Comments regarding High Country Gardens

I just ran across an article about HCG in the Chicago Sun Times and visited their site shortly thereafter.
I ordered prior to reading the GWD reviews which is just as well.
I found their site to be relatively painless to navigate and order from. What hooked me for an - immediate order - was the availability of Agave and cactus that would be hardy to my zone5.
I will update the comment and rating upon receipt of my agaves and cactus sched.

Yes, these guys are a little more expensive than some of the cheapo mail order places, but the quality of their plants, selection, and customer service have been outstanding. Plus they offer plants geared toward growing in the Rocky Mountain West...not too many mail-order nurseries anything even remotely drought tolerant out here!!

I've ordered from them several times and have been very pleased. Plants are usually on the small side in the spring, but grow very quickly once their roots are established. Even plants they warn you are slow-growers tend to grow quickly (Like Fallugia paradoxa). If ordering their drought-tolerant plants, it's helpful to have a smattering of experience with native plants so you understand how to care for them. Don't overwater the first year, and don't under-water!! Also, order plants appropriate to your climate and soil...as much as I drool over them, some of the very xeric penstemons just don't do well in my clay soil. Order with intelligence and put the plants in appropriate places in your garden.

I have enough experience with gardening to know that not 100% of everything I buy will survive (and definitely not 100% of what I grow from seed survives!!). But I've only lost one plant from HCG out of the couple hundred that I've ordered...and that one was a penstemon that I knew would be marginal to my climate and soil. Plants from other nurseries don't fare quite as well (although there is one nursery in north Denver that rivals HCG for the quality of their Xeric plants).

My only "complaint" :) with them is that they don't offer enough hardy or old garden roses...but then again, there are already a bunch of places out there that offer those. I'd like to see them offer Harison's Yellow or Austrian Copper at the very least.

I like being able to reserve what plants I want ahead of time, instead of sifting through whatever local nurseries have decided they want to order. HCG does not ship their plants in little plastic baggies with rubber bands - they are wrapped in paper and packed well for the trip. Mine have always arrived on Thurs or Friday, in time for weekend planting. No breakage and no soil spillage. Oh, and as others have said, they have an excellent catalog and website that make great reference material.

So far I've been very happy with HCG...I'll update this post again after I receive this spring's order...

I've ordered well over $800.00 in plants form this company, landscaping my own yard as well as a friends, and I have been extremely pleased with the company. In fact, even though I get tons of gardening catalogs in the mail, this is the only mail order plant company I will buy from.

it's true the plants are small, but they all have been strong, and the columbines (my favorites) are 4 - 5 times the shipping size by the end of the growing season.

I think their plant selection is incredible, and I'm always impressed at their continual improvements of old favorites.

Shipping has always bene reliable. I needed to contact Customer Service once and had an awesome experience. No troubles, ever with anything.

I have in fact a combination of plants that draws comments from walker-bys constantly! Margerita-bop penstemons next to Shades of Mango Agastache and wow, the colors are so intense they glow in the twilght. BTW I live in Utah so xeriscape is a must.

I'm completely excited for spring & am gearing up for this season's spring planting. Everything I put in my yard will be 98% High Country Gardens! =)

I have ordered plants from High Country Gardens for the last seven years spending close to $100 each year. They have an incredible selection. Although the plants are quite small when the arrive, and don't do much the first year, by year two they are great. Since many of the plants have special requirements I have had trouble growing some of the them. I many times try the difficult to grow ones a second and even third time, before I will give up. Many have been worth the trouble. It is hard to find interesting and unusual plants that will grow in the Rocky Mountain west, and High Country gardens is one of the few places where you can find these types of plants.

I've ordered from HCG twice and have been quite happy with all the live plants. They are generally larger and shipped in a secure carton that minimizes damage. It is true that many of the selections are suited best for the more arid western states, but these are clearly noted in the catalogue as are best types of soil.

One of the delights of HCG are rare and unusual varieties that are especially uncommon here in NY. I had an eight foot sunflower (Maximillian's?) that was a real showstopper in late fall.

The Spring catalogue is already marked in anticipation.

"THANKS" for all of the wonderful guidance and plant ideas I have received over the past few years. I have naturalized a ten acre area north of Belgrade, MT so that I might have flowers all summer and provide food to attract butterflies, bees and birds. We have a fairly harsh climate with -40 winters and +100 some summers and the need for xeriscape is critical due to a silt-clay soil which hardens up in late summer. Last summer we shot and trapped over 500 Richardson's ground squirrels; drowned out pocket gophers and have deer now and then wander through, so your guide to "critter proof" plants has been indespensible for my SANITY as I have struggled to find compatable plants. My latest garden has been an expanding of iris varieties which seem to be bomb-proof. Flax, sages, yarrows, coreopsis and gallardia have done fantastic! Your xeriscape newsletters on line have confirmed much of what I have learned the hard way as I grew up gardening in Wyoming wind and continue to experiment here in Montana.

>From a loyal fan...

Last spring I ordered lamium Red Nancy, nepeta and stachys macrantha. All arrived in good shape and are going strong. I'm a big fan of lamium but have struggled with several different varieties trying to keep it alive, and the Red Nancy is by far the most vigorous I've got. It's still alive after some bitterly cold nights. I'm looking forward to spring to see if my muscari comosum plumosum (the fluffy ones) will bloom; I expect so based on past experience. I also really appreciate the catalog comments on growing conditions and what's right for what areas.

I ordered from them last year. What a good idea for a small company - to focus on xeriscaping plants, especially (but not limited to) natives of the N. American west. Catalog was gorgeous - not cheap, but I like to support small companies, and they carried a lot of rare plants. Minimum order of 6 plants, so I ordered a native columbine, a shrub, two non-native lamiums, and two asclepias tuberosa that were advertised as specially adapted to clay soil.

Everything arrived okay, and I was very pleased that the leader of the shrub had been bent over rather than chopped off. But the asclepias looked diseased. Left in pots in the sun to 'recover' they greened up a bit but were still obviously infected with a virus. I called the company, spoke to a nice person, and later received two replacement asclepias - which showed identical symptoms of the same virus. All 4 went into the trash. I didn't call the company again. The columbine looked healthy so I put it into a border; but later in the summer all the other plants around it began showing signs of severe viral infection - mottled and striated leaves, distortion in new leaf growth, chlorosis, death. I am concerned that this company may be sending out infected stock. Their catalog is tempting, but I will not order from them again.

"Written by David Salman, President of High Country Gardens and professional horticulturist with a B.S. degree in Horticultural Science from Colorado State University.

We take great exception to these unsubstantiated and untrue (and frankly malicious) accusations. Our company prides itself in growing top-quality quality plants and offering our customers the best possible customer service. This person is obviously not a plant pathologist and makes statements that have no scientific basis and show a lack of understanding about plant viruses. To confirm the presence of an injurious virus, tissue samples have to be tested at a qualified tissue culture lab.

High Country Gardens has never had injurious viral problems in our plants. We grow all the plants we sell. We use the most up-to-date horticultural practices to keep our plants free of insect vectors, keep only clean, healthy stock plants and maintain excellent sanitation in all of our production and propagation methods. We are regularly inspected by the state of New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture whose inspectors are looking for injurious insects and plant diseases.

Regarding these unsubstantiated and untrue accusations:

Asclepias tuberose is a slow growing, highly variable native plant that is often not as pretty in the pot as other more vigorous non-native plants like Shasta daisies. It must be planted in the garden and given a full growing season to establish its large tap root and to push out strong, full-sized shoots and foliage. Our healthy Asclepias plants are grown from field grown seed purchased from a very reputable native seed supplier.

Regarding the healthy Columbine plant (showing no signs of any disease problem) somehow infecting the plants surrounding it with virus; not possible! In all likelihood, this person has overlooked other problems that are causing their established plants to be in poor health. These could be due to injurious insects attacking the plants, an infestation of leaf or soil nematodes, a nutrient deficiency in the soil or soil-borne diseases not at all related to alleged viral problems.
"

I live in Denver and I've used HCG several times with good to very good results. Their prices may seem high but the plants tend to
be very good quality and they have always replaced plants that
didn't make it per their policy. They even I think sell wholesale
to a few local nurseries(Timberline Gardens comes to mind) so
I can often get their stock locally. The catalog is educational and
fun to peruse on a cold winter night! I would also commend David
Salman for his efforts to promote xeriscape and ecologically wise
gardening. I've been to several of his free lectures in the Denver area. My only issue with HCG is that they have these somewhat rigid shipping dates which block out parts of the summer. I
see nothing wrong with planting in the heat of July as long as
the proper steps are taken to establish a plant.

Just received another great order from HCG, my 8th in 8 years. I only order in fall and always pot my plants up in 1 gallons before setting them out in the garden the following spring. The selection is excellent, really plants that cannot be found in my local nursery that caters to more well watered gardens than mine. Good resource for gardeners just starting to be interested in xeric gardens!

Only comment, wish we could just order one or two plants, wish they would change the 6 plant minimum.
Great company, great plants, much improved shipping boxes!
Dave

Granted, the prices are pretty high. Because I live nearby, I've not ordered from them. As such, I've had no problems with plant quality or availability, as I inspect before buying. Everything I've bought from them has grown well. This is a busy retail outlet, with helpful (if busy) staff. There is a xeriscape model garden on-site, which is very helpful in considering what to plant. (After all, you can't smell anything in a catalog!) If you find yourself in the Santa Fe area, it's worth stopping in.

I just recieved my first order from this company, everything was packaged very good, none of the plants were damaged, the plants were nice sized as promised on the website, I will definately order from them again

The plethora of wonderful customer comments posted on this site are a testimonial to the top quality plants and exceptional customer service from our company, High Country Gardens, The recent comment from kburkhardt is unfair and inaccurate. This person has not had any contact with our company since 1993 and is not in a position to comment on the quality of our plants and service.

My experience was similar to others described here, including small plants, broken stems, dead and mushy, expensive, with the added problem that when I called to request reshipment I had to leave a message because they weren't answering their phones. A man called back, but I was in the garden up to my elbows in mud. I told my daughter to ask him if I could call him back after I'd cleaned up, and he started shouting at her. I then took the phone, mud and all, and told him I couldn't talk until I washed the mud off my hands, and he started shouting at me, screaming about how his time was valuable, and I was the one that contacted them, and if I wanted help I was going to have to talk to him right then. It was very scary, he sounded insane. I asked to speak to the owner, and he said he WAS the owner! NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN.

Wonderful experience! I was planning to order a Rosemary Irene from another company, but they were sold out. Found that High Country Gardens not only had it, their price was lower! Their online catalog is clear, detailed, and easy to navigate and use, and loaded with information. Ordered the rosemary, some thyme, and some thyme leaf speedwell. All plants arrived looking like the nursery was across the street. Really pretty, healthy plants, well packed. All are doing incredibly well - the strong root systems were in such good shape there was no transplant stress at all, even planting in June in Florida. I will definitely order from these people again.

Great selection of plants. Although somewhat for the drier areas of the country, there are also a lot of plants that will grow well in other parts of the country. The catalog has a great guide for growing conditions, and plants I ordered are thriving in hot, wet conditions.

Plants are small but healthy. Everything I purchased in the spring is blooming. Shipping right on time.

Definitely will order again, as there are plants I must have!

I ordered four agastache plants early this month. I received the order in less than a week after I placed it.
I am very pleased with the plants They got here in wonderful condition. I would recommend High Country Gardens to anyone. They have quality plants packaged well
and shipped at a very reasonable price

Have ordered twice - first time a couple plants, second time larger order - received free bonus plant - shipping was VERY speedy - Plants all look very healthy - will order from again...

DECOBUG

I just received my first order from HCG last week. The plants seem to be healthy, and were well packed. I'm on the steamy east coast, so we'll see how my selections fare here. I did choose selections said to need/tolerate more water, but of course any long term failures will be my fault, not theirs. Anyway, based on the quality of this initial order, I would order from them again.

Excellent, reasonably priced, mail-order source for the arid west. I have also been able to find some true gems that have flourished in the maritime northwest. Plants are small, but health and vigor have always been exceptional.

Received my second order from this company and I am very pleased with the quality of plants.They take off fast and Dave is good at educating us Eastern gardeners on which varities will fare well here.The plants I ordered last spring are now well established.Customer service was quick on answering my emails wih culture questions and even sent my a link to an article on my question.Great source for hummingbird plants.Tamarava

I placed a big order this winter and had them shipped for late feb/early march. Unfortunately a big snowstorm hit late for us here in sc and the plants were stuck with ups. HCG called us and said they were worried about our plants since they saw our snow on the weather and told us if we lost any plants to call them and they'd replace whatever died. Well, we got them 2 days later, the snow was gone and the weather was in the high 60's (usual for this area). Everything looked fine except for one salvia. We put it in a southern window and kept it moist and it's budding back out again. So far, none lost and about half of them are planted in the ground and showing growth already. VERY NICE

We have shopped with HCG a lot because they have a very good selection of salvias and penstemons. We will continue to shop with them in the future for any type of xeriscape plant for our southern 'dry' garden. On a side note, all their 'xeri' plants native to the west, have done well in our sc garden with good soil modification.

Just received my first order from High Country Gardens. All plants look great: each pack in its own little pot, covered with a baggie and well-secured in the box. Very satisfied!

I've ordered from HCG in the past, and the plants were small, but viable. Those plants that didn't survive failed because either I didn't give them enough water (a definite possibility in Northern Nevada) or because I left them on the patio (even with watering) for several weeks before getting around to planting them. The survivors were all planted promptly, watered as needed, and planted in well-drained soil.

Of course I'd like larger plants for the price, but I'd also like someone to give me all the plants I crave at no charge. My only complaint about HCG is that they seem to think I'm in a chilly Zone 5, when I'm actually in Zone 7, and the switch from winter cold to blasting summer heat is nearly overnight. I have a very small window of opportunity for successful planting, and it's difficult to persuade some vendors (HCG included) to send me my plants when I want to plant them. I did, however, prevail with HCG and that's to their credit.

I've placed many orders with this company and have almost always been pleased with the quality of the plants. In the few instances when I wasn't pleased they have sent replacement plants and the service has been excellent. I will continue to do business with them and can recommend them without reservation.

My experience with High Country Gardens has been amazingly good. To start with, their catalog is excellent. I placed an order with them, and then I had a question. They answered their e-mail promptly, and even called me to talk to me personally. The order was shipped FedEx even though I'd only paid for UPS.

The plants arrived on time and they were packaged so well - each in its own little pot which slotted into a cut-out in the box. Each plant was also inside a plastic bag, which kept in the moisture. The plants each had a regular-sized plastic tag that no only gave the plant name but the eventual spread and height.

The plants all seem very healthy. They are all well-rooted, but not rootbound.

It's obvious these people care about customer service AND their plants - which is rare in the business. I will definitely order from them again.

Pre-delivery e-mail communication was excellent regarding possible high temperatures the week of delivery (97 degrees the day of the message, but as the forcast was for 65 degrees the week of delivery, I took a chance). They arrived on a 65 degree day, so all is well.

The plants were very well packed. A bit small, but I buy mail-order plants a LOT, and they're comparable to most companies. VERY health root systems, so I'm sure they'll do fine.

Wonderful selection and cultivars I was not familiar with.

Also, a catalog sent with order had a 10%-off coupon for the next order. Yay! You will be hearing from me.

Great catalog. Great selection of xeric plants, as well as hummingbird and butterfly plants. Good service.

I placed an large order in early Spring. The plants arrived very healthy and I was impressed by how well they were packaged. I did subsequently find many of the same plants at my local nursery that were much larger and less expensive than the ones I received but, I would definately consider going thru HCG again for varieties I wasn't able to get locally.

We placed two orders this spring, scheduling them to arrive on different weeks. After the first order arrived on a Monday with the plants looking like they spent the weekend in the back of a hot truck, I called HCG to make sure the next order would be shipped for the weekend as they promised. As of Tuesday, they said it was packed and ready to be shipped. Again, the order did not arrive until Monday and this time the plants had several yellow leaves and were very wilted. The UPS tracking ticket says the order was not dropped off for shipping until Thursday night. We're not impressed.

Ordered from HCG first time this spring. Great catalog, good selection of native plants. Was notified by email and mail of plant arrival---company communication system seems really good. Plants arrived on time and in good shape (small, but true to size specified in catalog). Customer service responded promptly to feedback. It's been 3 weeks, and some of the perennials are already blooming. I will definitely order from HCG again.

I've ordered twice and been very pleased with the plants and service. I'd recommend ordering from High Country Gardens to anyone, especially for hard to find, drought tolerant plants. I live at a high elevation and the local nurseries don't always carry the selection I've found in the High Country Gardens catalog.

I have ordered perennials from HCG both this spring and last. I was so impressed with my first order--the plants arrived exactly when promised and in perfect condition--I ordered from them again this spring. The perennials I ordered from them last year were smallish when they arrived but took off like rockets and astonished me with their vigor and rapid growth. I have good luck with perennials in general but never as good as with these! I expect the same from this year's aquisitions. Living in semi-arid Denver, I really appreciate the great care they put into their plant selection as well as the efforts they put into educating about xeriscaping on their website and in their catalog. A great company with great plants and great service!

This is a great company! I have ordered from them for 8 years and have never had a disapointment. The plants are packed perfectly-well rooted and take right off. They let you pick the weekend they will arrive, so you are ready for them when they come. They are a godsend for those of us who live in the Great Plains, where it is hot, dry, and windy. I've ordered from dozens of catalogs, and High Country Gardens is #1 on the list.

wow! I can't wait to get my order from these guys,after I read all this good stuff....

I just became aquainted with this nursery last spring. I loved their catalog and I was intrigued by some of their unusual varieties. I placed a small trial order and was very pleased with the size and quality of the plants and careful packaging. I will definitely be ordering from them in Spring 2003.

Thumbs up to High Country Gardens! I've ordered from them several times and have never been disappointed. They carry a wide-range of xeric plants that I can't find locally - I'm spreading their beautiful South African delosperma throughout Boulder County! The people who take the phone orders are very careful to assess the likelihood of success I will have with a plant in my area/zone and have given me some excellent gardening advice. I don't think I've had a single plant they've send me fail and, given that I'm a rather negligent gardener, this tells me that the plants are packed/mailed carefully and are extremely hardy to begin with.

I order from this company every year and my plants always arrive on time, securely packed, and they're healthy, good-sized plants with well-developed roots. High Country Gardens is a godsend for those of us gardening in the southwest, as they're constantly introducing new plants adapted to our climate. I also visit their display gardens each year, as I'm fortunate enough to live within driving distance. Also, all bulbs I've purchased from HCG have performed well. I've tried the soil improvements and garden products recommended in the catalog and have been amazed at how well they work. Customer service is outstanding!

All but one plant arrived in extremely healthy condition. I sent an e-mail to the comapany on Saturday regarding a plant that died. I received a call early Monday morning with appologies and confirmation that my credit card would be credited.

The other plants are thriving in my garden.