Comments regarding The Thyme Garden Herb Company

Of 7 different herbs purchased from this company, only 2 had any germination. The others had 0000 germination. From multiple seedings, in adding heat/ adding lights/ stratifying, googling how to's. I'm convinced it's the seed source that is the problem as I haven't had any issues starting herb seeds from other sources. Very disappointed.

"On Feb 26, 2021 1:04 PM, The Thyme Garden Herb Company responded with:

First of all, we are sorry you weren’t 100% happy with your seeds. It is important to all of us that our customers are successful. We are always here and more than willing to help our customers with any problems they are having if they contact us and let us know about them. We have been growing over 300 varieties of seeds here for thirty-one years now and add many others grown all over the world because we can’t grow them in our part of the world. We use the same seeds to start our plants to sell at our nursery so we have a very close connection on the viability of the seeds and what it takes to make them germinate. Some of our seeds are rare and hard to find and hard to germinate. We are always try working to discover the secret to what makes some of them work and when we do we include those instructions with each seed packet. Some seeds for reasons of their own can be dormant and require weird specific processes to break that dormancy. There is a plant in Africa which has seeds that can take up to twenty-seven years to germinate. We were excited this morning to see we had several Black Lovage plants starting to pop up after being in the pots for four months. Herbs seeds generally aren’t as easy to start like planting corn or beans that don’t take much to be successful with. Although there are exceptions like the first three seeds you have in your order – Creeping Thyme, Ashwagandha and Balloon Flower. We have those growing right now from those seeds in our greenhouse and they are doing great. Indigo will germinate slower and sporadically over time. The fat seeds will rot and get mushy if kept too wet, so they can be a little tricky. Citronella is rather difficult. They have a hard seed coat that needs to be scarified so it will absorb moisture better. It can also be sporadic and take long to germinate. We have it growing in our conservatory for seed collection because it will freeze outside. Baby plants pop up every year from seeds that fall to the ground. From the time they are ripe in fall and drop off the plant to when they germinate in spring can be up to five months. That time can be reduced with scarification and stratification. The Blue Gum Eucalyptus comes from Australia where it is native. Probably due to environmental conditions like heat and rainfall in can be sporadic and slow to germinate - but not always. Sometimes it will come up in our starting flats in less than two weeks like crazy. I don’t know what the free seed we gave you for placing an order with us was, but I do know we don’t give difficult seeds to germinate that would be kind of counter-productive to our customers success.
So, like I said, we are here to help you if you get in touch with us. We are also, as our policy has always been, more than happy to refund you for the seeds that did not work for you.
Thank you….Rolfe Hagen
The Thyme Garden
"

This spring I ordered several plants from this company. After waiting several weeks to receive my shipment, a representative finally contacted me to tell me that their Highland Cream thyme was not yet ready for shipment, and asked me if I wanted to substitute or wait for the plants to be ready. I really wanted that varietal, so I chose to wait. Several weeks later I received the shipment. The Highland Cream thyme looked ok, so I immediately transplanted it into my garden. Unlike the other plants I received, it went into shock and struggled all summer. I nurtured it, as I don't like to claim failure to companies unless I've done everything I could. A few days ago the last green portion turned brown and I declared the plant to officially be dead.

I contacted the company about a replacement, and was told that they would not honor my request. He told me "too much time" had gone by since my order a few months ago. A representative named Rolfe told me this, and he did not reply to emails asking him to work with me.

I am very displeased with this company, particularly since they knew that they were shipping a plant that wasn't ready on time, and apparently wasn't even ready when they sent it. I want a company to stand behind their products, and only send quality items that will thrive, and back up that promise with a guarantee. I can't trust that plants in the future will be of stable quality, and I can't trust that they will work with me if there is a problem. There are too many other nurseries who will do this!

I love their catalog. It's informative and concise, and I'm always intrigued by their selections. I have been pleased with the seeds that I've ordered, but never with the plants. I have received plants that were water-logged and rotted, as well as plants that looked to have been thrown into the pot upside-down! This is the only company that I've ever been dissatisfied with. And considering how rude they were when I called to talk, I certainly won't waste my time and money doing business with them again. And I must admit that I'm sorry, considering their offerings.

Ordered 10 plants in January. My credit card was charged promptly. Plants arrived in late April. Unfortunately, UPS kept the plants over the weekend and 7 out of 10 died. I received my refund in October. I don't know about you but getting a refund after 10 months is not my definition of good customer service. They also never sent another catalog. Just as well as I've scratched them off of my list.