Comments regarding Burgess Seed

tl;dr: Low prices, with quality of products and customer service that reflect the pricing. BUT, it looks like things may be improving?

I purchased a handful of fruit trees from them a couple years ago. Based on the pricing, I had pretty low expectations. Shipping was in an unprotected plastic bag. The trees were small without much root structure, and only about half of them ever showed life. For the dead ones, I waiting a couple months, then followed their instructions for sending in the original shipping label to get warranty replacements. Several weeks later, got an email saying my "order" had been received, but the shipping period had ended and my order would ship the following spring.

Last year I moved, and decided to place another order with them to start my new orchard. My experience was almost exactly the same as my first order, including shipping of warranty replacements being delayed by a year. At the same time, I ordered from another company; the trees from the other company cost over twice as much, but were shipped in a protected box and the trees were larger, had much better root systems, and 100% survived. Decided I wouldn't order from Burgess any more, as it was worth it to me to pay more for the higher quality trees and not mess with warranty replacements.

I just received one of the trees that is a warranty replacement from one of last year's dead trees. It actually came in a protected carboard box, and is by far the nicest tree I have received from Burgess. I also happened to notice that it shipped from a completely different location than previous Burgess shipments. Curious if something had changed, I went to their website and saw that they are now part of the Gardens Alive company. I take this all as a promising indication that they are under new management, and the new boss is actually working towards improving the company!

I ordered a Dwarf Pear Tree for $13.99 and what I got was a dead stick with no roots or buds or anything. Jury is out on if the burning bushes are alive or not. 2 out of 6 blue fescues are alive. So I emailed them and they tell me that they don't do returns or refunds unless you have the shipping label off the packaging. Which I do not have because it's a shipping label and attached to the bubble envelope these came in that I threw out because who saves a shipping label?? Probably won't buy here again but at least the strawberries I ordered are alive. Everything else is dead so I'm about about $50 of plants because of the label. If you save your label then you can get as many replacements as they will give you for dead plants. How they can't see it's dead before they ship it is beyond me.

I just received 2 bare root maples, 3 bare root river birch. They are dormant and I hope alive. It will be a few weeks before I know. Their prices are very low, so I knew that the plant would be small, although I thought it was advertised to be 2 -3 feet. It is about 16 inches. If they are alive, they will be fine. I will update in about 3 weeks.

I've received their catalogs for years, yet have never purchased anything. This year, I'd planned to place a small order of perennials to add to my shade garden, the Colorful Shade Garden, 20 plants for $23.99.

But after reading the many negative comments, I've decided not to place an order and do as I did last year, purchase fully grown, healthy plants from a local nursery, plants I can inspect prior to purchase.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone purchased this shade garden collection? If so, how did the plants arrive and after planting, how did they fare? I live in the Chicago area.

Pros:

- Affordable - lots of good bargains to be had.

- Plants came in healthy and are doing well (Rasps, Blackberries, Blueberries, Aronia, Gooseberries, Josta)

- Great instructions for beginners, especially those who have not planted bare root before.

Cons:

- Time to get the plants. It takes a month minimum.

- Shipping packaging. I was super worried when the plants arrived in a green plastic bag with the post office handling it.

- Customer service is pretty much non existent. Emails for updates get a cookie cutter response that a robot could do.

- Replacement/Refund policy. It is kind of a joke. I probably will not have to use it, but I have the packaging and label ready in case I have too.

So, I did order from them again; but I can't say I would recommend them to anyone. If the customer service and shipping plant protection got better, then it would be a decent company for others to go throw for bare root plants.

Posted on January 17, 2018, updated January 17, 2018
I was planning to order a climbing rose from Burgess that I have wanted for a long time. But I checked here at DG to find LOTS of negative reviews. So I didn't order it. If anyone has ordered this rose, Zephrine Drouhin' and has had a good experience, please post here where you got it from. BTW, I want this rose badly because it can tolerate a somewhat shady spot.

I ordered about 200$ worth of plants last spring. I'm aware that they are shipped bare root. Well my strawberries grew . Also my asparagus roots grew.a couple of my dwarf cherry trees grew. the citrus tree i got for my friend was ok. our yellow christmas cacti were alive on arrival.But everything else I got died i do not know where the invoice went on the bag all my stuff came in went. I do however have my email receipt of what I ordered. Also the rare yellow Christmas cacti. What a joke my friend gave me money for 3 for presents for family and I bought 1. I kept the one that got mostly broken during shipping. Well they are certainly not blooming yellow despite what the tag on the little green container said. They are ALL blooming pink. I emailed them about this and still have not received a response. I didn't expect to get anywhere about my dead planted plants because I cant find plastic shipping label. I dont think i will order from here again. I spent almost 200$ for a pink "yellow" Christmas cactus a citrus tree some asparagus strawberry plants and a couple dwarf cherry trees. If someone contacts me and says they will reship it all in the spring that might change but as of now I am a dissatisfied customer.

"On Dec 11, 2017 3:35 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"

I have ordered several years from Burgess a couple plants at a time. They all were received "dormant" and never did anything. To be completely honest I didn't take great care of them so I didn't contact the company regarding their guarantee. However, last year we had just moved into a new house on 10 acres and I needed a lot of plants to put in several areas. I was unsure about ordering from them but I needed so many items and their prices were a lot less expensive so I order about $200 worth of plants and I was very careful about planting, watering, etc NONE of them grew. I was very disappointed however, I did keep all of the packing information and have sent it to them regarding replacements. So far, I have not heard anything back. I am waiting to give them time to send me replacements before posting a negative.

Sharon Dozier
St. Stephens Church, VA

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:31 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. We do have a replacement guarantee available. We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

I placed an order for strawberry plants with Burgess on 03/12/2017 based on the reviews by a producer of a YouTube video. I had not checked the online reviews...my bad. Burgess states that they ship in early March to the southern states. I live in Texas and received my order within 3 weeks on April 1st. My order was complete and in apparently good shape. I transplanted the strawberry plants to net cups for the hydroponic system we are building. I placed them in tubs with nutrient solution and my the next morning they were already looking great. So I can state unequivocally based on how the plants are responding that they were in good shape when they arrived and were ready to be planted.
My one and only complaint is that Burgess doesn't keep the order status up to date and I had to call to find out the actual status of my order. Every time I checked it only said "Received". The only time they responded to an email was when I sent an email to tell them they could substitute a different variety of strawberry if they could not fill my entire order with the variety I had ordered. I emailed another time after I had read the negative reviews and after checking my order status....again. I stated that I feared I might not get my order as promised, but they shockingly never responded to that one. LOL. I noticed they are open on Saturdays so I called this past Saturday and spoke to a man who told me that my order had been shipped. Really? Not according to the website so I asked for the FedEx tracking number and was given two. Then I checked FedEx tracking and lo and behold they were in my mailbox according to the tracking information. The Friday postal carrier did not deliver my order even though it was in their possession so it stayed an extra night at the post office but that is something I will have to resolve with them.
At this point I don't know if I will order again from Burgess or from their myriad sister companies that are all owned by Gardens Alive. It seems like most of them have negative reviews. Maybe they are too big to care about the individual customer. The least they could do if they are that big is to hire people who will respond to emails, update the status of orders, AND send customers the tracking information so we don't have to call and ask for that too.

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:35 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care and try to answer emails within 24 hours.

We do assure you that we care about our customers which is why we do have the guarantee available. While we are associated with other sister companies we are not associated with Gardens Alive.

Please feel free to contact us at any time as we would be happy to keep you updated on the status of the orders."

Overall my experience with this company was satisfactory. The trees that were ordered survived and leafed out. However I felt like I had to really baby them along and be patient. My only complaint would be what felt like very slow delayed shipping. Our spring order arrived at a time much later than I would have liked. It was very warm, but maybe it was just an unusual year. The order contained things like Elm, Cherry, Laburnum, and Maple.

I consider buying from Burgess like buying from a local big-box store that does not specialize in Plants of any particular kind. I have had some good luck such as the Hanska Plumcot which 2 out 3 lived and are growing nicely. I also have some Hybrid Poplars and Willows which are doing well. I like the prices and variety but don't really expect much. I ordered 8 Kiwis and only received 4 they said I had to mail in the original shipping label. I did and they sent the other 4. When they didn't grow at all, I asked them to replace them but they told me that I had to send the shipping label. When I explained that I already did they told me it was a one-time deal so they would not replace them. I haven't ordered since but I may buy some Yuccas this year. They are inexpensive so if I loose them I am not out much. I am done with any big orders from them though.

I ordered from eburgess spring '15. Not being super smart we just were thrilled by the catalogues with the selection and pricing.
After mulling around we finally ordered 200 privet and 50 poplar trees. It took longer than anticipated for the arrival and eventually received an email stating "delivery in 2 weeks". Low and behold it arrived before their 2 week estimation. At this point we were not ready (no holes dug) because we had 2 weeks. Guess that was our fault. We placed the box in the basement as instructed if we could not immediately plant. We dug our holes that following weekend and got all the privet in and half the poplars.

The privet took and we maybe lost 15% of those. All in all not bad odds. However none of the poplar took. That I am miffed about. I can't say whether the trees were bad or it was the 2 days in my basement that trashed them. As many people experienced, the dead twig look filled me with dread that I had wasted my money. My entire order came in a box that I could carry (12x10x48 ish) was not optimistic my entire order was in there.

Fast forward to Jan '16. We shall see how the privet has dealt with the cold this spring. I can see a few that may have to come out.
I placed another order for seeds this time. Still not shipped. I did just receive an email telling me I had insufficient funds for the order, please place the order again. I did receive an email 2 days ago to tell me my order will be shipped. I used my farm account which has sufficent funds so I am thinking that could not fill my order. Now I am behind on my indoor starts because I am having to reorder (from another vendor now).

I am sad by the negative reviews and wish I had seen them sooner. I however am pleased with my privet, not the trees and obviously annoyed by the seed order. I would order more privet from the company and that's about it. You do get what you pay for but give the twigs some time, maybe you will be surprised...maybe.

Understand, I will order again, but there's a way to go about it or wind up disappointed. I have made most of my eBurgess orders through Direct Gardening. I love their prices and availability. For variety, it's hard to beat them unless you're looking for something rare. But, there are some things you have to understand.

Foremost, this is not a Deep South company. Do your home work before you order. Just because they have, say, a blackberry plant, it doesn't mean it will survive the summer sun even if your area has wild black berries. Everbearing strawberries, for instance, were not bred for Florida in August. (I used to live in FL and had a good deal of trouble ordering bareroot plants online and getting them to live before I figured that out.)

Next important thing...they will ship plants as long as your area has no frost and they deem it safe to ship. This does not mean most of the bare roots are safe to break dormancy. Either plan to break dormancy in the house or order very early in the year for shipment at the very beginning of their spring shipping cycle or late for fall shipping. You'll have bad luck if you receive dormant plants in a hot May or June and try to break dormancy outside. A lot of them require a gradual spring to wake up.

None of this applies to the citrus, which is healthy and potted on arrival. (First thing I did after moving away from citrus producing states was buy potted citrus from them.) I have been extremely happy with their citrus, though there are a few minor things. They arrive as incredibly tiny plants. The first ones I ordered looked like seedlings, with no grafts. The Meyer Lemon I got some years later looked like a rooted cutting, again, no grafts.

Perhaps they fruit in one year with optimal growing conditions. The dwarf orange, a calamondin rather than a sweet variety--more on that in a minute, flowered in the 4th year, but was unable to set fruit until the fifth year. The Meyer Lemon flowered and set fruit in the second year. Both plants remained small.

The lime, which is a Bearss or Persian Lime (this from customer service because it wasn't on the sales page) is a source of amusement for me. Though advertised to reach a maximum of two ft in container, I have four times now cut it back to about three feet. It now stands 6'3" from the top of the soil. I have had it for seven years. I am tempted to put weighted Christmas balls on it because I've heard that having the tips bend under the weight of fruit encourages branching. Anything would be better than it getting taller. It has never fruited. All it does is challenge the height of my ceilings when I bring it in for winter.

I spoke to customer service about this plant in 2012 and was told not to increase the size of the pot and not to fertilize. It had been in a two gallon pot for years at that point, so I discontinued fertilizer and cut it back again. I nearly lost it to nitrogen deficiency, so it now lives in a half barrel planter and is well fed. I didn't cut it back in 2014, before the repotting and fertilizer. It spent the winter with the top partially bent due to the ceiling height.

Now, the orange and tangerine they offer. In their defense, they don't say anything about the quality of the fruit made by the dwarf orange, but they do give the scientific name. Citrus x Citrofortunella Mitus is the calamondin orange. I knew them as the orange tree that got sold to tourists for house plants in the days before canker and greening. It's not for fresh eating but it is an absolute gem for cooking. Green, the fruit tastes just like Key Lime. Ripened to orange it's a cooking treat. I use it in Mexican dishes which would use Key Lime and the orange really pops. It's meant for Philippine cooking.

Ad text for the tangerine says "Dancy," but the page has the scientific name "Citrus Reshni Cleopatra." Look it up and you'll find it's a root stock plant. It will bear sour mandarins if it's not used for a rootstock. Most people probably think they want a tangerine to give the kids. This isn't it. I want a couple Cleopatra's myself, for cooking purposes. My original one (along with my first Meyer Lemon) was eaten by a goat.

Misleading ad text aside, it takes a lot of heat hours to produce a sweet orange or mandarin. Growing them in pots and using them as winter house plants probably wouldn't sweeten a Naval or Dancy if I did have them. (Which, if you're not in a citrus producing state, this is how you have to grow them too. If you are in a citrus producing state, they can't ship to you.) But, it would be best to let buyers know what they are buying more clearly. I knew enough to look up scientific names, but the whole Dancy/Cleopatra text...that's just odd.

I haven't tried their 3-in-1 citrus, but would welcome information on it's growth habit and fruit.

I probably would have given them a positive rather than a neutral if they only shipped bare roots at times when it was safe for their plants to break dormancy and if they would clarify the ad text on the citrus. I've always assumed my lime was a freak of nature, but who knows? Everyone's eBurgess Dwarf Lime might be 6'3".

I placed an order 2 weeks ago online with a few things I was VERY interested in, although I'm taking the whole idea of getting really nice plants with a grain of salt....

I emailed them to verify my order was received - I sent it Sunday, I got a reply MONDAY, just 15 days after emailing them. Also, I got an original confirmation email (auto-generated) as soon as I placed the order, so I'm not surprised that they *DO* have the order in the computers. I was told that they are currently shipping seeds and hardgoods, with plants only going to the warmest areas of the country so far.

Putting my rating as "neutral" as I don't know what will happen from here, but the communication has been decent so far! I *WILL* update later once I have received my order (or have not received, as the case may be).

I will tell you now, I don't remember most of the exact numbers offhand.

The first time I ordered from Burgess I was naiive enough in my excitement to throw the bag out before making sure that all was well. Of ten strawberries and six blackberries, we managed to grow three strawberry plants. My bad. We tried again two years later.

This time we ordered a lot more. We had big plans. Butterfly bushes, blackberry bushes, a smoke tree, strawberries, pampas grass and more. All zoned for our area. The total came to a bit over one hundred dollars. The grasses have done great! One butterfly bush made it. Something like six of fifty strawberries. Two of the blackberries were clearly broken branches and not plants at all... They came bone dry and none of them grew. And so on.

To their credit, the second representitive with whom I had contact (the first was a jerk who basically told me it wasn't his problem) was pleasant enough and I did receive replacement plants for my second order after I mailed my bag to the address he gave. Every single dead one without question. Fantastic.

Unfortunately, only ten of these plants lived. We still have them set up, exactly as directed in the enclosed booklet, and nothing for the past month. We are expecting our first real freeze tonight, so I guess we will see what the spring brings.

They are willing enough to replace orders, if you are cautious and persistent, but it's very, very frustrating getting dead plant after dead plant. Don't order big!

Ps - Not a single problem with the seed packets given as free gifts!

I placed an order last year for trees, plants and fruits and vegetables. A bunch of sticks arrived along with some items in bags! Ok, I thought, not what I was expecting, but I'll give it a go. I followed the directions and planted everything up, then waited.
The strawberries, asparagus, yucca, hostas and Christmas cactus (which actually turned out to be a Thanksgiving cactus) were the only items that showed any signs of life throughout spring and summer. The yucca and cactus have since died, the hostas and strawberries have not shown any signs of life yet, this spring, but it is still early. The asparagus are the only items showing any signs of life. The 9 trees I ordered did absolutely nothing but shrivel and dry up.
I found this forum (of course after I shelled out the money), saw all the negative reviews and thought, well, there's money I'll never see again, but I've got to try. So, following their instructions, I returned the shipping label with a list of the plants that I wanted replacements for. Mainly it was the trees, since I can find everything else that I ordered quite easily where I live.
Again, I waited. I sent the replacement request in either late February or early March. After about 3 weeks, my husband asked me if I had heard anything. I told him no, that I was using a wait and see approach.
April 16th arrived and when I went to check my mail, there was that red bag again! Burgess had sent me replacements for my entire order, even the things that I didn't request! The trees were just sticks, again, but better looking sticks. The hostas have leaves on them versus just the shoots that I got the last time. The cactus plant is much larger and healthier looking than the last one, but the yuccas, although 3 were ordered and 4 arrived, look like someone plucked a few blades of grass and sent them. Last time I got 3 nice thick roots.
Everything was planted immediately. Now I wait and see. I feel a second chance is warranted since they did honor their replacement policy and even went beyond by replacing my entire order.

I placed an order through this website before doing research on it. If I had, I doubt I would have ordered anything from them. That being said, my partial order arrived 17 days after placing it. I ordered mosquito "shoo" geranium (4), 1 orange velvet rose, 6 sub zero ivy, 1 stevia sweet leaf, 2 Tahiti sunrise dahlia, 1 pack of large gourd seeds & a pack of sponge (luffa) seeds. (The seeds arrived separately a few days later.) I took pictures of the order when it arrived, my fiancé was cracking jokes.."if I knew you were paying for twigs & dead weeds I would've brought you a truck load for free.." That being said, the plants did still have a little life in them. I soaked them all for 6-12 hours (depending on its condition) in water with some miracle grow all purpose plant food, before even attempting to transplant or plant anything. I wish I could add pictures to this to show the order & now (a 2 months later) of how the plants look. The geranium, stevia & velvet rose all lived & are doing well. The seeds are growing fine. Out of the 6 ivy, only 2 are still alive, but haven't shown more than an inch of growth. The dahlias (which came in the form of dahlia tubes) still to this day have not shown any sign of life, not any sprout.

The orange velvet rose had its first bloom a few days ago, & looks nothing like the picture. It looks more like a very light pastel colored small hybrid tea rose. And it's not much of a climber.

For the $40 something plus shipping I spent, I'm ok with that, because, well, you get what you pay for. I do not suggest ordering from this company unless you are fairly experienced when it comes to gardening, because the plants you receive are not strong & "ready to go". They require much attention for the first week or so.

I have not attempted to return or exchange the items that died, I see it as a waste of time considering the ivy was around 6 for $7. & the dahlias were 2 for $5.

Would I order from again? Maybe.. 70% no, 30% yes.
Would I tell a friend to order from them? Most likely not, unless your on a serious budget, have a lot of ground to cover & have a green thumb.

If you do order from here, don't order exotic delicate or unusual items. Stick with the basics & you might end up ok.

Now, from my experience, all the packaged seeds I received are growing great.. Including the free ones I received. So seeds are safe from here, but most likely cheaper at your local nursery after adding their flat $10 shipping to your order.

Bottom line is I think this company is legit, just poorly managed/owned. Buy using common sense & be ready to put your green thumbs to work in overdrive when your order does arrive.

im new here and people on here might already be too late for advice but if u look around virtually ALL of the nurseries hug the 50/50 live/ die sorta rating. ive been transplanting for a long time and u cant win them all no matter what. im gonna purchase some trees from burgess that i cant get locally and talked to them on the phone about some of the issues and i think most of it is the sending via USPS. i asked and she said i can request it be shipped fedex, its worth the couple extra bucks $11 to be exact... that way it gets some breathing room and actually gets there within 2-3 days for most and DOESNT stay baking in yer metal mailbox all day or weekend til u get it! ALSO>>>>>> i was at walmart today and saw an awesome product i never saw. prior to this its all kinds of plants in bags of dirt. rootings and flower bulbs. most were 2-4 of whatever type for $5.98. 3 hosta roots for $5.98 right off a warm shelf IN dirt i think is a no brainer. not worth it to go to wholesale mailorder when can walk right over to walmart and look at it. some of the flowers had nice green healthy blooms on them. well i thought they looked awesome and wanted to pass that on and if yer thinkin of buyin go there first and then like me try out a smaller order at the online sites to fill in the spots u want with more rare plants not available locally. GOOD LUCK and dont take it so hard when things dont live. just try again, noones really to blame for mother natures frailty!:) plus u have to be like me when it comes to gardening and really baby the things and have lots of free time for coddling....sometimes its a task that should only be attempted by the retired!:).......scot

The Good News:

I placed a large ($300+) order, which included over 250 plants.

The order came in 2 separate packages, approximately 2 weeks apart. I was able to plant the plants in the first package right away, and most of those did well. The second package came just before we left town. While we were gone, there was an unexpected hot spell, and even though I had heeled in the plants, many of them had dried out.

We still had to dig holes and make gopher cages for the 100 burning bush plants, which were our top priority. It took another week for us to get all of the plants in the second package planted. By that time, some of them had passed the point of no return.

We planted them anyway, knowing that we wouldn't really know the status of them until we had tried.

After 6 weeks, we counted it up. We had lost 38 out of 100 burning bush plants, 7 out of 12 lavender, 1 banana, both elderberries, 1 hosta. Actually, that's not a bad percentage, considering the circumstances.

Since I felt it was mostly my fault that the plants had died, and since it was now getting to be pretty hot weather, I emailed Burgess, letting them know I was planning on purchasing new plants to replace the ones that didn't make it, and asking if it was too hot to plant now.

They responded that if I had the original shipping label, they would replace the plants free. I hadn't kept the original label, and again, told them I was planning on purchasing the replacements. They offered, on a ONE-TIME basis to replace the plants using an alternative method of actual purchase evidence.

I thought that was EXTREMELY generous, considering that it was (mostly) my fault.

I also find their prices to be extremely good. I would guess that for the most part, it's because these are shipped as bare-root plants. As long as you're prepared to deal with the plants as soon as they arrive, this is an extremely economical way to buy plants.

And now, the Bad News:

Yes, it was a long time from the time I ordered until the plants were shipped. The web site said 2 weeks, and I think that's probably because it may take that long to actually dig the plants and get them ready for shipment. But that's still a long time to wait, and since the plants were shipped in 2 separate packages, the 2nd package took even longer.

There was no notification of when the plants were shipped, so I wasn't prepared for their arrival. I think it's very important to send an email when they're shipped. With any of the major shippers, it's very easy to do that.

Yes, some of the plant roots looked moldy. It's very hard to tell if that was due to the specific circumstances that my plants encountered. I really don't know if those were some of the plants that didn't live, because we went ahead and planted everything.

One of the plants that I ordered were 'out of stock' and they replaced them with a different plant that I knew nothing about, without asking me in advance. I would have, instead, asked them to cancel that part of my order.

All in All, with the good and the bad, I would order from them again.

Overall ordering from burgess seed co. was very positive...they were consistent with thier web site and sent the seeds I ordered two weeks after the payment was processed....I orderd garlic sets, and potatos from them and they arrived in great shape and are growing well....the bare root trees came exactly as described on thier website. They were dormant with many healthy roots, and even some buds...they seem healthy and strong....they were shipped lightning fast via fedex and arrived in a very thick sturdy plastic bag,NOT a flimsy garbage bag as some described...they arrived at the end of March exactly when they shoud arrive in my growing zone.....now for the negative (though there is not much to complain about I do have one complaint that may cause me to consider other nuseries in the future)....BURGESS PLEASE, PLEASE, adequately train your telephone operators....while they are all american (which I like) they are very argumentative and quick to LIE TO CUSTOMERS....i called about 5 times in six weeks to check on my order status (to see if i could have them move up the shipping date due to warm weather,) every time I called they said, "oh it just shipped today you'll have it in a week" based on thier responses I am assuming that your opperators either don't know how to use computers, naturally lie to customers, or have been trianed to lie to customers to get us off the phone quickly....I could give more exampls but this isnt a hit piece...I just would like some one from Burgess to explain why tso many of thier customer service reps are either unable to access information or lying....we are adults, if they don't know exactly when something will ship, or can't change the shipping date they should just say so...that is the only thing that might keep me from doing business with them again.....too bad, really are fantastic products, and this is comming from someone who worked ten years on a tree farm.

I'm rating the company as a neutral. I bought a variety of trees last year and did have the three multi-fruit tree types all survive. It will be a long time before I see them reach a productive size and can verify that they were as advertised but I'm in no hurry, just glad they've made it so far.

A cherry I bought was an irritating disappointment as it had obviously been been snapped and rammed in to fit, and arrived too far gone to recover. The "Lisa" noted as being responsible for that shipment should have been ashamed. Smaller bareroot tree's were more likely to be damaged and/or dry due to the lack of protective packaging, a few pulled through.

I am ordering the four multi-fruit trees again this year based on the fact that they were a bit sturdier and seemed to come through their handling and shipping better, a key there is that they don't really have branches which also helps I think. This year I'm passing on all of the additional items I thought were interesting.

Like other reviews, I am mystified as to why they don't put their tree bags in protective boxes with a little moistened newspaper around the roots like other online nurseries. I'd be willing to pay the extra few bucks for actually getting the products to me in better shape.

The adage "You get what you pay for" certainly applies. My orders for things that didn't come in good shape from them last year are definitely going elsewhere but my experience wasn't so terrible I'm not willing to give them one more shot.

I have just ordered a LOT of plants from Burgess and now I am reading so many negative comments about them and the quality of their products. I have only received 2 little packets of seed so far but I can tell you, I paid $6.19 for 12 cucumber seed!!!!! That is outrageous. I don't care if the cucumbers are lined in gold as they grow this is terrible so I am wondering if the remaining part of the two orders I have placed will have similar 'surprises' for me? I will keep you all posted.

Ordered birch and willow trees and hostas. Arrived in plastic sack, no protection around the plants. The hostas were in sandwich bags, no soil, no wet paper, etc. The "trees" are sticks less than 1/4 inch thick...yes, low prices but poor quality product. Poorly identified, some not marked at all; just identified them by elimination. Ordered other plants from another company and will use them again. Friend ordered also from Burgess and was also disappointed; she doesn't expect her plants to grow. Too bad, catalog seemed put together well. Guess you can't tell a company by their advertising.

I have to say I havent had any problems with this company. The plants I ordered are doing well (Almost Black Roses), and I even had to email them about something, and got a quick reply. They even gave me some tips about bare root planting. I was surprised on how they were shipped. They came in a blue plastic bag. My Amazon orders dont even come in plastic. Not sure if thats how they keep their prices down. They have some of the best prices I have seen, but after reading all these reviews, I doubt I will purchase again. So I checked neutral instead of positive. I would say, purchase at your own risk. Sounds like luck is all it is when it comes to dealing with them.

Like others, I ordered from Burgess before reading the ratings here. Overall, I think I ot what I paid for but there were a couple of problems.

Below is a list of what I ordered and the state of the plants I got

wild ("ditch lily") daylilies - these were great. Got mostly very good size tubers and they are growing like fiends in the pots I put them in--will put out in the garden this weekend.

assorted daylilies - some of these tubers were good size, others were very small and a couple don't appear to be growing--but overall, givemn the price, I am satisfied

Stella D'oro daylilies - VERY disappointing--got these TINY tubers, about half of which are putting up tiny shoots of green-maybe they will survive but I'm sure it will take a couple of years for them to get big enough to bloom. Several (around 3) just weren't big enough to even sprout on their own.

Tophat blueberry - very small and apparently completely dead seeding. Will take years to be big enough to have fruit, if it even survives. Right now it looks completely dead.

Lilly of the valley pips--these are all sprouting except for one.

Mosquito repellent scent leaved geraniums. I ordered two of thes-ht elaves on both were rotting and black and fell off but one has put out a bunch of new leaves. The other may put out new leaves but I'm not sure it will survive.

shasta daisies - I thought these bareroot seedings weren't viable but about 3/4a of them (maybe more) have put up tiny shoots. With some coddling I think they'll make it but will take a couple of years to become decent sized plants

Mock orange--looked like a dead stick but is now sprouting new leaves. It is a very small shrub but reasonable for the price

White tree peony - I thought this was totaly dead but I can now see a new leaf sprouting so maybe it will make it. Again, it will be few years before it gets to be a size that has several blooms

"Peace" rose - no sign of life so far but I plan on giving some fertilizer and am still hopeful. Root stock does not appear to be rotten in any way.

So, all in all I am satisfied except for the Stella D'Oro lily tubers and the blueberry plant. Ironically, these are some of the things that cost the most. Still, I suspect the cost of shipping to return these would be equal to or more than what I paid so I may not bother to return.

All in all, they provided me a lot of plants for a low price so it's to be expected that those plants aren't huge and are shipped bareroot. Reading the other reviews here, I would say that anyone that does order from them needs to be prepared. You should open what they send immediately and, also immediately, put them in peat pots or trays (or other pots) with potting soil. If you let them sit for any time, I am sure they will rot or not survive. Thanks to the reviews of others here, I was prepared when they came for an evening of plant triage and overall most stuff survived. Still, perhaps I just got lucky too since I did have some things that didn't make it.

I placed my order from Burgess in February. I recently began receiving my items. (April)

I have only 2 complaints about them so far.

I was rather annoyed that they did not send me the root vegetables and indoor start seeds when I should have gotten them. I will probably have to deal with digging up potatoes after the fall frosts have begun. But it's not a huge deal for me.

The only other thing that bothers me is that my shipments don't really meet any specific order. I recently received trees and one package of potatoes, but not my other potatoes or onions. Just a little confused about that.

I am pleased with the plants that I have received so far. They are small, but alive and healthy. I can't wait for everything else to arrive. I am grateful for the items I have gotten and the money I have saved by buying from Burgess. (So long as everything turns out.) : )

I will add to this when I know how everything has done.

*Just a note to the "Negative's" that have been posted. If you wanted 100% Grade A Quality~you should have ordered from a local nursery, where you could have selected Grade A itmes, and paid the due cost. You probably should not have ordered from a discount mail-order company where you had no idea what you were going to get.

The day after I ordered from this company (Burgess) I read all the bad reviews and almost died. On 2-24-09 I ordered 1-fruit cocktail tree, 1-5 in 1 pair tree, 10-strazzberry, 6-walk on me plants, 2-mock orange, 1-thornless blackberry, 1-sugar sweet cherry, 25 strawberry bargain, 1-pixwell gooseberry, 1-red white blue grapes for $92.40. They arrived in a green plastic bag 3-17-09 they were all fine. There was no smell and they all seemed in pretty good shape. Right now I have had no issues. I did however keep all the plastic bags that the plants came in and all their tags. I also kept the green shipping bag with the shipping label attached just in case I have a fatality. So far so good is all I can say for now.

I placed an order in the amount of $171 on Feb. 6th, 2009 and was told that my order would be shipped according to MY GROWING SEASON. Well since I living in South Texas my season actually started in mid-Feb for some vegetables and the first week in March for others. After several phone calls to their Customer Service Dept I was told that they ship according to "their gowing season" and that it was still below freezing in IL.

I have emailed them numerous times asking for a shipping date and have been told that it will be shipped either "this week or next week". Never a definitive answer. When asked for a refund I was told "We will forward your request to the appropriate department to try to cancel the order before it ships out. In the event that we are not able to cancel the order before it does in fact ship, as per our warranty, you may return the plants within 14-days of receipt, with proper postage affixed, for a refund of the purchase price."

Considering they have told me it hasn't been shipped then I should get a full refund immediately. But I suspect after reading all the comments in this website that I will be told that my order was shipped and they couldn't refund my money but then not receive the order for many weeks to come.

I refuse to allow them to keep $171 so I will take all steps inclusive of the Better Business Bureau, the Illinois Attorney General and the US Postal Service since they are a Mail Order Company.

I have ordered from companies such as Henry Feilds, Springhill Nursery and Garden's Alive without any problems and assumed that I received their solicitation due to my orders from these companies. As a consumer, I should have done more research but it truly surpises me the amount of complaints against this company and related companies and they still continue to operate. Obviously, the correct consumer regulation department has not been approched with this company's activities.

I ordered some seeds and some plants. The seeds came, but the plants didn't. After one month, I emailed them for a status. They responded promptly, and this is what they said. "Seed will start to ship this month. We will begin shipping nursery stock in March and will ship to the warmest climates first. Houseplants and tender perennials will begin shipping in April." I was charged for the plants already, and have already waited five weeks for them, and now I have to wait another two months? I wish I had read the comments on this site first. I gave them a neutral because they did respond to my status email quickly, and that was to their credit.

The quality of what I received was very mixed. Even among single collections of shrub and climbing roses, some exceeded expectations; roughly half were DOA. Hydrangeas were very disappointing.

They also make you jump through too many hoops to get a refund--insisting on an original label even when they have computer records and you have an email of exactly what you ordered.

I am going through the return process now; when it is completed, I will adjust the rating up or down.

My first experience with them this year sounds like everyone else's - spotty. The format of a plant by plant rundown is a good one:
Dwarf pear trees - all very inexpensive; 2 in excellent condition and doing well; 1 never broke dormancy and finally died.
French pussy willow - DOA - dried out and broken; never revivied.
Tree peonies - a bargain - quite inexpensive and all in good condition, doing well.
Phlox - good sized vigorous plants.
Foxglove - none of them ever woke up - all now rotted away.
American sycamore - never broke dormancy, now dead.
Butterfly weed - healthy dormant tubers - doing well

Bottom line - it's a grab-bag - you might get a great plant for a bargain, or genuine junk. I haven't tried to get a refund yet from them - will keep you posted.

I would have to rate this company both negative and positive. If you are expecting to get large perfect plants, Don’t shop here. I made a few purchases of a variety of plants and will rate them below:
Hedges
100 Privet Hedges….they arrived small to medium size and the shipment was short by 5 pieces. I notified them of the shortage and they sent me 10 new ones. We planted them and all but about 5 are fine.
15 Jumbo Hemlock hedges $23.00….Mostly junk…received plants from 6 inches to 18 inches (and these are JUMBOS LOL. After 2 weeks most of them are dead
100 Hybrid Willows…they arrived small to medium in size. After about a week they started showing life and are growing very fast
Various ground cover…..Periwinkles, Walk on Me, Phlox, and Wintercreeper They are very cheap, but so small you can hardly see them in the bags…definitely not worth the bother.
Various vines….Arrived very small and didn’t think they would grow but planted them anyway. Silver Lace, Trumpet Hummingbird are growing very fast Hall's Honeysuckle, Passion Flower and sweet pea barely alive. Kiwi ….ordered 8 (6 f and 2 M) one female was received dead. The others are growing, but much slower than expected
Trees….
2 Magnolia…receiver 2 mini pots with 3 inch trees….After about 2 weeks they started growing but very slow @ $3.00 each, they could hva e been better but are ok.
10 Weeping Willow Trees… We received 10 sticks. We planted them and they are growing fine. Considering they were $1.00 each we are satisfied.
2 Fig Trees…@ $7.50 each JUNK..received 2 tree’s approximately 3 inches each. After 1 ½ months, still alive, but still 3 inches .
2 Red maple…only $1.43 ea. Received 2 sticks, but they are growing fine

Shrubs
2 Rose of Sharon @ $1.25 ea….received 2 …about 2 foot high well branched.. After 2 weeks growing very nice
10 Red Twig Dogwood total $7.50….received 10 small sticks. After 1 month they are growing ok
4 Hansen Cherry bushes. total $5.80….. Received 4 sticks about 2 foot. They bloomed after a few days and even got a handful of cherries on them.
2 Firethorn…total $4.75 ..received 2 approx 2 inches. After 1 month, growing very slowly, but alive.
2 Mock Orange…only $1.50 for both. Received 2 about 3 ½ ft high well branched. After 1 month, I stone dead, one is just barely showing some sign of life.
9 Hibiscus total $5.75 received 9 about 1 inch. After a month 2 are about an 1 ½ but alive, the remainder show no life at all
3 Arkansas Ansonia total $10.95 Received 3 about 1 inch. After a month, there is nothing left but dirt.
2 Huron Sunrise Grass…..total $9.50 received 2 about 1inch…. After 1 month, growing about 3 inches now so very slow.
Various Roses…. Good price…received nice bushes but was short one. Notified them and they replaced the one missing. After a month growing very nice.
The purchases were made from Burgess Seed, Honeycreek Nurseries, and Direct Gardening. I contacted them by email and got quick response to the e mail; however; it took over a month for me to receive the missing items. It only takes 1 to 2 days to charge your credit card, but well over a month to process your order. I have not contacted them yet about the dead items that I received, so I can’t comment on how they will respond.
To sum it up, There are a lot of better nurseries out there, but not at these bargain prices. If you have the time to wait for these plants to grow, then you are getting a bargain. If they honor there guarantee to replace the dead plants, I will definitely shop there again.

Lots of stress in these posts about plants! Thats terrible and surprises me too...I Have ordered maybe 6 times 2007-2008 through burgess and friends, have had no problems as of yet. I see many posts regarding $100-$300+ orders...I would caution against such large orders from discount catalogs. If I dont know exactly what Im getting, nor in what condition it wil show up in, (IF I CANT PICK IT OUT!) well, then I would not spend an amount of money that would upset me if any problems arise. Rather, expect less from deep discounted sources, and you wont be (too) dissapointed.
Having said that, I have ordered small quantities of trees, bulbs, in/out plants and, so far, no probs...Tree seedlings are a bit small for my taste. If I can get it locally I dont buy catalog stock.
I want to say that if you want to dump $100 + dollars on plants, head to the local Native nursery and buy 2 really expensive, cool specimens and be much happier for it than with a large green bag full of "I forgot I ordered SO much" on your doorstep in 1-2-3 months. And, from time to times, for shts and gigs blow $10-$20 online...I and you will be happier and more confident/less stressed that way...isnt that the point of buyin plants? Good luck!

So far I'm going Neutral.

I ordered $66 worth of plants from this company on 3/15/2008. I ordered online and have not received any other communications from them, nor have I receive any product.

I emailed the about a week ago and never received a reply to my inquiry.

I tried to call them today, 4/3/2008, and their line was busy every time I called, no voice mail options or anything like that. This is getting ridiculous.

I then decided to come here and check to see if other have had problems as well, and after reading all the neutral and negative comments, I’ve decided I will NEVER, let me repeat that, NEVER EVER order from this outfit again.

My final rating will depend on the condition of the product when it arrives, IF it ever does, and if any of it lives.

R

I'm going Neutral as of now, it may turn negative later but will not be positive.

I ordered over 150.00 in fruit trees (apple and "fruit cocktail), shrubs (Hardy Privet, Rose of Sharon), berry bushes (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry) in early Feb. I was quoted a time frame of later April - Early May which was fine as I have a lot of work to do in the yard before planting (ie: fencing, mulching, etc)

The first part of my order arrived on March 26th, the rest arrived on March 29th. IT is still freezing here, actually snowed today. The timing is way off. In addition many plants appear to be less then 1 year old, while others appear to be 2+. I have some pieces of hedge that are over 3 feet tall and others that are less then 1 foot tall.

Also, I received 2 pieces of "sticks" that were labeled as Rose of Sharon, they have no roots at all, when i called and requested replacements I was told to return the shipping label... for a stick. Now I have to wait to plan the rest of my hedge due to their poor laborers.

AS mentioned. If everything survives and I get my replacements for defective trees this will be a "neutral" and I will probably buy from them again as the prices are great. If the plants don't survive or the warranty isn't honored this will be a negative. I doubt I'll be buying from DirectGardening.com or Burgess anymore unless the plants I have perform extremely well

Despite negative comments from other customers, I decided to risk $30.00 with Burgess seeds. I ordered one packet of seeds and 2 pairs of Elderberry plants in mid January from their web site.

The seeds arrived in a timely manner, along with my free promotional Peach vine seeds and tomato seeds.

I had not received my Elderberries by March 15th, so I e-mailed customer care to find out the status of my order. I received an e-mail the next day telling me I would get my order within 7-10 days. However, I got the package 2 days later on the 17th. Makes me think that customer care is not completely informed about shipping dates; or they are just telling customers what they think they want to hear.

The Elderberry plants were packed in a green plastic shipping bag. I think a box would have protected them better - but they were in good shape despite this. A tiny scratch test on each bare root plant revealed that they were alive and well. They were a healthy size as well, with pencil width stems.

I received a 2nd free set of the Peach vine and Tomato seeds in the mail with my Elderberries. This was probably an oversight on their part.

Overall, I'm happy with the plants and seed, but I'm left with the feeling that I was lucky - this time. I will probably order from them them again, but I still wouldn't risk more money than I'm ready to loose.

Also, this company does not send e-mail shipping notifications for customers who have ordered on-line. I hope this will change - it would help belay the wait and worry of dealing with a company with such negative reviews.

In the spring of '06 I ordered over $ 1,000.00 worth of perrenials, roses, bulbs, and other plants from various nurseries including the above-mentioned ones. I was new to outdoor gardening as was my yard and soil. I tried to do the best I could, but many plants died. I also recieved some plants sent to me in a very poor state, and were pretty much dead by the time I recieved them. I had kept meticulous records and all packing lists. I had no problem from any of the companies in being refunded, credited, or replacement.
My only gripe was that by the time I got any replacements, it was too late in the season to plant those particular plants, and they died because it was too hot.

I have to agree with lots of what is said here- but with caveats. I think you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap plants, don't expect stellar results. My parents have used burgess for years with good results. Now, understand my dad is a retired biologist so he has the time and knowledge to care for his plants. I placed a large order last year with mixed results. Considering how long I waited to plant and how little care I gave the plants, I'm actually pleased with the results. I've learned the following- 1) Don't order too much. If you can't spend a lot of time with the plants they won't do well. It's tempting to order all the neat stuff in the catalog- but you need to be honest with your abilities and time required to nurture them 2) Expect to lose a few. They're pretty cheap- it's worth the gamble. Take the honeysuckle, for instance. You can get three at Burgess for the price a "well rated" company on here sells you one for. If one dies, you're still ahead of the curve! 3) If you need reliable results, prepare to PAY at your local nursery. They put a lot of time and effort to grow those high quality plants.

I have ordered several things from them over the years, and I learned quickly not to order too much and overwhelm yourself or you WILL have disappointing results. So now I just stick to ordering a few things, like 5 or so, that I think may have a better chance of making it, and if they don't, oh well. Some things have grown VERY impressively well for me, such as a cherry bush, dwarf fountain grass, russian olive, perennial sunflower, etc.. Some things died as well, but I still can't pass up the chance for trying something new that I can't find locally.