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Comments regarding Prairie Nursery Inc.

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28 positives
2 neutrals
5 negatives

Comments:

RatingAuthorContent
Negative oscarkat01
(26 reviews)		 On May 14, 2022, oscarkat01 (Zone 6b) wrote:

Posted on May 12, 2022, updated May 14, 2022
Posted on January 13, 2022, updated May 12, 2022
I’ve ordered quite a number of plants from them. They’re small but healthy. I’ve yet to see how everything faired through a winter yet but I am expecting the plants to be fine. My frustration with Prairie Nursery is that randomly offer free shipping but won’t allow anybody that has existing orders to use it. It really upsets me that I spent a lot of money and more than 10% on shipping to suddenly see a free shipping order two weeks after I placed my order. This is just terrible marketing because it’s alienating good existing customers. I’m not sure I’m going to order from then again because I resent paying for shipping while other people get it for free. Either charge everyone shipping or don’t but don’t do it to just some of your customers.

On May 12th, 2022, oscarkat01 added the following:

They plants from last year have all done well. I anticipate that the ones I planted this spring will do well also. Still not thrilled with their random sales tactics but they’re an excellent source for a variety of natives.
On May 14th, 2022, oscarkat01 changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:

I spoke too soon. Half my order was cancelled with just a note about refund next to each set of plants I ordered. There’s no way they didn’t know they had crop failures. Apparently they had a lot of them. It’s pretty disappointing to get no advance notification about plants that ended up being unavailable. It’s very difficult to source these plants now that it’s mid may. One set of plants, native lupine, they did ship were extremely small. Barely thin seedlings with one set of leaves and almost no roots. I don’t have much hope for them. So half the order is just cancelled with no offer to substitute etc. Another portion was way under developed and should not have been shipped out in my opinion. Some of the plants were healthy and well rooted but the cancellations without notice and mixed quality of some plants have me hesitant to order from them again. I’m going to try a local source for natives instead.
Negative enviroplanter
(18 reviews)		 On Apr 27, 2022, enviroplanter Spring House, PA wrote:

I ordered some ferns from them in December, but was not notified until this week (when I was expecting delivery) that they would not be available. Although a refund was promptly issued, the late notice was not appreciated.
Negative laceyvail
(1 review)		 On Jun 9, 2006, laceyvail Greenville, WV wrote:

The plants were shipped in pots that were much too small for them; they should have been repotted long before they were shipped to me. They were so small that there was almost no soil left in the pots, only roots; thus one variety was nearly completely dried out when it arrived--not enough soil to hold any moisture.

When I called the company, the woman I spoke with kept repeating that the plants were dormant and would be fine. I finally got pretty irate and said that as an experienced gardener who had mail ordered for over 30 years, I knew what dormant plants were, and I wasn't talking about dormancy. I was talking about the need for the plants to have been potted up long before the shipping date.

BTW, all the plants I ordered were priced around $7.00 each and were in tiny liner sized pots or smaller. This size from Bluestone Perennials would have run anywhere from $10-$12 for THREE plants. The $7.00 cost from, say Seneca Perennials, would have bought a plant in a quart sized pot.
Negative KWoods
(14 reviews)		 On Aug 5, 2005, KWoods Glen Cove, NY (Zone 7a) wrote:

WOW! First time ordering and they tried to hit me w/ a $10.00 shipping fee for an order of an 1/8 of an ounce of seed. The website does not calculate the shipping and they informed me in a confirmation email a day after ordering. I will not be ordering from them again.
Negative hduggan
(1 review)		 On Jul 5, 2005, hduggan Beaverton, OR wrote:

I ordered 7 plants from Prairie Nursery. 6 arrived dormant (as I expected). 1 had broken dormancy and looked wilted. I followed all instructions on planting and care and now, almost 3 months later, none of the plants look anything other then dormant/dead. I've written the company (twice - once when they didn't send an email confirmation of my order and the second time to ask whether it was normal to have them dormant for so long) and I still haven't heard back.

Very, very disappointing. I've had good experiences with other nurseries recommended here (I love Forestfarm!), but my experience with Prarie Nursery has been wholly unsatisfactory.