Comments regarding Park Seed Company (aka Park's Gardens)

I've ordered plants and seeds for many years. Continue to be a customer based on quality. Never have had a problem.

I have ordered seed, biodomes, and biodome refills for the past several years. I have never had a problem.
This year I decided to take a leap and order live plants. I place two orders, and I was amazed at the quality of the plants, the quality of the packaging, and of course, the expedited shipping time.
Very well done.

After a number of years buying seeds at the local big box store I decided to try Park Seed again. My order of strawberry plants arrived in 6 days, both of the types had a few extra plants. I set them out a few days ago and they look good so far. My order of 14 types of seeds arrived in 9 days, no back orders or errors. I'll update this review after I see how everything grows.

Way back in the 80's Park & Burpee were my go to companies but after years of bad germination I stopped using them. This season I needed some seed starting supplies and Park had great prices so I thought I would give them another try. They had seeds on sale so I purchased some of them alond with my supplies. Shipping was fast and well packed although I forgot what a PITA packing peanuts where. All the seeds germinated and are growing great so I placed a second order and had the same great experience. They will be added to my list of companies to order from next year.

Posted on April 23, 2011, updated February 12, 2012
Posted on April 23, 2011, updated April 23, 2011
I wanted to plant some Helleborus for my wife. In order to get all the varieties I wanted, I ended up buying from 3 different online vendors. Most sold them for $20 each, including Park Seed. One had an internet special for $10 each.

Park Seed plants arrived last out of the three. They were fairly large and healthy compared to the other companies.

I just planted them so it is too soon to tell how they will work out in the long term, but by comparison, I give them a positive rating.

Posted on April 18, 2010, updated February 10, 2012
My experience with Park Seed has been very positive since I began ordering seeds and seed-starting supplies (BioDomes and sponges) in 2006. This year I ordered about 25 different varieties of flower and vegetable seeds and received them all within a few weeks. As another reviewer noted, their prices aren't always the cheapest--though generally reasonable--but I've always had good germination with them and I like the detailed instructions on the website and in the printed catalog. I also ordered a three-tier L-5 plant grow-light system from them in February and received it in a few weeks, despite being told that it was back-ordered for two months! Don't know if this slight confusion was a result of their bankruptcy process, but I was pleased nonetheless to receive the setup so quickly!
I'm hoping that they emerge from bankruptcy reorganization in good shape because I've always relied on them and had good service.

I ordered assorted annual seeds over the internet on Jan. 29 and they arrived in my mail box Feb. 7. My family has ordered from Park for over 40 years and have been very satisfied with their service over that time.

I have ordered from Park Seed a few times over the years. I guess I have been very lucky because I have never had a problem with a single order. My last order was for seed starting supplies. They had some of the best prices on 1020 trays and cell flats I could find. Shipping was very reasonable. Roughly half the price of a very similar order I had placed elsewhere. Over all I'm very happy with Park Seed and will buy from them again.

Posted on January 30, 2010, updated September 5, 2011
I Have ordered seeds from Park's for the past 5 or 6 years with no problem's at all! The seed all germinates well. There catalogue is wonderful and is a very good place to get hard to find seeds. Seed is well packaged in foil envelopes to keep them fresh for a long time. Customer service has been excellent to me. And they make ordering seed from Canada a breeze. I Would gladly recommend this company to anyone and will contine to order from them!

This year I placed my first order with Park's and I have to say that I was and am impressed, so much so I placed another order. The order contained a couple bio-domes and 10 seed packets. The bio-domes are a God send! Previously I had only grown in recycled tubs, peat pots, ect... This year I experienced no damping off, bugs or any other ailments and in addition the roots were plentiful and obscenely long. The seeds I ordered had a close to 90% germ rate, as opposed to the seeds I had ordered from Thompson & Morgan (maybe 20%) and they all came true to type. Had the same positive experience with my second order. Not sure why there are so many bad reviews...However I do know that I will be ordering again.

Wow! I guess I've just been lucky ordering from them. I've ordered seeds from them the last several years and had no problems at all. The all came just like they should. This year I ordered several plants from them and once again, no problems. They were well packed and healthy ( Scaevola aemula - fanflower). They are thriving! The strawberry plants are also doing great. I shared them with the neighbor kids and they are doing great as well.
I'll keep ordering from them until something goes wrong...

Late 2010, early 2011 I ordered a number of seeds from Park. Some were on their seed sale. Every variety I planted germinated very well. I have not ordered any live plants from them, so I cannot comment on them, but I am very happy with the seed orders. Will continue to buy seeds from Parks.

I have ordered from Park Seed for the last 3 years. I have always been happy with them. The plants I recieve are packaged well, they are healthy and I always recieve them when I should! I have had plants shipped from other companies when there is still frost in the ground! This year I ordered 30 plants and they all arrived in great condition at an appropriate time and they are ALL thriving. Thanks! Park Seed :o)

So disheartened to see all negative feedback, sounds like a management issue.

I came to be here because I wanted to send Parks a picture of my lovely "Smeraldo " bean crop. I spoke to one of the gardeners at Parks before placing my order. I wanted to order Kwintus pole beans, they were out of stock so I asked him which was the next best and how much should I order for my limited space how big are the towers and how many beans do I need to plant. He recommended the Smeraldo, Italian flat stringless. He took a great deal of time with me on the phone. I ordered 3 bean towers and a 1/2 pound of Smeraldos and Kwintus to arrive when in stock. The Kwintus arrived to late for spring planting but that is ok because I had plenty of Smeraldo's & I will plant Kwintus for fall crop.I have 3 bean towers full of lovely beans.My husband says they are the best he has eaten. I had 98% germination, my garden book says to only expect 70%. I am overjoyed with my order and my crop is over the top. The service was personal and except for the darn birds nest in the top of one of my towers I can't fuss. I will be back! Wish I could upload the picture. Just a thought "Why would anyone order live plants through a catalog? I have never had any luck with any company doing that. If I want exotic I will travel to my local specialty gardener.

Posted on June 2, 2007, updated May 18, 2011
I ordered quite a few times from Parks both seeds and plants... in the past I have seen a 50 / 50 chance that the plants will arrive in good shape... the last order seemed to improve in the quality of plants and shipping methods

here is what I ordered

1. COLEUS ALABAMA SUNSET - ANNUAL (44899/EA 1) Qty : 6

2. BEGONIA REX RED HEART (41504) Qty : 1

3. BEGONIA REX CURLY EMMA (41502) Qty : 1

All arrived in good shape and not the largest of plants but not the smallest either

I am happy to see improvement over the last 3 years that I have placed orders with them... and I love the dollar seeds

"

I am glad to hear that your plants arrived in good condition. "

I placed a small order with Park's in March (3 packets seeds and a 6-pack of a hard-to-find plant, Zion Copper Amethyst osteospermum (gorgeous). The seeds arrived promptly and the plants at proper planting time for my area. I have ordered seeds from Park's before & appreciate the way they are packaged in waterproof foil. All 3 kinds of seeds germinated well & the plants are blooming nicely. BTW, they are one of the few nurseries that carry Snow Crystals alyssum, my preference for white alyssum. My only quibble is that I can't check status of order on screen with accuracy. Very pleased overall!

I have always had a positive experience with Parks. Every year I ordered seeds, that I could not find anywhere else, and they came with in a week. I also ordered live plants, namely Surfinia and Lophos. They came today, and are beautiful. The Surfinia were all in bloom when I opened the box! I can't wait to see them in my window boxes. The only negative I have had with Parks, was with some Flowering Tobacco last year, which I love. There was either poor germination, or improper planting, for which I take responsibility for. I did get some lovely ones from the packet of seeds though, and loved them. They replaced the flowering shrub promptly, which I have not had but one, that did not survive. The seeds are very well packaged, and if you look, they tell you how many seeds will be in the package, every time.

I ordered a large variety of vegetable seeds from Park Seeds. It took about 3 weeks or so to get my order. I have planted most of the seeds with good results, ie. 90 - 95 % germination rate. They give you a number of seeds per packet and that is what you receive. There were a couple of seed packets that I ordered that were "out of stock", but they replaced these with similar seeds, and that's ok with me. All the seeds that I received were fresh and good quality seeds. This is a good company and I will order from them again. Thank you for the good service Park Seed.

I had not ordered from Park's for several years. Having just moved to Georgia I have the opportunity to grow a wider variety of plants than I have had in many years. I placed a live plant/seed order and received email confirmation immediately. My plant arrived a few weeks later (early Spring) and the rest of the order arrived promptly and well-packaged. Unfortunately, my dog destroyed the plant (my bad) but I am happy with the seeds and the "freebies" included with my order. Am sorry to read of their recent distress and I hope they can pull it together. I would order from them again.

It has been a number of years since I ordered from Parks and I was saddened to read of the problems they have been having and people have been having with them.

They have some seeds I couldn't find elsewhere and some seeds at very good prices so I placed an order with them on April 4,2011. On April 5 I received a shipping number and a statement indicating that everything I ordered was included.

I'm hoping this indicates that many of the problems are being handled better. I won't get my package until the end of April when I go to Ca. For the moment, everything seems good.

I have placed three orders for seeds through Park so far this year and all were shipped within a few days and received within a week. I was really happy with the service and now have happy seedlings from all of the seeds. No seeds I received had stickers remarking them from a previous growing season. I would definitely order from Park again :)

Posted on September 20, 2010, updated March 25, 2011
I have been a very satisfied Park customer for better than forty years, It is sad to see an old friend being in such straits, but I'll stand by them. I've never had a bad experience ordering plants or seeds, which I can't say about other companies.

Their catalogs are a delight and I have looked forward to receiving them every year. Over the years, I've learned a great deal about plants and gardening from them. When I got my first catalog from Park I was a rank novice, and am now recognized as an expert gardener. I owe much of this to a foundation from Park's catalogs.

I hope the new owners can bring them back to their former status.

I ordered 10 different genera of perennial seeds from Park Seed. My order was shipped complete and in a timely matter (10 days). Additional seeds were sent at no cost for those seeds with poor germination success.
Eight of the ten genera have already germinated in less than 5 days.
I will definitely order seeds from Park Seed again.

I have order seeds from Parks for the last two years and have found the company reliable and the seeds excellent. My seeds were carefully packaged and germinated well. My seed orders tend to be lengthy and I can say that I got everything and in the right amounts as well.

My experience with Park Seeds was a very positive one. After my order was placed, my one e-mail to company was answers in a timely manner. Seeds arrived, packaged well, with plenty of time to start indoors for spring planting. I would not hesitate to order from Park Seeds again.

I have a B.S. in plant science and an M.S. in plant pathology; my garden includes several acres at 1500-foot elevation in Zone 9, California, and every year I start over 1,000 new seedlings (mostly annuals, but some perennials as well). I have a full time job (not associated with gardening in any way) so this is just a hobby, but it takes up all my free time. I've been placing large seed orders with Park Seed for the last 7 years, and my experiences have been excellent. The seed has a very high germination rate, and the customer service has been excellent. I would offer the following to fellow gardners: many seeds are difficult to start, and they may require treatment with gibberellic acid, cold/moist stratification, heat, smoke, nicking, or soaking. As a gardner, it is our responsibility to understand how to properly germinate the seeds we order. Seeds generally have a specific temperature range that ensures optimal germination; those temperature guidelines should be followed. Seed starting equipment should be sterilized. Many seeds, for example delphinium and zinnias, are inherently more susceptible to soilborne diseases such as damping off; therefore, I treat the soil and/or water with chemicals such as Agri-Foss or Physan20 at the time of planting. "Seed Germination, Theory and Practice" by Norm Deno is an excellent reference. Finally, if there is a problem with an order (I have occasionally received a packet with substantially fewer seeds than were supposed to be included) I always call - I don't rely on emails; when I have called, I've received a second packet of free seeds that arrives in about 2 weeks. Out of stock backorders will occasionally happen and have happened to me with many companies, not just Park Seed. One final note: although emails are convenient, because of previous unsatisfactory email experiences, I don't ever place an order or attempt to use customer service via email, ever, with any company. Speaking with a real person over the telephone always brings the best results. Park Seed has always treated me as a valued customer, and I will continue to order from them. Happy gardening : )

Park Seed was the 1st co. I ordered from as a new gardener 11 years ago.I found their name in the references section of a Garden Book.One example: I ordered Petunias (of course), still like them and the new Calibrachoas are beautiful. But I digress.The seed packet contained100
seeds.Back then I was using the time consuming plastic seed starter trays that you fill W/seed start mix.I carefully planted the tiny seeds W/ a dampened pencil(still the method I use) in the middle of the 100 pockets
To my immense excitement, 2 days later 100 tiny stems w/2 tiny leaves appeared.Every single seed had germinated.I became an obsessed gardener.I believe the internet has a longer learning curve than the average customer will allow. People have become impossible to please

Posted on January 22, 2010, updated February 19, 2011
I saw the negative reviews, but they had the viscara and the mimulus that I really wanted so I only ordered 3 packets of seeds. They arrived within 10 days and the viscara and mimulus have already germinated so I'm pleased.

I've ordered both seeds and plants from Parks in the past, and never had a problem with anything. I was worried after reading the reviews here, but I don't have anything negative to say. My orders are generally small,(about $50.00), but germination and production are excellent. Shipping times could be a bit faster, but I always recieve my seeds in time to start them early in my "basement greenhouse". I will be ordering from them again this year.

I mailed my order for seeds and bio sponges along with my payment by personal check on Jan. 24, 2011. I received my complete order via UPS on Feb. 7, 2011. Since I have ordered from Parks for many years and hope to in the future, I hope this good service continues.

I have ordered successfully from Parks for years. Recently I received a shipping notice for some backordered seeds, and after 2 weeks they still hadn't arrived. I emailed them to inquire after my order, and I received a reply within an hour or so offering to replace the seeds if they didn't show up within the week. They arrived two days later, so there was no problem, but I appreciate the no questions asked approach to customer service.

Posted on November 5, 2010, updated November 5, 2010
I placed my order to Park Seed and then found these reviews. I was very nervous but in the end no problems. A couple of the supplies I wanted were out-of-stock, but not a big deal. I also ordered a 4-pack of seed trays and only 3 came in the box. To my surprise, the 4th tray arrived the next day. I had not yet decided whether to call them about it or not, and was pleased that they immediately corrected their mistake.

I'm placing another order with them today.

Posted on March 30, 2010, updated October 20, 2010
Well,I must say that I was hesitant to order from Park Seed co. after seeing all of the negative comments here recently. I have ordered from Park in the past and never had any problems and they are the only ones that I could find that had the "Mumsy" marigold so I ordered from them a week ago. Received all of my seeds in less than a week! Have some rhubarb ordered also which will not be sent until planting time for my zone. I will let you know how that turns out. I almost always order some of my flower seeds from them and will continue to do so.

I have been gardening for quite a long time. I think any gardener who's worth his potting soil would have bought something from Park at some point in time or another. I am happy to say that during the bad years these guys seem to have had I was not purchasing plants from them so I cannot speak to the negative. All my experiences have been extremely positive!

After checking out a few websites Parks seemed to have a good selection of what I wanted at reasonable (or better) prices than other big sites so I ordered most of my seeds from Parks this year. I started all my plants from seeds and they did wonderfully. One package never germinated but they were just marigolds so I just picked up a new pack of those at the store. They did send another pack when I told them about it but it arrived too late to plant. I recently ordered some houseplant seeds and they also seem to be doing well.

Im a novice so I didn't order anything fancy or too hard to grow, so that might have helped my success. But either way Ive already made a list of my must haves to reorder for next year! They do seem to have some great varieties I cant find in stores.

I had a really positive experience! I called and talked extensively with a couple different reps who really seemed to know what they were talking about. Although I live in the north they helped me pick the most hardy little dwarf orange they had and instructed me on growing indoors- Not a very big plant but I have been able to maintain a healthy fruit producing table top orange tree. My son always seems to swipe my oranges if he is home from school when it is fruiting so I think for his birthday this year I should order him his very own! My purple fig is growing fantastic outside and is at least 6 feet wide at this point, and loaded with gold ball size figs that are just starting to get color. My son always seems to swipe my oranges if he is home from school when it is fruiting so I think for his birthday this year I should order him his very own!

My spring 2010 order was properly handled. One plant was not nice. It likely should not have been sent. They replaced it in a timely manor. I have used Park Seed over many years. No dis-satisfaction here.

I'm shopping from Canada, and have used Park Seed for the last 3 years. The seeds germinate well, the shipping is quick considering the border crossing. Corespondence is good, and any issues I have had have been quickly addressed. I hope they survive their finacial woes so we can continue to do business.

I have been doing business with Park Seed for over twenty years, and I even attended three of their annual open house events. They are my favorite seed company. I can't tell you how much it hurt to hear of their financial difficulties.

But I needed some seeds and so I placed my order. The order was shipped Monday and arrived at my mailbox on Wednesday. Everything was OK, just like normal.

I hope Park recovers. In the meantime, they will continue to get my business.