Comments regarding Kelly Nurseries

The only plants I had ordered from Kelly nursery was an 'arctic' raspberry plant and a van cherry. Both died immediately. They looked in bad shape when I got them and no amount of babying would convince them to live for me. I never ordered from them again.

I ordered several items from this company again this spring. Two of the items I ordered did not come as advertised. They were a completely different variety. I notified the company with my order number and date and name etc. Several days later I received an email stating that they needed additional information.

So I went to the website, figuring it easier and quicker to straighten up the questions they had. Unfortunately, the lady who answered, Cindy, was very rude, condescending, and literally refused to help me.

Cindy informed me that this was an ordering line ONLY. She refused to give me the phone number to, or transfer me to someone who would be able to help me. She informed me that I was talking to someone in Minnesota, whereas the people that I needed to talk to were in Illinois. Strange since the address listed above the phone number that I called was Illinois.

So I went ahead and replied to the email that I had received with the information that they were unable to gather from what I had provided them with already, and am patiently waiting for them to let me know if I wasted a bunch of money ordering two specialty trees where they sent me junk instead.

I have ordered from Kelly Nurseries and other companies related to them. Yes, what I have received is pretty scary, including completely moldy or dried out plants, but most of what I have ordered has lived. My mimosa and clematis were pretty dead-looking when I unpacked them (the mimosa was a 3' tall twig with no branches or buds and no signs of life, the clematis was just roots). My mother-in-law said that neither would survive. The mimosa is now much larger than the one I purchased at the local nursery last summer ($19.99 vs. $79.99), and the clematis survived and is thriving this year. I have purchased over $400 worth of plants from all of their various companies and had very few die. Since I over-order, it isn't really a problem if something small dies. I too had some die that I didn't expect to die and had no trouble getting replacements when I wrote them a letter 11 months later and included all 4 of the original shipping labels that I had saved. I have also found that if I plant them the same day that I receive them I have much better luck. Some of their plants don't survive no matter what I do (like mums), so I know not to order them, just buy them locally.

If you want great internet service, use one of the more expensive nurseries (Spring Hill, Michigan Bulb). If you want cheap plants that you are willing to work a little harder to get to survive (or willing to let die and send a letter for a replacement, which they may or may not do), then order from any of the Kelly companies. I like the ease of emailing and getting a replacement (I ordered from 6 different internet nurseries last year, all had the same survival rate regardless of packing!), but like the lower price that Kelly and it's affiliates offer. My mother-in-law has been extremely impressed by the luck I have had with my mail-order plants. She expected most of them to die. I have even passed plants on to her and the teachers of my kids school that have survived and thrived.

Kelly Nurseries sells junk... and then won't stand by their products!
DO NOT GET DUPED BY THEM! THEY STINK TO DO BUSINESS WITH! TRY ANYONE ELSE. BEWARE, THEY OWN A LOT OF OTHER NURSERIES UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES!!!!!

Last year we ordered a whole batch of butterfly bushes, celamatis and a host of other items. The items that came in were about 2 inches tall and dried out... so we planted them anyway...and waited. By the end of the summer after watering them and taking care of them, most of the plants were dead. We called customer service and were informed that they needed the original shipping label to give us a refund. Thank goodness we kept that old plastic bag and sent them a letter asking that they be reshipped next spring. It was already September and we knew that we would not have time to plant anything. The replacements came in 2 weeks.. and they were all moldy and dead again! We threw them out!
So, again we sent them the original shipping label and a nice letter asking them to ship them in the spring. We never heard from them and assumed that they got the letter and receipt. This spring when nothing arrived, we called and they have no record of the letter or receipt. I even gave them the order number, costs, shipping date and item numbers. Their answer is: "too bad, we need the original shipping label". So I lost out on over $70 dollars worth of plants.
I even wrote them 4 emails asking for a replacement. "No way" was their answer.

So.... now none of my friends will order from them, my gardening club with over 60 members has a boycot on them and of course they have lost my business forever! I guess they depend on new suckers getting duped by their baloney tactics. They deserve to be out of business with customer service like that!

Ordered rose collection in Feb. to be delivered in May. It arrived on April 4 in a snowstorm. I refused it and the Post Mistress returned it that day. It did not arrive in May. I had back and forth email correspondance trying to find out what happened to my order. Was told to write to company declaring I did not have the shipping label and prove that the PO had actually returned the package. Did so. Still no answer to the problem after 3 emailings with required letters attached. Finally called on June 19. Where is my package? Was told it was in warehouse waiting to be sent. I asked if I could exchange bareroot roses for a perennial that would be better for planting at this time of year so far north (NH) or could I get my money back. In each case I would be required to write more letters. Gave up and requested the roses be sent ASAP. Now waiting for the roses. This company is very slipshod in dealing with their own mistakes.

I ordered several plants, $86.00 worth. Most of the plants came mostly dried up. A packet with a clematis only had dirt in it, no plant. A rose came dead. This was the worst shipment of plants I ever received. I wrote the company but they never replied.

Last year we ordered 100 bushes of Hardy Amur Privet. The price was really good, but still it was sizable order. We did not check the reviews for this company until after we placed our order, so we were rather worried when we saw all of the negative comments about this company. Of course, all of our “bushes” came as bare root that were a little bit over a foot long. They were all in good condition, with good root system and in an adequate packaging. We did not do much work with the planting site. Literally dug a long narrow trench and stuck the roots in it covering them with native soil that leaves much to be desired (but we did plant them the same day the bushes were delivered to us). We did make sure that the bushes got watered regularly through the summer since we are in a rather hot climate. The bushes did well right from the beginning. We did not loose any of them. Well, we did have a couple that died off, but then they sprouted right from the root again. So a year later we have a nice privet hedge, that is 3 feet tall in most places. So we have nothing to complain about and actually have been thinking of ordering more from this company!

Last week I received my order ot one bi-color butterfly bush, one Hardy fuschsia, and three blue columbines from Kelly Nurseries (after waiting an inordiate amount of time to receive the order). The flimsy plastic package had allowed the plants to move and they were bent and twisted. I immediately potted the fuschsia and butterfly plants in good potting soil to try to revive them. As the columbine plants were bare root and very dry, I immediately planted them in the flower bed and soaked the area with a garden hose to try to get them wetted and growing. I don't understand why the plants were sent in such packaging as it seems to me that nothing would survive the postal system conditions without some form of protection such as cardboard or styrofoam. Their prices are relatively cheap, but not so cheap that one would expect to receive dead and dying plants. I have wqritten to request either reimbursement or replacement with healthy and protected plants. If they ask for original package, I will be angry as it was only a green plastic bag and was thrown away, although I saved the shipping label. If the columbine does not emerge, I hope they don't ask me to dig them up as they are planted among other perennials and it would disturb the other plants to try to probe around to find the dried out roots that I planted. I ordered from them before and received plants in pretty much the same condition with only one of the plants surviving to date. I don't know why I ordered again from them as it appears they do not care about the ratings they receive. -Pelham

I ordered a bunch of plants from this company last spring. When they finally arrived, they were almost completely dead. This is to be expected because of the way they were packed and shipped. From what I see, this company doesn't care what happens to these plants once they have your money. The bareroot plants arrived in a big plastic bag. Nothing to protect the plants from damage during shipment, and the roots had nothing to keep them from drying out during their very lengthy trip to my home (which took approximately 3 weeks). Most of the roots were completely dried out and it took a very long time before these thirsty plants put out new growth, mostly from the bottom. Needless to say, the first year was wasted just trying to recover from the neglect they received in transit. It is so sad that this company cares so little about its product.

I wish that I'd known about this site before I did business with these people. I just received my order today March 31, 2007. I made the order back in Feb. they cashed my check on Feb. 20th it took a month and a half to get it here. Two of the 4 Yellow Ice plants are dead, the soil they were in was wringing wet. The other two, were in very bad shape I've got them in dry soil so we will see. Two of the four Butterfly Bushes, were dry but I think they'll be ok. The other two look to be dead, overwatered I'd say. If they are dead at the roots as I think I'll try to root the upper part which was leafing out at some point. The Tuberose bulbs looked ok and I've planted them, we'll see (I'll add to this post later) and the free daylilly, I don't know, they don't look so good but I'm planting them. I'll try sending back the ice plants. I guess I'll see how it goes and will write back here.

Kelly Nurseries in Dansville NY used to be my favorite place from which to order out of the garden catalog. The catalog looks the same and Kelly Nurseries in Faribault MN may have the same name, but it is not the same old company.
Like so many other people say, I received sticks that looked dead. I planted them all in pots, anyway. Lo and behold everyone one of them eventually sprouted, except the autumn clematis. The biggest problem is that they sprouted from the roots or just above the grafts, not from the terminal buds.
But hardest part of dealing this company is Plantron Direct Gardening's customer service and their poor warranty policy. After two months of trying they did replace the clematis with another lifeless plant that I could not nurse to life. Because THEY took 2 months, now they will not give me my money back. The warranty was only two weeks from the original shipment. They will give me a credit toward new plants. I am trying to decide if it is worth the bother. I think it isn't. There are other inexpensive catalog and online nurseries that deliver better product and stand behind their plants. I will just buy elsewhere from now on.

I ordered several plants from Kelly Nurseries / Direct Gardening, because their prices were so low. That should have been my first clue that "you get what you pay for".

EVERY SINGLE PLANT DIED, or was dead on arrival.

They ignored emails requesting replacements until my third attempt, after which I received a terse reply that I had to provide original packaging and the dead plant materials. I had already explained that I did not have the original packaging. (Because they used very poor-quality shipping materials, the box did not even survive the trip to the garden for planting).

I ordered from them because they are the only supplier I have ever seen for a Paulownia tree.

The Paulownia tree that arrived was a dead and hollow reed, about 6 inches long and in a plastic sandwich bag, which, when I took it out of the bag for planting, immediately seperated from a bundle of equally-dead roots. It was this that I tried, initially, to have replaced.

The dwarf fig was equally tiny, and in a sandwich bag, but had two green leaves. It did not survive the mild Maryland winter of 2004.

The iris corms looked dried out, but might have been alive. But there was no sign of life this spring.

The pampas grass, also in a sandwich bag, was a brown bundle of dried grass - but in the fall it would have looked like that in nature, I reasoned. But it, too, has never shown a sign of life.

Finally, the tree peony DID survive the winter, into the spring, and sent up new shoots in March. But then it died. It's located beside other peonies I picked up at Costco, at the same time, but they're doing fine, so it didn't die due to weather or soil conditions, or they'd be dead, too.

I ordered plants from Kelly Nursery in January. When the order did not arrive I tried to telephone them but found that the telephine was not connected. I finally got through to them via email in March. They told me most of the order would be shippped right away and the rest would arrive in April. That which arrived in March was either already dead or very nearly dead. I have been able to save the bare root rose. It is still very weak and just now beginning to leaf out. I ordered two Wisteria plants. That which arrived were just sticks, no roots. One is beginning to leaf out, the other is dead. In April I received three hydrangia plants. They were sickly and starting to rot when I received them. To date I have managed to get all three to survive but they are still very weak. What I got from my order was the worst nursery stock I have ever seen.

Last year I purchased $200 dollars worth of plants from Kelly. I requested the delivery date be after Mid May. Well of course they didn't follow my instructions. Almost everything arrived dead. I planted everything in hopes it would come around.

I sent back all of the packing material with a list of the 3 things that lived since that was much shorter. I called today three weeks later they have no record of my letter or return packing. They told me to call next week. This doesn't sound good.

I’ve bought some plants from Kelly Nurseries catalog ( http://www.kellynurseries.com ) in early Spring 2004. To my dismay I received many of the plants totally dead, with no signs of life whatsoever. I wrote many emails to them, which were never answered. I called them and they said I had to send the label on the package in order for them to consider replacing it. I no longer had the package, but had the dead plants as a proof. They said that I could send my Credit Card statement as a proof of purchase, and that’s what I did. After months of having ignored my letters, statement and emails they sent another replacement. They replaced them in July, months later. Still I received a totally dead plant (a Mock Orange) – no sign of life, nada, and zilch! Then I called them again and they told me to send the Credit Card statement again. When they answer the call they mention that “your call is being recorded for quality purposes” but it wasn’t a recorded message, they answer the call like this every time, which sounded more like … “Anything you say may be used against you”. I told them I had already sent the credit card statement. I was talking to a female voice, which sounded young and very mechanic. She said there was nothing they could do. Then I asked to talk to the manager or whoever was responsible for the Customer Services. I told her I knew she wasn’t a machine and she could talk as a human being. After insisting a lot to speak to the Manager, she said I could write a letter to Grace Avory, but said she doesn’t receive phone calls. Very weird… A customer service manager that doesn’t answer phone calls. Well, I made a note and decided to call again. Next time a man answered with the same message. He said that he was going to talk to his manager/ supervisor, whatever… I waited and he came with the message that he wouldn’t replace the plant without the label from the package. I said to him I bought the plants and they sent me them dead. It means they were the same as garbage. Then he told me to send the credit card statement again and I told him AGAIN that I had already sent it. Then he said they were NOT going to replace it. I got so mad! I told them I was going to call the Better Business Bureau in Illinois, Office of the Illinois Attorney General and CBS Show “Shame on You”. He said I was threatening them. I just read a book called “Life’s Little Instructions", by H.Jackson Brown, Jr. It says that at least once a year we should write a letter complaining about some kind of injustice. I’m sure we all have experienced something like this and end up doing nothing about it. It’s our loss. This time I was ready to confront them, no matter what. It wasn’t a matter of money, it was a matter of being mislead. That’s why I am writing this letter. Kelly Nurseries always sends various catalogs with different names:
Four Seasons Nursery
Farmer Seed & Nursery
Burgess
House of Wesley
Interstate Nurseries, etc
They are exactly from the same company, which is also called Direct Gardening (www.directgardening.com). If you go to this site and order their catalog, you will see that they say they have many catalog suppliers, which are exactly the same company. They hide behind all those other catalog names, but they are from the same address in Bloomington, Illinois. I’m going to go ahead and do everything I can to have my plant replaced this time, even if it takes me a lot of trouble. Let me know if this similar situation has happened to you. Maybe this way we can show how this company makes business to their only advantage. Next time don’t bother to buy from them. All they will send you is a dead stick in a plastic bag. This was the way my “plants” arrived. It proofs how misleading they are.
"This is not a threat in any way, but my rights as a consumer I’m defending and I will pursue it."

On February 4, I ordered from Kelly Nurseries via the Internet. It was clearly a huge mistake that I ever ordered from this company. This company is like the Greek Medusa with at least three head companies: Kelly Nurseries, Richard Owen, and Four Seasons (there may be more than this).

The products each company sells are nearly identical by item and price, just the name of the company is different. Moreover a common customer service answers for all three nurseries (from Bloomington-IL). I received 3 orders, the first was so bad that I immediately sent most of it back because the shipment was badly packaged and in poor condition. The third package with the bulk of the perennials I ordered had items omitted, others in a dried up condition and was a screwed up confusing mess of jumbled up items . Once this company had my money, getting any type of redress from them is a matter of anger and exasperation. If you want to return something you have 14 days to get your money back, and if you want a replacement plant(s), you are required to send the exact shipping label from that exact shipment, no photocopies are accepted. It is obvious why this is done. This company counts on the natural sloppy way of customers who just throw away the package after they get them. Customers who go thrugh this frustrating attempt at redress will often give up and say to heck with this procedure. And this is how this company makes its money. When I talked with their Customer Service, they would not honor any replacment request unless I had the exact package number. Also I might add they are very good at losing correspondence. My May 6 letter has never turned up in their data base (more than a month has elaspsed) so they have done nothing about my replacement, nor reacted to my numerous telephone calls. My advice to any potential gardener considering buying from this nursery combine is:

DON'T BUY FROM KELLY NURSERIES; THIS IS MY ADVISE TO ANY POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. This company is a terrible excuse for a nursery with inferior plant materials, sloppy packaging, and a terrible return policy that is designed to ripoff the customer.
George Kretschma

Like others, I wish I would have seen this site before ordering from Kelly's. I sent them an email complaining about their shipment a few minutes ago, before I came upon all your experiences. I have dealt with many mail-order nurseries before but have never encountered a place that shipped way too early for Northern Vermont and slimy dead miniscule plants to boot. ALL my 16 perennials were DOA and of the 80 red ozier dogwoods, they only shipped 77 and I don't see any sign of life from those almost rootless twigs that I planted 3 weeks ago. I should not have deluded myself into believeing that I could have a dogwood hedge for $55. I have invested alot more money into this hedge with all the soil amendments, mulch etc not including the time it took to dig 80 holes. So this is a major disappointment. I hope that enough twigs survive for me to have something that resembles a hedge...

I ordered before I knew what I was getting into with this company. I have a large scale planting so I wanted to save money. I have recieved plants that for the most part have done well. Maybe It was my root stimulator.
I ordered 100 Washington Hawthornes all but 15 have taken well. I blame delayed shipping for the ones that have not begun to break dormancy. I had to wait and wait , call & call to get my plants.
All 30 Populars have taken. Took a long time to get them.
The 35 strawberries didn't please me so I'm sending them back.
One of the two plum trees did well. The other died.
All mulberry, peach trees are doing well.

I am shipping back the strawberries and plum tree this week and their response to the replacement/refund request will determine if I ever order from them again.

I ordered from the catalog last year 2003. Several of the plants did not look good but I planted and water them as the others. I have never ordered from Kelly's before. I have a one year guarantee and as suspected several plants did not come back this year. I have sent e-mails and called several times. There is always a busy signal and they have not responded to my e-mails. I spent over $100.00 and got only a few plants that are still living. I am most unhappy with this unprofessional company. I HAVE SAVED ALL MY RECIEPTS. I would like compensation for the dead plants. END RESULT: DO NOT ORDER FROM PLACES YOU DO NOT KNOW.

I purchases 3 grapes and two blueberries before reading the comments from current clients. I was worried that my order would be a bad experience so purchased locally for a lot more money. My order came in and the grapes are are huge and healthy, the same size I wasted twice the money buying locally.

Last May I placed an order with this company specifying
delivery details and dates. Never received acknowledgement
or plants.
To date, and in spite of repeated e-mails all I have received is "a run around". Customer Service cannot help because they do not handle problems (!!!) The "Order Status"
department does not even address the problem.
Meanwhile, they cashed my check last June, I am out of the monies paid, which, apparently they do not intend to pay back, and I have lost a landscape customer whose garden is now unfinished for the season since, at this point, I cannot obtain those plants from other suppliers.
Kelly Nurseries has each and every detail on this transaction, PLUS MY MONIES.
I can only hope that others read this BEFORE they order from them.

Well, lets just say that I am not suprised at everyones comments. I have had NOTHING but trouble in dealing with these lovely people. First of all, I had problems in receiving all my merchandise. I still haven't receieved five plants that I ordered. Then, when you call to complain, they tell you just to mail in your shipping label and try to get you off the phone. Second of all, some things were in ok condtion when they were received. But by far, most were in poor condtion, and most of the things I received from them have died (and let me tell you, my husband and I worked for weeks preparing the soil before these plants were to come--I am a big "Jerry Baker" fan). Then, they were emailing me telling me they were shipping me my order (a second time) and I was concerned they were going to charge me again for it--when they already had. NO ONE must be reading these emails, because it took SEVERAL before anyone even responed back to me as if they had even read my emails!! Then, on the 5 plant I never received, I wrote them, but did not send them "the origingal shipping label" as they are so famous for requesting BECAUSE I WAS NOT RETURNING A PLANT FOR REFUND--I HAD NOT EVEN RECEIVED THEM!!! So, to me, why would I send the label, when I had ordered other plants, and there was a good chance they would die (due to their poor condition), and then I wouldn't get replacements for those plants. Well, I wrote them, and sent them a copy of my original shipping label. A MONTH later they sent me a letter saying to send them the original shipping label. Well, needless to say, I was not happy, and I dug up all my dead plants and sent them to them with all the shipping labels. It has been a month an a half, and just last week I received two of the over twenty plants (not including the five I have never received) that died--no other letter, no other plants, NOTHING. I am assuming that I will not be receiving anything else from them, or even a letter. OBVIOUSLY I will never order from them again--I just can't believe they can run a buisness like this. I made a huge mistake by ordering from them--and I am so glad there is this website--I will be checking here first from now on!!

I wanted to try this nursery out so I only ordered one plant from them. Along with the plant I ordered they sent me two Spirea bare root plants for free. The one I ordered got a few leaves on it then it croaked. It never came back the second year. The spirea didn't grow at all.

My complaint is concerned primarily with how this company's customer service and accounting departments are operated. I am new to gardening and have ordered several plants from various mail order companies as well as some local nurseries this year, but my experience so far with Kelly Nurseries has been negative compared to all the other companies I've done business with. The problem is that I happened to want to cancel an early April order I placed with Kelly shortly after I had mailed it to them (the order total being about $35). I had found out through research that one of the plants I had ordered from them was actully quite invasive so I changed my mind about wanting it. I tried to cancel the order over the phone about a week after I'd mailed it and was told that there was no record on file that Kelly had received it. I was told to call back in another couple of weeks. I thought it a bit odd that they needed two weeks for an order to come in the mail and become processed. Through surfing the internet I came upon this site and then found out about the negative feedback concerning this company. I then decided to stop payment on my check and wrote an e-mail to them that I wanted to cancel my order. They did respond by e-mail telling me to write a letter stating that I wanted to cancel; I did so that day and mailed it soon thereafter. The date on the letter was in mid-April. I thought that everything was then resolved and that the cancellation went through. Well, a couple of days ago, much to my suprise, I received a few sad plants that had been part of what I had originally ordered. I thought to myself how odd that these were sent! So I tried calling Kelly to find out why these plants were sent to me in late May when I had cancelled my order back in mid-April. The customer service operator told me that I needed to send the plants back and gave me a phone number to reach the proper accounting office to speak with someone who could find the record of my cancellation. I have tried several times to call; the line is always busy. I don't think that it is my responsibility to send these sorry plants back at my expense when I had followed the proper procedures for cancelling my order that this company requires. I am very disappointed with how they have handlled this whole affair.

My plants arrived great, even though the bag was ripped open during shipping by UPS. I soaked the roots in water with rooting harmones to be sure. Trees and plants are doing fine. Gardening is hard especially here in Arizona. I do not buy localy anymore as Home Depot and local nursery potted plants always die and are fungus infected stock from California nuseries. I also buy from Musser Forrests. Some plants are more difficult than others to grow. What I do is research plants on the internet and then buy the easier to grow specimens. I am happy with Kelly's and will do future business with them, sorry to hear all the negative experiences.

Never received all the plants I ordered. 1/2 of the plants were dead. The rest were poor quality. Threw out most of them.

This is the worst garbage I have ever received !!! Our Troops should take this guy & turn him over to saddam hussain! I have been getting Plants from mail order for 45 years, This company & all it's affiliates need to be prosecuted!!

I have ordered from more than one Plantron Co. I have had both good and bad experiences with Plantron Companies. My attitude towards all of the Plantron companies is this- If they have a plant that I am interested in that I can't get elsewhere, then I will order it from them. If they have a plant that I am interested in that is way lower in price than other companies (this happens often), then I will order it from them. However, all other orders I place with other companies to avoid them. If another company is a little higher in price, then I order with the other company gladly. But being dirt cheap and having plants that others don't have sucks me back to them. Sometimes their plants are dead or don't live, but hey what do you expect for rock bottom prices? It could happen with other companies that have a good track record. Sometimes their plants are very good and thrive - it's like throwing dice.

I don't like it that you can't call to complain - you have to do it in writing, but it sounds somewhat reasonable. At least one of the Plantron Companies is hard to get on the phone - busy, busy, busy.

From one of the Plantron companies I ordered a beautiful plant with a name something like wedding plant or maybe Hawaiian wedding plant. After several months, I didn't receive the plant or anything even acknowledging the order. I wrote a letter and simply asked when was I going to get my plant. Not long after, I got a star jasmine instead, which was not as pretty. I wasn't happy about the switch. I would have been content to wait for the wedding plant - I just wanted to have some sort of idea of when to expect it. I thought maybe they forgot I existed. I was mad about the switch, but didn't complain because finally something happened.

Anyway, I like plants enough to deal with these people and what they sell.

Placed an order on 2/2/03. 12 hrs. later, I cancelled the order. I was sent confirmation of that cancellation yet on 2/7/03 my credit card was charged. Visa has since disputed the charges but Kelly is fighting it. And unbelievably, on 3/30/03 they actually sent me the plants (DEAD). Told me I have to pay the return shipping. They are still sitting - bagged - in my garage. I will not return without a prepaid slip from Kelly. Place should be closed down !!

I have over 900 clematis and over 1,200 roses in my gardens, so am no newcomer to buying and nurturing plants. I bought Kelly's Blue Light clematis in 2001, potted it with great soil and grass clippings, overwintered it and got 9" blossoms by June of 2002. I ordered 4 more this year. Of the 4 I ordered last year, 1 didn't survive and Kelly immediately replaced it. Frankly, I am delighted with Kelly. I ordered 2 of their yellow peony trees in '97 and they are GORGEOUS.

My credit card was charged weeks before my order shipped then half the plants died or never came out of dormancy. Although they guarantee replacements or refunds if plants die within the first year, they require "original" shipping labels. I had sent my labels (via certified mail return receipt)with a letter stating exactly which plants had died and requesting a refund on those items only to have them mail it back with a note "what was the problem with...". What part of DIED and BULBS NEVER CAME UP don't they understand? Obviously they are backing out of their guarantee - they couldn't claim that they didn't receive my "original" labels since I had mailed certified and concluded that I wouldn't pay more in postage than I was entitled to in refund to keep mailing that way. I have no doubt that if I were to mail via regular first class (no receipt) that they would claim they never received my request.

half of order arrived molded while the other half was dried out. time stated for expected delivery was 7-10 days and actually arrived in about 2 months

Boy, I wish I found this board BEFORE I placed an order with Kelly Nursery!!! I too, had a dismal experience with this company and would NEVER do business with them again. I ordered a shade garden package in March 2002. The plants did not arrive until June. I called them twice to inquire about my order (I found a number hidden in the catalog and apparently the # is for the shipping warehouse) and was told they would arrive shortly. I planted the plants according to the directions and NONE of them appear to be alive (10 days later) DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!

We ordered this spring from several mail order nurseries. We ordered over $100.00 worth of plants. The shipping and handling charges were high. We thought they would be sent UPS; no they came in the mail. They were in plastic bags and were cooked when we got them. We ordered in march and finally got the last order in June. Very few things have lived. I called the company and was told that if I shipped the dead plants back they would refund my money. If I wanted replacements write a letter and send the invoice back. I did send the invoice back and they returned it to me telling me to give the plants a chance they were dormant. They weren't dormant they were dead. We will never order from this company again. I am still waiting for my replacement order.

It has been over two months since I placed an order with Kelly's, and nothing has arrived. I'm sorry I didn't find this site before I ordered.

I canceled and order from Kelly Nurseries that was never sent and have not received credit from them either. Customer service gives me the run around and e-mails return the same. I am contacting the Postmaster in their area to see if something can be done on their end.

A friend bought me a potted, bagged Queen Elizabeth as a gift from Kelly Nurseries (through a local nursery). At first glance, it seemed healthy (3 fat green canes, a few buds). However, when I unwrapped and removed it from the peat pot to soak before planting, there were no discernable roots on it whatsoever, only a few little white "feeders"! The big roots had been chopped completely off. I've planted it, anyway (in deference to my friend) but there is no way this rose will survive without a root system and if by the grace of God it does, I'm not looking forward to the process. Worse, the rose was $14.95! Comparable to what a good rose from a good place would've cost! It's my opinion these roses are "throw-aways" (machine thrashed plants) from big rose farms. This company then buys them for pennies and covers them up with a pot and bag to sell to the unsuspecting public. Buyer beware!

I ordered plants from Kelly Nurseries, Division of Plantron, Inc. The shipment was missing 3 plants and I'm having a difficult time getting them to complete my order or give me a refund. They definitely earned a place on my "never order from here" list.

I ordered a Japanese Maple. When it came the growth on the top of the little "four inch twig" was totally slimy and nasty. It was immediately obvious to me that the plant won't live. The other trees I ordered had roots as dry as dust and the flowering plants were tiny and just barely alive. I've been ordering plants for years and this place is a complete disgrace. DON'T ORDER FROM THEM!!!