Comments regarding Sooner Plant Farm (Shop Smarter Shop Sooner)

We just received our first order from Sooner Plant Farm. It consisted of 9 - 2 Gal. Firehouse nandinas, 5 - 3 Gal. Autumn Chiffon Encore azaleas, 2 - 3 Gal. Crown Jewel gardenias, 1 - 3 Gal. Rose Creek abelia, 1 - 3 Gal. Blue Price holly and 1 - 3 Gal. Blue Princess holly.
The plants were shipped on Tuesday and received Thursday afternoon. All were undamaged. Their packaging is very precise and robust; unpacking is a chore even with a box cutter. The plants are in very good to excellent condition with absolutely no sign of stress or disease. We live less than three hundred miles south of Park Hill in East Texas but could not transport them ourselves for what they were able to pack and ship via UPS. Their prices are somewhat higher than you may find at Lowe's, Home Depot or your local nursery; but speaking as one who has purchased literally hundreds of plants for our 1/3 acre lot landscape over the last 16 years I can attest to the fact that their plants are head and shoulders above the quality you get from the above mentioned retailers. All the plants are now happily ensconced in the beds prepared for them and we look forward to enjoying them as they mature.

Purchased three Taylor upright Junipers--hard to find trees. Healthy plants, arrived promptly and packed super well. Good experience.

Posted on July 20, 2011, updated October 15, 2011
Posted on July 13, 2011, updated July 20, 2011
The order was for four different echinacea. The plants were well-packed and arrived in excellent condition. Although the plants I ordered from Sooner were slightly more expensive when shipping and handling were included, I preferred the plants much more than the echinacea I ordered from two other companies. The plants from Sooner were larger and the containers were larger. I have already ordered more orange/red echinacea from Sooner.

Received two Maple trees on date as requested a few months ago: Bloodgood and Weeping Red Dragon. Both are very healthy and arrived in a well designed root protection felt bag. I'm looking forward to seeing these two beauties grow.

I ordered for the first time from Sooner Plant Farm a few weeks ago. There was a slight problem with the order and I e-mailed Brian. He quickly responded and set about remedying the problem. He bent over backwards to ensure my experience was top-notch and was very gracious about it.

I would happily recommend this nursery and plan to do business with them in the future. Thanks a bunch, Brian!

Posted on June 22, 2010, updated May 26, 2011
I ordered a dwarf crape myrtle "Orchid Cascade". When it arrived I was impressed with how carefully it was packed. However, I immediately
noticed many, many leaves with black leaf spot. I called the company and Brian said it probably would be fine once it had air and water, but that he would make a note of it in case it didn't resolve. I ordered another one (I had intended to order two initially but somehow only ordered one.). When the second arrived a week later it again was carefully packed. This one looked so much better than the first! By then the first had been anted carefully, and watered yet it steadily lost leaves -- it looked like it was steadily dying with many bare branches. I called the company again and left a voice message. The next morning I got a return message from
Brian saying a replacement would be sent. A week later the replacement arrived. Like the second plant it looked good. I was imprssed with the excellent customer service!

Good sized plants, expertly packaged. Would use anytime.

My very first order with Sooner arrived today, and I couldn't be happier. The plants are big and healthy and packed in the long, heavy cardboard box so well it was a struggle for me to remove my fothergilla from the box! I've been wanting a Lavender Twist (Covey) redbud for a long time and finally decided to order one through Sooner, which is a great looking tree, about 4-5 ft tall, and very healthy, and the price on it was great. I also got a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, which is another plant I've been coveting for a long time, and two Blue Shadow fothergilla which were buy 1 get 1. Although the shipping was a bit high, almost as much as the total for the plants, I'm not too bothered by it since the plants were very well packaged and arrived unscathed, with the exception of one broken baby branch on the redbud, but also if I had to buy these same plants locally I would have had paid two to three times as much. I'm really happy I purchased my plants through Sooner and I will recommend them to my friends and family.

I made my first orders with Sooner early this spring. I ordered three hydrangeas (Pee Wee, Little Lime, and Invincibelle) and a Miss Ruby butterfly bush. I am in Fort Worth, TX. The shipments arrived the very next day each time, which amazed me. The plants are all beautiful, large, and healthy looking, and so far are growing really well. I am so happy with my plants! I will most definitely be buying again from Sooner Plant Farm.

Ordered bloomerang lilacs and gardenia crown jewel, received the order today and all the plants look very healthy in their pots. This is the first time I ordered and will definitely look into ordering more plants from them.

Posted on April 2, 2010, updated April 15, 2011
Received a beautiful weeping redbud from Sooner yesterday. This tree is 6' tall, well-branched and in bloom and it arrived without a scratch. The only thing I had to do was plant it and re-stake it as it had shifted slightly during shipping. None of the flowers even fell off when I planted it!

It is immediately providing the focal point I thought I would have to wait until next year to see. Yes, I am definitely happy with my purchase.

sooner plant farm is still my new best friend.after ordering for my second year i am still in awe if the plants they send. as healthy as they are beautiful. love the new packing i think they could be run over by a ups truck and still arrive in superb condition and on time. thanks to dave's garden, customer reviews lead me to sooner plant farm.
happy planting.

I purchased 2 Abelia 'SILVER ANNIVERSARY' plants in 1 gallon containers in November from Sooner. The plants were healthy, good-sized and delivered as promised. They are still doing great, even through a few very cold nights.

Posted on October 1, 2010, updated October 16, 2010
Posted on September 16, 2010, updated October 1, 2010
Shipment of my Viburnum Raspberry Tart was very speedy, shipped on Tues, and arrived Thursday morning! This plant which is in the 3 gallon pot is the healthiest plant I have ever received from ANY mail order company.. Its beautiful and full, and very green . I am certainly going back to them.

I have recently ordered several things from Sooner. The ninebark diablo were particularly stunning, and even in this relentless end of summer have made the transition into the ground quite well. The packaging and communication was great. I DO wish, though, that they used biodegradable "peanuts" in the packing-the styrofoam peanuts are annoying and not so enviro-friendly, eh? Still, I'll order from them again!

"On Oct 1, 2010 12:55 PM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

Thank you for the positive feedback. In response to the peanuts, I tried the bio-degradable peanuts, Bad choice, when setting on moist soil the peanuts become a slimy mess, a good idea that did not work. We dislike the peanuts also and only use them when necessary, we will continue to search.
Thanks Brian"

Ordered a JAPANESE MAPLE 'EMPEROR 1'. Communication was good, received emails when shipped, and the packaging was terrific (as another reviewer stated, took me several minutes to get the packaging open!). The Japanese Maple looks very healthy and is the size (4-5 ft.) as advertised. Not my first purchase from this company and always very pleased with the plants and trees.

Very nice plants and nice folks to deal with. They had emailed me with a shipping date, then were nice enough to call and say shipping had been delayed (only by a week). I appreciated that.

***************************POSITIVE*******************************
To anyone who is looking to buy a tree? This is the place to buy!! Let me start from the begining so all you people who think you had a negative with Sooner. I first started out in the spring looking to buy trees for my yard. I searched high and low. I found the company which shall remain nameless. I ordered, paid and nothing. I emailed time and time again, nothing. I filed complaints with the District Court, Federal Trade Commision and so on. Then I found a second company, which will also remain nameless. I ordered and with multiple emails and phone calls I finally got my trees. Out of the 7 trees I bought, 2 survived, which were small and sickly.
This time I ordered from Sooner. I fully read the return policy and understand it. If you did not read it that's on you. Don't complain and give a negative for something you did not read, understand or care about until you wanted to.
Ok I ordered on the 2nd, trees sent on the 8th and got them on the 10th. The packaging was great. It took me 5 minutes to get into the boxes. When I opened them up, to my suprise were three of the most beautiful maple trees I have seen. Far better than I expected. They were bigger and all had new growth.
You should look no further. Yes, if you want cheaper you will find it but you will not like what you get. These trees were bigger and stronger than I expected. The communication was great and shipping was fast. I will order again and again from this company. Thank you for such healthy and beautiful trees.

Best plant mail order company that I ordered from to date. I requested an earlier ship date: DONE. Plants were in fantastic shape, even after 4 days of shipping through UPS. And finally the quality and size far exceeded not only my expectations, but even their own description.
Their selection and customer service cannot be beat, and have every intention of ordering from this company again, again, and again.

I bought an Avondale Redbud from Sooner in 2006 and up until last winter it grew and bloomed beautifully. Due to our severe winter (2009) the redbud died back seriously. Brian advised me to cut it back as the root is very healthy. Now the tree is bigger than when I first bought it. I will prune it this winter and await a new crop of flowers. Sooner's customer service is top notch. I have had several conversations with Brian as to the care and pruning of the redbud. His advice has been thoughtful and accurate. I have consulted him on future aquisitions I plan to make and we have discussed the pros and cons of various plants.
I would buy with confidence from Sooner. There is nothing as valualble as information. Know your planting site and only buy suitable plants. So many people don't do this and they are quickly disappointed. Also, we can't control the weather or Mother Nature. We an only work with her.

Sooner Plant Farm truly came through at a time in need. Being a little late in the season, I was having a difficult time finding the tree I was looking for. My dog recently passed and I had my heart set on "just the right tree" to bury her cremains under. I had never heard of them before, but they had both the trees I had spent all week desperately in search of. I settled on the Lavender Twist Redbud and placed my order.
To my great surprise, not only was it still in stock, but at a price far below what I had been seeing. Even after s&h, ordering from them saved me a lot of money. Which was really nice because I had spent quite a bit of money already caring for a sick and elderly dog.
The tree arrived in perfect form...well, it had a few small spots of transplant shock - not the companies fault though. I'm a novice gardener, so when it started to wilt after planting it, I freaked. This tree means a lot to me. I contacted Sooner Plant Farms and they got right back to me. They were personable and helpful, even giving me a tip on how to care for it.
Within a few hours of steady sunlight, the wilting went away and my tree has been gorgeous ever since.
What I've learned from this experience is should you have problems with one of their plants, it's doubtfully due to the companies treatment and far more likely the cause of your own hand. Sooner Plant Farms will be my first stop for online gardening and I'd happily recommend them to anyone.

Since I live in Bentonville, AR we were able to drive down into Oklahoma to pick up our plant order. Although we had been told all of our order was available, when we got there they were unable to provide some of the things I ordered but made substitutions that I requested after inspecting the shrubs, trees, & vines myself. Overall a very satisfying experience. Plants were of excellent quality & have done very well since they were planted & have been watered on a regular basis. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a family owned business that was willing to understand that they can't always be there to answer the phone when you have a question but are just an e-mail away.

Beautiful spirea in perfect condition. Impressed by packaging. Shipping expensive, but appears worth it. Would definitely order from Sooner again

I received a beautiful plant of Cercis 'Heart of Gold', and, even with shipping, it was an excellent deal, compared to what I found locally.

I recently purchase 2 reblooming azaleas, described as 3-gal and 3-yr old plants. Price + shipping came to about $25 per plant. I was willing to pay the price, hoping for big plants. And I'm happy that I bought from Sooner - the plants were very good size for the price and one of them came with lots of flowers! Communication was great throughout processing through shipping of my order. Very well packaged - so well that it took me awhile to pull everything apart to free the plants; of course, the important thing is that the plants are well-protected and in great condition upon arrival. It's been about 5 weeks now and they have both been planted and doing well. I would definitely buy from Sooner again.

I first ordered from Sooner in 2009 - four hardy hibiscus for Mother's Day gifts. After getting rave reviews from my mother and grandma (and hearing that all four plants made it through a very rough 2009 Nebraska winter with tons of snow and subzero temps!); I ordered myself four of their hybrid coneflowers. All four - very large - plants arrived in perfect condition and needed very little "perking up" after unpacking. I will be a repeat customer.

Ordered 2 rose of sharon plants, arrived very quickly and in great condition, quite big too. One of them is a little struggling now, but this year we are having an unseen before attack of all kinds of pests in FL, so in no way is this the company's fault. I keep spraying, and it seems to recover nicely. Highly recommend.

I ordered Dark Horse Weigela and Compact Japanese Holly this spring and was impressed with the size and quality of the plants. Shipping is a little pricey, but worth it, considering the quality of the plants.

Sooner Plant Farm has a wide selection of ornamental plants so it was obvious that I had to check it out. I'm glad I did. I didn't order a lot, but what I did order was pure quality. The shipping was a little high, but they ship plants in their containers with the dirt intact. The plants looked as if I had purchased them from a local nursery. They were so big a lush! Free fertilizer was an added bonus to an already good, fast, easy, quality transaction. A returning customer? I hope so. Sooner Plant Farm is a great gem to add to any collection of quality mail-order nurseries.

I have just ordered from this company for the first time and am delighted with the experience. The honeysuckle arrived very quickly, and when I opened the box I was astonished at the plant's good health and generous size. The packing was just right, too: totally adequate to protect the plant, but not stapled to death and so no damage happened when I removed it. The written instructions were good, and I even enjoyed the promotional catalogue included with the order. I plan to order from this company again.

Posted on May 6, 2010, updated May 15, 2010
Posted on May 2, 2010, updated May 6, 2010
Ordered 2 two-gallon (Weigela and Barberry) shrubs. Sooner Plant self-inflates itself as having plants with "established root system." Only once the plants were removed from the pots, almost all the soil fell right off the roots... meaning the roots were not holding the soil together. The roots are as thin as the strands of hair on my head. Very very thin roots. Barberry bush cut back drastically with stems/branches that had turned black down their length. Plants were obviously repotted into a two gallon just prior to mailing so I wasted all that money on the soil's weight.

In comparison, my 2 two-gallon shrubs purchase from Stargazer Perinnials came with the roots trailing out of the pots' holes, trimmed... yet, twice the size of the two above.

"On May 6, 2010 8:05 AM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

I have attempted to contact the customer regarding her purchase. We take our customer satisfaction extremely serious, and will always try to resolve any problems. We want every customer to have a positive experience with us and our plants. I hope we are given the opportunity to change this customers opinion of Sooner Plant Farm, into a positive one.

Brian Chojnacki"

I was fortunate to have been led (through the internet) to Sooner Plant Farm for a special tree I had been looking for. I had visited Dave's Garden web page to see what to expect as this was a new vendor for me....After reading the reviews it was without hesitation to go ahead and purchase from Sooner Plant Farm. I can't say enough good about them. They were very fast replying to email questions about the tracking of the shipment and shipped VERY FAST. Also I had never seen such care in packaging the tree. (not even bare root!) Shipped in a balled container! Tree was staked, attached the the inside of the container so it couldn't move and arrived all green leafed ad NO broken branches, The Lavender Twist Redbud was already contorted in shape...this was NO stick in a box...BEAUTIFUL TREE.....THANK YOU SOON PLANT FARM!

Just rec'd first order from Sooner. My flowering almond arrived in such great condition. The care that was taken to package my plant and the condition in which it arrived was perfect. No damage at all. Plant is beautiful and healthy.
Will definitely do business again with this company.

Posted on May 23, 2009, updated May 14, 2010
I only order from a few mail order places because I'm pretty picky but this place rocks! Love them and HIGHLY recommed them to anyone looking for big, healthy, reasonably priced plants! I ordered 3 hardy hibiscus and 3 rose of sharon and got 20% off because they were 3 of the same variety! I love a bargain! The hibiscus are huge and healthy and the rose of sharon have bloom buds on them! This place has won me over! There are so many mail order nurseries that really take advantage but believe me you can trust Sooner Plant Farm they are awesome!

A first order placed last week for a Pink Double Knockout has arrived in perfect and lush condition. What a beauty!
Even though UPS did their best to trash the box, the packaging was so well done that the plant suffered no damage whatsoever. I am very, very pleased with this company and will definitely order again.
Also, they included a nice packet of starter fertilizer, which was a nice thing to do.
Thanks, Sooner Plant Farm......I will be back.

GREAT experience! I am always apprehensive about ordering plant through mail order -- usually very small and often damaged. Not so with Sooner Plant Farm! I ordered 1 gallon Brandywine viburnum plants...very reasonable shipping price, shipped Wednesday and arrived Friday. The plants were absolutely beautiful!! Great root systems! The leaves are very healthy and green! The plants are at least a foot tall. The packaging was superb!! --- real nursery pots, soil very moist, very stiff cardboard packing. They are planted and so far, look very good! Can't wait to see progress! I would definitely buy from Sooner Plant Farm again!

Have bought several shrubs now from this company (Encore azaleas, dwarf hydrangeas, hibiscus shrub). Quality and packaging are consistently very good, and it's nice that they throw in some fertilizer packets with the larger (5-gallon) shrubs. Communication is good. Also, they were very, very nice to me when I had made a mistake in placing my order and needed to change it (due to my own ignorance about the differences between a hibiscus shrub and hibiscus tree). Will definitely do business again.

Sooner Plant Farm is an exceptional company. I was so impressed with my original order (placed through Amazon.com) that I placed another order via their website shortly after. I emailed them with a question regarding the shipping on their Japanese maples and they responded immediately. The plants arrived on a Friday looking as fresh as the day they were shipped. (I was worried they wouldn't arrive before the weekend since they're shipping across the country, but they ship on Mondays to the east coast to ensure that the plants don't sit in hot boxes over the weekend). The packaging was remarkable....the best I have ever seen and I order a lot of plants! Not one leaf was lost, nor any soil spilled. The rosebushes and maples were a generous size and very healthy. Shipping cost are high, but the quality of the plants and the service makes up for it.
A highly recommended company!

Sooner Farms is a company with a heart. I purchased a Home Run Rose and a Sunny Knockout Rose about 6 weeks ago. Both arrived in great condition. Sunny has been thriving and now has 2 buds.

I bought Home Run to replace one that my 90 year old father bought from another nursery last year (the poor thing arrived in...well, it didn't make it). He wanted me to have one, and I didn't want to lie to him (he keeps asking me how it's doing). So I ordered one from Sooner.

Home Run hasn't adapted well, and is struggling. On Friday, 4/30/10, I sent a note to Sooner asking if they were still shipping Home Run so that I could buy another one (and also to find out what I might have done wrong, so that I wouldn't kill again!).

Even though I have had the plant for 6 weeks, they are replacing the plant at no charge. I didn't ask for that. They're just doing it. Nice people to go with the wonderful plants.

Thank you, Brian!