Comments regarding Easy to Grow Bulbs

Posted on November 5, 2020, updated November 25, 2020
I DO NOT RECOMMED ordering from this company. The only reason I ordered from Easy To Grow Bulbs was for the Amaryllis belladonna bulbs, and only because Bill the Bulb passed away and his bulb farm is not currently shipping.

I requested when I ordered on August 20th that I wanted them shipped ASAP because Amaryllis belladonna are best planted in August or September in my area, not planted later like other fall bulbs such as narcissus. My request was not fulfilled and the bulbs shipped even later than their website showed they shipped other types of bulbs for my area. The website said they shipped to Amaryllis to my zone September to October and other fall bulbs October 12th. They did not ship until October 28 according to the label on the box.

My order included Amaryllis belladonna, Crocus sativus, and Triteleia. The only bulbs that look good are the Triteleia. The crocus bulbs are still firm, but all of them sprouted. However, in my opinion, the White Amaryllis belladonna are ready for the trash. The Amaryllis bulbs are soft and shriveled. They look like they have been out of the ground since July. I am particularly disappointed because the Amaryllis belladonna were really the only reason I ordered from this company. If the Amaryllis belladonna come back to life, it likely will be at least 3 or more years before they build up enough energy bloom now.

I contacted the company about the poor condition of the bulbs when the bulbs arrived, and included a photo, but the only responses I received were auto generated when I sent it, and then today generic "was it something we said" unsubscribing email confirmation (BTW, I did not unsubscribe) with a coupon for 50% off my next order by Nov. 20. I would not order from them again after their poor quality, regardless of the discount.

This company has two separate listings in garden watchdog. I hope other gardeners considering ordering bulbs read both listings for the other negative comments.

I have ordered from Easy to Grow bulbs 3 or 4 times in the past year and they have been mostly positive with some negative parts. I got 20 bareroot hosta in 2019 and they arrived and looked healthy and grew well. Most of them survived and the ones that didn't I believe died because I didn't water them enough. I bought several bareroot plants this spring and most of them did well. Two of our sulphur bleeding hearts did not come up, but the company did agree to give us a credit. (Not a refund mind you, but a credit I have to spend with them.)

Then I ordered from one of their clearance sales in May and I was disappointed when a full half of the order was cancelled without any warning. Even their confirmation email that the order had shipped didn't indicate that anything was amiss. I didn't make a big fuss because it was during coronavirus and I was happy to get any plants, but I was disappointed because I had really been looking forward to the plants they'd cancelled.

Posted on November 3, 2019, updated November 3, 2019
Easy to Grow Bulbs used to be my go-to for mail ordering bulbs, but I don't think that I can order from them anymore or recommend them. I've been ordering from them since at least 2016; perhaps longer, but I don't have the email confirmations to be positive. The first issue I had was with failing freesia and ranunculus bulbs. Customer service very promptly and kindly sent me (double!) replacements. The replacement ranunculus failed as well, but that was due to poor growing conditions (unseasonably hot temperatures), no fault of the company. The freesia did come up and bloom, but was the wrong variety (single instead of double, and all orange and yellow instead of mixed - the bag did say should be double mixed). Well, no big deal, since they were free replacements! Over the next couple of years, I had a few more orders. One order included a mix of bulbs and bareroots; only about half the plants sprouted or succeeded (the bareroots were small and didn't make it, and the elephant ear never sprouted). I chalked that up to bad luck. Last year, I ordered an amaryllis that turned out to be the wrong variety when it bloomed (Dancing Queen instead of Aphrodite). They kindly refunded me when I sent pictures. This spring, I ordered several bulbs; the begonias sprouted, stalled for months, then died; the clematis plug arrived barely alive and died within a week; the canna thrived but turned out to be the wrong variety (hot orange instead of pale pink); the roselilies also thrived but were also the wrong variety (Stargazer colors instead of white with yellow throat). I didn't bother contacting customer service, as at some point, you start looking like you're just a problem customer. For this fall, I tried again on the amaryllis variety that I tried to get last year. The bulb arrived significantly smaller than I expected for a double amaryllis, and the label on the bulb said it should be 32/34 centimeters, but the one I received was only 25 cm. When I contacted customer service, I was told this year's correct size is 24/26. Well... all right. That seems small for the variety, and reviewing other companies selling the same bulb shows they're all selling a larger bulb than that, but I suppose it is what it is. Time will tell if it blooms as an Aphrodite.
I'm leaving this as a neutral review because customer service has always been unfailingly polite and pleasant, and the successful plants I have gotten from them have been wonderful (my "surprise" varieties have been pretty too, even if they weren't what I ordered). However, the roulette wheel on actual plant variety has been frustrating. I have a limited amount of money to spend on gardening and would prefer to have better odds that what I think I've planted is what will actually bloom later.

Posted on November 26, 2017, updated December 11, 2017
Posted on May 15, 2017, updated November 26, 2017
Posted on April 6, 2017, updated May 15, 2017
I can't speak as to the quality of the plants or bulbs yet, but it's been a frustrating experience so far. I placed an order March 1st, and received an email saying the order would be shipped March 13th. March 21st with no further word, I emailed for an update, and received a prompt response that the order would ship March 23rd. March 31st, I emailed again, asking if there would be a shipping confirmation - and received a prompt response that there would be a shipping confirmation, but with no indication of when the revised shipping date was. I responded asking for a new estimate shipping date and received no response. Recently, I emailed again, and have received no response. So now (April 6) it is five weeks after the order, three weeks after the original shipping date and two weeks after the revised shipping date and they seem to just be ignoring emails.
When I ordered, I didn't expect the company to get the order out immediately, and I can understand that spring is probably their busy season, but if a business gives estimates - or, in the case of the second email, a firm shipping date - then it should certainly make every effort to comply, or at least proactively provide updates.

First time ordering daffodil bulbs from this company. Their website advertises big bulbs. In fact, the Ice Follies are listed as 16-18 cm.
When they arrived, they were not even close, they were 12-14. The bag was labeled 15-17cm quantity of 10, but they hand crossed out the 10 and wrote 30, the quantity I ordered. I could have paid less elsewhere if I wanted the smaller bulbs, but I specifically ordered the largest size still available.
I am giving neutral because the Carlton was ok ( however it was two smaller double nose bulbs, compared to Colorblends which was one fat bulb. and another bulb they didn't list a size on I took a chance and it was the largest. Shipping was fast.

I am a beginning gardener. I bought ~$100 in bulbs from Easytogrowbulbs in two orders. Orders were shipped fairly fast.

Quality: So far so good. Crocosmia, Guernsey, Crinum, Peacock Orchid, Dwarf Glads all have 90-100% sprouting. Only 1 Oxblood has a sprout, but they are supposed to be dormant during summer so thats ok. The Rain Lilys are not coming up very well. I planted them along a large bed edge and have ~10/60 up so far.

Price: I wished i had looked around because this company is not very competitive. The week after i got my order i bought a bag of 28 Peacock Orchid from Lowes for $6.95. Compare that to 10 for $5.95 that i bought from ETGB. The bulbs from Lowes had a few smaller bulbs but still had 18-20 the size of ETGB. Glads were cheaper at Lowes as well.

Posted on March 17, 2008, updated February 24, 2017
As a resident of North/inland San Diego, it's not always easy to know which bulbs will grow in my climate. I ran across easytogrowbulbs.com and thought, "perfect, someone who's local!"

I've placed 3 orders to date with this company and have always been happy. Their bulbs are definitely bigger than anything you could ever find in a big box store, and the prices you pay are low considering what you get. Place an order of $50 or more and they'll even throw in an adventure pack to appeal to your risk-taking side. Shipping is very affordable -- especially in this day and age when you can easily pay more on shipping than an order -- and everything always arrives in good condition with instructions.

There was one time when my order didn't ship when I expected and my email was answered very promptly with an explanation on the delay, and the box arrived without fail within a few weeks. I've only ordered bulbs so far, but just placed an order for some potted reblooming iris and have nothing but high expectations.

Some of my bulbs have been chomped by gophers, but of those that haven't, everything is growing beautifully. An all-white bed I planted last fall with calla lilies, anemone, and Leucojum is now going insane. I have never had such success with any planting before.

Ordered over $100 worth of bulbs from them.
The bulbs themselves were OK. The Glads, Ginger and Dahlias were great, only about half of the Caladiums sprouted and the cannas were a disaster. I could tell upon receipt the cannas were no good - they had shipped tony bulbs that had no chance to survive the transport. They said they don't have any replacements available so now I have to wait a year for them, which is very disappointing.

The "bonus bulbs" they sent were a waste - they mixed together two different kinds of tiny "bulbs" in the same package and it couldn't be determined which was which to know what I was planting out. The amount they sent was half of a package they usually sell for $10. Don't expect anything useful with the bonus.

First time customer of Easy To Grow. I decided to pick up some Australia cannas from them since they are one of the few vendors who have them and are very reputable. I picked up 12 bulbs and one bareroot hardy geranium. The bulbs were what I expected and looked nice and healthy. I was able to rototill and plant them the day after arrival. At just over a month later, only 5 of the 12 have sprouted. The geranium has yet to show any signs of life either. I had ordered more of the same type of canna from Longfield about a week after I received my bulbs from Easy and 13 out of 15 of those bulbs have sprouted now. The 2 that haven't sprouted yet had damaged stems from removing them from packaging. The speed at which my newer set of bulbs came up has me concerned that the rest of the bulbs from Easy that haven't sprouted will not. Overall, I'm fairly disappointed, but I'll give it more time before a final review

I ordered amaryllis bulbs from ETGB for the first time this spring and the shipping was very quick with excellent packaging. The sale price was very good at $5-6/bulb and the bulbs arrived healthy looking. I was rather pleased with the purchase. Well, the free bulb pack, I think liatris (?), was too dried up to grow though since none showed any sign of life after planting.

One thing I wasn't sure too much about was the appearance of a white fungus or something that dessicated the outer layers and kept eating in. It's not the usual mushy rot from overwatering as I kept these bulbs rather dry with ample sunlight and air circulation. I had to clean and cut out several layers and sterilize with bleach to save the bulbs. They seem to be okay for now, but their sizes definitely decreased. This happened to Chico, Lima, Cherry Crush, Siren, Sophisticate (all neighboring bulbs from ETGB) and spread to my Dancing Queen and Evergreen. Anyway, I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, because I do not know all the circumstances that might contribute to this problem and it seems that the company got good reviews from many others. I'm just a bit disappointed that it happened a couple weeks after I got the bulbs. So I guess the experience was a bit above neutral.

This would be Negative had it not been for the quality of the merchandise.

I ordered Miss Muffet Caladium bulbs, an upright Elephant Ear Bulb and a live Clivia plant.
I must say that the Clivia was a nice surprise for the price.
The Miss Muffet Bulbs were a good size and very healthy.
The upright Elephant Ear was healthy but smaller than expected.

Now to the Negative customer service........
I was shocked at some of their responses to my email informing them of my concerns.
My order was delayed with no notification to me.....
Their response-"you didn't read your email maybe it's in your spam folder"
What they do not realize is the email I used forces ALL emails to appear in the inbox and if the system thinks one is spam it clearly marks it SPAM but lists it in my INBOX. So......they told me I did not read their email when in reality they did NOT send it.
When I questioned them regarding the long wait in shipping their response was....." shipping from southern California to New York – all the way across the country, and diagonally at that just does take as long as it takes."
This is such a LAME response. I have shipped and received items for many years and that is simply a POOR excuse for their delays. If I had said that to buyers I would be out of business!!
And, when I questioned the size of the Upright Elephant Ear they said....."These are measured in circumference, as described in our Frequently asked questions section. Is this the way you are measuring it? HELLO, I have been gardening for over forty years, I know how to size a bulb!!!!

The entire email was one poor excuse after another and pointed to me as being at fault not them. Sorry that's just unprofessional and no way to treat a customer!

Posted on April 17, 2012, updated May 10, 2012
Posted on April 16, 2012, updated April 17, 2012
Placed, received and planted my order from them along with everything else while starting my new garden. Everything else was came up but not one of their bulbs - 100% mortality. This was in Nov 09 it's now Spring 12 and still nothing. I see everyone's yard with beautiful bulbs and I am tempted to order some again but I'm still not very comfortable buying bulbs online. A chipmunk left a squill and that's the only bulb growing in my yard! (I did not order any squills). I did NOT contact them about the bad batch of bulbs so I take part of the blame - perhaps they may have replaced them.

I ordered dahlia tubers and glad bulbs from the company this winter. The glad bulbs arrived in great shape, along with a free packet of gift bulbs that were also in great condition.

The dahlia tubers, which they send as clumps, were falling apart. Most of the tubers were falling off the main stem or attached by a couple of strings from what had once been a more solid connections. Most were about to fall off. They look nothing like the clumps that I save for myself or that are available at Home Depot and Lowes. Still, there was enough there so that they tubers would probably be all right. But, since I had read on this site that the company did not respond well if complaints were not made right away, I sent them a note to let them know that the tubers were falling apart.

Readers can judge for themselves whether this information is helpful. I found it somewhat condescending and in some cases questionable. For example, if tubers by themselves ALWAYS produce new plants, then why do people try so hard to include an eye from the stem when dividing up clumps? I came away from the distinct impression that the company was using its supposed expertise to try to mask and evade responsibility for the delivery of a substandard product.

All this said, there appears to be enough left of the product after all the falling tubers are removed to starts some plants. If not, at least I let them know, as required, within the seven days required.

Note from the company:
I am SO glad you were able to bring them right indoors! Good job!

No need to worry about the dahlias -- but I am very glad you brought
it to my attention! This way I can address your concerns. Dahlia tubers,
as we ship them, look like several slender sweet potatoes tied together at
one end. This is just what dahlia tubers do. Where they are "tied" or
joined together is always going to be somewhat dry and a bit brittle after
harvest. The tubers multiply in this fashion, under ground, and it turns
out to be a very good defense mechanism. If a critter eats one of the
tubers, the plant doesn't suffer because there are so many remaining. Or,
if they are stepped on by a donkey or something, they easily break apart at
the point where they are joined, without the individual tubers being
injured.

Each separate tuber, the thing that looks like a slender, dark sweet
potato, would, on its own, grow a complete, flowering dahlia plant. In the
future, when your dahlias have grown immense, this is the way you will want
to divide them. Many companies do divide them, and send just the individual
pieces as separate dahlias tubers. We do not do so, and I recommend that
you not break up the rest of yours at this point simply because the group of
tubers will create a larger plant more quickly than the individual pieces
would alone. But they will all grow and flower.

Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Gardening!

I ordered 3 bags of Ranunculus Rainbow Mix (order number 3513) on July, 2005. Compared to those sold at Lowes, HD, or other online stores, Easytogrowbulbs' Ranunculus bulbs were big, but in all fairness, they were not 7+ cm (or 2.7+ inches) as advertised. The customer service was impeccable. I received my order within 3 days. It was very hot in Texas during the summer. So Easytogrowbulbs advised me storing the bulbs in a cool place. I followed their advice. I planted the bulbs in the second week of Jan, 2006. It is now the end of April, 2006. Of the 30 bulbs I planted, only 9 of them grew and are now blooming. So, I am kind of disappointed. That is the only reason that keeps me from returning to Easytogrowbulbs. I am very impressed with their services, but not with their products.