Comments regarding High Country Gardens

It's weird how the right combination of drought-tolerant plants can be arranged for so many different looks in a landscape. Throw together some veronicas, yarrows, santolinas, evening primrose and tansy and you'd be surprised at the English Cottage look you can get, for instance. Xeriscaping is not just cacti and sagebrush anymore.

For the past 5 years High Country Gardens has supplied me with excellent xeriscape perennials for my back yard So. Cal. garden. I have bought various coneflowers, lavendars, salvias, yarrows, tanecetum, nepetas, thymes and agastaches from HCG; I have always followed their included planting instructions and they have all prospered in the semi-arid microclimates they have been placed in.

Now that my xeric garden is well-established, I won't be needing many new perennials for quite a while -- a built in flaw from a business point of view I'm sure, but to the customer, its a great advantage to not have to be constantly replacing plants due to failure! Much credit goes to HCG for their healthy, top notch plant stock and careful packing and shipping methods. The catalog is also great at educating the customer so that you make better informed choices because, after all, xeriscape gardening won't be suitable for just anywhere. But if it's right for your area and you have suitable conditions, I believe HCG has the best selection for you and some wonderful suggestions and pre-planned garden designs. They're not cheap, but in my opinion perennials are worth a little extra investment if it means better plants. Happy digging!

I've ordered from HCG for several years when I lived in Denver. Always very satisfied with plants, selection, and packaging.
Have moved to Arkansas, and now received my first order. Ordered plants on Sunday, and received them on Thursday. I'm very happy with service and condition of plants! I did not order Xeric plants, as we get about 50" of rain a year.

Have ordered from HCG for years. Plants always arrive healthy and in great shape. Good customer service also.

I have ordered from HCG every year for the past three. Have always been very satisfied. Plants have always arrived in good condition. Their shipping method is good, and I wish some of the other mail-order nurseries used their packing techniques instead of packing with styrofoam peanuts.
I also appreciate the HCG site/catalog with good growing tips and companion planting suggestions. I have had mostly good results with their plants, but a few have not done well. I believe this is because I tried to grow plants intended for hot dry areas in a climate that is too humid for them. I expected that, though, and don't believe the problems were the result of unhealthy plants. The summer weather in my region (Eastern Massachusetts -- Zone 6) is unpredictable. Some years are humid, some are dry and sunny (like last year). So installing plants suited to dry heat is a risk here.

FIVE BIG, HUGE, GREEN GARDEN STARS for High Country Gardens! My plants arrived via UPS, intact, absolutely gorgeous foliage, outstanding big healthy plants, excellent roots systems, etc. I couldn't ask for more! I want to move to New Mexico just so I can be near this nursery!!I'm a coneflower fanatic and they had a great selection to choose from, so I ordered a few. They charge the same for shipping as other nurseries; however, rather than shipping via USPS, High Country ships UPS which is MUCH more worth the money. Then, their prices are fantastic because I've ordered from some places that have the gall to charge twice the price for sub-par plants.

My old mail-order companies have now lost a customer forever because I will no longer waste my money and my Heart on others when I can get THE BEST from High Country.

Excellent! Bravo! Magnificant!

Do it!....Order from them!...You will not be disappointed! Spend ALL of your garden allowance at High Country. I say, let's help these people become rich because they deserve it! ;-)

Just placed another order tonight. I'm afraid this is becoming an addiction! I spend far more $$ with HCG than any other mail order firm, because I know that I will always be satisfied. Yes, occasionally the shipping company has tossed around a box more than they should, or left a box out in the sun when they shouldn't. Regardless of fault, HCG has always taken care of me. Their packaging is the best in the business; to pack them any better would make it impossible to unpack them without damage.
Ordering through ANY mail order firm is an educational experience the first time, and I have ordered from dozens over the years - roses, orchids, begonias, etc. The plants from HGC can be on the small side at times - usually at the end of the sales season, and I have no one to blame but myself for procrastinating. If I have to choose between a smaller plant or waiting until next season, I'll take my plant, thankyouverymuch!
If you aren't willing to put up with some amount of risk - and shipping ANYTHING live through the mail always has some risk - then stick with whatever is available at your local garden center. Similarly, if the exact same variety is available locally in a one gallon can, you'd be crazy to spend the extra $$$ on a hand-picked order from HCG.
I shop at HCG because of the species they offer; often they are named varieties unique to HGC, and even when not, their specimens are far better than what you would get from your typical specialty nursery.
It is inevitable that things will go wrong when buying plants via mail-order; there are too many variables involved. The measure of a company isn't whether or not something goes wrong with your order, it's their willingness and expedience in correcting the problem that counts. In that regard, and by all other measures important to me, HGH get an absolute A++

High Country Gardens stands behind their plants. When I've had plants that haven't "taken off" in their new homes, they have replaced them hassle free. They arrive quite small, however, they are actually suited to the climate unlike the ones you buy locally that just look nice and often don't work with a high altitude/low water climate. After a year the High Country Garden plants are hands down bigger and better. A great company that is easy to work with, and provides a good product. :)

I have been a customer of Hi-Country Gardens for a few years and everytime I have a problem area I turn to them. They have always helped me out and suggested outstanding selections that always fit in my garden...Thanks!.

I ordered 20 plants from High Country Gardens, almost $200 with shipping and anxiously awaited my planting time. I was a little surprised that only one box was used to pack and ship so many plants, but they are professionals, I assumed they must know what they were doing. Unfortunately, over half of my plants were damaged due to the 3 layers of stacked plants in my box. I was very dissatisfied, and I certainly didn't receive "premium pots, hand picked, and vigorous growth". What I received were half or more of my plants that had 30% to as much as 70% breakage, basically stubs and what essentially amounts to rootstock.

To their credit they have offered to replace them, a waste of a lot of my time and money. I was concerned when I considered purchasing plants mail order. In what shape would they arrive in? Answer: POOR! A box crammed full of plants is not going to fare well with most shipping methods or packing efforts, again, I assumed they would know how to do this properly and at the least minimize damage. Instead they packed so many plants in one box in layers that shipping didn't damage them, the packing method crushed them. If I choose to do so I can wait longer and possibly eventually get plants that live up to the price and the hype. Lesson learned, plants don't ship well, or maybe I should only have ordered 4 plants?

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High Country Gardens strives to provide the highest quality of plants, products, shipping and service available. Thank you for bringing this problem to our attention. We are investigating with our shipping department what can be improved to prevent this from happening. Per your discussion with customer service, we understand you would like to plant your order. Once planted they should begin to put off new growth within a few weeks. Please keep us informed on their progress and know we stand behind our plants with our guarantee of a replacement, credit or a refund."

I have been extremely satisfied with the items I've ordered from High Country Garden. I have also been pleased whenever I've needed to call their Customer Service department with questions. All in all, I highly recommend this company.

I have been ordering from High Country Gardens for a few years now and am always pleased with my orders.

Last November, I ordered a gift card for my daughter and her husband in Denver for Christmas. I was surprised when my daughter called and said she was putting the box I sent under the tree. (Gee, did I send something I forgot about?) After Christmas, she told me it was beautiful packaging and a surprise to get the gift certificate.

I just ordered plants for spring in Zone 6. I LOVE that I can pick the dates for shipping; so many places send them when they think best, and it's never the right time for me.

And the High Country Gardens newsletter is just a delight. I really look forward to getting it, except that I then feel compelled to order things. . .

High Country Gardens is great. Everything I have ordered from them arrived in impeccable shape. Their shipping containers work like a champ. The selection of plants is different from most due to the focus on xeric gardening.

I live in (supposedly) zone 5 eastern Michigan. My future brother-in-law did displays for Jeep at the Detroit Auto Show and gave me a couple of the "rock walls" from the set. This was my cue to create a xeric area in my garden. I have seven different species of cactus and native Colorado plants growing in my yard, all of them purchased from HCG. You know what? All alive. I find that most of HCG's ratings are high by one zone. My "Horse Crippler" is doing great. Admittedly, I do put greenhouse material over the area as our Winter/Spring can be pretty soggy. Totally worth it. Wow factor, 100%.

The past few years, I have gone to Colorado in May and am inspired by the plants I see in the mountains. Oddly enough, I am able to find most of them in the HCG catalog.

I just want to say "thanks" and implore you to return the red ipomopsis to the catalog before I bring one home from Colorado in my fishing waders.

You rock! First mail order co. that has delivered in the time-frame necessary for Phoenix. Even then, at the end of Oct., we still experienced many days over 100 degrees and I pampered my plantings (over $200 worth) and within weeks were covering to prevent frost. I've only lost 2 plants and several of the small plants have already bloomed; some I can literally watch them grow!

Love the variety, bought a gift cert. for someone at Christmas and getting ready to place a small order at this time. Now all I need is my dream home and the space to purchase the pre-designed plant choices with "layering and spacing."

Thank you.

Giving HCG a trial, my husband and I ordered 12 agastaches. Three different color blends. The large selection of these plants was exciting. The ones selected were beautiful color blends, not found on other online nursery websites. Upon receiving, within 2wks or less, the plants were in 5 inch deep pots, all approximately 10-12inches tall and full of leaves. Three of the plants had buds sprouting all over them. The packing was done in such a way as no leaf was damaged and all were straight and tall. We can hardly wait to get them in the ground this weekend and watch them take off. Thanks to HCG for such a large variety of plants to choose from and the mature quality of this plant product. We look forward to future purchases.

I've ordered from this company several times . Plants are small but seem to do just fine. They offer a large selection of Hard to kill tough perennials that I need for full sun areas. Shipping and packing is ok as well. Dispite my several attempts to grow their silver tipped horehound, it has died all times that I have ordered it, perhaps if it wasn't such a teeny tiny thing when it arrives it might make it longer than it does. Dispite this, I'll still come back .

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Kathy_ann;
Thank you for bringing up an important horticultural topic. Marrubium rotundifolium (Silver Edged Horehound) is a fuzzy soft leaved ground cover native to high, dry areas of Turkey. So, it is very sensitive to growing in areas with high humidity. The fuzzy leaves hold the humidity on the surface and they just melt in hot and humid summers. Marrubium is a beautiful groundcover but it needs to be planted in dry climates. Other plants you should not plant in high humidity areas like Arkansas are Stachys byzantina 'Helen von Stein' (Large Leafed Lambs Ear) and Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam' (Curlicue Sage).

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Have ordered on several occasions and have always been amazed at the care taken when the plants are packed in their individual holders in the boxes. There is very little - if any - loose dirt in the box itself. I have used other companies where plants have fallen out of pots and are just rolling about inside the box. So far my items have done wonderfully after planting. Trying the grasses this time. Can't wait until Spring!! Keep up the exceptional work!

I am a long time customer and have always been extremely happy with both the product and the service. In the winter of 2006 I purchased a large order (over $200) as a gift for my oldest son who lives in Tahoe as a birthday present. He wanted to establish a "wow" garden in his front yard. All the plant arrived in great shape in the fall according to the shipping suggestion for his zone (5 or 6) and we planted all of them according to directions. This garden is under a blanket of snow all winter but last summer almost none of the plants grew. It was very disappointing. Now I plan to try growing things I can plant in the spring and just placed a small order in that regard. This was an expensive NOT WOW experience and it was after any guarantee. It did not turn me off to the company, but I have a hard time figureing out how to use them when gifting someone in a different growing zone than my own.

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We are happy to hear that the plants arrived healthy and distressed to hear that they did not thrive the following year. We are committed to helping you and your gift recipients create xeric garden style in your landscape. High Country Gardens has knowledgeable customer service staff standing by to help create a WOW Garden. In addition we have a tool on our website called the Plant Finder which will allow anyone to search for plants by zone, region and more.

We would have appreciated the opportunity to have helped you and your son with any questions and guarantee issues last summer when this problem arose. We have a liberal guarantee policy and are always available to assist you. Please feel to contact us now to discuss any issues or comments.

Customer Service Staff
High Country Gardens
plants@highcountrygardens.com"

I have ordered several times from HCG and have had nothing but wonderful experiences. Orders have arrived in good time with perfect packaging and terrific plants. I ordered agastache, salvia, and penstemons. The plants were of a good size with good root systems. They thrived in my gardens despite our high temps and serious drought.
I will be ordering from them again in the near future.

I have ordered several times and each time the plants arrived on time and in excellent condition. They do a great job with the packing and I can't say that about all the companies I've ordered from. The web site and catalog have a great deal of helpful information. If I can get a plant from several sources, I prefer to order from High Country Gardens.

I have had great experiences with this company. They have amazing plants, good prices and wonderful cust. service. I have ordered well over a hundred plants from them. The orders are complete and on time. Only once did they have a delay in the shipping of a plant, which they informed me of promptly and when I did get it shortly after they had doubled the order quantity.
I have lost a few plants,but I am fairly certain that is because I am always attemping to grow plants advertized as desert southwest only-here in Maine. Amazingly though, many of these plants have survived anyway. I never though I would be amending my soil with gravel! I have joked to friends that I am going to replace all my rich loam areas with sand so I have more room for High Country plants.

I only ordered some flower snips & gift certificates, but I couldn't believe how fast they came in! The gift certificates were boxed so beautifully, with a nice card & catalog included. What a nice presentation to give to someone! I appreciate the speed of delivery!

I give this company a very positive GREAT! With all the plants I have ordered I have only had 2 that didn't make it. When I emailed them the problem, I had a response in less than 10 minutes and a credit on my account, which I chose over a refund, to reorder with this coming spring. They are great to work with and I highly recommend. It is worth paying the freight considering they have what I am looking for and easier to have delivered than not find what I am looking for at a local greenhouse. The selections are far ranging. Give them a try.

I ordered by mail for the first time this spring. I was concerned about whether a few of the plants would make it, as they were quite small, but everything eventually did well. I would order again if I coveted something hard to find anywhere else.
Prices are moderately high.

High Country's garden center facility in Santa Fe has some interesting plants and supplies and is worth a visit if you're in the area.

I have purchased plants from HCG repeatedly since 2001 or so and was always satisfied, with a replacement plant or two once in a while. However, in 2006, my order arrived in a pretty sorry state, stems broken off, and wilted. I planted anyway and the plants are still alive but tiny, tiny, grew maybe an inch in more than a year. I am an experienced master gardener and volunteer at the botanical garden, so I am sure it is not my care that is at fault. This spring, I tried again and ordered plants for myself and two friends. More than 60% of the plants died, but their final demise occurred too late to ask for replacements. I noticed when planting that several of the plants had hardly rooted at all. It seemed to me that they were thrown into the pots in a hurry and were shipped regardless of whether they were ready or not. In particular, I've had trouble with the following plants:

Clematis scottii
Cytisus pungans
Asclepias
Veronica oltensis/liwanensis

I never had ANY trouble with the following plants:

Agastache
Lavender
Grasses

Maybe these receive special care because they are their flagships?

I hope this is just a temporary lapse in quality control. However, I am pretty hesitant about ordering again and go to great lengths to find a plant locally now.

This is a fabulous company!! I live in zone 7 and their informative catalog has helped me bring many wildlife friendly plants into my garden that aren't sold in the local nurseries. They even sent me a personal email regarding a question I had about penstemon that thrive in the Southeast. The plants are always in great condition when they arrive and perfrom well in my garden. I shop frequently from mail order nurseries and have nothing but praise for High Country Gardens.

I've had several orders for myself and sent one gift certificate. The plants are wonderful and all have thrived in my Phoenix garden and in my sister's garden in Minnesota. I've been to the Alb, MN store and it is wonderful! Such a huge selection.

I ordered for the first time from High Country after several years of receiving a catalog and was not disapointed.

I cannot wait to make a visit to the Gardening Center. This past summer I had students that were going to visit Santa Fe and recommended High Country and they came back with books, plants and cute doo dahs, praising you and your staff.

I also enjoy the many "lessons" produced by your staff and the newsletter.

Thanks,

By the way, my order was sent at the perfect time for planting.
And it all arrived in great shape.

Connie Volkman
Zone 6 Wichita, Kansas

Wonderful company! Outstanding quality plants,
wonderful packaging, and great shipping! Thanks!

C&NN

This was my first time purchasing with this company.
I found them to be very helpful, plants & bulbs were well packaged and shipped on schedule. Communication regarding shipping was timely. All-in-all a fine experience.
Marion

My orders from High Country Gardens have been more than acceptable. They get my orders to me on time and package them very carefully and the plants have all been very healthy. My most recent order had one plant that got crushed by the pot of another. I tried to save the plant (Asclepias Tuberosa) but it was too weak to survive. When I emailed them and requested a replacement, they very promptly sent me a replacement for ALL THREE butterfly weeds! I love this company and will definately order from them again.

I recently moved to New Mexico (within driving distance of High Country's gardens) and I've visited and bought plants. The staff in Santa Fe is so knowledgeable, it is amazing. High Country sells plants in Albuquerque too, and I've bought many plants there. All are thriving! I've bought through the catalog with mixed results (both since moving to New Mexico AND when I lived in California. Most everything has grown strong though a couple faltered. I truly love High Country's catalog and website--both are so much more than a mere catalog and website.

I have ordered several times from High Country Gardens and have recommended them to friends. All but 2 of the plants I've ordered came in lovely condition. When I called about the first one, a Russian Sage, I was told it would recover but if it didn't to call back and they would replace it. It did recover and is even beginning to bloom. The second one, an Agastache, Orange Flare, was in my most recent order and I was told they would send me a replacement next week.
The phone has never rung more then once before it's picked up by a REAL person.
The search engine works better then any other gardening site I've been to. I type in "deer resistant zone 8" and it searches exactly on those parameters and gives me a list of all the plants I can choose from. So far the deer haven't eaten any of the plants I've ordered.
I love this company.

We live in the Rocky Mountains at an altitude of 6,000 ft. and experience winter's chill earlier than many. However, when I requested that High Country Gardens ship my order of bulbs to me before their "bulb shipment date," which is apparently set in stone, they refused. I have a large number of other small plants waiting to be planted AFTER the bulbs are planted, which are now being subjected to repeated frosts in their little pots above ground, but High Country Gardens won't ship my order before a certain date. This lack of flexibility has taught me a lesson -- BUY LOCALLY!

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High Country Gardens strives to have the best plants, bulbs and customer service in the industry. We sell top sized best quality bulbs imported from Holland in late September. Bulbs should not be harvested too early. If they are harvested too early it affects their size and flower performance in the spring. So we did not yet have the bulbs in the USA to ship to you prior to October. Bulb planting times are different from planting rooted plants. Plants need to be planted in the fall allowing 6-8 weeks rooting time before your soil begins to freeze. Bulbs are best planted after you have received a few frosts and the ground has begun to cool. I would recommend you plant your plants immediately and plant the bulbs as soon as you receive them which is the best practice for fall planting of plants and bulbs. Please contact us as soon as possible so we assist you in anyway.

Customer Service
plants@highcountrygardens.com
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Ii guess I should wait until the plants get here! My comment is that with such a beautiful catalog how can anyone not find something to order. Betwen the two of us with my husband winning most of the time, we all most have worn out our catalog and then it goes from house to house as the neighbors enjoy it. My compliment? What a lovely catalog with good explanations..

I ordered several Agastache. I have bought 2 here where we livein OK and they have done wonderfully. I just wanted to see if these gorgeous plants will do well also.

I was a little disturbed reading the comments and should have gone further into the website before I ordered but possibly would have missed out on a great experience. The ones that we bought here were each about 3 ft tall. Now I thnk my husband may think we got "rooked" if these are that small. I do know and believe that with perennials.....the first year they sleep, the 2nd year they creep and the 3rd they leap. You have to really love certain plants to wait 3 years for a good response. The first one I bought locally came in at the nursery where my daughter works p/t seasonally came without a tag and the only one they had. Of course her boss told her to take it to her Mom (who they think can grow anyting) :o) Not only did I plant it but I did a lot of research and found it. we were SO surprised that it didn't need it's sleeping, creeping period and was leaping all over the flower bed. :o) Even the neighbor children come to "smell" the yard. We just planted a blue one which was all they had left. It was 3 ft. tall and in a gallon bucket and covered with blooms. These came at a price of $6.95 and no shipping and handling so we are customers just holding our breaths. the idea of a a 5" inch pot with more roots mde sense to me
I hope it does. I figured one order to check you out could not be a huge loss and if it keeps me the beautiful catalog coming then I figure that is not a bad subscription rate.

Just "please" pack them well.

Respectfully,
Possi, Central Oklahoma

I received my order of agastache and poppies in early September. The plants weren't big, but were very healthy looking. I planted them out right away and the agastache are actually blooming not 4 weeks later. So far so good!

Placed a medium sized order this past spring. Well-packed box and delivery time was as stated. Yes, the plants were small as is noted by almost everyone. Looking out at my garden, though, one will notice that the plants I received from HCG are doing spectaculary and are much larger than the ones I purchased locally. They have a great selection and the plants are very healthy.

I did have one plant die, but I received an email response within 24 hours and a credit was given, no questions asked. I just placed my fall order. Highly recommended!

I just received my first order of plants from High Country Gardens. The plants were so well packed, they suffered no damage and were not in shock when they came off the truck even though it was 90 degrees here. I gave them a good drink and transplanted them last night, filling each hole with water before transplanting. They looked great last night after watering the garden, and today they look just as good. They haven't gone into shock at all, perhaps because of their foliage-to-root ratio. It is my belief that small plants transplant much more easily than those with lots of foliage to support. It's too soon to tell if they will survive the winter, of course, but all except the lavender are rated for my zone, so I fully expect to see them thrive next year. My first experience with HGC was a good one; in fact, I've already ordered more plants.

The packaging was extremely secure, and they shipped the plants right on time. The achillea and violas were in great condition, and I'm very excited to see them bloom next year.