Comments regarding Accents for Home and Garden (Pepper's Greenhouse)

Found a hard to find forsythia here. The company was upfront about a 10 day delay to ship due to high volume, but taking that into account, they arrived right on time. The plants arrived looking great, very well packaged. Very good price as well.

A great selection of hard-to-find plants at reasonable prices. I just received my first order and very happy with nice size and healthy geraniums. Besides I'm thankful for the assistance I received with questions and payment errors I made. It does take a little longer to receive the order but well worth waiting. Will definitely order again when some of the plants I wanted are back in stock.

Had been looking for some specialty salvias and found them at this site. They arrived really healthy and well rooted. Can't wait to see what they look like in the sun......

Received my Impatiens today...Wow! I am very happy and pleased with this plant...its my first time ordering from them...very healthy and well rooted! The plant even came with an open flower and a couple of buds! Definitely recommend this vendor.

I am very pleased with my first order. The 4 begonia plants I received were large, healthy, and with nice root systems. Communication, packing, and shipping were excellent - a very positive experience.

I recently ordered 4 different Hoyas from this company: a Hoya curtisii, a H. publicalyx 'Pink Silver', an H. australis, and an H. nummularioides, all in 4 inch pots. My only complaint? That they do not use correct names on the website. The plants I received were well packed, wrapped in newspaper and bubble wrap to keep the soil from spilling. The nummularioides is HUGE, each branch being over a foot long, with very little leaf loss. The curtisii is a bit on the small side, but for the price paid, it's quite a deal. I found a bit of the hard, brown scale on the publicalyx, but it wasn't anything too complicated to deal with, and I easily squished what was there. I don't expect any issues. Australis leaves are beautiful and unmarred, and I am pleased with this purchase.

Very happy with this purchase. Excellent communication, excellent packing. Plants are huge, much bigger than the usual mail order plants. Great prices, too. I will definitely do business with Fred again!

Ordered 5 Coral Ardisia just over a week ago, received them three days later. Beautiful, full, healthy plants in 4 inch pots for a reasonable price.

Just placed another order today for various species and will follow up with results when I receive the shipment.

Posted on January 10, 2011, updated January 13, 2011
ATTENTION potential shoppers: I ordered two zebra basket vine - paid & waited. Fred emailed me a several days after about delay in shipping due to a cold snap. Understandable. I emailed back inquiring about expected duration based on local forecast so that I can plan appropriatedly (reason - purchasing plant for mom's bday at end of Jan & so need plant before then - in the case of extended delay maybe i can refund and purchase elsewhere). I received no reply for an entire week. I waited b/c i understand Mr. Fred is probably pretty busy. Then I emailed the guy again expressing I do not appreciate ignored emails and would like a refund otherwise expected shipping soon. This is how he responded word by word, his own:
"maybe you in Ca. do not understand cold weather but we cannot ship live plants in the mail when the temps are in the low 20's. THEY WOULD ARRIVE FROZEN AND DEAD. If you cannot understand this, then yes, i will cancel and gladly refund your payment. FURTHERMORE, I DO NOT INGORE EMAILS.
Waiting your decision.
Fred"

I am stil in awe at this lack of professionalism: LOLing very loud. His response speaks for itself. Customers better hope your orders go perfectly or else Mr. Fred is going to turn Hulk and skin ya alive. Other comments/review on this forum shared similar exprience. This is the First and Last time I shop here.

"On Jan 10, 2011 11:40 PM, Accents for Home and Garden (Pepper's Greenhouse) responded with:

Maybe we should show the complete threating email this buyer sent me :

Hey there Fred,

I do not appreciate my previous email ignored. If i do not receive my order by Friday this week (1/14/11) I expect a full refund to my purchase. If no response by then, I'll leave let my bank and paypal deal with your organization.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also my initial reply to his order was 18 hours later, not several days. (order placed 1/1/2011 at 2:11 P.M. ------ my reply was on 1/2/2011 at 08:17 A. M.


From: Pepgrehou@aol.com
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 08:17:57 -0500
Subject: Re: Online Order From Accents For Home And Garden On 2011-1-1 11:10:49 by sho...
To: azn_tarzn@hotmail.com

Thanks for the order. Due to the extreme cold snap we are having, your order may be delayed. We will ship as soon as weather permits.

Thanks
Fred


As to the shipping delay, it is all weather related, we cannot predict what day will be warm enough.



"

WOW! I am so impressed. The plants are healthy and great. The selection is amazing. Turn around time from initial order was so fast. And to top it all no one can beat their prices. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

i made a mistake and ordered 3 plants while there's a heat-wave going on for us this week.
Called Accents, the owner said they should be fine in the mail. Today the plants came (jasmine belle of India and grand duke and a Chinese perfume plant), and yes, the heat doesn't seem to affect them at all. The Chinese perfume is blooming right now. I'm very excited. Thank you! :)

The plants I received were larger than expected, a real value for the price. Everything was packed carefully and arrived safely. They offer a good variety of plants, with some being rare and unusual.

I just received my first order. Plants arrived quickly, were well packaged and larger than I expected.
I will be ordering again.

I have been a customer of Logee's for many years and have had mixed luck with the plants (I guess I expect a certain attrition rate). When I saw that Pepper's Accent offered many of the same plants in larger pots and for less money, I decided to give them a shot! Well, I received my package today ~ very fast shipping! ~ and when I unpacked the plants I was a very happy camper. Great care was taken to ensure the plants were delivered in the best condition, not necessarily an easy task given our unforgiving heat. As I unwrapped each one, I was pleasantly surprised with the size of the plants. They were in no way "skimpy". I will definitely buy from them again!

Thanks,
Carol Morris
Houston, TX

Everything arrived as expected. No issues with the plants. Shipping was reasonably fast considering I live across the country (pacific coast). The plants condition was excellent, considering they sat at the post office for the weekend in my case.

The post office abused the heck out of the package, but thats not Peppers fault. Besides, the only damaged was a broken stem on a fast growing vine, which I then used as a cutting, so, win-win. :)

Regarding plant size:
Its exactly as I expected. A 4 inch pot is not going to have a huge thriving bush, they are young. Folks need to have the correct perspective. Some plants are very well developed, well rooted, some even root bound, others looked like cuttings still needing development. So what, no prob. They are doing super!

Regarding value:
Its not bad. For example, I bought a vine plant (Jasmine) that came about a foot tall, many shoots, flowering profusely. This cost me 3 times LESS than a 4 foot tall vine with a single wimpy shoot and not flowering at all from the local store. In other cases, I expected more plant, or less cost. So it balances out, and depends what you order I suppose.

Regarding shipping cost:
It seems expensive... but blame the economy. My plants came in two Priority mail boxes that we all know the flat rates for, and thats about what I paid for shipping. Seems pretty darn reasonable to me.

Regarding Accuracy of Order:
Well, it came with everything I ordered, at least according to the labels on the pots. As to whether the right variety of plants were in fact sent, I really wont know till they grow older and bloom. But from all other aspects, it looks well and good.

Conclusion:
I would buy from here again, and even told them so. As with any retail and mail order experience, bad things can happen. But for the most part, all is well here, and I think anyone with negative comments in here needs the proper perspective and expectations. Also, if you react poorly to issues, you should expect that back. And so it is with all aspects of life.

Just received my order of 6 Arizona Sun Gaillardia today. There's a total of one and a half dying flower and ALL of them had yellow, wilting leaves. Not one of them had healthy leaves on half the plant. I am hesitant to even spend the time to plant them in ground. The way is was packaged and shipped couldn't have helped. They came in wrapped in USPS packaging tape, all placed sideways in a standard USPS box - two layers separated by a cardboad. Had it not been the one and a half wilting flowers, I would have thought I received 6 pots of 4" weeds! Definitely a lesson learned.

Posted on January 6, 2009, updated July 3, 2010
I have ordered from Accents several times, and have receivded nothing but the most healthy, vigorous of plants! I ordered four plants last Friday, and got them today, Monday! Very quick. The plants are just beautiful, and as always, I am very happy with Accents. I will continue to do business with them and highly recommend them.

"

Thank You, We greatly appreciate your positive comments. It is a pleasure to serve you."

I've been buying cactus family plants from AFHG for about
a year maybe and I have got great plants from them I really mean full potted plants they sent me great stuff if I have a question about a plant I email them and they answer it. great job keep it up thanks

Posted on April 13, 2010, updated June 22, 2010
I ordered a wandering jew (zebrina pendula quadicolor). Took a reasonable amount of time, price and shipping was reasonable. Unfortunately, the plant wasn't what was pictured on website,this is why I am giving a neutral experience. The plant itself was a nice size and healthy looking. If it turns out to be a quadicolor I will update this feedback. I was contacted by the company and assured that it was a quadicolor though it looks like a regular zebrina. We will see.

Have ordered twice from the company. First time the plants were fairly well sized. I did have a Indian Pink that that was very small and didn't survive the winter though. The second time the plants were very large and healthy. And a hardy orchid even arrived blooming. Only wish they would let you know ahead of time if an item is not available instead of when your package arrives.

I must say everything was perfect with my order, appropriate size rooted and healthy plant. Came packed perfect and timely.

I had a very unpleasant experience with this store.
I ordered 7 plants. I was happy when I got my package, because they delivered it quickly. However, I was disappointed after I opened my parcel.

First, the parcel was unwell packed, sand dispersed the entire box. then, all the plants cram into together in the box, plants overlie to each other. This caused one pot was broken, and the bare root showed up. One begonia's leafs were jammed and broke, almost all the leafs. These plants looked like that had under attack by hurricane Katrina.

Moreover, only 1 plant's portion was okay, the rest were small. Some begonias had tried cane, or only with few leaves. One plant had only one stem with 2 leafs on the top, it looked so weak when I opened the box.

Therefore, I took some pictures, then wrote them an email. I was not care about the broken pot, I just want to complain about the size of plants were very disappointed. I hope they were able to do something to mitigate my dissatisfaction.The answer that I got was rude with kind of harsh tone. They simply told me to send all the plants back if I was not satisfied my order, and that's the only solution they would give. The thing was, I've already repotted some plants due to the weakness appearance of the plants. I was not intend to return all the plants. However, once again, rude and sarcastic words on their returned emails.

Finally, I determined to send all plants back and got my refund back. I've tried to do my best to pack those plants well, and I've told them that I was not sure those plants would look okay after return.

Few days later, I got my refund and attached a note from them. No surprise! Very offensive and discourteous of their words. I clipped the words they replied me. Here it is:

"If those plants were wrapped the best you can, then you can't do much."

Can you believe this?

I will NEVER EVER buy any plants from this store, they are not trustworthy AT ALL.

PS. Their shipping fee is double as original postage, I assume that they just add "return postage" in it, in case customers return their plants. Why? Go figure yourself.

i ordered 4 congo cockatoo. they were sold in 4 inch pots. the order with shipping and handling was extremely expensive, however, i had someone who very much wanted them in their summer container garden so i thought i would give this company a chance since i lost ALL of mine over this cold winter.

due to the fact that many plants ship from zone to zone and from different environments, when any shipment arrives, as i do with all my plants these 4 plants were placed in an area to adjust prior to planting. i usually allow the plant at least a week prior to transplanting.

wish i had time to get this up before now, but it's been the first break i have been able to sit at the computer, so i hope i'm in time for some people to warn.

almost immediately these plants showed signed of root rot. (indicated browning then blackening at the stem base.) when i attempted to get them out of their pots the root system was no bigger than approx 1/2 inch..at best...and rotten. since i have grown these plants on a rather large basis myself i am familiar with their root systems...these plants were never ready for a 4 inch pot... and, perhaps since i design container gardens and flower beds as well as a grower for over 25 years i know a bad root system when it see it.

there simply is no excuse or reason to sell cuttings and try to pass them off as 4 inch plants. it is outrageous. does this guy think people don't know the difference between a plant and lightly rooted cutting???

i did email the company and told them about the terrible condition of the plants and told them i was going to fight the charge with paypal. i rec'd a snipping curt answer back asking why i waited 8 days to let him know... and i was told to pay myself, ship them back for a refund which he would include this shipping, but i'm still not certain and i was NOT going to be out another dime to send back rotten stems?? should i place them back in their 4 inch pots that were just dirt?? and pay for that?

i should have notice when a mail order business charges to "handle" and pack the plants that's not a good sign, after all it's a mail business. if it wasn't the busiest time of the year for me to pack them up, take an 1/2 hour ride to the post office...(60 minutes round trip), and ship BACK i..wish i had the time to pack this absolute garbage up and ship it back but i don't...a whopping 32.65 for rotten plants. BEWARE! NEVER EVER again. i would never recommend them to anyone! wish i had more time to fight this one, but his time of year i have to pick my battles.....being ripped off is an awful thing! unfortunately for me it's not dec.!

Took a chance & ordered several mazus reptans late last fall - the lady I spoke to there said she couldn't guarantee they'd overwinter given the late start but they would probably be ok. The plants arrived in good shape & I am very pleased with their continued growth thus far this spring - all made it through a cold winter, most have doubled in size & all of them are covered with the prettiest purple flowers. The shipping charge wasn't cheap but I am very happy with the quality of my plants.

Posted on April 13, 2010, updated April 13, 2010
Posted on April 12, 2010, updated April 13, 2010
Posted on April 8, 2010, updated April 12, 2010
I placed an order with this company, mostly based on the positive comments read here, on March 28, 2010. The order consisted of 6 pots of Sinaloa sage and 2 pots of French tarragon. The total shipping charge online was $11.75 for the 8 plants.

Today I got my shipment - that is 2 pots of French tarragon. From the sale slip it looks like that on March 31 they already decided to sell me only the French tarragon but didn't have the decency to notify me about this minor event, namely, that the bulk of my order would not come.

To add insult to injury, they charged $13 dollars for shipping the two tarragons as opposed to the original $11.75 for the entire order of 8 plants.

I order most of my plants by mail, so I do know that this shipping charge is way too excessive but most importantly I find the company's policy dishonest - changing the the price after the fact without the customer's knowledge is a big no-no.

Moreover, I find their behavior rude and inconsiderate - they should have notified me as soon as they decided not to send the bulk of my order or they found out that they don't have those plants any more - so I could look for them elsewhere. Or maybe I would have canceled the entire order, since I was after those sages, the tarragon was just an 'afterthought', added in the last minute.

Very bad experience, I will not order from this company again. I will check with my Visa to see what they charged and when.
I am actually outraged.

I tried this company to obtain porterweed which is not readily available from mail order nurseries. What a gem!!!!. The plants were a nice size, very healthy looking, expertly packed with explicit instructions and were here within less than a week.Thumbs up on this company.

I discovered Accent's/Pepper's about six months ago and I originally purchased 4 plants. All were plants that I either couldn't find elsewhere or for much less than I found elsewhere. One example from this order was an established Hoya imperialis in a 4" pot for $5.95. If you have ever priced potted Hoyas, particularly choice species like this one, its price--and availability--may very well elicit skepticism. I certainly did for me. Since that first order, I have placed upwards of 10 others for a total of upwards of 50 plants. I am no longer skeptical of anything they offer as I have been convinced that with them the unusual value is an everyday experience.

Accents/Pepper's probably isn't for everyone. If you don't mind paying at least twice the price overall then you may get some peace of mind knowing that if a plant arrives with a problem it might be replaced. Accents/Pepper's doesn't play that game. All purchases are final. The great price is slightly offset by a small risk. What you will get is great overall value. In my experience you will also get a well packed, 4" pot with a clean and healthy plant inside as well as speedy service. I have never received a dead plant or a plant infested in any way. I have e-mailed Fred Pepper several times with questions and/or for advice. He has always answered promptly and has been very helpful and patient with me. A couple of times I thought there was a problem, but in the end I was mistaken. The only things I've found to be incorrect was the spelling of several plants, the only downside is that you may not find the plant by direct search. For this I do advise everyone to look through categories as well as individual plants. For example, "Persian Shield" is listed as "Pershian Shield". The important thing is that each time the correct plant was in the pot.

Accent's/Peppers in short has become my favorite online seller to both peruse and to buy from. All plants come in 4" pots, some over-potted and others pot-bound, but all have been well established, well-rooted plants. Compared with Logee's, my money has bought me far more quality plants for far less money, sometimes for the exact same plant. One example is Begonia 'Little Brother Montgomery', $4.95 (4" pot) vs. $9.95 (2.5" pot). In fact I've had several bad plants from Logee's, including the wrong plant, for which I've received no compensation. I've not had a bad plant from Accents/Pepper's yet, though a couple needed special care--not at all surprising for some of the tender tropicals they offer. I expect that I probably will get a bad one sooner or later, but considering the selection and the price (including shipping) and the speed of delivery in every case, I'll still be WAY ahead of the game compared with any other mail order seller I've dealt with or I'm even aware of.

I have no affiliation with this seller what so ever. I don't often write reviews, but this is such a very special place that it's crucial that one be aware of the big picture to realize how exceptional they really are.

I just received my first order from this company. I ordered 5 plants they were all very healthy and larger than I expected, compared to other vendors, especially considering the price of the plants. I was so impressed, I just sent in a second order.

"On Mar 21, 2010 8:40 PM, Accents for Home and Garden (Pepper's Greenhouse) responded with:

Thank you for your kind and considerate remarks, we appreciate your business ."

Ordered plants from these people last year. The order was not correct and they lied when they claimed that a certain plant was unavailable and that the refund (in dollar bills yet) was somewhere in the plant boxes. The plant was still being sold on their website that day. I do not have any idea why they decided to cheat me out of seven dollars but I do know that I would not order a dead weed from them. If you do order make sure to use paypal as they will get your money back. The plants that were sent were not worth the effort it took to keep them alive/I should have tossed the lot onto the compost heap. If you want to be cheated and lied to order here.

this was my 3rd experience in getting mail order plants.they arrived in excellant condition.they are the best yet,and i will be ordering from them again.thank you again peppers greenhouse,for such great care in shipping your plants.

I order 4 items, two Wrong items. The jasmine india bell and grand duke are actually jasmine maid of orleans with single flowers. I claimed for refund, but they insisted that the jasmine india bell is single flower plant... only refund me the money for grand duke. They refunded the money to me very quickly and told me I can keep the wrong plant... but I really don't need so many same plants.( I already have one very large jasmine maid of orlean plant at home before I purchased items from this website. )

On November 10, 2009, I ordered three strawberry begonia plants from Accents for Home and Garden at a very good price (less than half that which was charged by some other companies). Six days later the plants arrived at my home--lush, green, and healthy. No hassle, no problems, great plants.

The plants I ordered arrived in decent condition and size. Compared to the price of other vendor's, I was very happy to get them. Well packaged. Nice selection of plants I can't find locally but really enjoy :).

I ordered 9 plants last week and they arrived today in amazing condition. Considering they had to fly all the way across the country, I think this is amazing (and worth the shipping cost)! One plant I ordered they were out of, and my money was quickly refunded. They also told me when they expect the plant to be back in stock again. Considering how many amazing houseplants they have, I plan to order from them again in the future.

I received a Northern Lights begonia from this Peppers Green house (Accents for Home and Garden), the main plant was black around the edges and had two smaller rooted pieces with it. I posted a pic on the begonia forum and some of the DG friends thought I should email/write or phone and let them know. I emailed Mr. Pepper and was told they do not send pieces of plants and that I had planted the leaves with no roots, the plants were too wet and in too big a pot. I had JUST gotten them, they did not have time to get in this kind of shape! I had just planted them and washed the dirt off the main plant and the small rooted pieces - of course they were wet!! I have been gardening for over twenty years and my yard and gardens has been on several city and garden tours, I think I know a piece of a plant with roots on it when I see it and I know a POOR quality plant with blackened edges when I take it out of the box. There are too many other nurseries out there to buy from rather than to deal with a rude individual such as this who insinuates his first time buyer/customer (which I was)are such stupid gardeners! This was my first and LAST dealings with Peppers Greenhouse!

Three months ago, in the spring, I placed an order for a few small advertised Cleyera plants from Pepper's. I sent in my check, and noticed it cleared a few weeks later on my bank statement. Anxious to receive my plants, I emailed Pepper's, inquiring when I could expect my plants. I received a response the next day. They informed me that these plants would not survive in my climate, and promptly asked if I wanted a refund. I then said in another email, that I had a greenhouse for the plants, and was still interested. They then informed me that their Cleyera plants were too small, and were waiting for them to get bigger.
About a week ago, I sent another email, again inquiring when I would receive my plants. I have yet to hear a response. If they were closed, or left on vacation, it would seem like an electronic response of some sort would inform me as to what the deal is. I'm disappointed, and would accept a refund now. If you advertise a product, it should be sold to whomever wishes to purchase it.

My plants arrived in a small priority mail box, one was crunched and I was very worried. I planted all of them, and now, three months later, every single one of them is flourishing and huge and beautiful. I am so delighted with this nursery -- I can't wait to order again. Thank you for having such interesting and hardy plants.

This morning (Sunday) I placed an order for 3 plants paid for by Paypal. Unfortunately I did not read the "in stock" numbers for the items, and in less than 20 mintues I received a very nice email from them stating 2 items were out of stock. They asked if I wanted the one plant, or did I want to order other items? I apologized and asked that the order be cancelled. I received another nice email very quickly stating that it had been. With 1/2 hour the money had been refunded back into PayPal. My point is, WOW! With customer service like this for a cancellation, why would you not order from them? I will do so as soon as the ones I wanted are back in stock.

"On Aug 7, 2009 10:11 PM, Accents for Home and Garden (Pepper's Greenhouse) responded with:

All plants are not full and bushy by nature, some grow tall and lean, some grow bushy and fat. The two plants mentioned were healthy and reasonably sized to the specific variety ordered. We try hard to keep the inventory up to date considering the large variety of plants we offer, however, we will not and do not ship an item if it is not of reasonable quality, therefore inventory may be off slightly on certain items."

I am so pleased with Peppers Greenhouse. I ordered, sent a check and before long two beautiful walking iris plants arrived. I will not hesitate to order again. Thanks