Comments regarding Santa Rosa Gardens

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!

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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!

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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."

Ordered 10 hydrangea bushes, some astilbe & butterfly bushes - all were shipped and delivered exactly as stated. They all arrived still very moist and packaged nicely - from California to Iowa - impressive! I would definately order from them again & again

I took a chance and ordered from Santa Rosa Gardens when I had a bad experience with another online nursery. They had the miniature variegated fountain grass "Little Honey" which I couldn't seem to locate anywhere. I also purchased "Karley Rose" and "Karl Foerster" grasses. All arrived quickly and in very good condition. They are small but doing very well. I will definitely be ordering from them in the future and would recommend them to others as well.

I have ordered from them several years in a row. They have good prices, pack plants carefully, good selection. Very reliable source for ornamental grasses.

I ordered 29 different ornamental grasses Feb 28th and received them Mar 6th. The shipment arrived promply. The grasses were in individual pots with healthy tops and very good root systems. Santa Rosa has volume discounts that almost cancel out the shipping charges. After having a bad experience with another grass nursery, it was a pleasure to deal with such a professional organization as this one. I will definitely use Santa Rosa again for any nursery requirements. They also threw in a bonus plant with my order.