Comments regarding High Country Gardens

Order for 2 flats of 9 each Hidcote Superior English Lavender and 5 of Beauty of Livermere Oriental Poppy. No visible option to schedule delivery near planting time. Packaging was sturdy. However, half of the 18 lavender plants were dark grey and withering, soil in some of the pots was covered in lichen. The 4 most damaged plants died before planting, most of the rest have recovered save 2. Poppy plants were covered in brown, withered leaves and are struggling to survive.

"On May 12, 2022 9:52 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear elptacek,

We are sorry to hear you were not happy with the timing of your delivery or the quality. Shipping times are assigned at checkout based on your hardiness zone, although you can always contact us to reschedule.

All of our orders are 100% satisfaction guaranteed. It does not appear as though you have reached out to our customer service for a resolution so I will have someone from our team contact you immediately.

Thank you for your business.

Kind Regards,
Ethan, President"

I have ordered from this firm in the past and was quit pleased. However, since they were sold to a Vermont company it is not the same com[any. I received an order that was poorly packed. One plant was so disturbed is shipping (sold shaken out) it declined and died within 10 days. I tried to call theme but no one seems to answer their phone. To email them you have to wait for them to send you a code. Very poor customer service and the reason for the negative review. Last time I'll order from High Country.

"On Apr 4, 2022 2:40 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Jim1945,

We are sorry to hear your shipment arrived damaged and you experienced a challenge reaching us through our customer portal to resolve this concern for you. We take every precaution we can to carefully package and ship our plants to you to ensure their success in your garden. In the rare occasions that doesn't happen, or a delivery service mishandling results in an unsatisfactory delivery, we are always here to help and committed it making it right. It appears as though we connected with you several hours after your first email and we set up an immediate replacement, which has already been shipped out. If that is not the case, or you have any additional questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to us anytime so we can assist you. We appreciate your feedback and thank you for taking the time to contact us so we could quickly reship you a healthy plant to enjoy.

Kind Regards,
Ethan "

Very unprofessional. No shipping updates, you just sorta sit there and wait and wonder for weeks until you end up following up several times via email. They had no problem taking the money right away though.
Automated response chat window, wait there too, no chat response. I don’t mind waiting but several requests for a shipping date got me generic messages, still no shipping date. It’s stressful right now, I get it, it’s stressful for us consumers TOO!! Ask me how I know!!! I provide memorial and funeral services!!!
Other small companies can communicate and/or ship. NOW is the time to hire a laid off person for a temp job to make sure the order doesn’t take a month or more! No excuses!
2 fancy web sites, appearing to look like big competent companies and no personnel to do the job! (Found out Americanmeadows & Highcountry are the same company). Good to know.

"On May 19, 2020 1:52 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Dustything,

We're sorry to hear you've had a disappointing experience ordering from High Country Gardens this spring.

We're doing everything that we can to maintain our staff’s safety while keeping up with a wave of orders, as many of us turn to our gardens for solace and inspiration during these unprecedented times. Without knowing your specific order details (which we are happy to look into if you would like to provide those to us) what we can comment on is all we are doing to provide timely and updated information to our customers.

When you place your order you are given an estimated shipping week, which is listed on the product pages, at the checkout before you submit your order, and in your order confirmation email. Working with live plants can be tricky, and sometimes there are delays related to weather, how quickly growth progresses, or in our current environment, how many team members we can safely have packing and shipping orders. If there are any unexpected delays, we do send out email updates to keep customers up to date on their new delivery time frame (sometimes those emails end up in spam folders). We are also doing our best to respond to all customer emails withing 48-72 hours. To accomplish this, we have everyone who works at High Country Gardens answering customer emails all throughout the spring to ensure we are able to respond to every email (as well as phone call, and live chat) as quickly as possible. Even I, as the president, put in 13 hours last week of customer service email responses.

We sincerely apologize if you've had difficulty reaching us this spring or are missing information on your order. Please contact us (plants@highcountrygardens.com) so we can assist you.

Best, Ethan Platt | President"

Posted on May 29, 2019, updated June 13, 2019
My plants spent EIGHT days in a box! In this day in age it should never take that long. They do list that they pack them to survive that long. But why would I pay so much to get plants that will “survive”. I NEVER would have ordered had I known it would take that long. My plants arrived sad and stressed. They dropped tons of leaves. One plant looks terrible and should never have been sent out. Could not get through on the phone. Tried to send them email through “contact us” on website but all I got was an error message. Had to do the “chat” on the website. Not helpful. Just was told the plants were guaranteed for a year. Well I sure won’t want replacement of plants suffering in a box for another eight days. Totally disappointed. I see here they were forced to move, have staff shortages, computer issues etc. Well stop marketing so much! Get your act back together before you disappoint and lose more customers. Oh, and they sent me an email BEFORE I even got my order encouraging me to buy more and here is a coupon. I just want my money back.

"On May 29, 2019 8:47 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Jennifer,

I'm sorry for your frustration and negative experience. Yes, it's been a trying spring for us, but we're working through it all. We appreciate the patience of all of our loyal, passionate customers.

In this day of Prime, customers have become accustomed to fast, cheap shipping. I can assure you that for small businesses like ours, the rates we are charged are over 4x what Amazon is charged by UPS and the Postal Service. Yet we do not have the ability to pass those costs on to customers - they'd never pay those rates. It's a balance as we seek to keep our shipping charges and costs low, while getting the plants to our customers in the best shape to thrive in your garden. We are constantly trying find that balance, but in some cases, such as yours, we still have work to do.

Thank you for the feedback and rest assured that we're working around the clock to get better, as we have for the last 26 years.

Best Wishes, Ethan Platt | President

Not sure what has changed this year, but received absolutely the worst looking plants ever from them. Some were DOA, most had dead and broken foliage and thick green slime on the top of the soil. Reached out via email and twitter with pictures documenting the plants. No response. Unfollowed and will not longer get their emails. Literally a waste of over a hundred dollars. Lesson learned.

"On May 29, 2019 4:53 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Doris, I'm very sorry that you did not have a great experience with us this year as we really appreciate your repeat business.

It has admittedly been a challenging spring for us. The cannabis / hemp industry in Colorado forced us out of our greenhouses in November and we had to quickly uproot and move our entire growing and shipping operation to Utah in a matter of 2 months. On top of that, we implemented entirely new software to better serve our customers, but are working thru the bugs, which have proven overwhelming.

I realize that reads like a bunch of excuses, but I just want to acknowledge that we've been unable to live up to our usual level of customer service this spring. For that, I apologize. But rest assured that we're working around the clock to both help existing customers and get through these challenges. We will be in touch regarding your order and will work out a solution.

Thanks for your understanding - Ethan Platt | President"

Do not use this company! Their customer service is nonexistent! I placed an order in April and they stated on the receipt that the plants would not be shipped until the week of May 6 (which is understandable for Denver’s planting season). On May 10, I received an email saying that the shipping date was changed to the week of May 13. On May 17, I still had not received the plants so I started a chat and sent an email inquiring about my order. The only response was a canned message stating that that I would receive an update on my order soon. By May 21, I still had not received a response so I left a message with customer service (went straight to voicemail). It is now May 24 and I do not have my plants and I do not have any update on when and if my plants will ever be sent. I wished that I would have checked the online reviews before I ordered from this company. Please use another online garden supply company.

"On May 24, 2019 11:11 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Lisa, I'm sorry for your frustration. For a number of reasons (such as new technology, weather challenges, low unemployment and even the hemp/cannabis market in Denver, which forced us to move our greenhouses...), we've fallen behind our usual standards in how quickly we're replying to inquiries. All I can tell you is that we're a small, dedicated and passionate team that's working around to clock to both ship orders and respond to customers.

I wish you the best in your future gardening endeavors.

Ethan Platt | President"

Shipping took more than a week to arrive. Shouldn't plants go overnight?

1 plant was missing from my order. 1 arrived unlabeled and not much of a plant at all, just a bit of a seedling under the dirt. 1 arrived mostly moldy and brown. To be fair, the other 12 or 13 were fine.

Really frustrated with the lack of responsive customer service. I submitted a request online. No response so I called and waited on hold for 20 minutes and was then told to call back after planting and waiting up to 2 weeks. I planted, I waited, I submitted another online request, no response, need to call again.

I won't order plants here or online again. Back to the local options.

"On May 22, 2019 10:12 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear ChicagoStanton,

I'm sorry that you were not satisfied with your experience with High Country. We work hard at plant quality, shipping experience and customer service. Over-nighting plants is not an option due to costs of shipping. We are constantly working to balance shipping costs with plant quality and continue to evaluate the right mix.

As for your frustrations on reaching us, again I apologize. We're at the absolute peak of spring madness right now. As a matter of fact, we closed the entire company yesterday so that every member of our staff could focus on replying to customer inquiries. I can assure you that we will always honor our 100% satisfaction guarantee and we will reply ASAP. In the meantime, please plant and care for all of the plants you received - we make sure to ship healthy root systems and are confident that you'll be pleasantly surprised if you follow the care instructions included in your shipment.

Best Wishes, Ethan Platt | President"

Disappointing experience. Attracted by the "sustainability" and "native plants" etc. in description, I tried them out for some sage varieties my favorite online dealer didn't carry. Notified Friday, May 3, 2019 that my order shipped that day. Sadly, a Friday shipment pretty much guarantees the order will sit around somewhere over the weekend, and it did. While it's less than a two-day (14 hour) drive from High Country to where I live, the order took 7 days to show up, again on a Friday. Of three plants, one was one very dead and another not doing well. No sign of plant labels anywhere and, since it was 6 pm Friday, no chance over the weekend of identifying which plant was which for the recommended quick planting. When I took a chance on planting the one plant that looked healthy, I did discover the plant ID stick completely buried between plant and (non-sustainable plastic) pot, where you would never see it if you didn't know it was there; not mentioned in instructions. I see HC instituted a new shipping process this year; likely being refined. But in the meantime, recommend checking Dave's WatchDog 30 (top) sellers. To High Country: Please do not contact me; I've spent more time on this already than I can afford. But for the plants' sake, please fix your shipping processes. This isn't it.

"On May 12, 2019 1:13 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

south_girl, I'm sorry for your negative experience. We're constantly working to refine our shipping, packaging, etc to ensure the best experience at a reasonable cost. One point I would like to clarify is that plants shipped on a Friday do not sit over the weekend. Once they're in the UPS/USPS system, they continue to move over the weekend, thus we purposely ship on Fridays for further points (such as yours) to ensure that you have the products in time to plant the following weekend.

Once again, sorry you were not pleased.

Best, Ethan Platt | President"

After many years of ordering with HCG I will never do business with them again. Ordered 2 plants on 4/14 one arrived dead after 8 days of shipping. They sent replacement on 4/29 with an ETA of 5/7 from UPS. That really is unacceptable and I phoned customer service today and spoke to Amy, who proceeded to tell me I should never be ordering from HCG living on the east coast and that the plant I ordered will not survive. I told her I use it as an annual for the hummingbirds and she then told me it does not bloom for 3 or 4 years.Very argumentative and incorrect. I asked her why they keep sending me catalogs if I should not be ordering from them. Then I asked for a refund please and she yelled at me that she would refund my account and HUNG UP ON ME. Good bye High Country Gardens . It has been nice up until this year.

"On May 3, 2019 7:34 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Gina, I'm very sorry for your negative experience. I'll send you a direct email addressing some of your concerns, although I'll assure you that Amy's been with us for multiple years and is a very conscientious, knowledgeable and customer-friendly representative.

Ethan Platt | President"

I've not been very happy with my experience thus far.
I placed an order in January, and asked to delay my shipment by two weeks from the first week for my zone. They agreed, but when it came to that week, I didn't get a shipping notification nor did any shipment arrive.
When I called 10 days later, they had had a billing error on their end for part of the order (I had paid 100% of the order by CC in January, so it was all on their end). Rather than fixing the issue themselves or even contacting me, they just silently sat on the order. Once I contacted them by chat, they fixed the issue and shipped the order. Despite their error causing a significant delay, they shipped standard speed, and I didn't receive the plants for another week.

When I got the plants, one had ordered had not been shipped. There was again no communication with me to say that a plant was back-ordered. I had to contact them and ask why I was missing a plant to get communication that it was back-ordered for another 2 weeks. I asked for a refund on that plant since it would likely be too late to plant in my zone, and while the customer service agent said he would do it, he closed the chat before confirming it was done. I had to open another chat to confirm that there was a request to refund my card, which would also take 14 days to get through the queue.

This is on me, but I thought the company would be shipping from Vermont since that was the address I saw. They definitely ship from out west and took 8 days to get to my location. Three of the plants I got arrived looking pretty sad. Two had yellowed leaves, and one had leaves with black spots that had fallen off the plant. I assume this was because of the long shipping time. I figured since they weren't dead I'd put them in the ground and see if they made it. I do have pictures of the plants but it doesn't look like I can post them here.

"On Apr 26, 2019 10:01 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Kathleen, I took a few minutes to look at your order and contact history and I can see why you're frustrated - for that I sincerely apologize.

Although not an excuse, we implemented an entirely new tech backbone for this year, largely to ensure that we can better handle the complicated nature of our business (shipping orders from various locations based on your growing zones in a highly seasonal business!). In certain cases, like yours, we clearly don't have all the bugs worked out.

Again, my sincerest apologies and I hope that we have the chance to earn your trust again in the future.

Best, Ethan Platt | President"

HCG mission seem to change when sold to American Meadows. But even before change in mgt, not one Plant that I got from them survived—not a one! Additionally, they are so darned proud of their 5” pots, suggesting that their plants are stronger, when all they seem to do is take a 1” cell plant and stuff it in soiless mix upon shipping. Highly deceiving. I placed a call a week ago to ask horticultural related questions and still waiting. This company is undeserving of my patronage.

"On May 28, 2018 12:18 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear vossner, I'm sorry to hear that you were not pleased with your plants. We up-post into 5" pots from smaller cells in the late summer or fall the year before. When that happens depends upon each variety and how quickly it grows. Getting plants at the perfect stage for shipment is not easy - plant too early and they'll become root bound in the pot and not do well. Too late and they won't have time to root to the sides/bottom of the pot. This timing is all based on "typical" growing seasons and this winter/spring the weather threw us some real challenges.

As for contacting us, this time of year we get over 1,200 contacts (phone+email+live chat) per day, which is a crushing load for our small team. We're doing all we can to keep up, but appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Best, Ethan Platt | President"

Posted on April 20, 2017, updated March 9, 2018
What has happened to HCG?? Here's what I received
3 Zauschneria Canum Sky Island Orange - all wilted & yellow
2 Penstemon Strictus - tiny - 2" wide x 1 1/2" tall
2 Digitalis Honey Trumpet - decent
2 Agastache Acapulco Deluxe Yellow - decent
1 Agastache Rupestris Apache Sunset - didn't order this one as I already have it. The Rupestris is pathetic; I wish I could post a picture. There are 12 leaves on 3 sticks coming out of the pot. I ordered Agastache Acapulco Deluxe Peach for my border because, like the Deluxe Yellow, it only grows to 10" tall.
To top it off, some of these plants were replacements for plants that I received last year. Well, I'm not sure there was anything planted in the pots as they were labeled "Don't worry I'm sleeping. These plants have been dormant but the roots are healthy & ready to grow." Never saw
anything grow.
What happened to your quality High Country Gardens?

"On Apr 21, 2017 1:39 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Joip; I'm sorry that it's taken a few days to get back to you and that you were not happy with your order. I took a look at your account and am confused as the web order you're referring to did have the Apache Sunset on it. As for the varieties that we ship dormant, each plant is different - that's what makes our High Country selection so unique. Some wake up later than others and based on our experience, some transplant more successfully in one form or another. We do all that we can to make sure our customers are successful with our products and as always, guarantee your satisfaction. The credit we issued you that you used on this order is an example of how we stand behind our products. Please plant and care for your order and let us know how they turn out once they've acclimated to your garden and once ground temperatures in your area of Denver have warmed a bit more. As always, we want you to be happy. Best, Ethan Platt, President"

Last year, in September, I ordered three poppies, which I planted. In the spring, only two had survived. I called the company, and they told me that it was too early for the poppies to come up in my zone. When I explained that the other two had several sets of leaves, they still required me to wait a month to call for a replacement. I did so, and they sent me another poppy plant, which did not survive the summer. My other poppies thrived. I gave up, found a poppy at a local nursery, and it is doing fine in the same location.

So, I am unhappy with both the plants and the customer service.

"On Oct 4, 2017 3:40 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

ArlynnG, I'm sorry that your poppies did not survive. They can be notoriously finicky to grow, but our customers generally have great luck with them.

As you mentioned when you contacted us, 4 of the 6 did great. I'm sorry to hear that the two replacements didn't thrive as well. We do all that we can to grow and ship plants ready to thrive in your garden, but at the end of the day, gardening has variables that are hard to control. That's why we offer our guarantee.

As for asking you to wait a month, you live in IL and as such, late March is too early to know if plants are going to emerge from dormancy. It's our policy to make sure that we give things time before giving up on them and sending replacements.

I'm sorry that you were neither satisfied with our plants or our customer service. We work hard to exceed customer expectations and in your case, we clearly failed. I hope that we have a chance to win your business again in the future.

Best, Ethan Platt | President "

The current HCG experience leaves me longing for the HCG of old. Like 10 years ago when the plants you received in the mail were large and healthy. Back in the day, customer service was top notch and the representatives had personality.
Nowadays, the plants are scrawny at best and representatives answer the phone with a negative tone of voice like I've taken away their texting time.
They sent me an email coupon back in August for $10 off a $50 order. I tried to place an order with the code they sent me and it was refused. So they emailed me another code. And guess what...it didn't work either. I tried calling them; after being on hold for 10 minutes I hung up and emailed them going into detail my disgust with them for giving me the runaround. They referred me to American Meadows who owns HCG. At last!--I got someone on the phone who had the power to make things right!!
Currently, I'm in limbo with HCG trying to cancel an order placed in July. The order hasn't been shipped yet but the girl on the phone, Courtney, said she had to reach out to someone else to see if this can be taken care of.
Here we go again with the runaround. I am done with HCG.

"On Sep 28, 2017 8:10 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear AmberWave, Thank you for the multiple orders you've placed with us and I'm very sorry for your frustration.

The root of your issue was that we had a typo in a coupon code we sent you. With multiple people proofreading, those mistakes still slip through from time to time. When we tried to rectify that, our rep sent you an expired code. Again, apologies.

As for your phone call yesterday, your order had already been printed and was in the greenhouse being packaged. Courtney was simply trying to convey that she might not be able to catch it before it shipped.

We work very hard to provide a level of service that's difficult to find these days. I see that all of your emails and live chats were answered promptly and I'm sorry you had to hold on the phone - predicting phone volume is an inexact science and as a small business, we can't afford to have too many people sitting around waiting for the phone to ring! It's a tricky balance.

I hope that your plants thrive and that we'll have a chance to earn your business again in the future.

Best Wishes,
Ethan Platt | President "

The Butterfly Bush I ordered arrived dead in dry soil, had not been watered or even moistened before shipping.
In addition to it being dead & dry it was nothing more than a rooted cutting, could not have been 8 weeks old, that I paid nearly $13 for.
I was sent a replacement & requested a PLANT ready to be planted in the ground, not a cutting pulled from a tray.
I received the second plant - 6" long from top to bottom of root, minimal root system ---- yes another rooted cutting. Again not watered, soil all over box & little cutting laying on top of some soil.
One little twig with 3 very small leaves near the bottom of cutting.
Customer service "insists" it is only 1 year old plants that they ship out.
I will never purchase plants/cuttings from this company again, & want others to be aware of what you will get if you order from them.

"On Jun 5, 2017 9:40 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Anne,

I'm sorry that you were not happy with your plants. I see from the notes that we honored our guarantee and issued you a refund.

The Buddleia category is late to "wake up" in the spring. They were in fact year-old plants, but require patience. I certainly hope that you planted them and are caring for them as I'm confident that you'll be pleased with the results. When they do take off, please let us know - we always enjoy those emails!

Best, Ethan Platt | President"

I have to concur with negative reviewers on quality and size of plants I received. I received three very, very small plants in 2 1/4 pots with dry medium. I am just glad that I did not spend more than I did.

"On Jun 5, 2017 9:36 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Sorry you did not feel as though you got good value. We sell our plants in 2.5" or 5" pots, as noted on each product page. Our watering cycles are designed to ensure that your plants arrive in the best possible shape for transplanting. I hope that you planted and care for your plants as directed and that you have great success.

Best Wishes, Ethan"

I recently ordered about $700 worth of plants from High Country Gardens. I have used them in the past, and knew the plants would be smaller than at a nursery, but they were always healthy and grew well.

This last order contained some of the worst plants I had ever seen. If I had been able to see them in person, I would not have brought any of them home. One plant was dead, and several more are probably not going to survive. Some of the plants appeared to have been just transferred to the 5" pots because the planting compost did not have roots in it, and most of it had come out of the pot and was floating around in the plastic bag. The plants are so small I am not able to mulch around them. A lot of the stems had been broken in the packaging process. I would never use them again, and would never recommend them to anyone

Alan Hastings

"On May 15, 2017 3:25 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Alan, I see that you reached out to us via email on Saturday regarding your order - sorry we have not gotten back to you. It usually takes us a day to get through the weekend's emails during the busy season. But most importantly, I'm very disappointed to hear that you were not happy with the quality of your order.

I've asked our greenhouse QC manager to take a look at the specific plants on your order. All of our plants should have full root systems and be ready to transplant and thrive. Some have limited top growth and at this time of year, we have to carefully monitor our watering as we don't want the plants to 'cook' in transit. We use plastic bags to maintain the dirt and moisture in the pots, but too much water is also a problem.

Please plant the varieties and care for them as instructed and our customer service team will be in touch. As always, we want to see you succeed.

Best, Ethan"

I had placed two orders with High Country Gardens. They shipped just fine, on time, and very quickly. However, they shipped barely live plants. I find the irony here that they tout xeriscaping, but come on. They should have been watered before they were sent.

In totally I spent over $200. I received plants that were stressed and yellowed, unwatered, and in two instances, dead. Nada. Zilch.

The company did respond to both my phone calls. The first will replace my plants free of charge. I expect four more stressed plants. The larger order they refunded me $50.

The overall advice given is plant them, they'll do fine. Also, they suggested that the plants were stressed from shipping. Over the past five years I have ordered hundreds of plants online and only one other company has sent such pathetic plants. This is not stress from shipping; these are just neglected plants from the get go. By comparison, I received an order from Bluestone Perennials a few days earlier and those plants, by comparison, are full and lush and already flowering. They're ready to go, came to me plump and watered and were obviously well cared for before shipping.

I'd like to plant what I have from High County in the beds I have prepared for them, but I'm not interested in having a limp yellow thing in my flower bed, nor in having to babysit it in hopes it survives out in the wilds of my yard.

I will pot them up in a shady corner by the back door and keep an eye on them, in hopes of getting something in return for my money. I hate to give up on a plant, but it should not be my job to nurture a mistreated plant back to health. Nor should I have to pay for what High Country should be doing on their end; growing healthy plants.

"On May 1, 2017 8:58 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Carol, sorry that we took a few days to reply. I wanted to make sure that our greenhouse manager took a look at some of the specific plants you purchased before getting back you.

I'm sorry that you felt that the quality of our plants didn't meet your expectations. As you discovered when you called, we just want you to be successful. Each of our varieties ships in different forms - some with a lot of lush top growth, some in more of a dormant phase. What matters is that they all have vibrant root systems ready to acclimate to your garden. When we looked at the varieties you ordered, they all seemed to be well-rooted and ready to take off.

As you discussed with our team, please plant and care for the plants you received per our planting instructions and videos and I'm certain you'll be quickly pleased with the results. If you're not, we stand by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Thanks for your business.

Ethan Platt | President "

I placed an order back in March, and a month later I still have not received my plants, nor a response to my email asking about my order. Also despite the fact I placed an order and am (or was) on their e-mail list, I am unable to login to their site to check the status of my order nor have I gotten an email providing assistance with my "forgotten" password.

"On Apr 25, 2017 9:43 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Mid12nt: I'm very sorry for the confusion over our order. In the live plant business when you're growing over 400 varieties, it's very challenging to hit your planned ready date on 100% of them. In your case, one of the plants on your order (Panicum Ruby Ribbons) was not ready to ship on your promised date. Since it is impractical for us to call each order that's influenced in a situation like this, we have to rely on email. You (and all other orders with Ruby Ribbons) were sent an email on 4/11 notifying of the order delay and asking that you call us if you wanted to discuss other options. Unfortunately, it gets harder and harder to ensure that our emails arrive in peoples' inboxes. In your case, it appears as though our communication was lost in cyberspace!

As for the other elements of your review, we strive for 48 hour response time to emails in our busy season. I see that you emailed us Sunday afternoon and again Monday night at 11 pm. I'm sorry that we hadn't gotten to your request yet. And finally, you chose to checkout as a guest when you placed your order, thus there's not an account for you to view online. I apologize if that messaging is not clear online.

Our Customer Service team has reached out directly to try and find a suitable solution. Thank you for your business and happy spring!

Ethan Platt | President "

I purchased $367 of garden perennials...order 300100180 on April 9th.
I emailed through their website with a request if the order had not shipped to exchange one of the plants. I heard no response and then called customer service. Yes the email had been received and they were checking into it. I called later with a response that the order had not shipped and they could make the exchange. I heard nothing from April 12- April 18 and called again. I was assured that the order would arrive around April 21st. On April 22nd I received 2 boxes of plants bone dry and brown and shriveled up with the original order in the boxes and a tracking number that does not exist on USPS. It readily appears that the packed plants sat in a warehouse from April 11 to April 20 then shipped. The site states the recipient will receive an email with tracking number that never occurred. I am beyond displeased with this company. In the beginning, if the exchange could not be done, then fine but now I have the original shriveled up of dead plants.

"On Apr 24, 2017 8:15 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Ohhh Alonza, there are days where despite our best efforts, we just can't win!! Your order was one of those cases. You placed your order on Saturday the 8th and called us to make the plant change on Tuesday the 11th. Unfortunately, your order had already been printed and sent to the greenhouse for fulfillment. We were able to catch it before it shipped, but that's where we slipped. I don't need to get into all the technical reasons as to why swapping out one item was complicated and why it delayed your order, but ultimately we messed this one up.

As for your comment about the plants being in a warehouse from the 11th to the 20th, that's never the case. Our plants go from greenhouse to shipping the same day and our order confirmations go out the same evening (although they often end up in spam filters). Your order was delayed due to technical reasons - the attempted exchange and resulting credit card balancing caused your order to 'hang up' in our system. Again, we're very sorry for the frustration. Please plant and care for your items per the instructions included and we know that they'll thrive and our customer service team will reach out to make sure you get the right products.

Best Wishes, Ethan Platt | President "

I was very excited to have found High Country Gardens and ordered Dog Tuff grass plugs from them on Oct 6 for planting in zone 6. I was impressed by the website and its statement that they ship when it's appropriate for the zone being shipped to. The transaction posted in my account on 10/7. High Country Gardens called me to verify my shipping address within three days after placing my order. I called today (10/12) to check on the status of shipping and because one portion of their website stated the plugs could be planted in the fall while another states planting in the spring. I was told today that the plugs would be shipped to me next week ( 2 weeks after the order was placed and my account was charged). I asked about the fall/spring planting question and was told that they apologized and it was too late for planting this year. It was only because I phoned and raised the question about planting times that the shipment was stopped despite the website's statement that they ship when appropriate for the order. I've recently paid to have my existing lawn cleared in preparation for planting this fall, money I will now have to eat. My only experience with this company has been negative.

"On Oct 12, 2016 4:16 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear KDonovan,

I'm sorry about the confusion over your order. Due to the size of our typical grass plug orders and the prep work that needs to go into shipping them, we send them to our greenhouse on Thursdays for preparation for Monday shipment. (We only ship grass plugs on Mondays) You placed your order on the 6th (a Thursday) and our address verification software kicked it back as an undeliverable address. By the time we confirmed the address with you, we'd missed that week's shipping cutoff. Your order was ready to ship on the 17th. With Lyon, CO being right in the foothills, you're on the edge regarding planting at this time of year. In situations like this, it's hard for us to have rules on our website down to the zip code level. Therefore, we have manual checks in place before we ship an order such as yours. Rest assured that your order was being evaluated from our end when you called and we discussed a spring planting with you. I apologize if you got any confusing information at any step. From your post, it appears as though we could have communicated better.

Ethan Platt | President"

I dislike writing a negative review but my experience with High Country Gardens was negative in multiple ways. I’m disheartened to read how they respond to some of the negative reviews here too.

* They sent an email about some plants ordered not being in stock AFTER they shipped the order.

* They substituted the plants which were not in stock for plants I was not permitted to decide upon.

* When I politely inquired about this, I received zero replies in five days.

* Two of the plants were missing plant tag names.

* Every plant was tiny and harshly pruned even to the base on many of them. This is unnecessary and does not benefit the customer. Other plant sellers ship the same species of plants without doing that.

It is a shame when a business cuts corners like this. Excuses and bidding farewell to longtime customers isn’t the answer. Busy? Hire more employees. Employees not doing an adequate job? Increase the wage/training and hire better ones. Other plant sellers manage to run their business very well therefore it’s disingenuous to claim they can’t.

I’m glad there are other plant sellers out there providing better service and an equal or greater variety of plants.

"On May 25, 2016 8:25 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Adrienne,

I'm sorry that you were not happy with your experience with you. In looking at our communication history with you, I see that we did in fact send you an email after the order shipped. That was a technical mistake.

As for your other concerns, we work hard to set customer expectations and send plants with healthy root systems, ready to thrive in your garden. Often we cut back the top growth before shipping to ensure the plant transplants well.

Once again, sorry that we failed to live up to your expectations. We strive every day to get better - that's the only way small companies like ours can survive these days!

Best Wishes,
Ethan Platt | President"

The plants that I received were small and not worth the price that I paid for them. I contacted the company and mentioned that one of the items received was pretty small and probably would not survive if planted and requested a bigger replacement and/or refund. Two days later I still have not received an email response to my inquiry. It appears that their customer service is not very prompt when it comes to answering emails.

"On May 14, 2016 9:06 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Don, I'm sorry that you were not pleased with the size of your plants. We work very hard to set customer expectations through our product details, "how your plants will ship" photos and our videos. As always, everything we sell comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee and we always want to see our customers happy.

We strive to reply to all emails in 48 hours but the reality of this time of year is that we don't always maintain that level of desired turnaround. I see that your email came in late on Thursday night. Our customer service department is here Mon-Sat and works through the emails oldest first. We will be in touch early this week to talk about a resolution.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and best of luck in the garden.

Ethan Platt | President "

I have done thousands of dollars worth of business from HCG over the past 10 years & their greenhouses are not 5 miles from my house (yet I cannot go there & select the plants - they ship them to you at significant cost). I bought 5 plants from them in 2014 & was appalled by the tiny size. I called them & the rep said "if they are alive, that's all we promise". HCG was bought out last year by an outfit from New England I will not do business with them ever again.

"On Jul 13, 2015 9:36 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear tomato2, I'm sorry that you were not happy with your plants. Our 100% satisfaction guarantee is just that - if you're not satisfied, we make it right. "If they are alive, that's all we promise" simply is not our philosophy - we wouldn't stay in business long with that attitude! We looked in our records and can't find a record of anyone from Placitas calling to talk about quality or request a resolution. Feel free to call and ask for me directly if you don't feel that this is accurate.

As for your point about the greenhouse in Santa Fe, David Salman maintains that as a plant development facility and propagates a limited amount of our unique, exclusive and hard-to-grow plants. Our full line is grown and shipped from Denver.

I'm sorry to lose your business. Best of luck and contact me if I can be of any assistance.

Ethan Platt
President | High Country Gardens"

The plants are expensive for the tiny size. The local nurseries have same plants only much bigger and not an high shipping charge. I have ordered every year and seem to get much smaller plants every year. The shipping is very slow. The last order was two weeks delayed because of internal computer problems, this order of seed I have not even got a tracking number yet. I have emailed them but they do not respond. I have decided to not use them anymore for the size of plants, price, and service it just is not worth it in my opinion.

"On May 27, 2015 3:44 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Chris, We're sorry you were not happy with your order - you've been a great customer for multiple years and we'd hate to lose you.

Just to clarify a few of your concerns, you placed your order on Friday, May 8th. As it's later in the season, we contacted you to let you know that we didn't have an item you ordered. You chose a replacement and your order shipped on Friday, May 15th.

As for your seed order, it was placed on May 25th and shipped today, two days later. You will get a confirmation email tonight when our email batch process runs. From our records, it appears as though all of your inquiries have been responded to within 48 hours. If that's not the case, please let me know.

Again, sorry for your frustration. In our business, we have a crazy busy season that lasts less than 8 weeks. It's a challenge for a small business to staff up for such a short rush, but we do our best to reply promptly to all questions and both your orders shipped within the 5 business days we indicate at checkout.

Best Wishes,
Ethan Platt
President "

I am an experienced gardener with an extensive mail order history. This is my first negative review. I ordered from High Country Gardens for the 2014 season. One of the plants they sent was the wrong cultivar, one that will not grow in my region. They were not able to replace it with the correct plant. I requested a refund. Instead I got a credit. The remainder of the plants went into the garden. Only one has established well. All the others are slow, more so than anything else I planted that season. One of them I also ordered from another company by mistake. The other company's plant put on twice the growth and came through the winter better. This spring I decided to use my credit and be done forever with this company. The plant arrived last week, snapped off about two inches above the base, probably because the plant had been grown in uneven light and was shaped like an S, and then packed poorly. I request a refund, NOT a credit. Guess who got a credit instead? I so want to be done with this company!

"On May 26, 2015 11:10 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear palindromeami,

I'm sorry that you didn't have the kind of excellent experience that we strive for with all of our customers.

We looked at your account and noted that according to our records, you were given the option of a refund or a credit last spring when you reported that your onethera didn't survive, and you chose a credit. When you were not happy with the eupatorium that you purchased with that credit, the representative that you talked to simply re-activated your credit. She did not realize that you wanted a refund back to the card that you used for your order last year. I have asked our CS team to void that credit and issue a refund instead.

I'm sorry for the confusion, but we always give our unhappy customers the choice of a replacement (if available), a credit or a refund.

Best of Luck,
Ethan Platt
President"

I've used HCG for a year now. It started off as overpriced but decent. It has steadily declined to overpriced with low quality plants, nonexistent customer service, and slow shipping.

The plants themselves are hit or miss. Some are fine, others are totally dead with dry dirt spilled all over the box. They package the plants in boxes that are HUGE, so the plants are just bouncing around the box. They rubber band plastic bags over the base of the plant stems to keep the dirt in the pot, so oftentimes the stems are damaged or completely broken off. The plants themselves are pretty small. I can get a plant 5 times the size for half the price at a local nursery. Their prices are nothing to brag about, and I'm not even talking about the horrendous shipping.

My plant survival rate is about 50% from them. Often they are not salvagable after arriving bone dry and totally brown in the mail. They claim to offer a replacement, but from what I've experienced with their customer service, I don't want to even bother. Many that I bought and planted last spring did not survive the winter. They arrive so small and sickly that they can't get big enough and healthy enough by the time winter hits.

The last 4 times I've ordered I have not received a confirmation email. The last 3 times I have not received any shipping information whatsoever. I have NO Idea when to expect my stuff. If you email them, don't expect any kind of response. You can call but not on weekends or evenings. The order before last they took over a month to mail my Zeba root dip. No explanation or apologies or even a notification. I had to plant my grass plugs without it because the grass plugs had arrived dried out, and I couldn't sit around for weeks or months waiting around on them. I emailed but got ignored.

I stupidly ordered from them again because nobody local carries the grass I wanted. As of this writing, it has been 11 days since placing my order, and I've heard nothing. No confirmation email, no shipping info, no explanation as to where my $120 order is. I literally have no idea at all when my grass is coming in. It should have arrived days ago.

I won't be ordering from these guys again. I've never ordered from a business and not received a confirmation email and shipping info. The length of shipping time is also insane. Sometimes it's days later but other times it's months or weeks later. There's no rhyme or reason and they'll never communicate anything with you. My advice is to stick with your local nurseries. The prices and quality are LOTS better.

"On Jun 3, 2014 10:04 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

cmartell,

I'm sorry that you've had a frustrating experience with us. In looking at your order history, you've been a valued customer. I'll reach out via a direct email to address your concerns, but I did want to point out that during the spring busy season, are phones are staffed from 9 AM - 9 PM EST and Saturday's from 9-5. We trim those hours back in slower times. We also make every attempt to answer customer emails in 24 hours, but that can be delayed during the peak of the season. Finally, all of our orders generate an automatic order confirmation and shipping confirmation email. Unfortunately, often times those emails get hung up on spam filters, depending upon who your email provider is.

Thank you for your business and I look forward to connecting directly with you.

Sincerely, Ethan Platt, President | High Country Gardens"

Posted on October 24, 2012, updated April 26, 2014
Posted on April 28, 2007, updated October 24, 2012
I have placed about 10 orders from HCG in the past 24 months, and have had nothing but specacular service and healthy plants. The packaging is without fault and they always arrive when requested. HCG get an "A" from me.

"On Oct 25, 2012 9:24 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

I am sorry to hear of your recent order. Please contact customer Service to process a claim. We do have a 100% guarantee and would like to rectify this for you.

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

Posted on December 20, 2007, updated April 22, 2014
I ordered three sets of paperwhites which were advertised as $19.99 + SH on their website. The items (#A0050 & A0066) were clearly marked as paperwhites in a hurricane vase. Two of the orders went through as planned but on the third one they charged me $65+. The next day I called customer service. What I had orderd was not listed on the acknowledgment so it took the rep a good five minutes to look it up. He then informed me that the $65 item was actually the item that included the vase and the $20 items were actually just bare bulbs and that it was my mistake. I rechecked the website and found the $20 items definately listed as coming with a vase. I'm not sure if the customer service here just doesn't know what they're talking about or if this is bait and switch. There was not clear pictures of the actual items on the website that I could find. Either way, I don't think I would order from this company again.

"We apologize for any miscommunication. We immediately contacted with corirusson and processed a refund for the 2 additional vases including shipping and handling.

HCG Customer Service Staff

Received my bulb order last week. Four of the 12 of the one variety were unplantable: desiccated, broken. Not only that, they were in a very hard to open plastic bag. I had to hunt down scissors to open it. No plant labels with any of them either. I contacted the company the same day. They were to send out new bulbs that day "or the next." That was a week ago and I find out that they haven't even shipped. Plus when they do ship, it's coming from Vermont--clear on the other side of the country, while I live in Colorado. I do know they company was sold, but New Mexico is a bordering state, so to have things shipping from Vermont is stupid, plus I'm looking at a two week wait now. The order was supposed to come FedX, but they went to the post office, so that was yet another delay

"On Oct 5, 2013 1:23 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear muckles13,

I'm sorry to hear that the bulbs did not meet your satisfaction. Just to clarify, High Country Gardens orders ship from our grower in Denver, so you should have had them immediately.

I will take a look into this today and reach out directly.

My apologies.

Sincerely,
Ethan Platt
President"

I place a large order with this company sometime around March. I wanted time to get my plants in, and I needed to plant early. I was misled as to how soon they could or would ship my plants, and never quite given an exact answer as to when they would ship.

Later, I discover they don't even carry much of what is in their catalog, and so they just gave me credit (won't refund my money when it's entirely their fault they can't fill my order).

The plants, when they finally came, were no where close to the size or quality advertised. I tried all summer to find more of the same so I could at least use my credit, the plants did perk up with organic fertilizer.

They haven't had any hummingbird plants at all, all summer. I don't want to waste more time looking over item after item, page after page to find "item unavailable...".

This company needs to get its act together, update its catalog, and find some plants to sell.

"On Jul 25, 2013 4:12 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Hypatiacat,

Sorry for your negative experience this spring. As you can tell from the other posts we got over the last few months, it was a rough spring as High Country Gardens had closed in Nov and re-opened under our ownership in Feb. We had a host of system and inventory issues that lead to customer frustrations, like yours.

We are going to be putting our fall plant offerings live on the site next week. We needed time to fix the issues we experienced this spring and wanted to make sure that we would not be in a position to disappoint folks like you again.

I can assure you that American Meadows has an excellent reputation - we're frequently a Dave's Garden "Top 5" supplier and we are dedicated to fixing the kinds of issues you experienced.

Again, my apologies.

Ethan Platt
President | American Meadows"

I am a professional fine gardener who has been in business for 18 years with 10 employees. I've designed over 200 gardens and written a best-selling garden design book. I ordered 8 varieties of plants on May 2, 2013. I finally received half of the varieties on June 24, 2013, and most of the plants I did receive were dead. They had been frying in a hot box in transit for days without moisture, and they were crisp. I sent the company photos and suggestions about how better to pack the plants. They dithered (said the plants in the photos looked fine, for example) and justified their packaging system (no moist paper towels, no plastic bags, nothing substantial to even hold the soil in the pots, dry newsprint wadded around the plants in the box), and finally agreed to resend the worst ones. I received the new plants, which were also totally fried and packaged badly like the first ones. In addition, one of the plants had spider mites. I sent photos and they again justified their packaging system (they do not understand customer service, these people) and said they will refund part of what I paid. I will definitely never order from these people again. All that time I wasted taking and sending photos, plus they didn't even tell me they didn't have half the varieties I wanted until six weeks after I placed my order. Maybe the problem has to do with the company changing hands last February?

"On Jul 11, 2013 9:50 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Ever_Blooming,

I'm sorry that you had such a frustrating experience ordering from us this spring. Your original order was delayed due to the issues we had with the inventory and order processing system that we inherited when we took over High Country Gardens in February.

We have done lots and lots of shipping trials over the years and have discovered that when the weather gets warm, shipping in plastic (even with wet towels) literally cooks the plants. We've found that although the plants dry out, if you water them upon receipt, they'll usually bounce right back.

In looking at the notes in your order, I see that per your request, we refunded you for the plants that you were not satisfied with. Again, I'm sorry for the negative experience and wish you the best.

Ethan Platt
President
American Meadows | High Country Gardens "

Posted on June 7, 2013, updated June 7, 2013
Ordered plants on 2/13/13. Shipping date was for 05.13/13. After many e mails, no answer and no plants.

"On Jun 7, 2013 8:24 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Dear Roses_R_Red,

We left you a message regarding the fact that the item you ordered is not available. I apologize as we've had issues this spring with our inventory system. We are happy to either ship the Ava in the fall, replace it with another item or credit your order.

Our customer service rep left his direct contact info.

I am truly sorry that it has taken this long to sort out your order. We've really struggled with the order processing and inventory systems we inherited when we took over High Country in Feb. We're working around the clock to both clean up our remaining spring issues and prepare our systems for a smoother route forward.

Thank you for your business & understanding.

Sincerely,
Ethan Platt
President
American Meadows | High Country Gardens"

Posted on June 4, 2013, updated June 6, 2013
I placed an order in February for delivery the week of April 15th. It is now June 4th and I have not received my order. I understand that there were weather issues, transitional issues, and stock issues, and I certainly empathize having previously worked in a call center/customer service role myself. I have been in contact with different representatives at least once a week since my order was initially delayed. I have heard almost every time that my order would be delivered by the end of the week. They have already refunded my shipping, which I appreciate, but my order is now 2 months late. My front yard has been dug up and bare for 2 months, and daily highs are now in the 90s. I would like the plants that I ordered, especially since local garden centers have almost no inventory at this point. I tried calling today, but was sent directly to a voicemail that is no longer set up. I noticed the online chat function has been disabled on the website, and this morning I emailed a representative I have been working with and have not yet received a response (when normally he has been very prompt.) I am now concerned at my inability to reach anyone to find the current status of my order. I have tried to be patient and understanding, but this is just growing ridiculous. This is my first experience with HCG, and after this fiasco, I don't plan to ever order from them again, and to discourage anyone else from doing so.

"On Jun 5, 2013 10:31 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

megs419, There's no excuse for why your order has yet to ship. All I can tell you is that we've really struggled with the systems that we inherited when we took over High Country on Feb 1. I can see your order in the system, but I cannot explain why it doesn't print when we pull orders ready to ship.

In any event, we're working on it and I will reach out directly once I have a concrete answer.

My Apologies,
Ethan"

I placed an order May 12th and still have not recv'd my plants. They took my money right away though! I emailed them and got the response of it will ship next week, well I still have not recv'd my plants and my emails go unanswered. Very frustrated with this company! Not happy at all!!!

"On Jun 5, 2013 9:44 AM, High Country Gardens responded with:

streeterpl, I'm sorry to see that your order was voided. After a very difficult transition this spring, we're going to be caught up on our order shipping by Tuesday. I hope that as we get High Country back up and running, we have a chance to re-earn your business in the future.

Best Wishes,
Ethan Platt
President"

Posted on May 24, 2013, updated June 3, 2013
Placed an order and did not receive confirmation for two days. No tracking or other info was provided by seller.Weeks later my order still has not been received and no updates have been received from seller.
Emails to seller have gone unanswered. Phone calls to customer service are not answered. (My calls are placed in a queue and then roll into a voicemail box after about 15 minutes on hold.) Live chat is always dead.
Truly appalling customer service.
Seller should stop accepting orders it will not fill.
I am initiating a charge-back on my credit card.

"On May 24, 2013 2:21 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Mr. McClain, sorry for your frustration. As you can see below, we're madly trying to stay on top of our orders, having taken over High Country on Feb 1. We're shipping hundreds of orders per day, but got behind partially due to the difficult weather you had in April and early May in Denver as well as issues with the inventory and order processing system we inherited.

Your order was placed on Saturday the 11th and is in the greenhouse for packing. It will deliver to you next week.

Again, or deepest apologies as we navigate this difficult transition.

Thanks for your understanding.
Ethan Platt
President "

I too am having problems with High Country Gardens. I placed an order (my first) in early May and still have not received it. I have sent 3 emails and left 2 voice mails. The first email was
responded to saying they were hoping to send my order for
receipt the following week, but that is the last correspondence I have had and obviously did not receive anything. I am very disappointed in the customer service, or rather the lack thereof, and am still waiting on a refund or response. I will contact the Garden Association and BBB next.

"On May 30, 2013 6:32 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Please contact me and I will gladly assist you. We have been receiving a high volume of calls and emails and apologize it has been difficult reaching us.

Sincerely,
Victoria Peralta
vperalta@highcountrygardens.com

"

Since 2006 I've purchased from HCG 1-3 times a year. I've always been delighted in all respects. Plant quality, plant variety, service. A few years ago I was in Santa Fe and visited in person and was also impressed.

This spring I placed two orders, one in February and one in April. (Both orders were paid for when placed). Both are correctly visible on my account on their website (May 30th is today). The April order came as expected. The February one did not. I've twice called and been unable to speak to a person. I've emailed with no response. In short they took my money and gave me nothing.

Clearly based on the feedback on this site (super positive till this year, now very negative) and my own experience one must conclude the wheels have come off and this is no longer a reputable company. Taking someone's money and not giving them the product they bought is pretty inexcusable. Too bad - this was really a favorite of mine.

"On May 30, 2013 6:25 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

I do apologize you have not been able to reach us. We have been working to fill orders as quickly as possible but have run into some inventory issues along the way. As you know this is not the norm for HCG and we are working around the clock to get caught up. I would be more than glad to assist you with your order. Please do email me and I will resolve this for you.

Sincerely,
Victoria Peralta
vperalta@highcountrygardens.com"

Tried contacting them about an issue with an order. They refused to answer several e-mails. Customer service never answers the phone. They used to be a good company but I will never buy from them again.

"On May 29, 2013 3:22 PM, High Country Gardens responded with:

Katoom, I just sent you a d-mail seeking further information.

Thanks, Ethan"