Comments regarding Santa Rosa Gardens

Awesome!! All aspects of this company are over the top! I placed an order about a week ago and for some reason I thought they were on the west coast and payed for 2 day shipping. Imagine my surprize when I received an email from Dana stating that ship time to my area was 3 days and she took off the extra shipping charge! I dont know of any company that would care enough to do that. I received my plants 3 days later. The packaging is by far the best I have seen, ever! Not one speck of dirt in the box. The plants were huge!!! All are in perfect condition,not a leaf out of place. They also included a free gift, A beautiful white amaryllis bulb the size of a softball!! Then I realized they were in Florida- most companies would have sent it ground and pocketed the extra! I am blown away by this company!!

My experience has been very good - i should have rated this company months ago...

After i waited too late in October to order tulip bulbs from companies that were recommended to me, i found Santa Rosa Gardens listed here. Their ratings were excellent, but almost all of them seemed to be for grasses. There was no mention of bulbs. But the prices were good, and they had most of what i wanted, so i ordered.

i got my Santa Rosa Gardens order in a very timely fashion and i was really happy with it - all the bulbs (tulips, daffs, chionodoxa) looked great! They were well packaged - "Garden Joy" brand, and everything (except the smallish ipheion) looks big and healthy. Much better than the bulbs i ordered elsewhere last year!

And they sent me a surprise gift - a red lion amaryllis. As in a whole plant! i was REALLY surprised. it was more than 2 feet tall. i gave it to a friend who enjoys indoor plants, and it has done well.

i eagerly anticipate blooms in the spring, and will likely order some tall grass from SRG then also!

amy
*

"

Amy,

Thanks for the comments. We're also eager for spring!"

We have received numerous orders from Santa Rosa Gardens and each time we are more impressed. The time that they take with the packaging of the plants to ensure their safe journey is great! The size and quality of the plants are wonderful as weel. I will continue to shop with this reliable company.!

WOW I cannot say enough good about this company. Well Packed super healthy and very well priced. I have ordered twice and the same quality each time. River

This is the second time I have ordered from this company and I was really impressed. The plants were healthy, well rooted and extremely well packed. Bravo! I wish that the old standbys -- Wayside and White Flower Farm would take some lessons from Santa Rosa.

I placed an order of sale plants I hadn't been able to find anywhere else except as 2- or 5-gallon plants. Santa Rosa was sold out of one of my choices, and called me to ask about substitutions. The order was shipped promptly,and I received the plants in great condition 2 days later. Where the stated size (4" pot) wasn't available, they substituted two liner-sized plants. All plants, 4" or liner size, had excellent root systems and healthy top growth. I'm quite happy with what I received, and even happier with the reasonable prices.

Plants came and had been delayed in transpost, arrived dry and wilted. Company very prompt on communication and replaced plants in question. Very professional and reliable.

I purchase many plants on the internet and Santa Rosa is my favorite mail-order nursery.

The perennials and grasses are in bigger pots than most that charge the same price and everything is very well rooted. That is a huge benefit. The plant prices and shipping are very reasonable.

They have a huge selection of ornamental grasses. The fact that they have perennials is a bonus.

The plants are careful packaged and always arrive in perfect condition. The nets are the best packing strategy that I have seen yet. I have received plants from many mail order nurseries that are all broken and bent. The nets really seem to keep the plants intact.

The customer service is friendly and helpful. The website is easy to use and allows easy access to previous orders. They take Paypal…which is a plus for those of us that prefer not to give out bank card information all over the internet.

I will continue to shop at Santa Rosa first….

I just wanted to thank you for the grasses that I ordered from your website (miscanthus strictus and pennisetum rubrum). I did not get the chance when they arrived.

They came on the day I had calculated from your email. You combined two orders to save me on shipping. They were packed amazingly well. I couldn't be more impressed. They hav ebeen in the ground for more than 4 weeks and they look wonderful. I am a very satisfied customer and will certainly shop with you all again.

You all certainly deserve the praise given. Many, many thanks, and I look forward to spring when I can plant more grasses!

I ordered from this company because I clicked onto a link that someone had posted in a thread.I didn't check here first,and I didn't even know where the co.was until after I placed the order.
When I received the plants,last Saturday I was going to post a negative as 1 of the 4 plants I ordered Buddleia sp.black knight arrived with a very pale lavender bloom.I instantly knew it wasn't black knight, and I thought they should have known too.
The plants actually come from another company called Emerald Coast Growers,Pensacola, FL.I called their # and the woman at that number couldn't have been more rude and unprofessional even if she had tried!Then she informed me that they don't handle complaints and gave me the # to Santa Rosa Gardens.
I spoke to Darleen who has a Great sense about her and a dry sense of humor and all the charm you expect from a Southern Lady ( even though she said she was from "up north" (Georgia). She told me that they would send the Black Night out on Monday and to give the pale lav. plant to a neighbor.
I personally think that if they are going to be connected with another company they should make sure to hire better staff, like they have working at Santa Rosa Gardens.

"

Zebraman,

I apologize for any unpleasant experience you may have had with your recent purchase. Our goal is to always provide top quality plants with top quality service.

I have to correct an inaccuracy in your post. Emerald Coast Growers does not grow our plants. We purchase our starter plugs from them, but plant, grow and ship all of our own product in our greenhouses. Our experience with them as a wholesale supplier has always been first rate and I know they have an excellent customer service reputation within the industry. Emerald Coast does not deal with homeowners nor do they sell directly to the public. Calling them rather than us is like having a problem with your new computer and calling the chip manufacturer.

Back to the plant issue. Dina (not Darleen) was correct. It's not very common, but on occassion a plant may be incorrectly tagged in our greenhouses. We will always stand behind our varieties and repace/refund/credit any issue with a plant that is not true to variety.

Thanks for taking the time to post your experience and please remember, if you have any issue, contact us immediately, not any of our wholesale suppliers. We're always there for our customers.

Zebraman,

I spoke with Dina, and she does have your replacement Buddleia plant setup for shipping. I hope everything has been taken care of to your satisfaction. Let me know if there are any problems. Thanks."

We need an 'Excellent' rating!

I got my first order of grasses (Carex) from Santa Rosa Gardens, in Florida, yesterday afternoon. I placed the order on their website late last week, and they shipped, via UPS Ground, on Monday.

The order:

7 Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'
7 Carex elata 'Bowles Golden'
7 Carex muskingumensis 'Little Midge'
7 Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'


They're having a half-price sale on many grasses, including all these, and are delivering very well-rooted 4" pots.

Each plant was packaged in a mesh sleeve, which holds the pot (holding in the soil) and extends most of the way up the foliage. Each plant is then rolled in several layers of padded packing paper, and laid on it's side in the carton, alternating pots at each end, so nothing can move.

I have never gotten plants by mail in such perfect condition. The only casualty was a single flower stem on the free bonus Miscanthus sinensis 'Graziella' they included in the shipment.

The total for 29 perfect plants was $78.61, including freight, for a per plant price, delivered, of $2.71.

I'm very very pleased with Santa Rosa's product quality, attention to detail in packaging, and price. The bonus 'Graziella' didn't hurt, either.

Check them out!

I ordered hostas and sedums from their 50% off late summer sale. All plants arrived large and very healthy, and very well packaged. I also got a bonus ice-plant. Shipping was fast. Certainly will order again. Thank you.

I have ordered several plants from Santa Rosa Gardens this spring & so far everything has done very well. Yes they are small pots but look at the price your paying for them. Try ordering them from another nursery if you can find some of what they have and pay the same price. I have ordered from other nurseries & just got plugs for double the price and they didn't even live because they didn't even have a good root system on them. I will definately be ordering from them again.

Great quality and size -- especially for the price (eg, $5.99 for a painted Japanese fern that can cost as much as $15). The packing was impeccable, and they threw in an extra plant for free, even though I only ordered a half-dozen plants. One died, alas, but they're sending me a replacement after a quick phone call, no-questions-asked. In the future, I'll check them first for all my plant needs; even though I've had very positive experiences with a number of online nurseries, Santa Rosa Gardens has vaulted to the top of the list!

I absolutely love Santa Rosa Gardens! The hostas I ordered were beautiful, large, and packaged to make the trip from Florida to Northern Pennsylvania. Great job! I will definitely be ordering from them again!

Great communication from the customer service department as well.

I took a chance on Santa Rosa based on a question posted from another DGer...I received my order today and feel like I've hit the JACKPOT!!!
The plants that arrived are certainly not leftover sale plants that will need to be babied...The hostas are huge and multi-eyed, agastaches perfect, and as large as those found locally, and the salvia is terrific as well!
Packing was outstanding!!
Also included in the box; I great booklet of planting instructions, instructions on plant care upon arrival, and a beautiful catalog of ornamental grasses. Plus a wonderful bonus plant-graptophyllum 'Black Beauty'!!
Wholeheartedly recommended!

If I could give this company 11 out of 10 I would! Fresh off a disasterous order from another vendor, I decided to take the plunge with LeeAnne and Bonnie for some hostas. I ordered:
Brim Cup
Emerald Tiara
Fragrant Blue
Fragrant Bouquet
Guacamole
Patriot
Super Nova
The total cost of the order was under $49 including shipping.

They arrived packaged superbly and in fabulous shape. Each plant was multi-eyed, very healthy and beautiful. The plants were even larger and healthier than my local premium greenhouse was offering and much less expensive. Shipping was fast and they shipped on the date I requested. I will definitely be back.

I ordered the following last week:
Sedum Fireglow
Sedum Tricolor
Sedum Vera Jameson
Hosta Just So
Hosta Twilight
Hosta Groundmaster
Hosta Fragrant Blue
Hosta Brim Cup
Carex elata Bowles Golden
Salvia lyrata Purple Knockout
Artemisia arborescens Powis Castle
Sempervivum arachnoideum Cobweb


My pkg got mailed on Tuesday and it arrived today.
I was concerned because they shipped UPS but it got here in record time. Two days from FL to IN is great!

Arrived in a nice size box which they have foam insulation on the bottom, sides and top and include a cool pack. Each plant was nicely wrapped in heavy brown shipping paper and had a net which secured each plant.

Gave me two small pots of one of the mini hostas because they didn't have the 4" size.

I am very happy with this order... we've had a heat wave and the soil is still damp and plants unaffected by shipping.

Sizes are just as large if not larger than I expected ... I'll be ordering from them again!

They also sent me a free gift which was 'Chocolate Graptophyllum' which I love the foilage !

There is Nothing that I would want different. Excellent communication, packing, shipping time.. everything was just perfect.


Being PICKY, if I could find ONE thing that I could find that they might be able to change:

While browsing thru the list of plants, it would be wonderful if buyers could possibly see that an individual plant is sold out before going to to the individual page of the plant. Possibly adding that information instead of the purchase price would be great but then again this is no biggie,

Will DEFINATELY buy from them again.

"

"While browsing thru the list of plants, it would be wonderful if buyers could possibly see that an individual plant is sold out before going to to the individual page of the plant."

Thanks for the feedback. We've now added this feature to our website. Hope your plants find a happy home in your garden!"

Ordered 5 Nanho Blue buddleia this spring. They arrived quickly and in great shape. I'm very impressed with their packaging of potted plants.

I have placed 3 orders with Santa Rosa Gardens and always have had great service. The packaging and care that they take with each plant is extremely remarkable. I have and will continue to place orders with them because they do care about the customers and what they want.I would totally recommend them to all of my friends, family and co-workers!!

In trying to get a number of Helleborus, with some variety at that, one of the discoveries, through Plant Scout, was Santa Rosa. They do have a nice selection of 'ladies' in 3" pots. Pricing was pretty good, I thought, with quantity discount. The 50 plants arrived in two boxes. If anything they were overpackaged.The net 'bag' was difficult to remove from a few of the larger plants without causing damage, (I should have cut them off). I should also have realized as I was shaking my head over the amount of loose dirt in the heavy paper wrappers, that this meant dirt not attached to root. During planting, it becme obvious that a number of the plants had, apparently just prior to shipping, been placed into the 3" pot. The roots were no larger than from a 'six-pack' . Both the roots and the plants were CONSIDERABLY smaller than others from another nursery in 4" pots (at higher cost). Comparably, I would say that the 'discount price' is about the'correct' price for a plant of this development. The plants ARE healthy, and, if anything like thieir pictures will be beautiful - in a few years.

"

I want to address some of your concerns and comments as best I can.

First, thank you for your feedback on the Hellebores. It certainly helps to hear fom our customers.

The netting you mentioned has been a huge improvement in the packaging of our plants. Our shipping tests have shown that it works very well in containing the foliage, while allowing the plant to 'breathe'. We do advise cutting the netting on the bottom and the plant will slide out downward with relative ease. Pulling the plant up out of the netting is like 'going against the grain' and the foliage can be damaged. We recently printed new instruction sheets, now added to shipments to help explain how best to unpack the plants upon arrival.

As for the development of the Hellebores, these are not new production, but Hellebores will not do much growing in late spring, early summer. I feel it important to respond to this so that our customers know we do NOT ship out material recently bumped up into a larger size container. Demand for the Hellebores sold out our first production by mid-spring, and by late spring we were shipping out the second production batch. They were on the bench for quite some time, but did not push heavy root growth with our warm and rainless Fla.spring. These plants should be very healthy and ready to push strong with cooler temperatures.

As always, we do back up our plants with a full guarantee and will replace or refund any that fail to perform."

I just received 8 grass plants from Santa Rosa. They are larger than I was expecting, well-packaged and still very moist. The plants were shipped immediately after I placed the order. I will certaintly order from them again!

"

Thank you for your comments! Our new larger pot sizes have been a big hit with our customers this year.

We appreciate your loyalty and will continue to work hard at providing top quality plants to our customers."

I recently received my first order from Santa Rosa Gardens. I'm more than happy with my order. The plants I received are the largest I've yet received by mail. I was thrilled.
Ordering from their site was great — other Internet shops should take note. Navigating their site was easy as was narrowing down selections. Every item for sale has an image posted, though I wish there were more photos of each plant as well as larger full-size images. When I placed my order I received an immediate receipt by email.
What was a nice surprise was the ability to log back on to the site to check the status and track shipment of my order. This should be mandatory on more sites. Will be ordering from them again.

I have already placed and received 2 separate orders of perennials from Santa Rosa Gardens this year - I was so pleased with the quality of the plants (huge! healthy!) I received in the first order as well as the outstanding customer service, that I placed my second order on the same evening that I received the first. !! I have had disappointing adventures in mail order plants in the past but decided to take a chance after reading the positive feedback they have gotten on this website. I am so very impressed! I just can't say enough. I will be back!

"

Thanks for the continued business! I hope the plants found a great home in your garden."

I am very pleased with this company! I ordered 20 perennials and received them in less then a week.

The plants seem very healthy and are quite large compared to others I have ordered online. They were packed well with no loss of dirt or moisture to the roots.

I will definately be ordering from them again soon.

Excellent experience with this company.

Ornamental grasses look great, were shipped the day I requested, and are larger than I expected. This is my first experience ordering from this company, but I believe they recently increased by a significant amount the size of the pots they use for mail order.

The prices of the grasses are very reasonable, but an actual bargin if you order in multiples. On their website, click to see a side bar which lists the prices for ordering more than one of a particular plant. The prices go down considerably if you order more than one of any particular variety.

In addition to the nice, healthy, good sized grasses, the package contained as a "gift" a very cute pair of gardening gloves!

Highly recommended.

"

We try to make volume purchases rewarding for our customers. They help keep our costs down, so we'll pass those savings on to you.

You're welcome for the bonus gift. Most orders receive a little extra surprise with the plants! Our thank you for choosing Santa Rosa Gardens."

Great service.....ordered last Sunday and had my order on the following Tuesday. I didn't receive an email with the shipping notification & tracking until after I received the package. I ordered a variety of 29 plants total and the packaging was nice; I've never ordered plants online before and didn't know what to expect. However, about 8 plants that were in the bottom of the box were pretty smashed-----but they did spring back fairly well. The majority of the plants were a nice decent size; the yarrow and rudbeckia very small. The Jacob Cline Bee Balm were huge----gorgeous but extremely root bound although that can happen anywhere. All plants have been in the ground for 5 days and doing great. Overall I would order from them again....bonus was a free pair of gardening gloves. Nice selection.

WOW! These were the nicest, biggest plants that I have received from an internet company. Great, quick customer service. I am impressed.

I love the fact that they gave me the option of choosing my own shipping date, and then met that date. It allowed me to choose my plants, have them set aside, and time them to arrive after the average last frost date here, so I wouldn't be tempted to plant too soon. My order arrived in perfect condition. I suppose that's not surprising, as I live in the same county as the nursery. I was delighted to find they had given me a few bonus plants. Not surplus stock they couldn't sell, mind you, but extras of the hostas I had ordered.

Wow. This is the best mail order I have ever gotten. The packaging was fantastic, the plants are hardy and still moist, and the prices are competitive.

All plants had the best root systems I've seen in mail order except for Digging Dog who I would rate about the same. Since I'm in Virginia, their Florida location ensures I get robust plants right into very late fall planting.

I'd like to address some of the negative comments I see on this site regarding small plants; you will almost always get smaller plants in mail order. It's mail order after all.

Santa Rosa, my hat is off to you. Now just increase the speed of your website...

Ordered plants from them online. Turned out they were out of stock, but it didn't indicate that in the online catalog. My credit card was charged. They promptly made me aware that the items ordered were out and refunded me promptly. Although I can't rate the quality of their plants, their customer service is certainly an A+.

Outstanding packaging, great customer service, beautiful plants, and my husband and I both love the gator rake as well! I ordered bulbs, grasses, and a gator rake. The bulbs were packaged wonderfully, which helped since I gave those as gifts. The grasses were full and green and still had moist soil after 3 days in the box! They had added a freeze pack in the box to keep the plants cool during delivery. I haven't seen such professional packaging in mail order plants before. Oh, Santa Rosa, I also appreciated the email communication with tracking number when my plants shipped. Thanks so much for the great service, I WILL be ordering again in spring!

I'm an avid gardener, but have always been worried about ordering plants online. Well, Santa Rosa Gardens was one of the only nurseries to have all of the ornamental grasses I wanted for my garden, so I took a chance. I received my plants from Santa Rosa Gardens just this past week. My plants were much bigger than expected and very full. I even received a free bar of gardener's soap in the box as an added extra! Thanks guys! I'd recommend Santa Rosa Gardens to anyone hesitant to order plants online.

I recieved my order today of Gaura lindheimeri Whirling Butterflies 2@3.89ea.
Leucanthemum superbum Snowcap2@3.89ea.
Miscanthus sinensis Silberfeder 2@4.49ea.
Coreopsis lanceolata Baby Sun(they subed)1@4.99
Pennisetum alopecuroides Hameln 6@3.89ea.
Platycodon grandiflorus Sentimental Blue2@4.99ea.
Rudbeckia triloba 2@4.99ea.
Sedum spectabile Matrona 3.89 ea.
The plants were very well packed also they used a cool pack to keep plants fresh...plus I got a free bar of soap! Everything was well grown. It was a pleasure to recieve such nice products.

This was my first order with Santa Rosa. The prices and shipping are very fair (and shipped quickly). The plants are a bit on the small size (which is what should be expected with the cost of shipping these days), but well rooted. They also added extra plants and a pair of gardening gloves. What a great company!

I have found Santa Rosa's grasses a sure bet when I plant them. I have purchased their personal collections twice and feel I can always depend on their grasses when all of my perennials wilt and die. Even after surviving a serious hurricane, Santa Rosa sent out an email assuring customers that their orders were coming, even if they would be a bit later than normal. An A+ company - I highly recommend.

Searched the internet (including DG) and Santa Rosa had the cheapest price for the 15 ea Switch Grass 'Dallas Blues' (panicum virgatum) that I wanted to order. I was leary because they were 50% cheaper than their nearest competitor, but I ordered from them anyhow. I am glad I did. The internet order processing was very professional, the order was acknowledged via email within one hour, and the order was received within one business week. The 15 plants I received were large, healthy and very well packaged. As an unexpected bonus, I received a nice hosta plant and a pair of garden gloves free with the order as a "thank you for your business".

Everything about my experience with Santa Rosa has been completely successful. I've ordered from them several times over the last 1 year - ornamental grasses, easy-care perennials like black-eyed susan and coneflower, and hostas. The plants always arrive quickly, well-packaged, and in excellent condition. Their business practices are usually very professional - I've always received a confirmation email detailing my order, and then a separate email when the order ships. Lastly, Diane (their main customer service rep) is a wonderful resource, especially for an enthusiastic, but novice gardener like me. I have called her many times, just to bounce off ideas or ask her questions (i.e. alleviate my "bad" gardener fears!).

I placed an order for 6 different grasses and a total of 34 for pieces a few months ago. They were packed very well and they were in small 2" pots but I knew that most ornamental grasses grow rapidly. They are doing just great and growing well. I did have two die and they promptly replaced them. One died again but I now think it is the location causing the problem.

I would definately order from them again

"

Thank you for these comments. I think you will be even more pleased with our new large size pots. They are a full 16 ounce soil volume, providing a better start for a better finish."