Comments regarding High Country Gardens

I've gotten about two hundred plants from this company over the past year and a half and I couldn't be happier. All but one of them took off and grew beautifully, and the one that didn't, they replaced for free - and they sent it next-day mail! (And the replacement plant is doing beautifully, too.) Great selection and the phone operators really know the plants. The catalog is clear and helpful. I will definitely keep buying from them.

I too ordered from, High Country Gardens, in the fall of 2000. That was my first mistake! I did enjoy their colorful and informative catalogue but my enjoyment with them stopped there. I ordered many of their over-priced plants and all came to me dry, wilted and suffocating in plastic baggies with rubber bands breaking off their heads. With planting season short and time running out, (in Arizona our best planting time is in October so, I had little time to nurse the plants to some sort of planting condition before planting season was gone) I managed to nurse them to some transplantable shape and took the risk of putting them in the garden. That was my second mistake; as I should have taped the box back up and sent it straight back to them, however, I didn't have time to wait for another order from someplace else. I should have just gone to a local nursery and since this experience, that is exactly what I do now. Out of 10 VERY expensive plants only 4 stayed alive to see Spring, despite my constant and best efforts. When I contacted the company, about my dissatisfaction, I was told that I should have called them for a refund sooner. However, I had no way of knowing which plants were alive in the middle of winter and so I had to wait until spring to make that determination and that phone call. So, their "money back guarantee" didn't apply to my situation. My spring plants dead, our fall planting season wasted and my money long gone. I still enjoy drooling over their catalogue but only use it for gathering planting ideas and buy elsewhere. I will NEVER order from them again and would not recommend others to do so either.

I regularly order from the High Country Gardens catalog. I've also shopped in their retail store here in NM and it's excellent! All shrubs, perennials and bulbs I've purchased are performing very well. Catalog orders arrive complete and on time. The staff is knowledgeable and professional whenever I have plant questions. I highly recommend HCG as a reputable source of top quality plants and bulbs.

High Country is probably one of the best garden catalog companies when it comes to Customer Service. I give it a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10! The varieties they offer are wonderful. The employees are extremely knowledgeable. I got the impression that some might actually have degrees in Agriculture or Horticulture. They were very helpful in answering my questions. The plants we ordered last year (2001) arrived in very healthy condition; they were packaged beautifully. They survived the long trip to Chicago, Illinois (from Santa Fe, NM). The plants survived the cold winter (although Winter 2001 was rather mild in Chicago), and they are starting to peek through the ground. I highly recommend High Country, because of the wide selection and variety they offer, they offer a great guarantee, and its Customer Service is outstanding.

I just last week received my first order from High Country Gardens and am very pleased. I ordered 6 plants, all different, and they arrived exactly when I was told they would, and looking healthy and happy. I have planted them all and now a week later they all look to be in very good shape. The prices this company charges seem a little high to me, but perhaps that's the price you pay to get good plants that will thrive. I will definitely order from them again.

I have ordered plants from HCG for several years. They have always arrived in good condition, and grew well. The catalog is very helpful to indicate the culture, size, length of bloom etc.

This company, and it's owner David Salman work hard to bring plants of great xeriscape value to the west. They are a part of the Plant Select program between the Denver Botanical Gardens, and Colorado State University. This program rates plants for superior garden performance in the Rocky Mtns. and Great Plains states. Each plant comes to your home in great shape, and grows great! I am a Utah Nursery and Landscape Professional, and I can attest to the greatness of this company's integrity, and the excellence of these plants. They are ANYTHING but boring! Check them out!

This is a great Xeriscape Company. Many wonderful plants and they are shipped very quickly and in great shape. All colored pictures of the plants and also tells you which plants the hummingbirds and butterflies like and also deer resistant plants. This company gets an A plus from me.

I ordered quite a bit from this company, I was surprised to see these plants soooo small, I mean like a seedling sprout! I think if they are going to send plants that small they shouldn't be having prices that HIGH. They do however have good packaging. I was a little shocked to come home to this small box of all my 25 plants in this little box, then come to open it and they are these seedlings. Just be prepared and know you are going to get small plants if you order from them.

I purchased more than 100 bulbs from this company and they were shipped very quickly and the bulbs were in excellent condition. I will definately buy from them again.

Regarding feedback on your (terrific) list, I've had some experience with High Country Gardens. While they fill a great niche for hardy dry country plants, I was quite disappointed with the first order--for Aquilegia formosa--I received from them. The plants were extremely small and none survived past the first year, despite my careful ministrations. These are fussy plants, I'll admit, but they should have been larger at the price! Fifty bucks down the hole. C'est la vie.

I ordered from this company last spring and the shipment arrived just when they said it would. Only one plant, a Reiter Thyme, failed to thrive. I called the company, and they very cheerfully arranged to ship me a replacement in the fall. (The time for Spring shipping was over.) The replacement arrived and has come back this spring, despite the strong winter we had here in Eastern Washington. Everything else seems to be recovering as well, although my Agastaches are always a little slow to come out.

I have ordered from them two years running now. It is one of the only catalogs, that I am aware of, that offers winter/cold hardy cacti. And the cacti do hold. I live in North Eastern Pennsylvania, and the cacti I have ordered are growing, and growing. They also have many rare, or unusual perennials most other catalogs do not have.

Have ordered twice from them. The first time, I ordered from a sale listing at the end of the summer. I don't recommend doing that; over half the plants I received were half dead from being in those tiny little pots all season, and were also very dry. I only have three survivors from an order of 20 plants, and as they were from a clearance catalog, no refund. The second time I ordered, I had much better luck, but then I ordered from the regular spring catalog. Plants were healthy, but the person who mentioned rubber bands and baggies was right; some of the stems were broken from the bands, and I actually broke a couple of stems myself getting those bands off. However, the broken ones survived and are doing pretty well. Their prices are high compared to other places, but I feel that I'm paying for customer service, too. Theirs is excellent! Advice is freely given over the phone, and I have yet to speak with anyone who could not answer any weird question I threw at them.Also on the plus side, visit their nursery in Santa Fe. It's called Santa Fe Gardens, and it's the best nursery I think I have EVER been to! I wanted to buy so many things, but I had to truck it all back home over 700 miles, and so a small purchase of ten plants was all I could manage. The other good thing about buying directly in Santa Fe is that the prices are cheaper than in the catalog, and you get a 10% discount when buying ten or more plants (in any combination). I think I'm New Mexico bound again next spring - and I'll take a bigger truck this time!

This is the only place I could find the P4 hydrogel recommended by Anne Lovejoy in her book, Further Along the Garden Path. The stuff is great and lasts for years. I use it in hanging containers at our river home (zone 8-hotand humid) watering only once a week. I also use it in the garden for moisture loving plants to help them survive the heat without daily watering!

This supplier is number one on my list of own-root rose sources, and I order from most of them. The plants are small, but no smaller than other companies, and much more reasonable. They arrive on time, in excellent shape and grow well - quite satisfactory.

The most informative catalog I've ever seen with great color photos. Then when I called to place my order, the operator knew all of the plants and even suggested I didn't get a plant as it may not do well in my area of the country! The service was fabulous. Okay now, what did the plants look like? They were gorgeous, healthy and packed securely. They even had a tag on one plant saying it hadn't been hardened off yet and that I should do it before planting out in garden! They plants have done wondrously! Also they send a booklet on how to be waterwise with the xeriscape plants!

I recently ordered several plants from High Country Gardens. Although I have not yet received my plants, I thought the person taking my telephone order seemed well informed and sincere about the information she offered me as I read her my order. For example, I ordered three Helianthus maximiliani plants. The receptionist informed me that each plant grows rather large and ultimately takes up approximately a 9' square area. I reduced my order to two plants, and appreciated the advice.

After moving to Dallas from Rochester, NY I had serious problems getting my garden started. A received a catalog from A High Country Garden last spring and ordered their Water Wise Jumbo Garden, some coneflowers and a couple plugs of Pink Chintz Creeping Thyme. I picked the date I wanted them delivered (one of the nice services they offer), and was extremely pleased when they arrived on the date specified, securely packaged (some of the best packaging I've seen) and all plants were flourishing. I planted them in my nasty clay soil and threw some mulch over them. All survived, and almost all bloomed the first season. I liked the Thyme so much that in fall I ordered flat of 50 plugs and planted a thyme lawn. All plugs look like they're doing well, and I'll see this spring how fast fill in.

I noticed that the information about the catalog doesn't discuss plants received, just the catalog (and I thought that the description of that was overly glowing. True, it's in color, but the (print) quality leaves something to be desired. Granted, it's much better than no pictures at all.) I just received several plants this morning (my first order) & they look pretty sad (drooping, yellow and dead leaves). They look like they're going to make it but they could've benefited from better packaging. I knew it wasn't too great when I picked up the box and dirt sifted out. All the plants were potted with a baggie around the pot and a rubber band around the plants' necks (they were boxed horizontally). This broke some of the stems. Also some of the plants were quite dry, perhaps taking the xeric thing a little too far! There is a 6-plant minimum, which I found somewhat annoying, as the catalog's selection is not closely aligned with my interests. I feel that as long as I'm willing to pay the shipping & handling I should be able to order any quantity I darn well want. Also, though there's an 800 number, I couldn't ever get anyone to answer the phone & take my order, though I was calling during the correct hours. I ended up having to fax my order, which I've never had to do with *any* other catalog, and I've ordered from dozens.

This catalog is an excellent resource for those of us trying to garden in high and dry climates, or who just want to decrease our water usage! It provides excellent information on the xeriscape approach and detailed hardiness, blooming/planting times and water needs information. Each offering is coded to indicate what type of sun it needs, how much (or little) water, plant height, and hardiness. The catalog is full of gorgeous full-color photographs, and offers a huge selection of perennials, succulents, ornamental grasses, native and flowering shrubs, ground covers ... from xeriscape environments in the U.S. and around the world.