Comments regarding Sooner Plant Farm (Shop Smarter Shop Sooner)

Shrubs ordered were in perfect condition upon arrival. Incredible quality & superb growth! The shipment arrived according to my special delivery request, too... I will definitely order from Sooner Plant Farm again! I am thrilled!!!!

Read about Sooner on a forum (very positive comments) checked them out here and placed an order for 8 items; 3 trees, shrubs and perennials totaling $170.60.

They state in the faq on their site that shipping is based on the weight of the order, and that shipping multiple tree orders do not increase shipping costs much, and yet my shipping charge was $62.07 for 2 large boxes.

Fair enough, I thought, since they were shipping 5 gallon-sized pots and the trees, except that they'd shifted in shipping and enough potting mix had fallen out of the pots for it to be evident that both the mukdenia and caryopteris which were listed as gallon pots and were indeed shipped in gallon pots had only recently been potted up from what looks like plugs, and had barely extended roots out into the new soil. I've got 3 month old perennial seedlings bigger than these plants.

I could theoretically have paid at least 10% less for shipping, and truth be told I would not have ordered the caryopteris and mukdenia from them if I'd known they were so young/small. I expected gallon sized plants, as listed and paid for.

That said, everything else in the order was at least the size advertised, and the trees are quite nice.

Still, I doubt I would order again unless they were the exclusive source of some coveted plant.

This company is the best! The plants, trees and shrubs they send are very healthy and much larger than the plants of other online vendors, communication is excellent, packaging is very careful and shipping is lightning fast. You cannot go wrong with Sooner Plant Farm!

Not sure why Sooner isn't in the Top 30 today. It was a couple of weeks ago, which is why I felt comfortable ordering from them. Just received my plants last night.

In March, I ordered 3 Mukdenia (Crimson Fans). I immediately received an e-mail stating that the plants wouldn't be ready until April 23 (last Monday), and was that okay? It was. Over the weekend, I discovered that Sooner also had some heucheras that I wanted. I send off an e-mail Sunday night, hoping to catch my Monday shipment and add three plants to it.

Brian called me Monday to say that they would be able to add the plants and would ship them that afternoon. Everything arrived last night (Wed). The first thing I noticed was the outstanding packing. Most mail-order companies pack well. However, these were packed so carefully that it took over half an hour to unwrap them. Despite the obvious banging around by UPS, the only damage was a couple of broken flower scapes.

Once I got them unwrapped, I was thrilled to see the quality of the plants. They're all just beautiful. These are TNN plants, and I know from coops how small TNN ships its plugs. Sooner's plants have been grown to mature size. They are by far the biggest, healthiest plants I've ever received by mail. In fact, they are bigger and healthier than most of the mature plants I buy locally.

I also thought that these plants were a little on the expensive side. But now, having seen them, I don't think that's true. Sooner's plants are just as they describe: "premium one-gallon" plants. Very much worth the price.

I am a veteran of shopping at online nurserys and sooner plant farm is on par with the best. I ordered a golden raintree from this company and I have to say that the service and the plant quality was excellent! I appreciate the fact that the tree was not shipped bare rooted and was ready to go in the ground. They also included a small amount of fertilizer for the plant, which I thought was a nice touch.

I will definately recommend this company and will purchase for them again.

Ordered 3 eastern redbuds and 4 red maples plus some misc. plants. All where shipped on time as per date acknowleged when order was placed. They arrived just before an unseasonable cold so I set up an area in the house to keep them until it warmed up. WOW they started budding and leafing right away. They arrived well packed and in two days after shipment was made, which was scheduled at the proper time for our area. Product was as described on their site and very healthy.

If you Email them use their site to do it. They respond with in hours if using their method. Using a standard mail prgram did not get a response.

The only thing I would change is an Email confirmation that the order had shipped with tracking numbers. Although it shipped as promised and this should never be a problem.
Their shipping charges seem to be more reasonable than others shipping like items.

Would recommend to others. Keep up the good work and you will soon be in the top 30 ratings.

Thank You

"

Thank you for the positive comments on our product and service. You are correct about the best way to contact us is by using the email tool within our site. We are linked to many gardening sites that require us to jump through hoops just to respond to a customer message. Sorry for that inconvenience. As for the the shipping confirmation, we recently switched from UPS to Fed EX and although Fed Ex has provided great shipping, their software has some issues that we are working on, so we can again get the email notices out to our customers. Thanks for your commments, that is what we need to hear!
Good Growing "

I ordered twelve Double Knockout Rose bush's and a couple of Crepe Mytles from Sooner Plant Farm and I could not be more satisfied. The packaging was excellent. Everything arrived yesterday green and in excellent condition. Especially the roses....full of bud's!
I can't say it much better than Kathiewd: The product from Sooner Plant Farm would have to be classified as Superior and warrants an endorsement from a well-satisfied customer!
Thanks Brian and associates at Sooner Plant Farm.

I have ordered from Sooner's for a three years. The quality of the plants has been 100% great. I called them recently as I had an error on my internet order, and the communication with the associate who took care of the problem was was very pleasant. I would definitely order from them again. The order arrived yesterday, was packaged very well, and the shrub has lots of branches and is well rooted. Good folks

We received our plants and they where more then we ever dreamed of. They where not damaged in transport and the trees where excellent condition.

I had one concern over one of the plants and went to Sooner's web site and filled out a form and submitted the form. Had mistyped the email and within an hour the ower called me and answered my concerns.

Excellent company!

I ordered a bunch of hardy Hibiscus from Sooner which have not sprouted yet (I know these break dormancy late), but potted root stocks were huge. Just received my second order from them this week for some trees I ordered...some Globe Willows, Red Maples and Loblolly pines. All arrived in terrific shape and are huge - the pines and willows are particularly impressive. Lighting fast shipping, too, exactly when I requested....very impressive experience with this nursery so far!

Always a good experience with Sooner. Fast shipping, perfect packing, great discounts. Plants arrived moist and unfazed. A+

The tree I ordered arrived on the date promised. It was very well packaged and arrived in perfect condition the day after it was processed at Sooner Plant Farm. The leaflets were just bursting their buds and were fresh and green.

I have ordered from other companies- some who provided good service, some not as good. The product from Sooner would have to be classified Superior and warrants an endorsement from a well-satisfied customer.

Great price, shipped at the correct time for planting in my area, packaged securely and the tree arrived in great shape with an extremely well developed root system. I too will be giving Sooner Plant Farm more orders in the future.

Placed a order for Japanese seedlings. The "baby trees" were nice shaped and healthy. They were packed the best I've seen so they arrived undamaged. Can't wait till Spring!!!
Wish there was a "More than Positive" choice for experience

"

I reveiwed the photos, and the customer is referring to older age bark. The trees are going on 3 years old and the younger green bark is turning gray and rough textured. This is perfectly natural and is not any disease. We have weekly Department of Agricuture inspections, and at no time has any diseases been found on our products. We have grown and shipped Japanese Maples for 11 years and have never had any problems with our trees.
After speaking to the customer and deciding I could not ease her concerns, I have agreed to take back the trees and offer a refund. The customer accepted this offer. "

I have used a handful of online garden suppliers and soonerplantfarm is by far the best one. The trees that I ordered were well shipped and in good condition for planting. I will use them again.

I have dealt with a number of online plant nurseries and Sooner Plant Farm is the Best of them all. The best overall value. Expertly packed trees. Healthy and robust. Quick feedback on emails. Very nice selection of trees. Good web site. I hope they keep up the good work. Will order from them again next year.

This is the honest truth--I ordered some trees on Monday.

The trees arrived at my front door via UPS the very next day!!
(I live in Oklahoma, too)

They don't have crazy-fast shipping, they have SUDDEN shipping.

And I can't forget to mention their wonderfully healthy plants. And they send little fertilizer packets you bury near the roots when you plant. And, the best planting instructions ever!! They've thought of everything.

To describe Sooner Plant Farm....AMAZING.

Excellent service and quality plants!! I called to verify the knockout roses were in stock and spoke to Brian at 7:00 a.m. Very heplful. The plants showed up 5 business days after being ordered. Highly recommended!

I love this company. I ordered two Bloodgoods and a Mimosa tree in the past and just ordered a Don Egolf. I love them. There prices are the best. I stop buying from the local nursery and only order from them.

Wouldn't you know that the one plant I wanted was out of stock. Doesn't matter though, because the man who answered the phone, Brian, was extremely nice, apologized for the item on the website being shown as "in stock" and told me about their waiting list for the spring. So nice to talk to such polite and helpful people.

Let me begin by admitting that I am new to gardening and have never previously ordered from a mail order nursey. Nonetheless, I wanted to add my own positive comment to this list.

I purchased a Henry Lauder's Walking Stick, a Beautyberry, a Japanese Maple, a Lilac collection, a Butterfly Bush, and a Sweetspire. Most of these plants were purchased on a Fall clearance sale. I received the plans in short order. They seemed well packed, and arrived with specific care instructions along with individual packs of fertilizer to plant with each item. The plants were all as described, and I was happy with their size and health. All the plants were planted several weeks ago and seem to be doing well. Overall, I found the process easy and rewarding and would recommend this company to others.

I placed two orders with Sooner Plant Farm this summer: one for a Moonglow magnolia, and another for a water oak and a willow oak. I was very pleased with both orders. The trees all arrived in excellent condition and were the size they were advertised to be. With both orders, I automatically received an order confirmation, and subsequently I got an email with the UPS tracking number. Both ordered shipped the Monday following my order. Brian responded quickly to a special request I made with the magnolia order. Best of all, Sooner's prices are quite reasonable.

I ordered a Ninebark 'Coppertina' and a Hydrangea 'Limelight' on Sep. 2. I was thrilled when they shipped the next week. I received my plants late on Sep. 7 and immediately opened them. Both bushes were really healthy looking and had been packaged very well. I knew right away that the hydrangea didn't look like what I ordered and it had two different tags on it--one said 'Limelight' and one said 'Light O Day'. I called the company the next morning and they said they would send the correct bush and I could keep the other one and plant it or throw it out or whatever I wanted to do with it. Of course I couldn't throw it out, so I changed some of my planting plans and made a spot for the 'Light O Day'. I received my 'Limelight' bush the next week and it was very full and beautiful and packaged really well like the other ones. I'm very happy with the plants and the service I received from the Sooner Plant Farm. I was equally thrilled to have a company from OK since I used to live there.

For Sooner Plant Farm, there should be an option to indicate a "Super Positive" experience. The company calls to make sure the delivery time works for you, the plants are larger and healthier than you will expect, even with all the rave reviews on this site, and, when there is an occasional problem (even if not caused by Sooner) it is resolved with dispatch and the utmost civility. I would look here first for any plant you are considering ordering online. Fanstastic product, terrific service -- excellent value and a super positive experience.

Bought a Lady in Red Hydrangea and a Yellow hardy hibiscus. I placed the order, and they called me to make sure the weather was right and I would be around to receive the package. Shows how much they care about the health of their plants!! My hydrangea was huge!! Well worth and beyond the price! The plants were very carefully packaged. Would definately buy from them again in a heartbeat!

I placed an order with Sooner that was scehduled to arrive on Friday, June 30th. The order did not arrive until Monday, July, 3rd. I tracked my order through UPS and the shipment was to be deliver on the 30th as per their website and appeared to be on time. The plants that I received were of exceptional size. There was only a small problem with my order. As the plants had sat in a warehouse over the weekend they were a little stressed from lack of water or maybe heat. The viburnum was completely withered and brown. The delayed delivery was no fault of Sooner however I placed a call to Sooner and they immediately shipped a replacement Viburnum. The Service Berry Tree, Lady in Red Hydrangea, Limelight/Little Lamb Hydrangea, Charles Jole Lilac are all doing well. The replacement Viburnum arrived and I planted it right away and it appears to be doing well. Again, I cannot brag enough on the size of the plants that I received.

Go Sooners!

The three plants I ordered from Sooner Plant Farm arrived within a week. They were all very large and full, much more than I expected. The only problem with the shipping was that the box was sealed with those dangerous large staples and I managed to scratch myself in my rush to get to the plants. All the plants were healthy, and the roots were all just reaching the edge of the pots. They were absolutely perfect. I am so impressed that I check their website first when I want to order a plant. Unfortunately, they don't carry everything I want. Too bad, because they were great.

This company offers great plants at very reasonable prices. The first perennials I ordered - Heuchera "Plum Pudding" - were enormous, and have literally doubled in size within three weeks of planting. A second order from this company arrived in a box that was crushed and split open, resulting in dry, shriveled plants. The owner called me at home, on the 4th of July, to make sure that the problem would be resolved to my satisfaction! An unusual combination of quality plants offered at great prices by a grower who obviously takes pride in what he sells.

I have received several orders from Brian at Sooner's and the quality is always excellent. The service is outstanding and the shipping is on time and painless.

I, purchase 4 Green Giant trees from Sooner. They arrived today! These trees are some of best plants I have ever purchased from a mail order company! The trees are great looking, no damage in shipping and the root systems are some of the best I have ever seen at local nurseries or mail order! I highly recommend this company! the prices are good. I paid $59.00 dollars for four 3-4 ft trees plus shipping. I have purchased Green Giants from another mail order company and paid about $18.00 each plus shipping and they were only 6-12 inches tall and had poor root systems!they didn't survive the winter! I will be ordering alot more plants from this company!

i've had the pleasure of actually going to sooner plant farm, and was very impressed. their stock is beautiful and healthy, and their staff extremely knowledgeable about what will work where and, if it won't, why not. i purchased several plants from them, including some lovely orange colored coneflowers, ornamental fescue, perennial hibiscus and ... a kind of groundcover i don't remember the name of --- all the plants are thriving and have required NO special care to recover from their time at the nursery.

i plan to purchase trees from them in the fall and am confident i'll be as satisfied with the trees as i am with the plants i've already purchased.

let me add, i've grown most of my plants from seed for years now because i've been so disappointed in too many of my purchases at other nurseries. the first time i visited sooner plant farm, however, i felt almost a wave of relief that maybe, just maybe i could concentrate my seed growing efforts on more exotic types and heirlooms, and rely on this nursery for my coneflowers and similar.

very, very nice nursery!

I recently ordered 3 Harry Lauder's Walking Stick trees, and was amazed to receive such healthy, vigorous plants! The packaging was so good that I didn't lose a single leaf from any of the trees.I live in an extreme climate...very hot and very cold, and rarely see plants adapt so readily to such extremes as yours have done. I will never order from any other nursery again. You have restored my faith in online plant companies! I ordered 3 trees hoping that one would survive..all 3 of them are thriving. I have searched for this tree for 2 years, but the prices were so high elsewhere that I would not risk buying one until I found you. Not only did you have the best price I had ever seen for this tree, you also do not graft it--so I don't have to worry about pruning suckers--they will be as beautiful as the original. WOW! From now on, if you don't have it, I won't buy it. There should be a higher category than "Positive" for this company--you guys ROCK!

I purchased (2) malepartus maiden grass from sooner plant farm. While they had some difficulty with the on-line transaction they were more than happy to place my order over the phone and follow up with an on-line summary and tracking almost immediately.
The plants arrived on time and were in excellent condition. Additionally, the information sheet packed with the plants was very informative with all kinds of information about planting and care.
Finally I was very pleased with the price for the size of the product recieved. Thank- You Sooner Plant Farm. I will definetly be ordering again.

We ordered a Crapemyrtle 'Pink Velour' and were very pleased. The plant quality and size was excellent. I can't imagine a plant being packed for shipping any better than this plant was prepared.

We would highly recommend this company. I had been looking for Crapemyrtle's hybridized by a particular individual and came across this site so I had no idea what to expect. What a pleasant surprise!

"Endless Summer" hydrangea was recommended as THE hydrangea to buy during a class on plant materials for Florida. I went straight to Dave's Garden to see who sold that particular variety, and discovered Sooner Plant Farm. The plant was here within a week of ordering it, and it looked great, and was big. It has been in the ground now for about six weeks, and it is beautiful. Leaves are healthy, shape is lovely, and there are lots of flower heads forming. I look forward to buying from Sooner again.

I recently placed my first order with Sooner Plant Farm and received my trees a few days ago. I have ordered a lot of plants online, and I have been disappointed alot. The packaging was among the best I have seen. The trees are beautiful and in great shape. It was so nice to receive such great plants. I felt the shipping costs were very reasonable. I appreciate the extra care and effort put into packaging trees that were shipped several states away. I will definitely order from them again.

Every once in a while someone restores your faith in the idea that there are good people out there and not everyone is trying to take your money. Brian is that kind of person and Sooner Plants is that kind of business. I have ordered from Brian a few times now and have several orders pending from my own nursery customers as I am a retailer for Sooner's wholesale business. He goes the extra mile to make sure you're happy with what you get, he takes the time to return phone calls, emails, etc., and the business itself has an awesome website that is easy to navigate and get what you want off it. The trees and plants are protected well, they ALWAYS, repeat ALWAYS arrive in great shape and very quickly at reasonable shipping costs. Thanks for your help in getting my business going, Brian, and I hope to be buying your stuff for myself and my customers too for a very long time!
Mark

this is a great company, very reasonable prices for such nice trees. I have placed two tree orders this fall and was very impressed with the root systems. Very fast shipping, will definitely order from them again as I need more trees. Their selection of maples is especially outstanding.

I have placed two orders in the last two months. I was so pleased with the first order ( Somerset Red Maple and Prariefire Crabapple) that I had no hesitation about ordering a second time (Bloodgood Japanese Maple and Coral Bark Japanese Maple). Both orders were received in great condition, no stem breakage or damage to the roots. The roots were well developed, the trees were pruned appropriately and had lots of leaves. The first set of trees has been planted for just over a month and they have put out lots of new growth. I only planted the second set today, but I expect the same great results.