Comments regarding Burgess Seed

This is the first year that I purchased anything from Burgess, but the shipment came in 2 orders, the first one came fine and by Fedex. the 2nd came with USPS, which I hope they never send with them again, the shipment was shoved in my mailbox even tho it was too big to fit in. The plants all looked like they were dead but after inspecting them a little bit more you could tell that they were just dormant. I ordered 10-12 different Roses, 4 Weeping Willows and assortment of other plants. They are all in the ground and you can see that they are starting to bud. So far I am happy with my purchase. Burgess gets a positive review from me for speed of shipment, ease, and the price of the items. I'm hooked on the buy one get one for a cent. :)

I ordered a lot of plants my first time out ordering from Burgess, I only did so because my grandmother used to. I did not have good luck when e-mailing to ck on a shipment which I began to worry about after they had billed me 2 months prior-I finally got an email saying they were in the shipping Dept-but it still took another 3 weeks. I did not expect the twigs, sticks and dry grass-I ordered seeds too-some I could plant in late fall, not according to their package but what I read on-line-I did not realize I would be getting 'dormant' plants-but used the instructions and planted all anyways-my weeping willow started gettting leaves right away, which fell off once winter set in, but I can see it is growing a bit anyways. Same with 2 lilac twigs-they are all sticks right now-I did ck one tree that had no leaves that looks dead but a light fingernail scrape shows green in the trunk so I am sure it is fine-the grasses still look dead, blue fescue-but all arrived for planting at a time when growth is not number one priority as being visible. Now my burning bushes on the other hand started to get masses of green leaves shortly after our first cold freezes-same with my winter hardy roses. I am giving them a good rating based on the prices and instructions-I do see even dormant that there is life of some sort-and I did additionally add root growth liquid to all just in case. I have heard that even a year is not enough to know with some plants so have all planted in good locations for them and plan to plant around them because high patience with verything is not my strong point!-I have seen my grandmothers from Burgess take 2-3 yrs to really take off and am willing to wait on certain plants in the belief that overall these may end up being my sturdiest plants in the future because they were bare root. I am not thrilled with my own yet-but can say that my grandmothers-which are only purchased (she is very loyal to this company) over the years from Burgess and the Dutch sounding line they are affiliated with-are outstandingly healthy plants, and she has a yard full- so I know what possibilities may be in store for my own. The only negative was email responses and my own not understanding their shipping dates, which I do know now! I will definitely order again.

I have to admit that I was a little shocked when I recieved my hydranea treas-looked like sticks. They were dormant-followed the instructions and to my delight they came to life and flowered. I ordered a variety of plants and a few trees.
Not everything survived but most of it did. I have been ordering for several years now and will order again. The prices are great. If something does not make it I don't feel to bad. I have tried a lot of companies, paid more, felt bad when plant/tree did not come back. I am ordering again this year!

"On Jan 12, 2012 3:56 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

I wanted to thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

Bailey
Burgess
Customer Service--Email Division"

Posted on November 2, 2011, updated November 3, 2011
I recently ordered some plants from Burgess. The almond tree I ordered was not available. As a substitution, they sent me two chestnut plants. I contacted the customer care department through e-mail and explained that I did not want the chestnut trees. They offered me a refund for the almond tree or the choice of being put on a waiting list for the almond tree. They also allowed me to keep the two chestnut trees. If I find that I like chestnuts as well as I like almonds, I will probably order more. I am very well satisfied with Burgess plants and customer service.

We purchased a new home about a year & a half ago which sits on a little over 2 acres - most of it yard. We decided to plant some fruit and nut trees, not just for our own enjoyment but to increase the value of the property. We ordered quite a bit from Burgess and a few from Four Seasons. The orders arrived right before Memorial Day weekend - when it was already HOT here in Georgia. I didn't expect them to be shipped until fall.

All the plants arrived as dormant bare root in plastic bags. It took me 3 days to get them all planted or potted. As I was about to plant one of them, I realized they had sent me a peach tree instead of the dwarf stanley plum that I'd ordered. Apparently that variety was victim of crop failure, yet when I visited their site, the only plums they were selling were the dwarf stanley variety. I called the company because I didn't want a peach tree at all! I didn't order any, why would they believe that would be a suitable substitute. I was instructed to send the peach tree back to them with the shipping label and a note with my request. I did, and a couple of weeks later, I received a dwarf stanley plum.

As any gardener/farmer will tell you, you're not gonna get 100% of the seeds/seedlings you plant to grow. That's just a part of nature. Of the 14 trees ordered from Burgess and Four Seasons, 5 haven't "survived" (including the dwarf stanley), but the other 9 are growing beautifully. I'm in the process of sending the shipping labels back with requests for replacements right now. Found this discussion while having trouble getting their websites to come up. :(

Overall, I'm very pleased with the quality and service I've received from both Burgess and Four Seasons.

I actually read the reviews here first, but decided to take a chance anyway. I am in the process of converting all of our landscaping to edible choices for my family and livestock. I needed a LOT of plants and I was able to speed up my plans due to the affordable prices at Burgess.

I ordered over $400 of fruit and nut plants this Spring. They arrived in several shipments in the infamous green and red plastic bags. I knew I was buying dormant, bare-root plants and was not surprised to receive the 'dead twigs' that everyone talks about.

It was also no surprise to me that, although most of the plants grew very well, some just didn't make it. There was about a 10% fail rate. But I also bought plants at the same time from some very reputable companies and local nurseries. Some of those didn't make it either. That isn't a reflection on any of the companies I bought from, it's just the nature of delicate young plants.

On August 22, I sent them a letter along with the original shipping labels detailing which plants failed. Today, September 9th, I received the first of two shipments of replacement stock.

I waited to post this review to first see how they would handle the warranty. I am very pleased with my experience with this company and, in fact, am preparing my next order.

BTW, in case you have a skeptical mind like me, I am a real person and I don't work for them in any way!

I purchased and planted 2 sub-zero roses in 09; I did not mulch, cone or tip them prior to our severe, No. MN, zone 4 winter.....they lived. This year I planted 9 more and they are beautiful; I look forward to enlarging my rose garden and ordering another assortment of 9 next spring. The price was very reasonable and I am very pleased with the experience.

My sister in-law and I placed a fairly large order with Burgess.com for the first time around the first week in June - BEFORE I discovered Daves Garden and the warnings about Burgess. But, 2 weeks later our order arrived in 2 shipments. We had ordered Sub-Zero Roses, Ground Cover Roses, a Dainty Double Cushion Rose, 2 Tree Hydrangeas, 2 Butterfly Bushes, 2 Purple d'Oro Daylilies, 12 Creeping Red Sedums, 6 Astilbe, 6 Purple Ice Plants, 40 Blazing Star Liatris, 6 Hardy English Primroses, and Hydrangea. I was pleased with the plants; they were alive and healthy-looking, though small. We soaked the roses in water for a couple hours, then planted them. We also planted the rest of the plants as soon as was possible. I have been amazed by their growth since then! ALL of the plants, except the Purple Ice Plants, are thriving! It has been such a pleasure to watch the plants grow. And with their unbeatable prices, I will be ordering from them again sometime....hopefully my second experience with them will be as good as the first!!!

I ordered several trees from them this year and was pleasantly surprised to find that unlike most of the nurseries these trees were actually dug up with all its roots and not sheered off right under the ground. I have planted them and so far they have leaves on them. I also purchased several plants including two rose bushes and they are all doing well. I was pleasantly surprised with my plants and have ordered again.

Posted on April 9, 2011, updated April 20, 2011
Why leave a comment here? This company is pretty much hated here and elsewhere and apparently they do screw up a lot. However, my experience with them was great. I got hazelnuts, a russian mulberry, a bush cherry and a currant. All arrived when they said they would. All were healthy and had GOOD roots systems. Some other companies prune the roots or simply jerk the plants from the ground. All had viable buds here. Several were already starting to burst bud. I planted them and we'll see how things go. I might have to come back and change my rating but for about 25 bucks I got a heck of deal so far.

In January 2011 I ordered 12 Creeping Phlox and 3 English Lavendar. I received both orders 2 weeks ago. Since it's not quite warm enough to plant outside, I soaked them in a bucket of water and decided to plant them in planters and put in the greenhouse. They are all healthy plants and my full order was all there. Will I order from them again? ABSOLUTELY.

This seed company had the best seed prices for your dollar, the asparagus roots and other seeds were remarkable, the asparagus were growing within 6 days after planting. Customer service was great. I will do all my seed orders through them.

I bought 100 strawberry plants and four Dahlia's. All but two of the strawberry plants are thriving and two of the four Dalia's have come up. For what I paid for the lot (less than $50 with shipping) I'm 100% satisfied! I already have several plants that have fruit on them already. My mother ordered a couple hundred dollars worth of seeds and plants and she is pleased with what she has received thus far. I plan on ordering from them again in the very near future.

ordered the 100 plant strawberry everbering collection around 95% survived and I had lots of strawberries the first spring in good soil this june being the start of their second season should be real good.
Burgess is good at least for strawberries

I love Burgess. The prices are really good. Last year I bought their Rosy Red Robin rose for the front of my house. They came barerooted and I soaked them overnight. The next day I planted them in horse manure and they ended up growing three feet tall in 3 months! I pruned them back to a foot tall for the winter.

I bought English Lavender from them, they haven't grown much. I'm hoping they do better next year.

This spring, I'm planning on buying a couple hundred feet of privey hedge for my rose/hedge/topairy garden. Only complaint I have is slow shipping, but their good prices make it worth the wait.

Posted on August 3, 2010, updated August 6, 2010
At this point I will be fair and call it a neutral. I am new at buying online but definitely not new at planting and raising trees. I have close to 200 trees already that I started from very small trees. I have trees that I have cut branches off other trees and raised trees from. But we put in a new house out here in the country in West Texas and my husbands friend gave us a Burgess catalog and showed us the hybrid poplars. The fact that they are supposed to grow very fast for shade was the draw. So I ordered 20 of the 2 to 3 ft. I had the holes ready. I had the drip line set out and ready. I even had potting soil for them. I worked my you know what off on this. They arrived a week late. Ok, leaving on vacation in two days so had to get them in the ground fast. Planted same day they arrived. Left the fast (more like a steady stream) drip going on them and it rained for two weeks everyday, turned into monsoon season due to a tropical system that came through. What more could a little stick with roots ask for? I am shocked and appalled to say that out of 20 trees only 5 have lived. OMG. I dutifully sent a letter to Burgess with the mailing labels and upped the order to the 3 to 4 ft trees. I spent $18 to expedite the letter to them to get these trees back here. The USPS said the letter arrived 7/22. Burgess says they got it 7/25. Dang!!!! 3 days to open a letter?? Ok, so my bad for trying to speed things up. Today is aug 3 and still not shipped. I guess they have to go get the sticks and root them out lol. In the meantime I have stuck a globe willow limb in the ground put water on it and wala I have leaves on it, same with a weeping willow. As for Burgess and this summer growing season its not looking promising. Will update later as this story progresses. Oh yeah, thank you for dropping names of other places to buy from. I took notes.

Posted on July 3, 2010, updated July 3, 2010
Posted on May 23, 2010, updated July 3, 2010
Second time around with this company, first time the trees died .I didn't plant the trees right away, might have been my fault. Then I bought some land in upstate NY and I needed trees to plant and they had to be cheap. Burgess sells super cheap trees so I gave them another shot .
I was pleasantly surprised to say the least ! I bought 25 Norway Spruce trees, 18 Douglas fir trees, 6 Canadian Hemlock, 5 Eastern white pine, 12 White Birch trees, 4 scarlett red maples and about 7 full size apple trees and 50 strawberry plants and the pyramid garden they sell in the catalog.
The evergreen trees were absoulutly wonderful ! Very healthy and robust .Burgess sent them in plastic bags and the bag was very moist inside. Cost me less then $1.50 for each Norway Spruce tree and under $10 for 18 Douglas fir trees , incredible bargain ! Home depot sells Evergreen trees for $40 !.
The White birch , maple trees and the apple trees are just sticks and I'm waiting for growth. The white birch trees are growing leaves and look healthy. The apple trees are starting to grow leaves too. The apple trees, Birch trees, maple trees were kind of on the small side but the catalog correctly stated the size.
All the trees shipped appear to be healthy. Time will tell.

The Ozark Strawberry plants were shipped in Bunches of 25 and they look alive, I'm planting them tommorrow. I was expecting bigger plants but for the money its a good deal. The Burgess operator said I should expect strawberries next season.
I just planted all my trees and everything looks fine, overall I'd say I'm very satisfied with my Burgess purchase. You can't beat buying 54 evergreen trees for under $60 ! You'll be very pleasantly surprised with the evergreens. I'd reccomend Burgess if your on a budget and you got time to wait for the trees to grow.

Posted on May 7, 2010, updated June 22, 2010
Posted on April 29, 2010, updated May 7, 2010
Posted on April 22, 2010, updated April 29, 2010
Thus far, I am having a somewhat mixed experience.

Several of the plants I have received arrived in pots and were well-started. They seem to be doing just fine out in my flowerbeds. The blue spruce arrived healthy, and also seems to be doing well.

However, their catalog specifically says that their Mountain Gold Aurinia would be "potted plants". Instead of sending my specimens in pots, they sent bare soil plugs with fine mesh around them. The plants looked dead, although it is reasonable to assume they could be dormant. One of them was slimy and appeared rotten.

I have never had good luck getting anything sent as meshed plugs to grow, even when I gently remove the mesh so the roots can spread out and not be bound. I really don't like receiving plugs for that reason. Well-started plants that arrive in pots always do much better for me.

I have e-mailed Burgess about these plugs, and I am willing to wait the five weeks the planting guide recommends to see if they do anything. They've been in the ground for a couple of weeks, and thus far, there is no sign of life in any of them -- not even the slightest greening..

I just wish that when a company says they are going to send potted plants, they would indeed send them in pots (which are usually little plastic containers).

Burgess does seem to be good about replying to my e-mails, and I'm sure I will hear from them shortly.

In the future, it's possible I could upgrade my rating to "positive". Stay tuned ....

I have to say, I had an excellent experience buying from Burgess. I was nervous after reading some of the reviews but I decided to place a small order (which was still a lot of plants at their low prices) and see how it went.

I did have to ask about my order, because it seemed to be taking longer than I'd expected. But when I e-mailed Burgess they responded immediately saying my order would be there in a few days, and it was. I already had my garden ready to go so I was able to plant them the day after they arrived (didn't want to wait that long as it was very hot that day, but it was unavoidable).

I had a mix of bulbs and plants. A general rundown:

Potted plants: Periwinkle was in good shape, with strong green leaves and stalks. Same for the sweet peas, which arrived well wrapped with teeny but strong green stalks and soil that was still moist. I had ordered two lenten roses, which they replaced with hardy fuschias -- fine by me. These also looked good. The butterfly bush looked a little sad but has seemed to perk up with the nice weather we've been having.

Bare roots: The shasta daisies were TINY, but stalks were green and healthy looking.

Bulbs: Seemed fine, a little smaller than others but otherwise OK. I have to admit I didn't plant them with the greatest of care as I was tired by then, but bulbs generally do well in my garden with little work.

They sent three free peacock orchid bulbs with my order, also a free packet of tomato seeds and one of vine peach, which sounds divine. I will plant them but to be honest I am really bad with seeds so if they don't grow I won't be able to blame Burgess for it.

In short: Everything I got was in good shape. My only fear is the tiny size of the plants: it almost seems like they are too small to make it on their own at that wee size, poor things! But if they were as healthy as they look, they have a good shot in my garden -- only time will tell. I am looking forward to seeing how things progress as the summer goes on, and will report back.

In short, Burgess is a good source for a good variety of plants and seeds at unbelievably low prices.

The downside is that you're not going to get a full, flowering look to your garden right away -- you have to wait until next year (or even the year after) to have full-sized, flowering plants. If you want to fill in a garden right away you are still better off buying from a local nursery. But if you have patience, Burgess is a tremendous value.

Posted on March 5, 2010, updated June 9, 2010
Posted on February 27, 2010, updated March 5, 2010
In early January, I placed orders for seeds with five catalog companies. Guess which one hasn't come yet? You guessed it, Burgess. Despite billing my credit card within a day of the order being placed, they have not been able to fulfill an order of two, count them, two packets of seeds. I only ordered from them in the first place because they had a product no one else had that I wanted. I called a few weeks ago and was told the order would go out that week. Still nothing. I sent an e-mail today and will wait and see. It is about time to plant these items. Other catalogs charge upon shipment and only for what's shipped. Territorial Seed did such a good job, I made a second order from them and have had that order for weeks, too. What is wrong with Burgess?!? Also, any fool can tell that the pictures depicting the flowers and fruits on many of their offering are hand drawn. Crap, most other catalogs at least photoshop REAL fruits and flowers to make the yield look abundant. For anyone who thinks Burgess offerings look tempting, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you. Or maybe you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge from me? Anyway, there are those who say the prices are cheap. Well, $18.00 (shipping and seeds theoretically included) for two packets of seeds is NOT cheap. I'm a chump.

I purchased about $100 worth of plants from Burgess before investigating reviews for the company. Needless to say, I was a little concerned when I read about so many negative experiences. Fortunately, I found my purchases with Burgess to be a great deal!

I ordered about 60 plants in 3 different waves, spaced out over a week. All three orders were filled and arrived at my door within 3 weeks. The plants were all small (to be expected with rock bottom prices) but vigorous. From flowers, to ground cover, to veggies, to fruiting trees, to vines, all the plants I ordered are doing well and establishing themselves.

We have ordered twice from Burgess and have not been unhappy. We expected very small plants for the price and while some of them were indeed small, actually just a handful of roots in some cases, they grew just fine. We also ordered 10 Lombardy Poplars which were actually much larger than we had expected. All but one lived and even though we had accidentally discarded the shipping label - which they tell you plainly to keep - they still offered to send another. They are all doing well. As to the long shipping time, it is no longer than we expected. I guess if you want to pay rock bottom prices, such as a tree for $2.50, you have to expect some drawbacks.

I read the terrible reviews for this company prior to ordering, but decided to take a chance because they had all of the specific items that I was looking for at great prices. I figured shipping would take a while, and I received my order about 4-5 weeks after I placed it (which I anticipated).
All of the items that I ordered were great. No, they weren't huge, but they all seemed healthy and after planting them, they have flourished (I ordered various fruit plants/trees). Obviously I don't know the long-term results, but I have had the plants long enough to feel confident that if they don't do well, it isn't the fault of the company.
I have no complaints whatsoever - except maybe the slow shipping which I expected - although I admit that I'm still hesitant to place another order with them because I wonder if I just got lucky with my order given the amount of negative reviews.

The bill you immediatly, and it has taken over 1 month for the order to arrive, but it arrived in very good conditon with a full root system,. It is now up to me to ensure that the plants grow.

So far, my experience with Burgess has been mostly positive. I had placed an order, sometime in early March, and like others, was charged right away. Of all the trees I ordered, all but 2 had a good root system. The 2 that didn't did have roots, but didn't look anywhere as good as the rest. The only problems I had with my received order was that the Grannysmith apple tree was dead, and the "pink lemonade" blueberry bush is very small, and even though I planted it in a larger pot, the leaves are starting to dry out. Everything else was received alive and in good condition.

I have yet to try and get a replacement for the Grannysmith, but I will update with my experience when that happens.

Of course, I was like others and placed my order BEFORE I researched the company. After reading all of the negative reviews, I'll be very hesitant to place another order with them next year, and consider this order to be my "beginners luck".

Posted on April 26, 2010, updated May 2, 2010
I ordered two "Populus" trees from this company on 03/26/2010 and I received them today on 04/26/2010. After ordering, I went and did some research (I know I should have done my research first!) and found out that this company had a multitude of negative feedback. After about two weeks from ordering, I called to find out about my shipping status. The people to whom I spoke with were very nice and answered my question. Anyways, I got the trees today and they arrived in a red plastic bag. The bag itself was large and cold. After opening the bag I found two 'sticks" with a complete root system. The roots themselves were moist and in good shape. I was happy to find out that the buds were swollen and leafing out. Some of the leaves were black and I suspect they experienced a frost. But most of the small buds were bright green. I have the roots soaked in water and ready to go as soon as I am done typing this. So in conclusion, the plants are of good quality and their customer service was great. The only downside of this company is their shipping. They take forever to ship, I should note that the package had an agriculture pass/permit. So that might explain the long delivery time. I will post a link with pictures.

3/5-Ordered 24 Fairy Roses. Arrived 4/2. All 24 are over 1ft tall, and very full already... 3/28- Ordered 6 Red Rugosa Rose Bushes which arrived 4/20,(just 3 days) all about 18" tall, and beginning to sprout this morning.I know, I may be pushing my luck, but so-far-so-good. I guess I feel that for so little spent, it's just a gamble,considering all the negatives to see if I win, or lose.

Posted on February 8, 2010, updated April 20, 2010
I ordered about a dozen assorted fruit trees from Burgess in early 2009 and despite the fact that they arrived when I was out of town for a few days (Mid March) I promptly set them in buckets of water when I returned for about six hours and then potted them up in 2 gallon pots, they all survived and leafed out nicely.

The only warning that I would give is that they put nylon tape ID tags on the trees that need to be cut off, if you don't they will constrict the tree as they start to grow.

I just ordered a dozen more assorted fruit trees from them and I'll update in about six months with the results.

For the price, they are generally good plants.

I ordered an Almost Black Rose, and 2 Elderberry bushes from them. They arrived today and are in good condition. Burgess notified me that my order would arrive the first week of April and here it is March 31 and my plants are here. I am happy with Burgess and will order from them again.

Posted on February 13, 2010, updated March 27, 2010
Posted on February 13, 2010, updated February 13, 2010
I have been ordering fruit trees and plants from Burgress for over 8 years. Every fruit tree that I have received has been true to name, healthy, and well grafted. In fact I have never had one of their trees fail to thrive and produce fruit. It's true that their stock is small but always alive and well grafted. For the money that you spend it is a very good investment. I have also ordered from about every high dollar company with some good luck and not so good. I've alway's believed that with Burgress you get the best deal for your money and everything that you order is exactly what you get no mistakes.

Like all private (non-government) companies, Burgess has a business model which is designed to sell their products, cover their overhead, and return a profit to the owners. It surprises me that people evidently expect to recieve a high level of customer service and first-quality plants when Burgess' prices are so low. Clearly, with average prices (in my orders) less than $2 per plant, something has to be sacrificed to make this business model work. Some plants in some orders will not be in perfect condition. Some customers will not recieve excellent service.

This is my second year ordering from Burgess. Last year, I felt that the shipping time that Burgess chose was arbitrary, and not related to actual weather conditions in my area. However, I was not surprised by this. I prepared my planting areas in advance and mulched them over until the green plastic Burgess bag appeared in the mail. I planted everything the evening it arrived. I worked past sundown to do so. Some of the plants I ordered failed completely. Others have thrived. Overall, considering how little they charge, I got good value for my money. 25 strawberry crowns, a damson plum, another fruit tree (it arrived dead and I have forgotten what it was) 3 monardas, and several flowering/vining plants for less than $40. The strawberries alone were worth the money. They have performed beautifully.

From a practical perspective, if I wanted 100% perfect performance, I would not have gardening as a hobby. I am prepared to accept that Nature may send mid-summer storms that will destroy my vegetables and flowers at their peak. In the same way, I am prepared to accept that low-priced mail-order plants may arrive in less than ideal condition. I would recommend Burgess to anyone who shares this perspective.

I was very skeptical about the low prices of this company. My grandmother has used them for years and she is about the pickiest woman I know when it comes to plants. She said she never had a problem with them in all of those years, so I placed my first order in March. My order took about six weeks to arrive, and when it did, it was in a green plastic bag. I did not think anything of it, because of what my grandmother had told me. All of the trees looked like sticks. It was startling, but we planted them and four weeks later, every (for the most part) was alive. The exceptions were all butterfly bushes and honeysuckle. It did not do anything. If it does not come up before the year warranty next spring, I will send them back. Also, the perrenial bargain was no bargain at all. It was very dissapointing for the money I paid. Things I was extremely pleased with: hybrid lilies, weigela bushes, rose of sharon, and the arbovitaes. I may need to add a few things after this long winter ahead of us, but I think if I mulch well eveything will be fine in the spring. I will definitely use them again!

nicely packaged - i look for companies that have quality packets - a good seed will always be packed properly - so says packetpete

Wow! I am surprised at all the bad experiences! I just received my second order from Burgess. The plants look better than I imagined they would. I ordered 60 Arborvitae and 6 "Walk on Me" moss plants. I admit the Walk on Me plants are dry and brown, but this is explained in the catalog and on the website. They are not dead, but dormant. Anyway, the things that people seem to be complaing about are all described in the readings. So, I'm puzzled. Anyway, I am happy and will order again. By the way, my trees from my first order are doing well. Thriving actually. I did have some casualties with the Periwinkles, but am confident about receiving replacements. Also, I left them out of the plastic for a couple of days because I was interrupted during planting, so that could have been the problem with some of the Periwinkles. Get your stuff in the ground asap or store in in a cool place in the plastic until you can plant. Also, shipping in plastic is wise because it keeps the moisture in the plant and is also super inexpensive for us buyers. Well I think I've said all I want to say. Give them a try.

PS The free gifts are great! I received 3 ranunculus, 3 wildflower, 1 packet tomato seeds, 1 packet huckleberry. Excellent!

Not really a bad place to buy plants. Certainly not a bad place to buys seeds. And you have to realize the depictions of the plants in their catalogs are what the plant will probably look like fully grown....which could take as little as a few months or as long as two years. My advice to those who want instant gratification....get thee to your local nursery. They have a plants in a variety of sizes of maturity including fully mature plants and trees. Now.... if you are in the stages of planning and starting from scratch, you're experimenting with color or whatever and you dont have to have that garden right this minute, then internet nurseries like Burgess are a good bet. For instance, I always buy big healthy tomatoes from any local nursery, but I always leave room for a Burgess, Gardners Choice, or Direct Gardening plant, just to see if I can make it grow to the proportions shown in their catalogs. So I would say, for the most part, my experiences with Burgess have been positive.

I read alot of negative posts in here, and was a little hesitant to place an order, but I thought I'd order small, and was only getting a few plants that are hard to kill, so....

I ordered 12 Shasta Daisies - 12 Red Painted Daisies - 6 Purple D'Oro Daylilies

now I admit that the plants were really small, much smaller than I could have ever imagined, I have a 3 year old Shasta that I'm planning to divide this year into 6 plants, well to give you an idea, from the plant sizes I got, it could be divided into 50, maybe much more, when they arrived the last weekend in March, and it was a rainy day, so I thought that would be a good time to plant them, all the lilies seem to be growing, the daisies are coming up, except for about 4 of them, not sure if they're dead or just slow to get started.

but just remember, you will get what you pay for

Great for the price. If you've orderred from Arbor Day expect about the same from Burgess. You won't get a 5 foot tree in the mail. Not EVERYTHING will survive. But for the price, if you have time and a bit of patience you can relandscape your yard for a fraction of the cost.

Good for people just starting out. Buy a mass of stuff to fill your yard and supplement it with one or two more expensive things from a local nursery.

I orderred hardier, easy-to-grow things from them (lilacs, trumpet vines, bulbs, peonies) and only lost less than a handful from the order. Again, for the price...very hard to beat.

What you get will be small, but with patience and time will be beautiful.

I ordered 200 trees, 100 hybrid populars (screen) and 100 hybrid willows. Aprox $324. Received order in 3 weeks (end of May 2008. Expecting dead sticks, but was very suprised the "dormont stakes" were sprouting tiny white roots, and yellow/white buds! These were perky stakes! I own a small 75acre farm and I needed line trees. So far all trees have taken root both in ground and 30 are in pots. So far only one Willow (in a pot) did not make it. Now considering that I would have spent over three times that much with a local grower (if I could find the tres I wanted) I made out very well.
The order arived at the post office, by DHL. I have a p.o. box, so I had the postmaster call me when they arived. The order arrived in a large heavy duty green plastic sack. (about 40lbs). The inside of the sack was damp as to keep the stakes moist. (the paperwork was damp too, but so what)
It is now the end of July 2008 and the trees have grown over 14inches so far! (Tom from Mercer, PA.)
ps: I will order from these people again.

We ordered trees 100 evergreens & approx 25 ornamental/berry/nut trees. Long way to ship, the Northernmost edge of Minnesota, but the trees arrived in good condition. Some of the hemlocks look rough (not fresh, dried out) but the bulk of the evergreens are pleasing, good size, roots, etc. Many of the ornamentals exceeded our expectations for size, root mass, esp. for the bargain prices. Will probably have to replace 3 runty Juneberries that are likely DOA & a maple with some root malady but we knew to save the shipping label & if we eventually get new ones with no hassle I'm cool with that. No breakage at all during shipping, probably getting a whole bunch of trees helped because they were all bundled together? I would not venture to buy more delicate items like perennials but would get trees again. If some catastrophe strikes & everything dies in June I'll post again. Bottom Line: Met our expectations for bargain trees, did not expect filet-mignon at these prices & so far are satisfied with what we received.