Comments regarding Gorge Top Gardens (also dba perennial-gardening.com)

Half of my original order of Clematis were DOA. Contacted the company and they offered to replace them at no charge. So I placed another order, even through the first one was three weeks late. I never received the replacements or the second order, so I'm out over a hundred dollars. I've tried calling and their mailbox is full; I've sent over a dozen e-mails to every address they have, and have not received a reply (this is over a two month period). I'm planning to file a complaint with the BBB and advise everyone to shop elsewhere!

Unfortunately, my recent experience was not good, and this is the first negative comment in the many, many nurseries I have bought plants from in the mail. I have occasionally received one bad plant here or there, but this was really surprising. You could almost duplicate my comments from the other recent complaints in this list! The only plants that made it in my order were the daylilies (they are such a rugged plant!!) The others were wilted mush and going downhill fast while shipped in cedar chips. (Cedar chips??)I planted them immediately in the hopes that the greenhouse-like weather we have now would revive them, but to no avail. I've seen Wal-Mart and Target sell flowered-out but still alive plants for less than this (and no shipping!)

My expectations are lower for end-of-season sales. I ordered from their 50% off sale. 2 daylilies and 2 clematis. One daylily was excellent, a triple fan which after 3 weeks in the ground has produced another fan and a small flower scape. The other daylily was good, a small but double fan. One clematis was pretty good for the price and is growing, the other which was much smaller is iffy and may die. The daylilys were too moist, starting to mold, and the clems were dry. They were supposed to mail 'the week of the 17th' according to the site, which they did, on the last day of the week, the 22nd (according to the postmark). I emailed them on the 20th to see if they had shipped or not. The answer I got back was: 'it will be mailed the week of the 17th.' This did not exactly answer my question. I give this company a neutral, a slight lean towards the negative because of the unclear email response and the iffy clematis, a slight lean towards positive because of the 1 excellent daylily. I don't know if I would order from them again.

I ordered from Gorge Top Gardens on May 9, and did not recieve my order until the beginning of June. They emailed me three weeks after my order was placed to tell me that the order would be about another week late due to short daylight hours and short staff. It ended up arriving 2 weeks after that. When I got the order, the plants were horribly wilted and soggy, and I have no idea if they will even make it. Also, I ordered peonies, which I was told were in stock, and did not recieve them. They sent a letter saying that the money was credited back to my account, but it is not. I have attempted to email them numerous times, and have never recieved a response. I will never order from this company again.

Took a chance with their 50% off sale, not a good outcome at all. The box was crushed in. The plants arrived very dry, packed in cedar chips. The hostas look frost bitten and the leaves are all broken and melting. Heuchera and lavender also had rotten leaves. I haven't heard from customer service yet, and they have "Closed" until fall and have taken down their web pages. Feel like I was ripped off!!

I was understanding of their delay. I ordered on 5/7/04 and finally received the order on 5/28. I opened the box to find that almost everything was dead. The cedar shavings they pack with were so soggy that the leaves of the plants were mashed onto the plastic bag, and disintegrated into sludge when I tried to remove them. Ever optimistic, I planted everything anyway, thinking the roots were strong like the website promised. Out of an 11 item order, as of 6/11/04 only ONE thing has survived. Customer service was spotty/nonexistent, I was promised a refund that never happened, and now NO response to any e-mail. BEWARE of this company and AVOID!

I also ordered from this nursery for the first time. I was pleased with the packing and the size of the roots.
It would have been nice if they had let me know that the plants were not going to be shipped the week of May 17th as the ad stated. They did arrive on the 26th.
I will be anxious to see how they grow, and I would order again from them. Doris

I placed my first order with this company on May 3rd as they were having a large sale on their perrenials. I had never heard of this company before a member of Daves Garden directed me to their site.
I received my order on May 24th with the knowledge it would be mailed the week of the 17th. I did email them to ask about my order and they returned my email promptly the next day.
I was very happy with the condition of my plants. The only thing I didn't care for was that they enclosed some of my plants in a plastic bag with cedar shavings and the foilage was very wet from moisture. The roots were very big and healthy, so hopefully my plants will grow new foliage.
I will order again from this company.
Donna

I ordered an entire shade garden and some geraniums from this company. I had never heard of them before.
The shipping was a bit delayed but when I e-mailed, they did let me know that it was due to adverse weather conditions.

That said, what arrived did not LOOK great but turned out FABULOUS. I had never seen perennial plants shipped in that matter but it was effective anyhow as they all lived.
The root systems of the geraniums and hostas were shipped without anything atop the roots. Once I figured out which way was up and planted - within 1 week, everything was coming up gangbusters.
I would buy again, with pleasure!

Placed a first time order with them in early May for a sale they were having based on a notice on saw posted on a Dave's Garden forum about their sale. I didn't order alot since it was a first order.

Hosta had excellent root systems and cranesbill was ok (2-1/2" pot and a bit dry). All was individually packaged in plastic bags with cedar shavings, so the bareroot hosta were still moist. Good packaging.

The only thing I can recommend for improvement at this point is in their communication to email inquiries. They were very prompt to the point of replying late at night on weekends, but when checking status of my shipment they said it would arrive the next week (it arrived a couple of days later on Monday). They would have already had to have shipped my order to get it the next business day, but they didn't advise that. I would have gladly waited a day or two for an email reply if it meant getting the info that it was on it's way instead of a vague "it will arrive next week".

I will buy again from this company.