Comments regarding High Country Gardens

I purchased two grasses from High Country Gardens recently, and I am very pleased with the outcome.

I was skeptical about purchasing plants online, due to shipping, however their catalog enticed me to give it a try.

My order was handled quickly and efficiently, I received two confirming emails, including a tracking number. I mention this because too many online retailers today fail to send customers confirming emails or shipment notifications.

The plants arrived in the time frame that the company promised, which in my planting zone was only a few days.

The plants came packed in a very sturdy and I must say efficient box. Kudos to all retailers who pack their items in appropriately sized boxes, i.e. small plants - small box.

The plants themselves arrived in great condition, green with moist soil. The plants appear as described and as expected.

I will do business with this company again.

I order 3 plants two orange meadowbrites and an salvia, all arrived on time and decent size at a very competive price.
I have know idea why someone (last posting) would complain and compare what you get from a mail order with what you get at a nursery. I look for a good root system first. It would cost a fourtune to send a gallon size plant though the mail that you find at your nursery. I thought $10.00 shipping to St. Charles, Mo. for a 4 lbs. package was quite reasonably.

Besides if you can find it at the local nursery for cheaper and bigger, why would you order online. I only order online to find something I can't find locally.

plants are desert adapted, which if you don't live in the desert you don't understand how desperately important this is. they are generally shipped live and are seedlings of reasonable size, but unfortunately have to be planted very quickly after that. also for the same price, you could probably get larger and/or better established seedlings from a local nursery unless it is a unique plant.

they do offer pre-planned gardens, which are nice and supposedly grow into their own space within a few years. i ordered one last year and the plants looked good and i believe survived the winter but they definitely did not spread so i am hoping for some better spreading this year or i will be very disappointed. this year i ordered a sampler of lavenders, which contains 8 varieties. they did allow me to specify when i want delivery, which i appreciate because the part of new mexico i live in is about a month later than the rest of the state for last hard frost.

my main negative on this company is that they are INEXCUSABLY expensive. shipping is hugely expensive, even within new mexico. i can't even imagine what it costs for out of state. the plants are also expensive enough that one expects them to be quite a lot bigger (if i bought an $8 perennial pot at the nursury, i would expect it to be in a gallon size pot with a pretty big plant in it, even if there was only one actual plant). however they are healthy, so i guess i'm supposed to not complain.

the cost of buying here, rather than from plants of the southwest or some other southwestern fairly local dealer, is probably going to prevent me from buying from them any more despite the fact that their plants themselves are good quality and they have a wide variety of things i really want and so far have not found elsewhere.

I love the HCG catalog. It's beautiful and informative for many difficult to find plants. Their packing of the plants is good (but not as good as Annies Annuals packing ).

The plants I have received are less than good. Very small (tiny you might say) seedling plants which will take a long time before I can plant them out. The HCG prices are EXTREMELY high for such tiny weak plants.
The plants are so small I have trouble establishing them in my garden. ( I have been and avid gardener for 40 years and know what I'm doing). They really need to be 'grown on' in the nursery for several more months before they are shipped out to customers.

This year I experimented with High Country and another nursery (Digging Dog). I ordered exactly the same varieties (agastaches and heliantheum) from both nurseries. The plants from HCG were small.weak and delicate and will need weeks of coddling before they can be planted out. The same
varieties from DD were strong robust SECOND YEAR (not seedlings) plants. Each had multiple strong stems and are already thriving in my garden 2 weeks after being planted.
The prices from DD were $2-4 CHEAPER - PER PLANT .
Lesson learned. Use the catalog from High Counrty for inspiration and photos. As I am sure we all know the photos are all established plants that may well have been growning 5 years to look that good.They are NO REPRESENTATION of what you will receive.

If you do your homework you will find many nurseries that carry the same plants at far cheaper prices and possibly bigger, better stock.
I give HCG a POSITIVE for the catalog. A Negative for the tiny little plants....which averages out to a NEUTRAL

I have been ordering from High Country Gardens for four years. In the interim, they have changed their packaging system. I have done mail order plants for at least a decade, and the packaging HCG uses is the most impressive system I have ever seen.

The very first order I received before the new packaging, two of the plants were dead. When I contacted the company, they replaced them immediately.

I have had mixed success with the plants I order from them. This is not their fault, as we have very inconsistent weather here in the Ozarks and also our soil has a tendency to be very clayey. They clearly mark which plants do not like heavy soil, so I can't blame them if things that want lots of good drainage and xeric conditions die because the soil is too heavy or it decided to rain for three weeks in the middle of June and drowned the xeric plants.

It interests me that so many of the commenters here blame HCG for condition issues when the plants arrive, but HCG is not in control of the plants once they have been put into "the pipeline", so to speak. The fact that they are willing to replace stuff when it is quite possible the issues were caused by the UPS driver parking his van in the sun while he went to lunch or there was a sudden spring freeze during the shipping says a lot about the company. I have personally witnessed the way UPS treats packages, I'll bet FedEX and the USPS are just as callous. Also, I have had plants left in the sun on top of the mailbox by the postman when the box was clearly marked "PERISHABLE -Protect from heat and cold". This is not the plantsmen's fault.

I am extremely happy with HCG and have ordered stuff for this spring, and I will continue to order from them confidently as long as they are in business.

I purchased one of their mason bee homes. The online picture shows a nice terra cotta cylinder with a nice iron holder. What arrived was a tube with a cheap plastic holder. Nothing like what was shown on the website and hardly worth the $30. I emailed them about it and their reply was that I could return it if it was in the unopened package. Well, how could I have known it was different had I not opened the package? And I'd have to pay for shipping for something that was misrepresented in the first place? Kinda counter-intuitive policies for a mail-order company. I gave them a chance to rectify the problem. They didn't.

"On Mar 12, 2009 4:42 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

High Country Gardens stands behind our products. The picture in the catalog and one on our web site are of the actual Blue Orchard Mason Bee Nest. It is made to look like terra cotta, but it isn't. Unlike terra cotta, it is weather resistant to winter and summer elements and made of durable plastic, ideal for withstanding freezing and thawing conditions.

HCG Customer Service
800-925-9387
plants@highcountrygardens.com"

I ordered 2 Timeless Beauty Desert Willows. Both appear healthy and arrived in perfect condition. This is perfect for what I needed and couldn't find anything similar locally. Would definitely order from again.

I received yet another GREAT order from High Country...I love this place...I will definetly order from them again and again.

I have placed a couple of orders with High Country Gardens and have been satisfied with both deliveries. I particularly like their rabbit resistant icon which helps buyers find plants that may resist browsing by rabbits. They offer a good selection for gardeners of the desert south west.

I have ordered Expanded Shale Mender twice from them, and it was quickly shipped and arrived within the week. Worked exactly as directed. I have just placed another order with them for some Delosperma, and will update when it gets here and transplants. Prices are reasonable, awesome selection, etc. If you are looking for cactus and succulents to plant straight into your garden I would be patient because those plants that they offer are small, but for all others I imagine they are a garden ready size, and much faster growers.

As I am stuck in an apartment gardening indoors for now, I will definitely be ordering many plants from them in a few years when I move in to a house.

High Country sent me healthy, good-sized plants. The communications were excellent. I would definitely buy from High Country again.

I've been ordering from HCG for several years and have never once been dissapointed by the quality of their plants and the quality of non-plant items.

Am ordering for the second year from High Country Gardens. Plants arrived last year well packaged and suffered little transplant shock. All were true to type. I am especially enjoying the 2008 planting of Echinacea Big Sky. Online catalog is easy to use and informative.

I received my first order in November and placed two more orders due to arrive in February. All plants in first order arrived on-time and in good to excellent condition. The garden tips and plant details on their website are extremely helpful to novices like myself. I was looking for Mediterranean plants and found a very good selection at HCG, particularly lavenders! I can't wait for my other orders to arrive and look forward to a long relationship with HCG. Thanks!

Catalog received 12/8 Monday; order (#8120602) placed same day - spoke to “Beth”. Was told 2 conifers would ship 12/15 and arrive no later than 12/18. Charge $64.97 was put on my cc.

e-mail received from Christopher Hunter - Office Assistant
High Country Gardens on 12/9 saying trees could not be shipped until the week of February 16, 2009 because of “the temps”. I had already been told by Beth that the plants are actually in Arizona - day temps of 70 and night temps of 50. I am in Georgia and those temps are identical to ours currently. When I received the e-mail I called and spoke to “Amber”, yes they had charged my account even though THEY made the decision to hold the order until Feb. Amber felt that Beth has misled me since she was an “overflow employee” and not completely knowledgeable. Then Amber admitted that the “plants are not ready now” and said she would credit my account. Silly me, I thought that would mean the full amount they had charged me !!!! No, they decided they were entitled to keep $14.99.

Now, what has HCG gained by this cheap tactic---a negative rating on the Garden Workshop, an unhappy customer and the fact that my cc company will charge them and credit me for this fee they felt was theirs.

They do NOT belong on the Garden Workshop list of reputable vendors. Buyers beware when your cc’s are charged and the amounts charged. You may be very surprised.

I've been a customer for several years. So far only 1 plant has died (totally my fault!), everything else has been great. As I hate watering these xeric plants from HCG have been a godsend. Ordering is a breeze, plants are in great shape when received and thrive when planted. I highly recommend this company!!

This company rocks! Two out of about a dozen plants arrived dead, because the temperature was over a hundred the week I requested them. HCG quickly replaced them when I let them know, even though it was the weather's fault, not theirs. :)

There are lots of online nurseries that are good. I live in an area with lots of really good nurseries. What sets High Country above the fray is their customer service.

I have ordered plants and bulbs from High Country Gardens many times over the past 12 years, and I have always been happy with my order. I highly recommend them.

First order from HCG. Received bulbs today, well-packed and nice size bulbs, clearly labeled.

On recommendation from this site, I ordered a catalog. I was very surprised at the number and variety of xeric plants available. When I received my shipment the plants were all in good condition and ready to plant. My only complaint is that the three rhus trilobata plants were only the size of regular plants with the potting soil being about 1.5" - 2" below the rim of the 5" premium pots. I look forward to adding to my garden in the future with plants from High Country Gardens.

I am a repeat customer of High country Gardens, and have always been happy with their plants and their service, but my last order was just so nice I wanted to post this feedback. I just recieved a large order- the plants were all BEAUTIFUL- healthy, nice sized for mail order plants, with healthy and vigourous looking root systems. The plants were packaged well- all in great shape and the soil still moist. I am a very happy cusotmer of High Country.

I ordered a pretty good size order from HCG ~$75 (total of 6 plants) and was really very disappointed. All the plants arrived in very poor condition - one was DOA and two others were near dead. The other 3 plants did not look great either but were a shade better. I gave them a day to recover before planting them and all 3 weaker ones were dead the next day. I called the company to complain and was impressed by their customer service. They were responsive and sent me replacement plants for the 3 that died. However I was really disappointed because the 3 replacements were in fairly poor condition when the arrived. The agastache was okay but the other 2 were in poor condition. I planted the replacements and they seem to have recovered.

Given the poor condition of plants shipped I probably will not order from this company again. I would have given them a negative but for their customer service.

Talk about securely packed plants! They arrived in perfect condition and looked exactly as advertised.

I ordered a number of xeric, part shade plants from them in the Spring. A significant number of these came nearly DOA in the midst of a early Spring heat wave and given the Westerrn location of the firm, the plants experienced the maximum shipping time to the Northeast. On reporting the problem they could not replace all exactly, but offered some substitutes in the same color range and environmental compatibility. At the end of the Summer season, I found that six of the replacements/substitutes had died (Penstemon and Linum), while three other substitutes had flourished in the same bed. The company's position was that since the dead ones had been "replaced" once they could not now replace or refund .Another three plants which had not been replaced, but died were refunded.

My position is that the original shipment of DOA plants is not a crop failure, but the result of circumstance which I could not control. Lengthy time enroute and abnormally hot period in the late Spring in the Northeast. Hence the real "crop failure" of the Linum and Penstemon over the Summer season should be refunded. in addition since the Linum wer substitutes not exact rrplacements, it is not as if they failed twice As to why they failed, perhaps these plants are really not suitable for the Northeast, despite thei company's claims that they are.

"

I would like to review your order and claim. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. High Country Gardens guarantees to ship healthy and vigorous plants. If there is ever a problem with a shipment it is important to contact us immediately.

Sincerely,
Victoria Peralta
Customer Service Supervisor
High Country Gardens
vperalta@highcountrygardens.com
1-800-925-9387 ext. 3023"

The order was shipped quickly and the plants were in excellent shape. The packing is done very well to ensure that the plants arrive in such good shape. I will order from them again!

I have ordered three times from this company with great success. The plants were carefully packed, quickly shipped, and have flourished in my garden, even under my inexperienced care. HCG is the only mail-order company I will buy from.

The cacti I received are very healthy. the shipping was fast and the
handling very careful. I would buy from this seller again. highly recommended.

I have ordered three times now from High Country Gardens. The quality of the plant material has always been excellent - very healthy and vigorous. The packing and shipping ensure that the plants arrive in good shape. Order processing is quick.

My experience with High Country Gardens has always been outstanding. Great plants and great care is used in plant packing for shipping. I do not hesitate to shop with them.

I have ordered plant materials from High Country Gardens at least twice in the last three years and have just entered another order with them. My plants always arrive in excellent condition; and even when I have deliberately ordered something that is only suited to a 'micro-environment' in my yard, they have always performed as expected. I really like the wide variety of plants that they carry, and I have found that their website is always available when I need it.

I have ordered from several plant companies over the last thirty years but now I only order from High Country. My plants have always arrived in the best quality, and they grow just as they are advertised. Thanks for producing such good quality plants. These are the best for Utah! :)

I've been a High Country Gardens customer for about 7 years. I adore them actually. I must admit that I have had a plant or two die I'd chalk it up to my own inexperience and my husbands enthusiasm with the weed wacker over anything they did. All the plants I've ordered from them have come in very good condition. I enjoy all the information they have on their site. They have been one of my primary resources for pretty AND xeric options for my garden.

I ordered from this company for the first time this spring. I was happy with the plants, and their service. My order arrived on the day I requested, and the plants were healthy. The packaging was secure and kept the plants in good condition, not a small feat, considering they were traveling about 3,000 miles. I also ordered for a client who I landscape for. Her plants also arrived on time, and in excellent condition. One of her plants died within a month, and was promptly replaced by High Country. I would give High Country an excellent rating.

HCG is a wonderful company with courteous, informed staff and quality plants that arrive in such wonderful condition. I've been a mail-order customer of theirs for over 6 years now and I keep coming back for more. They are the best!

This company knows what it is doing. The quality of their plants is subperb. The plants I have ordered from them have never failed me. Their packing and shipping procedure are excellent. What more can I say!

I live on the edge of the Mojave Desert in north Los Angeles County and need a source for drought resistant, xeriscape plants: I ordered several preplanned gardens (August Afternoons) to fill a large planter in the back of my yard. They arrived as promised, healthy and ready to grow. My miroclimate didn't support a couple of the plants but the majority of them are florishing this, the second, summer. I've just ordered grass and wild flower seed for the small patch of lawn in my redone backyard. The nursery that is redoing my back yard (GreenBee in Palmdale) was supportive of the plants and seeds High Country Gardens sells. The customer service was very responsive when I emailed questions as well. The internet catalogue is a well laid out, fun to peruse, site.

This is silly, but last fall, I had an order of Bee Balm and Phlox arrive. I had also ordered a lot of bulbs from other companies. I mistook the box of live plants from this company for the bulbs and threw them in the closet without thought. A full month later, I realized my mistake! I opened up the box to find the sad little plants...still moist and alive. I planted them, not expecting much (due to my own giant error). Believe it or not, they are all now flowering! That tells you how healthy and strong and well packaged they were! Crazy! They may come small, but they are MIGHTY!

I purchased a couple of Gaillardia plants. They arrived in beautiful condition and are both beginning to flower. I'd buy from them again. Unlike many mail order plants, they had a nice strong root system.

People who live east of the Mississippi, as I do, need to read the info on their web site. Not all of their plants will do well in rainy areas.