00 (I printed it). Tried to email them that I'd be out of town from 4/10 - 4/26 & not to send then. They never responded so had to call them long dist. I got order on 5/2 & the invoice said over $120.00--$7.00 overcharged to my card. One plant had a bunch of yellow leaves, the other two had broken branches & trunks were as skinny as a pencil. These were all 3 gal. plants. & should've been taller than 24-30 inches. I paid 5.99 for the fert. --price tag on bag was 3.99.
I ordered a nice 3 gal satsuma in late 12/03 for $19.99 but they charged $19.00 for S&H--$38.99 for that one!! I thought the plants would be much better (they don't seem to be dying) & am very dissappointed with the no response from them.

I purchased 5 trees (banana, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, and lime) 2 years ago... despite my best efforts to kill them, they are still alive! These trees arrived in pots and were the best mail-order trees I have ever purchased. They have lots of cool, unusual species and varieties and everyone that I spoke or exchanged emails with was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, patient, and friendly. I will definitely buy from them again.

I was in the St. Pete area last week and stopped by. Everyone was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. My time was limited, but the person helping me gave me a tour of the tropical fruit which was what I was interested in. Everything looked healthy and well cared for. Purchased an avocado, mango, surinam cherry and passion fruit. I considered the price reasonable and they also gave me helpful/informative paperwork for the items I was purchasing. Can't wait to go back again!

Received a tangerine and dwarf mango in great shape. The best thing one can say is that " there were no problems". I got what I expected.

Nice folks to deal with. Helpful with advise and the aren't adverse to offering advise via e-mail. I've ordered from them for several years and have always been pleased with their plants, shipping and customer service. They have a nice selection of unusual plants. It's getting too late to order more this season but I'll be doing more business with them in the spring of 2005. Overall rating 5 of a possible 5. Joe n Colorado

We visited Jene's Tropicals during their last Tropical Fruit Tasting event. It was pouring rain the entire weekend, but we went twice anyway. Our experience was wonderful. They did a great job, even with the downpour. We ended up purchasing 4 plants. Our miracle fruit plant is loaded with ripe fruit already and it was only a month ago that we purchased it. Their plants are healthy and they offer plenty of useful information for each plant, including typewritten care sheets. All of the plants we purchased are thriving and rapidly growing. We will be returning next month to purchase a truckload of trees. I highly recommend this company.

Last week I bought a Meiwa kumquat. I received it on time. It was very well packaged and growing in its original container. This four foot tree is a sight to behold with its beutiful lush growth and the promise of new buds forming. I'm very greatful that this place went through the hassel of shiping me this big tree.
Nate, Chicago.

I collect tropical fruit trees for my garden in Wisconsin, near Chicago. I have ordered over five plants from jene's Tropicals over the past three years, including a macadamia nut, carambola, fig, cattley guava, surinam cherry and orange tree. I have personally flown to Florida to see her well stocked and exceptional nursery. Every time I receive an order I am shocked at its size and condition! VERY REPUTABLE PLACE TO DO YOUR BUSINESS!

I stopped by Jene's today. Purchased several items. Asked how they shipped their goods. Bare root or potted. They told me in the pot. Everything I saw here was in excellent shape.

The young man was knowledgeable. I believe I can say that ordering from these folks would be as safe a bet as it gets.

I give them a 5 star rating in knowledge, and in the quality of plants I saw today. Furthermore, all of my future purchases will be through them. The only exception is they do not stock organic fertilizers.

The only problem--if you want to call it a problem--was their website needed updating some. They were out of one item that their site showed as in stock.
Olds

Jene's Tropicals is awesome. They have a wonderful selection of plants (especially tropical and subtropical fruit trees). Staff is always pleasant and helpful

Good quality products at reasonable prices.

One plant (a jasmine) arrived heavily infested with scale, but the rest of the trees, etc. were well packed and arrived in good condition.

The only complaint I have about the company is that the employees never returned my phone calls regarding the status of back-ordered or substituted items. However, I would order from them, again.