Comments regarding High Country Gardens

On several occasions I have ordered plants from High Country Gardens.. The ones that I ordered in spite of their recommendations to the contrary (suited for only western gardens) did eventually die (as I expected, I like to push the envelope) but the others did well, and are doing well. I will continue to order from them. Their plants are vigorous and well-packaged. They have always arrived in top condition.

I love these people , This is my third year ordering from them and I have never had a problem . They offer gallon sized plants on a lot of their yuccas and agaves , Love that ! Everything I have ordered from them is now huge in my garden and thriving , Even the little 5 in premium pot items . Just placed my order for two brakelight hesperaloes and one agave all gallon sized and the fact they let you choose your delivery date is simply unheard of in mail order nurseries I recommend them to anyone .

agaves were my interest with this company. i placed my first order last week and received it today. that's good. i ordered 10 agave parryi that were on sale for $3.50. that's real good. i called to place an order by phone with a credit card and it took a bit of time as the sale prices were not what they had on their end. the plants arrived and i could here movement when i tilted the box. not good. upon opening the overly complicated packing the plants were in excellent condition with only 2 damaged leaves. very good for shipping agave. i think the packaging was overkill. for a small rootbound agave (which is OK) i see no reason to use rubberbands to keep a piece of foam to cover the top of the soil. more should have been done to keep the plants from moving in the box. i've received many agave from other on-line nurseries that use newspaper. the plants were very well grown and for $3.50 a great value. i will order from this nursery again, and other than the packaging techniques, i give it a positive rating.

The plants are usually seedlings, so they will take years to grow like the pictures. I was disappointed last year when I got my first yucca rostrata. This year, it's growing and I now like getting small plants and watching them grow. I wish they could all be premium or one gallon size. I've ordered about five times, and I usually moderately pleased.

I would recommend HCG, but realize the plants are small.

Posted on October 12, 2011, updated October 20, 2011
I am very happy with this company!

Because the plants HCG ships are very tiny, I really suggest anybody (especially if you live in Texas) to buy plants from High Country Garden in the Fall because they will be able to create a good root system during fall and winter before the summer heat begins. Plus the plants are so tiny that you better buy them early if you want them to become something during the next growing season!

I ordered the following plants in three orders:

Escobaria (Coryphantha) vivipara (Cacti Pot)
Escobaria minima (Cacti Pot)
Helianthemum nummularium 'Burgundy Dazzler' (Standard Pot)
Hymenoxys scaposa (Standard Pot)
Nananthus aff. broomii
Nananthus transvaalensis (Standard Pot)
Osteospermum 'Avalanche' PPAF (Premium Pot)
Phemeranthus (Talinum) calycinum 'Judith's Favorite' (Standard pot)
Ruschia pulvinaris (Standard Pot)
Rabia albipuncta (Standard Pot)
Stomatium mustilinum (Standard Pot)
Zinnia grandiflora 'Yellow Cushion' (Standard Pot)
Yucca Nana (Standard Pot)
Callirhoe involucrata (Standard Pot)
Dalea purpureum (Standard Pot)
Lavandula stoechas 'Madrid Blue' PP# 12,573 (Premium Pot)
Penstemon pinifolius 'Compactum' (Premium Pot)
Armeria maritima 'Compacta' (Premium Pot)
Aloinopsis spathulata (Standard Pot)
Aloinopsis 'Karoo Red Mix' (Cacti Pot)
Hymenoxys acaulis (Standard Pot)
Nierembergia gracilis (Standard Pot)
Achillea serbica (Premium Pot)
Cold Hardy Cacti Sampler (Cactus Pots)
Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’ (Premium Pot)


Here are the problems I found with the following plants:

1) Helianthemum nummularium 'Burgundy Dazzler' (Standard Pot)
It was out of stock and I received a refund very promptly without even asking anything about it.

2) Hymenoxys scaposa (Standard Pot)
This one died when I planted it in the ground. I believe it was too small (in fact it was a tiny little seedling). I already made a replacement request through their online form 2 days ago. I did not receive a confirmation email about the submission of the replacement request, but I hope they will send me a replacement soon.

3) Lavandula stoechas 'Madrid Blue' PP# 12,573 (Premium Pot)
I hoped this one was going to survive, instead it died just like all the other lavanders I bought at other stores such as Home Depot and Lowes. I really discourage people from buying lavender plants in North Texas because it seems like they do not like the humidity in the air here. Once a lavender feels stressed even a little bit, there is no return, it is doomed to die and there is nothing that can be done. So, I consider this as simply an experiment and I did not ask for a replacement plant. The best lavender plants to buy in Texas are those they sell in your local stores in 2-gallon pots or bigger. They are better prepared for standing our climate.

All the other plants are doing fabulously, and I can't wait for next Spring to see them bloom!

I ordered some Kniphofia Caulescens last spring. They arrived as promised in Oct. They were in wonderful shape and larger than I expected them to be. This was a good shopping experience. I will buy from them again.

I've purchased plants from High Country Gardens several times and always been happy with the results. The resources and information available on their website are extensive and the time or two that I've needed additional help, it has been easy to reach a knowledgeable person. I'm a very happy customer, in Maryland.

I purchased two Agastche from High Country Gardens. I have purchased from them many times over the years and have Always been satisfied with the plants that arrived. They have always been good sized plants and in good condition.
This time I ran into a problem. One of the plants that arrived was already shriveled up and drooping badly. The other plant was fine. I went ahead and watered both plants and kept them in the garage for a day. The second day I put them out in a shady area and kept them watered. The plant that was shrivled still looked bad, the other one was great. The next day I planted both of them. What I found was that the shrivled plant didn't have any soil in the bottom half of the pot. This is why it was doing so bad. It didn't have any root system to speak of due to the air space in the pot. I contacted HCG and they have sent me a new plant to replace the other one. That's the way a vendor should answer a problem and that's why I still think HCG is the number one vendor for plants. Overall good product and standing behind what they sell makes them A+ in my book.

Ordered a few plants from them during summer of '11. They delivered them towards the end of summer as stated. All plants but one arrived in good condition. One of the plants was wilted and pretty much dead. I contacted the company and within a week I already had a replacement for it. Overall I'm satisfied. It's been a few weeks and the plants seem to be doing well so far. I'd order from them again.

I love this company. Had nothing but positive experience. Plants arrive health. If planted promptly and nurtured the first year they thrive.
Just placed my third order with them. I live in a relatively wet part of the country. Maryland, and look for plants that will do well here and have used plants for areas that are hot and dry.

I have just put my third order with High Country Gardens. In the past I have ordered thir Legacy buffalo grass plugs to be installed in a side yard as well as some perennials. Today I ordered 2 flats of the Bella plugs for my small front yard. In the past I have been most impressed with the packaging, prompt delivery as well as the detailed instructions for successful planting results. I am very pleased with their xeric efforts and especially impressed with the ability of their turf to easily adapt to the climate in northern Illinois.

My order shipped on the date requested, and the plants were all very healthy and meticulously packaged. I have no reservation about recommending them.

"On Aug 5, 2011 10:55 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Our shipping department works hard to get these orders packed and shipped securely. We appreciate your feedback and Thank You for recommending us to others!

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

several past shipments were most satisfactory. i just ordered from them again; that about says it all, eh?

"On Aug 5, 2011 10:49 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Thank you for sharing about the arrival of your past shipments. We are glad to be of continued service to you!

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

Just got an order of 4 plants, a combination of agave's and yucca's. They came in 3 separate packages, and were all very healthy and large.

Ordered a variety of plants. All were well rooted. All have grown well. In fact, they are doing better than the ones I bought locally. I am already planning to order more in the fall.

My three orders were shipped complete in a timely fashion with all the plants arriving in good health without substitutions. Plants of interest but out of stock, are noted on their web site.

Posted on March 30, 2006, updated June 19, 2011
I love High Country Gardens; their plants, website and service! I received my first order Spring 2005 and everyone of the 8 plants were very healthy, nice and packed well. All the plants grew well and all but 1 (Penstemon pinifolius) bloomed last summer, and I'm sure I'll be seeing blooms on it this summer. I bought Salvias, Agastaches, a Penstemon, a Stachys and a Lavender. I already have another order coming soon and it won't be my last. Highly recommended!

Ordered 3 Bigtooth Maple. All arrived in perfect condition.

I like that you are also able to select the week of the shipment when you place an order.

Ordered 3 plants on 5/25. Received them today 6/3. Perfect large healthy plants ready to go in the garden.

Super quick shipping. A wonderful company as far as I'm concerned. Never dissappointed with any plant I have purchased from this company.

I ordered about 30 plants at HCG's end of season sale, my first order with this company. Plants arrived quickly (I did expedited delivery as I am in the opposite corner of the country) in excellent condition. Small, but healthy and robust looking plants, well packed in a manner that is easy to unpack. I couldn't be more pleased. I mail order plants regularly, and will expect to use HCG again.

I have dealt with HCG many times in the past, and have never had a bad shopping experience. A couple weeks ago, I ordered a buddleia alternifolia, and never got a shipping notification. After about a week, I emailed asking for status and Maureen told me my order had somehow slipped through the cracks (that can happen - I ordered via website on a Sat, during a busy busy busy month). She said it would ship immediately with free expedited so I would get it as soon as possible.

When I explained that we are now in 90F days here in GA, she agreed to cancel and refund, instead. The refund hit my account the very next day. I'll be ordering my buddleia in the fall when our temps go back down - not just because HCG is the only reputable place I've ever found it for sale, but because I know this most recent snafu was an anomaly, not the norm. They are hands-down one of the best internet nurseries in the business, in my opinion.

Beautiful packaging. Plants arrive safely cocooned. Love the plants in the premium containers. The root systems are twice the size of regular containers. Very healthy plants. Love their on-line sales and catalog filled with tips.

Very well packed, healthy good plants.
Good experience

Posted on May 12, 2011, updated May 17, 2011
Although my communications and shipping "experience" shopping with HCG was positive---no problems there---for me, it's all about the plants. What I received was "almost" what I expect from a reputable mail-order source---well rooted young plants with healthy foliage.

With a little TLC, hopefully these plants will recover and go on to become robust, healthy plants. Hence, my "neutral" rating---the plant material could have been better.

"On May 13, 2011 3:59 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

We put great effort into growing plants that transplant well and take off in your garden. We are in zone 5, (it was -20degrees in February) and we grow our plants cold without a lot of heat so they are strong and flourish in your garden. The amount of leaves and stems on spring grown perennials is not a determining factor of plant quality, it’s the crown and roots that make a great perennial. Please note: many western native plants begin waking up much later than common perennials.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

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

I was reluctant to order a second time as I had ordered some plants a couple years ago and every one died. Since they have such a good selection of Hyssop and also Munro's Mallow which grows great here (semi-native), I gave them one more try. Plants were great and all are now in larger pots in our greenhouse awaiting warmer weather for transplant. Most have doubled in size since we got them!

I would suggest ordering in spring as the first time was in summer and I suspect I got leftovers.

Posted on June 4, 2007, updated April 30, 2011
Love this company! This is about the fifth order I've placed and the plants are always beautifully packaged. The plants all flowered the first season and are very healthy and gorgeous. I live in a colder zone, but bring them in to over winter. Agastache plants are phenomenal, many hummingbirds and butterflies. Thank you High Country Gardens, I am definately a fan!

Love the informative website and kniphofia which arrived in great condition.

I received my first ever order from HCG two days ago. Impressive! Ordering was a breeze online, tracking was very easy and with 2nd day air shipping, the plants arrived with perfect timing. All the plants were healthy and very nice sizes for the prices. (agastache, kniphofia, liatris, lonicera, and sedum) Will be planting today and tomorrow... hopefully I can keep them living east of the Mississippi.

My 1st order with HCG and I am extremely impressed with the entire ordering process at HCG. I was able to track my order, it arrived on time, all plant were well packed, great size, very healthy. I found the prices to be very, very, good. I live in high desert country (northern NV) and am delighted to find a company that fits my gardening needs. I will definitely be ordering from High Country Gardens again.

This is the first time I ordered plants from HCG. I am thrilled with the product, the packing, the shipping, and the personel.
My plants are beautiful, healthly, perfect for my yard!
Thank you HCG!

Over the weekend, ordered several composting materials to aid my clay "foundation" dirt. All were received in very good order on Thursday and Saturday!
Very pleased with High Country Gardens ordering and shipping process.

I ordered two plants from them this year. One clematis and one linum. They look very healthy. They shipped when I asked them to ship. I would definitely order from this company again.

High Country Gardens and Santa Fe Greens houses has been my wife and my number one place to shop and get the BEST gardening and lawn advice for over fifteen years.

The plants, etc. herein were lost in a divorce**, but as you will see, this expierience is still well worth the mention:

First: I live in a Zone 5 area. Winters are unkind "here", as is my Ex's** heart.

By 2002 or so, I had received a HGC catalog, and lusted after those beautiful and unique cacti and succulents. However, a lot of their palnts are marginal Zone 5 (might as well just say Zone 6!), or simply must must must be kept Winter-dry, to survive here.

O.K.:
My old house** had a wet basement. In 2002, I had a contractor come thru & waterproof it; one step of which was to trench down to the bottom of the foundation. The trench itself was 18" wide, and about 4 feet deep. The old drains were replaced, the trench backfilled with peastone.

As you likely know: Peastone = "perfect drainage".

Still hot for the cacti, and not wanting to waste the space (about 15 feet along a South-facing wall);
I decided to build a sort of Zone 6/alpine house over the trench.
I consructed a raised bed from landscape timbers, roughly 15 ft. long, 3 feet in width from house wall to bed-front, and 8" deep. I spiked the bed to the asphalt driveway.

I lined it with black gardening fabric, and filled it with a mix of ;
composted manure,
a good garden soil,
sharp sand,
crushed (pea-sized) stone,
smooth pea-stone,
chick grit (aka. "Stoneymo Granite)
a granular material (the name's escaped me) used to areate and loosten clay soils. There was no clay in the soil mix, this stuff was another dry-drainage item, plus it was red-orange and added color to the mix.
For more color, I threw in some crushed (sledge-hammered) red and black lava.

The whole bed was built it in front of 2 basically under-insulated basement windows.
Next came a 'hoop" or "frame" of a good, stiff, springy fence wire, strong enough to support a snow load.
I hooked one edge of the fencing under the house siding, the other edge flexed behind the back edge of the bed.
I used 3 or four pieces of thick, clear plastic sheeting, (the flexible kind, not the one that cracks if bent!) overlapping them by a couple inches, again the plastic went over the fencing, under the siding, and in back of the timbers, then roughly "sealed" each end with pieces of styrofoam;
und dot vas dot!
Oh, boy it was pretty !

I ordered 15 or so Xerics from HGC, mostly the cactus, Rabias, Titanopsis, a small Agave, etc., etc, .

What they show you in their catalog, about how their items are packed, is exactly what you will get!

That package from HCG was a real WOW!!! moment.
The plants were beautiful, healthy, and none were damaged.

HGC's service was as good as anyone's...they are on an "Elite Nursery" list.
Please do order from HGC, you will not be disappointed.

As for the ultimate fate of the raised bed:
I planted HGC's items, making sure to place extra chick grit around their collars, to wick away moisture.
I was surprised to find that the damp basement air leaking thru the windows and into the little greenhouse provided all the water the Xeric plants needed.
Everything overwintered spectacularly, and was beautiful in Spring of 2003 and again in 2004.
Even a Hebe and an Ephedra I got from a local grower.
Note:
(2004** divorce final, ** kept the house), I haven't the heart to go back & see if Ol' Roundup Thumbs** has trashed that lovely bed or not.

HCG offers an excellent selection of rare plants and has a beautiful catalog. All plants arrived quickly and in excellent condition. Packaging was good and all plants were well-rooted and a nice size. The perennial pots were shipped with a tiny bag around each pot, loosely rubber-banded at the top to keep the soil in, and made the long trip to PA in nice shape. I will order from them again. Thanks!

I have bought several hundred dollars-worth of plants from HCG over the years. Some have done spectacularly well, others have been just as spectacular failures. I think the key to success with their plants is to understand that they are for western cultural conditions and some will not do well in soils that are, for instance, heavily augmented with compost. Gardeners here in central Wyoming have to practically re-invent our soils in order to get much of anything to grow, and yet some of the plants from HCG like our soil and will disappoint in kinder conditions. I am making a guess at this point to say that probably half of what I have bought from HCG has thrived and half have failed utterly. I blame three things--I am in a rural area with much harser conditions than in town, I am still a rank amateur after gardening all of my life, and because of that, I chose the wrong varieties for my location. I haven't shopped with HCG for a few years so I could allow some festuca to mature and give me a better idea what else to plant in a natives bed, but I did just place an order for some penstemon pinafolius and rhus aromatica--fairly foolproof plants. I anticipate success. If you order from them, ask questions about cultural requirements and research the varieties you want to try really well before spending the money. Their plants come in great packaging and they get up and running pretty quickly, that is if you've made the right choice. All-in-all they are a great resource for western gardeners.

I first heard about HCG from a Hummingbird group on Facebook. It received very high recommendations, so I decided to give them a try. I just received my first order last night and followed their directions for the plants' immediate care. I ordered 11 plants, and every single one was healthy and well packed. I was amazed really as I've never ordered plants online before. I have to say they're all out on the deck now, enjoying some morning sun; to me, they look like they're spreading their little leaves and enjoying their freedom from the packing box. Thank you, HCG. . . I'll definitely be ordering from you again (and soon).

I had never heard of this company before until I recieved their catalog in the mail.They had a good rating so I gave them a try. I was very satisfied with my order. The plants were very well packed and arrived healthy. I was happy with the size of the plants and they all had a healthy root system. Their customer service is also outstanding. I would definately order from them again.

Order done easily, processed easily and delivered when HCG said it would be. Only problem is that the non-working hour phone support has no one knowledgeable about plants and their care. So had to call again and e-mail. But once I did do the second, response was quick and thoughtful;

"On Mar 10, 2011 3:18 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We have a 24 hour order line that handles orders and catalog requests. Customer service is available M-F 9am-5pm MT. We strive to respond to all customer correspondence as promptly as possible. Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

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