Comments regarding Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee)

I've had good luck with Burpee so far. For years I have received their catalogs, and never actually placed an order (big dreams, no time) This year was different, and I took the plunge to start some seeds indoors. I got 6 or 8 envelopes of various veg. and their XL growing system, because I am a notorious over-waterer. Everything came in a prompt manner, except for the plants I ordered for later, but what the heck can I do with them now anyhow? It's Buffalo in winter! So count me pleased. There was a lot of information available on their website, as far as advice and videos. It was a great resource. Now if my precious seeds just do their thing I'll be a happy camper.

I wanted to buy one pack of tomato seeds from Burpee and they charged me $4.95 for mailing approx. 30 seeds in an envelope. The Big Mama tomato seeds cost me about 33 cents apiece. I will be saving more seeds in the future. I have bought from them for years but that has changed now.
They will definitely not get any more business from me.

We have ordered from Burpee online as well as made purchases from the Warminster PA store. Every time we ordered a set of something (grape vines come in sets of two, for instance) one plant was thriving and the other was dead. Even replacements have arrived dead. Customer Service at the store was non-existent. No one could answer basic questions about the plants or the products. I don't even buy their seed packs from the local stores. Too expensive and the seeds don't do any better than other less expensive brands. Bye, Bye, Burpee . . .

Placed 2 orders with Burpee for seed. Was shipped on time and arrived on time. Haven't planted anything yet, but so far all in all a good company. Good selection, as well.

Posted on October 28, 2011, updated November 2, 2011
Twice now I have orderded and had to follow up with e-mails as to where my order is for both have taken months to arrive. When I order I have particular things in mind for the order but it negates my purpose when the order is months late. I order what I want and I resent that the company then can tell me it is not time for the particular item to be sent, one was a houseplant and some seeds.I orderded 8/8/2011, i called again last week and told them I was leaving for a month and would they send the order, they said they would send it this week, it is friday and it is not here yet!!!! Really hate having to hasstle a company for my order when they take the money up front.....

I purchased the Seedless Tomatoes Burpee has out this year and they are wonderful. I have Diverticulosis and I cannot eat seed. ( Yes I can pick seeds out of regular tomatoes but they just aren't the same). I had my first tomato sandwich in about 15 years, what a treat. I also shared some tomatoes with my brother, cousin, and a neighbor who have the same condition ( they were a big hit) . The tomatoes and very sweet and very tasty.
Will definitely be planting more this coming year.
Brooks Pearce
Wake Forest NC

"On Oct 10, 2011 1:35 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Thank you very much for your positive feedback on the Tomato, “Sweet Seedless” variety. We are glad that you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

We at Burpee are always striving to provide excellent products and service to our customers. We are happy that we have been able to provide you with products and service that meets your high expectations.
"

My family has ordered seeds from Burpee for over 50 years, but for the past few years we have not done so. Today’s Burpee is not the same Burpee that my father and my grandfather ordered from. Instead of a positive or a negative, I feel I have to rate the company as neutral. I have never really had a problem with the seeds I have ordered from Burpee. The germination rate was usually pretty good, but no better than the germination rates for seeds I have ordered from other seed companies. They also have a good selection of seeds, and I have never really had a problem with customer service. The reason I give them a neutral instead of a positive is for their prices. The price of their seeds is substantially more than other seed companies, and the shipping costs are quite a bit higher than other companies as well. I will continue to buy Burpee seeds if I see something I like in the store, where the prices seem to be a little more reasonable than in the catalogue, but I will no longer order from their catalogue. Why order something from Burpee when you can get the same or a similar product from another mail-order company for quite a bit less, not to mention save quite a bit in shipping while you are at it?

Posted on January 31, 2011, updated August 1, 2011
I bought some Burpee seeds in local stores last year and they were TERRIBLE. Simple things like nasturtiums didn't sprout at all.
I'm never buying their seeds again.

BTW A couple of years ago I compared the prices for some tomato seeds between Burpee's and my usual place and Burpee's was shockingly higher.

I usually order seeds from several companies each year as well as from the hardware store. For the past two years, I have had much better luck with Burpee seeds than other companies.

I mostly grow heirloom tomatoes, squash, lettuce, cukes, annual flowers (marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums). The Burpee nasturtiums especially have much better germination rates than others, although the zinnias did not fare quite as well (possibly user error).

I also ordered tomato seedlings this year, which are doing very well, and some perennial flowers (echinacea) for my new house. Both groups have taken off like gangbusters. I also tried their new variety of pepper, tangerine dream, and it is coming along nicely as promised.

I always wince at the price of their seeds compared to some other mail order companies, but when I get right down to it, I'd rather pay four bucks a packet for something that grows a reliable producing variety than take my chances on poor germination rates and no fruit at all.

I ordered tomato and pepper plants this year and had a horrible experience. Both sets of plants arrived dead or dying, and I emailed Burpee and they said they would send out a replacement order immediately. It took over 2 weeks to get replacement plants, which also arrived shriveled and some were dead. I planted the ones that had a bit of life left but they ended up dying too. I emailed Burpee again and told them what had happened but never got a response. I didn't want any replacement plants anyway because it was too late at that point to transplant anything and the heat would have killed anything new. I won't ever order plants from them again. They just can't survive the shipping and packaging.

Bought two separate orders of fan flowers (Scaevola) from them and they arrived well packed and in good condition. I also bought a Cranberry Crush Hibiscus and it seems to be doing well.

Posted on June 1, 2011, updated June 11, 2011
I ordered some plants from Burpees, and while the perennial came in a reasonable period, there was no warning as there is from most companies. The annuals I ordered also just arrived one day, about 2 weeks later than I wanted, and also without warning. Three of the most expensive "Black Cat" petunias were barely rooted and are hanging on by a thread. They will need a lot of nursing along if they live at all. Last year I had a similar experience with a 3-pack of tomatoes, two of which were dead on arrival. For some reason, Burpee puts the most expensive plants in this large plastic packaging that keeps them so wet they seem to suffocate. The blue sky petunias I ordered in a larger pack were in better shape. Perhaps they ran out of the Black Cats and sent unrooted cuttings? Some companies just let you know they are "out of stock" right on the website, just like they let you know the plants have been shipped so you can track them. It's too bad as the breeders seem to come up with some cool plants but other departments are not there yet. Either way, my experiences in the last two years with DOA annuals and poor germination on some seeds have soured me. I have Johhny's seeds that are still getting high germination 5 years later while the Burpee seeds had only 50% germination the year I got them. I did not call customer service since replacements would be so late as to be pointless. I have purchased local plants instead and should have done so in the first place.

Wow! The plants that I ordered came just when they should have, and in very good shape. They are beautiful.
I am always happy with Burpee :o)

I have tried to remain positive about my experiences with Burpee, but I have to say that this year has succeeded in turning me off. When I placed my order in January I was told that all seeds were in stock and would be shipped out as soon as possible. When the order arrived 3 weeks later, 3 of the 9 seeds were not included. I called to inquire and was told that they were sold out and would ship when available. All three of these were things I did not need right away so I thought it was no big deal. Those three seed packets arrived May 10 - 3 months later. I emailed several times and was told that "they will ship soon." I guess soon is a relative concept. One of the three seeds that I was waiting on was a yellow squash. When the packet arrived I saw that there was a white sticker on the bottom of the packet with the "packed for season 2011" info on it. Out of curiousity I peeled it off to see that the date underneath was actually 2010. I called and was told that they occasionally have left over packets and those are used in following years. This sounded ok until I planted them. Out of 12 seeds started in the greenhouse on May 11, 2 have come up. I suspect that these seeds were in fact packed in 2010. I will never order from Burpee again.

Posted on May 23, 2011, updated May 24, 2011
I ordered live plants from Burpee April 29. Within a week I received the free seeds Burpee's offered with my order.
After 2 weeks of no live plants I called Burpee's customer service line. I was told, "we ship within two weeks." Well, obviously not.
When I asked the status of my order the woman on the phone could not tell me as she stated, "I don't know." I finally received an e-mail from UPS on May 18 informing me my merchandise was on the way. I keep checking my tracking info. and have found out my order will arrive May24. Since UPS does not work on the weekend my live plants will sit in a warehouse for two days and then take another two days to arrive. All total, my "live plants" will have been in transit for 6 days. I e-mailed Burpee and asked them, since it took so long to send me my merchandise (almost a month!) why did they not just wait and send it out Monday May 23 or send my order with expedited shipping-at no cost to me- and have heard nothing from them. Tried to call today and was put on hold so long I finally hung up. This is the second time I have had to complain about a mail order gardening site and it really gets me down. No wonder people resort to Lowe's and Home Depot! I will let you know in what shape my live plants arrive.

I hate writing a negative review and generally am very vocal about the positive experiences I generally have. But after several attempts at Burpee orders, I've finally given up on the company.

I, too, have paid an absurd amount for shipping of small seed packets, and the shipping time is unpredictable to say the least. The final straw was this past month when I ordered seeds and plants for Denim Petunias, and they just seemed to drop off the planet! I waited patiently, kept checking order status, and after several weeks finally attempted to email the company. That in itself is nearly useless, as I get a generic response that does not help me.

When I pointed out the problem in their response (e.g. their two-week window had already come and gone) and still got no help, I finally called and spoke to a pleasant woman who was unable to give me additional information. Apparently, because my zone had begun shipping previously, my order was bumped "to the end". Once the order went to the nursery, they had no idea where it was in the process or when I should be expecting them to arrive. Wonderful. So they could well arrive weeks later when we were out of town.

The plants finally did arrive a few weeks later--surprise--but only a few are doing well after transplanting. And the seeds have a 20% germination rate so far. Needless to say, I'm finished doing business with Burpee.

Posted on May 17, 2011, updated May 21, 2011
I ordered plants and seed from Burpee in Jan of this year. Last week my sweet potato vines arrived, looking a lovely shade of "slime". I contacted Burpee via email to let them know about the issue. Today, I received an email from them showing the shipping dates and tracking numbers for my order??? When I called, the representative was rude, snippy and finally offer to either exchange the plants or grant a refund. When I said I would like more plants I was told that they were at the end of the harvest and because I live in zone 7, sweet potatoes don't do well here. Golly and I've been growing them off and on for over 30 years?? Major duh!!! So glad she was able to help me with that (NOT)
So I asked for a refund, which is suppose to be forthcoming.
I have been buying from Burpee for over 20 years and never have I encountered such a rude representative. I believe there are other nurseries that could use my business.

I have ordered from Burpee for a few years now, and although I have also experienced plants damaged in shipping and seed packets with poor germination, overall they are a wonderful company. Their customer service reps may be a little slow getting back to you, but they always stand by their promise of a refund or replacement. They have exceeded my expectations on the customer service front whenever I have had an issue, and I will be a life long customer because of it.

Posted on April 30, 2011, updated May 2, 2011
I have ordered various items from Burpee's during the last 4 years..from tomato plants to tools/seeds.

This time I also ordered 100 strawberry plants to be shipped after May 3rd. As I am abroad until the 5th I even added this information in the notes.

Much to my surprise, we received a notice from UPS that the plants would arrive on Friday the 29th of April. I send 3 emails to Burpee to ask why the plants where shipped early... no response. I then phoned from Europe to be told by a rep that it was not their problem and I should leave the plants in the shipping box until my return. According to her they would stay fresh for 2 weeks.I can't believe this,any delay will cause harm to the roots.

I then received an email from Burpee saying that if the plants would not take off I could get a replacement.
The whole idea is to start a large bed with healthy plants in spring, as it's not advisable to plant during summer!

This whole approach now will definately set me back a harvest year.

Posted on April 30, 2011, updated May 2, 2011
I'd order from them but they stil haven't sent my catalogue. ordered one online in february, the same day i ordered a white flower farm catalogue, which showed up in days! i contacted via facebook, with no response, and then called to order a catalogue and was not told there would be any wait. at this point i've given up. tomorrow is may first. i'll just hit up my local nurseries.

I order from Burpee every season and was thrilled to find a new option this year, mix & match vegetable plants. This makes it possible to mix a three pack from a selection of popular plants that they offer. Instead of having to buy 3 cherry tomato plants I was able to purchase only one and then fill in the rest of the three pack with other choices like peppers, eggplant etc. Other than that, I swear by their tomato plants and have extraordinary luck with them every season like clockwork especially now that I have discovered "Sea Magic" on their website - the most successful fertilizer I've ever tried. Keep up the good work and thanks for the great service.

Although I would not hesitate to purchase Burpee seeds at the local garden center, I will not bother myself with purchasing plants/seeds from their website in the future. In the Spring of 2009, I purchase several types of seeds (viola, hollyhock, and delphinium) with typically high germination rates, but nothing sprung up all Summer long; now Chicago did have an unusually cool Summer that year, but no seed germination--at all!

Also, I purchase (I belive 8) of the purple lisanthius which were, at best, wimpy. Only half of the plants had blooms and those were only 2-3 blooms a piece all Summer. The very few blooms were quite pretty but nowhere near the promised profusion of color.

Buy Burpee seeds in the store, but don't waste your time/money on the website.

Posted on February 23, 2011, updated February 28, 2011
Posted on February 18, 2011, updated February 23, 2011
For some reason every year I buy something from Burpee. Its like clock work. Usually my purchases occur at Home Depot. I always buy something including lots of seeds. A couple of years ago I bought the Burpee Ultimate Grow System. The product was passable but by no meens excellent. I liked the self watering system and germination was excellent with this system. I then this winter bought the 2 XL Ultimate Growing System. Instead of the 72 cell system on the original system Burpee developed the later XL system with 32 cells that are bigger in size. There seems to be inherent problems with the earlier system because the cells do not lay flat making the water wicking system uneven in the amount of water seedlings get. Im hoping that the bigger cells on the later system may correct this problem but it remains to be seen because I may return the later system. Also, when the pellets on the original system are put into the individual cells and water is poured over them the pellets do not expand even and easily. I had to loosen them with a sharp skewer to loosen them up to get them to expand. I rewatered again and again and finally they expanded but the soil level was uneven in each cell. The soil level was inconsistent in each cell. Long story short the pellets are not easy to work with. Burpee touts this pellet sytem as easy to use and cleaner than using seed starting soil. The company also touts the system is reuseable. Thats great but to reuse the system easily you must find the replacement pellets. Last season I could not find the pellets anywhere after exhaustingly looking for them all over the place. I ended up using seed starting soil and the selling pitch for clean easy soil system went out the window. It was diificult to fill the 72 cells in this manner. I started to think and thought without the pellets the system wasnt what I bargained for and what I was "sold." Anyway here we are again this year and I can not find the pellets again. I live in Westchester county and there are a couple of Home Depots. I have gone to both stores and neither store has had the replacement pellets. I have gone to the one store twice and the other store a half dozen times. The rep at the one store continues to tell me the Burpee rep comes in and restores the supplies regularly (on tuesdays.). I havent seen that and am dusgusted at this point. The rep from Burpee either isnt doing his job or the company is cognizantely not resupplying the pellets so they may get people to buy the whole system all over again. This situation is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling towards Burpee. I have not started the newer XL system because I am concerned I may run into the same problem I experience with the 72 cell system, not being able to find the bigger replacement pellents for the XL system. Im fed up and think Burpee is playing games. You can buy the pellets on Burpees website but why should I pay shipping and handling when Home Depot is supposedly selling the replacement pellets. They sell the systems but NEVER have the pellets. It just doesnt make sense. Im pretty dissappointed and am probably going to return the later 2 systems I bought. I will stop buying anything from Burpee because it seems they arent addressing the issue. Again, this is the second year in a row I cant find the pellets . Its not right and I dont want to deal with a company that seemingly doesnt care about its customers, its a losing battle. At 43 I have a lot of gardening and buying left to do in the coming years. If Burpee ignores and doesnt do something for me they are going to lose me as a customer. At any company they should know losing clients is no way to keep revenue flowing. In my case I am most likely to going to return the XL systems because you esentially cant find replacement parts. Imagine buying a car but not being able to find replacement parts ? The car company wouldnt stay in business for long. Home Depot is blaming Burpee and the companies supply rep. I am interested to see if they respond to me as a customer they may lose. If I have to I will use peat pots in flats like I do in conjunction with the original system. Burpee is not making my life easier or enabling me to enjoy the process as a whole. Thats a real shame, Im seriously disappointed and Burpee may lose a good customer. I hope Burpee can make me whole if they dont I think I must move on. I called Burpee spoke to a rep and she couldnt give me any answers when I could expect the Home Depots to be restocked. I asked who I could call to find out when to expect restocking and she told me she couldnt help me. I thought great, the company Im trying to buy product from couldnt give me answers on their own product. Something is seriously wrong here. Maybe they are really not supplying the pellets so people will just buy the whole system again. Seems like the business practices at Burpee arent really above board. Its really no way to conduct business.

I have decided to post to this Dave's Garden website for the first time because for several years when I submit a post to Burpee, they don't upload it.

I have been a regular customer of Burpee seeds for over 35 years and, up until 4 years ago, never had trouble.

I had complained 4 years ago that the Tasty Green Cucumber (formerly Burpless) seeds I had purchased from a local nursery were not packaged correctly. When grown that season (2007), the plants were lifeless and cucumbers were deformed. I had grown this variety since a kid (when it was called Burpless) and it had always been great. The cucmbers looked just like the photo on the packet. In fact the seed packs labeled that they had been grown in Japan usually performed the best with incredible yields.

After not seeing my post that year on the Burpee website, I sent pictures of the poorly performing plants and pictures of healthy plants from previous years, to Burpee via e-mail.

Suspecting a seed mix-up and angered that my post would not appear on their website, I sarcastically commented in the e-mail that perhaps the person that had packaged the seeds was smoking crack in the the cucumber fields. Dispite my rude comments they responded promptly and courteously. They sent me a replacement packet for the next year.

I grew those replacement seeds the next year (2008), and I had the same problem although the yield was a bit better. The cucumbers looked nothing like what I was used to. They were short fat and deformed. Once again I tried to post to the Burpee website with no success. I e-mailed them directly with photos again.

This time a quality control person from Burpee responded and we had a lengthy courteous e-mail exchange. He indicated that there is always variation in any variety of plant.
He suggested that I try another variety. They sent me a check in the mail for the value of the seed packet.

I did not try another variety. Instead, to rule out any issues that may be with my soil, I decided that the next year I would plant seeds from an older packet from 2006 that was grown in Japan. I planted them the next year (2009) and they were great.

Last season (2010), I bought a new packet of Tasty Green from a local nursey. Although the plants were healthy and yield was large, the cucumbers bore no resemblance to what I was accustomed to. They were short fat standard looking cucumbers, with many deformed. Nothing like the original Burpless or Japan grown packet or the picture on the packet.

I've decide to not contact Burpee.

It is clear to me that they have somehow lost the variety of Tasty Green (formerly Burpless cucumber). They most likely have even lost track of how they lost the variety, and probably everything concerning this variety is mixed up.

What makes me angry is they continue to use the old photo on their seed packets of what the cucumber used to look like.

I will grow for the first time a different variety of cucumber.

But I will not purchase the seeds from Burpee.

Now....about the Big Mama tomato blossom end rot problem that I and many fellow gardening friends have had since the variety was introduced.....That post will wait till I do more research on that problem on Dave's Garden...

My 2011 order arrived in about a week and I received what I ordered. If they don't grow well I will amend the review.

Posted on February 2, 2011, updated February 2, 2011
Ordered 5 packs of seeds 1/19 at a cost of $6.95 to ship. Just received an email 2/1 that my order had shipped, 13 days after the order was placed and I had not received them. They are outrageously priced for seeds and promised a delivery in 7 to 10 days. I live in Maryland and they are in Pennsylvania! The only reason I ordered from Burpee is I was given a gift certificate from them. I will never purchase from them again!

Posted on December 3, 2010, updated January 11, 2011
Posted on February 3, 2003, updated December 3, 2010
At one time, I believe Burpee was one of the most respected suppliers of garden seed around. I have ordered seeds (tomato seed in particular) from Burpee's for many years, and have always appreciated there breeding program and expertise.

Time and ownership has changed things somewhat. I still order seeds from them, but I believe they need to re-dedicate themselves to the introduction of new varieties. Their catalog needs to be made less commercial, and more gardener friendly (more propogation info).

Burpees has slipped from my top 5, although they remain a reputable company from whom I will continure to order SOME of my seeds...

All the seeds I purchased from Burpee Co. turned out well except for "Bush Bean Heavyweight 2". I had less than 10% germination no matter how I tried to grow them. Luckily Burpee guarantees that if you aren't satisfied, they'll send you new ones.

I got new beans no questions asked--I guess that's one of the benefits of paying for overpriced seed.

Since Burpee now supplies seeds on a massive scale to Lowes and Home Depot, I can tell their quality has diminished.

If you are looking for quality heirlooms, you should give Victory Seeds a try, I highly recommend!

Posted on June 15, 2010, updated October 1, 2010
Posted on June 9, 2010, updated June 15, 2010
I don't know what has happened to this company but this year is the last time I order from them.

For years I ordered live tomato and pepper plants and they arrived healthy and thriving. Their customer service used to be wonderful too but that has changed also.

The trouble began last year when I ordered 3 salsa tomato plants. The plants arrived extremely shriveled and died within days of being received. They didn't have any more to replace them so I had to settle for a refund.

This year I ordered 3 more salsa tomato plants and 3 zavory pepper plants. All arrived extremely overwatered and unsalvagable. All were dead within about 4 days.

It took Burpee quite a few days to reply to my complaint and when they did they tried blaming it on the weather while the plants were in transit. The weather was the same as it had always been at this time of year when I receive my plants and that had nothing to do with the overwatering issue that I told them about.

They did have replacements this time so they put in another order for me. It took them another 11 days to ship it out and 13 days before I received it.

The plants arrived today and all are extremely overwatered again. They are all drooping and curling horribly and the tomato plants are dropping entire stems, not just leaves. The plastic containers they were in were covered in condensation and the soil was not just damp, it was wet.

I doubt these plants will survive the week.

This year will be the last I purchase from Burpee. They once provided great plants and great customer service and now both have become horrible.

"On Oct 1, 2010 1:17 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

The Burpee Company is very sorry that the customer’s experience was not as good as it should have been.

Our nursery has been very successful in shipping thousands of orders seasonally. The plants are inspected for health and vigor before they are shipped to the customer. We also package the plants to arrive in good condition.

It is unfortunate that the replacement plants were not the correct variety. This may have been due to either human error, or the label was not correct. We are working to perfect the plant selection and labeling process, as it can be very difficult to identify a tomato variety by looking at its leaves.

With the economy being slow, we have had a surprising, and much appreciated, increase in business. This generated more gardening questions for our customer service division. We do strive to answer every email, letter, and phone call in a timely and thorough manner.

Please be assured that the Burpee Company is committed to providing excellent products and service to our customers.
"

I had purchased Burpee Seeds many times in the past. This year, I found some Burpee seeds at Wal-mart and Lowes. I purchased them without hesitation. Most seed did not germinate and others produced maybe 1-2 seedlings. Last year, I was successful at growing Coreopsis from Burpee seed that was 2 years old. But, as I said earlier, Burpee seed purchased this year produced disappointing results. I don't know if Burpee purchased from retail outlets is of a lesser quality than that purchased from their catalog. Several emails, and promises of replacement seed or subsitutions if my seed was not available, have resulted in no outcomes.

No more Burpee for my garden. Last year, I ordered bush bean seeds and only 15% of them came up. So, I planted all the seeds I had remaining in the package and only a few seeds grew. I emailed Burpee and they sent me a new package of bush beans, which I planted to fill in the empty spaces in my rows, and still only maybe 15% came up and those that did were spindly and deformed-looking. This year, I ordered a different kind of bush bean, thinking maybe I’d have better results, but still, very few of the seeds I planted came up. The same with the corn seeds I planted this year, only about 30% of those seeds came up. So next year I will buy my seeds somewhere else. I don’t understand what has happened to Burpee, since I have ordered from them for years and never had a problem. But after 2 years of frustration with their seeds, it’s time to move on.

This is the last year I will be ordering from Burpee. Last year I ordered Sun Gold tomato plants. The tomatoes that were produced were red and the size of golf balls - and utterly bland. I contacted Burpee who told me that some plants had been mislabeled and that the mistake would not be repeated in 2010. Wrong. My first "Sun Gold" tomatoes are ripening up. On one plant the tomatoes were identical to the mislabeled plants of last year, golf-ball size, red and bland. On ANOTHER Sun Gold plant, however, I've got a huge green tomatoes about 4" from top to bottom. (!) What in the world is going on with that company! I'm not spending hard-earned money and tenderly taking care of the plants for months only to discover that they are the wrong variety - AND completely inedible to boot. Would greatly appreciate a GOOD source for the terrific Sun Gold tomato plants if anyone knows of one.
Jan Harris
Marysville, OH

I ordered garlic and shallots from Burpee.com last autumn, due to a lack of a local supplier. I am getting my harvest now and am happy to report a nearly 100% success rate with the garlic. The shallots didn't fare as well, but I still had some success.

I am very happy with the results. I have also enjoyed great success with Burpee seeds that I have bought at local stores. I find their website to be quite expensive though, and often find better prices for their seeds locally.

It's unfortunate that I can't expect the best prices for Burpee seeds from their website, nor even free or discounted shipping for small orders of seeds, which might make it worthwhile to pay a little extra for the convenience of ordering online.

I have to say that I know how to garden and these seeds I got from them are awful! Of course they sent me new seeds because the first ones I ordered had very low germination but it took another 2 weeks to get the replacement seeds and this after I got a very rude customer service person. I will not be doing business with this company ever again and I will tell others the same. There are too many other companies that have so much better customer service and products.....for instance Baker Creek, Bluestone Perennials, johnnyseeds...etc. I used to love Burpee but NO MORE!!! Horrible service!!

Although I'm happy to see they are offering organic seeds now, this is the second order I was disappointed with. This was an order of yellow marigold seeds. The germ rate was so poor it was unbelievable!!!! Never had trouble with marigold seeds before. I planted them in different places. Out of a whole packed of seeds, I now have four plants to show for it.
My local gardening store sells yellow marigold plants which I used to replace what would have been the plants from seed.

Posted on June 4, 2010, updated June 20, 2010
Posted on June 3, 2010, updated June 4, 2010
Posted on June 3, 2010, updated June 3, 2010
I bought two packs of nasturtium seeds (Princess of India?) for a total of approx 40 seeds. Only ONE seed of the 40 germinated, in spite of following instructions to the letter, including using a nail file to scarify each seed -- a tedious procedure to say the least! At the same time, I bought one pack of Ferry Morse nasturtium seeds. Almost every seed in the FM pack (about 20) germinated and grew into healthy plants.

Both Burpee and Ferry Morse were bought at the same time from racks at Lowes.

This is not the first time I have had poor results with Burpee seeds. Why are Burpee seeds so inferior?

So sad to say I think it's time to give up. I 've been ordering tomato and Summerlong basil form either Cooks Garden or Burpee for a few years now but I just got a replacement order today and I have to say I'm done. They took too long to replace and the plants that came today don't look good at all. I will try the basil but I've already replaced the tomato plants on my own. This company has really gone downhill. Such a shame since the Summerlong Basil was my favorite but now looks like a Globe Basil.

I bought my Burpee seeds at Menards. I don't know if the ones they peddle to the stores are different than the ones you order from the catalog or not?
The pelleted petunia seeds I bought sure were awful. Being it took 6 pkts for the customer service person at Menards to find enough pelleted seed that weren't crushed fine. She finally found the amount of seeds that I was suppose to have gotten. Out of those seeds less than 1/8th of them germinated.
I called Burpee's also...they sent me a new pkt of the same pelleted petunia seed. This pkt came with a little cell that the pelleted seeds were in. I thought for sure I was in luck...but wasn't. The germination was awful. I start many seeds indoors/greenhouse...and have never had such horrible luck before.
That is not all the trouble we had with Burpee seeds...we bought many Burpee seeds at Menards...thinking they were such a good company.
Horrible germination! We are 'well seasoned' gardeners..with a huge garden. So we really don't feel we didn't know what we were doing when planting the seeds.
To add more fuel to my fire...someone else I was talking to said the same thing about Burpee seeds and their germination. These were all bought in a store...not ordered through the catalog.

"On Jun 30, 2010 1:56 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

We guarantee all Burpee, products whether purchased through the catalog or at retail stores to the full amount of the purchase price. We can offer refund or a replacement, anytime, within a year if you are not satisfied.

Please send a note to MLance@Burpee.com to resolve your issue.
Happy Gardening!"

Posted on May 26, 2010, updated June 3, 2010
First off, let me say that my family has used this company for mail order live plants for years and never had any problems. I also highly recommend their seeds, as I have been growing many varieties of their vegetables and flowers for years, both purchased through their website and at the local store.

This was my first time ordering live vegetables via mail order this year, and I decided to go through Burpee. Not only are they normally known for their quality, but I loved their selection and the deals on their exclusive plant collections. I decided to order a packet of seeds, which came separate from the live plants and very quickly, as well as an order of the "Best of Show Tomato" collection and the "Fresh Salsa" collection. When my live plants order did arrive, which they sent me a UPS email about (very nice), it was stated in the invoice that there were both collections in the box, although I only received the Best in Show tomatoes, and they were in poor shape (small, withered, and one was snapped at the base of the plant) . I sent an email to their customer service department asking if the salsa collection was shipping separately or whatever the deal is, and I STILL have yet to hear back from them. That was a week and a half ago. (Note: Burpee, you may want to get new staff on your customer service emails)

Anyways- so two days after I sent the email, I decided just to give them a call during their normal business hours. I asked them about it and they said they would ship the salsa collection out or refund my card if it was out of stock, which is nice. I also wanted to add about the condition of my tomato plants, which by this point one of them was completely dead, and the lady was a bit short with me and just reiterated the fact the salsa collection would be in the mail. Its not really that big of a deal since I already have a lot of tomato plants, I just wanted to let them know for future orders. The salsa collection shipped in about a week, and so far they seem in much better shape than the tomatoes were. So far I have lost 2/6 tomatoes from the Best of collection, which again is not a big deal since it has been strange weather here in zone 6.

I am making my review "neutral" since I did receive a replacement and fast shipping on seeds which was a positive, but the lack of shipping and customer service emails and on phone service was a negative. All-in-all I plan on doing future service with this company, but may err on the side of caution for the live vegetable plants.