Comments regarding John Scheepers, Inc.

I've been shopping with John Scheepers for maybe 10-12 years now and usually purchase anywhere from 400-600 spring bulbs from them. They deliver when requested and respond promptly to inquiries. During the last two fall planting periods, I noticed that 10-12 of the tulip or daffodil bulbs in several of my bulk orders were rotten; not a huge amount, but disappointing and also new -- this had not happened previously to me. This fall, upon receiving my order, I immediately checked the bulbs and found 10-12 were rotten. When I asked for replacements or a refund, Scheepers sent me a refund of $1.98. (I'd have preferred the bulbs). When I tried to order additional Camassia and Hispanica excelsior bulbs this November, Scheepers processed the order and sent the former but included a notice saying they would ship the latter only if they had enough product in stock. Since then I have heard nothing from them so I am assuming the answer is no, but it would have been nice if they had followed up via email to confirm one way or the other. For the most part, I'm usually satisfied with their bulbs as they are bigger and healthier than other companies. I am simply lodging this comment in order to caution others to check their bulbs upon receipt and to not expect to be able to obtain additional bulbs late in the season.

I have mixed feelings about this company, hence the neutral rating. I emailed their customer service twice in an attempt to change my order long before it shipped, but no one ever responded and I received the original order. The narcissus and muscari bulbs were fine but the hyacinth varieties I ordered had more bulbs with V cuts in the outer layers than any of the other 4 companies I ordered hyacinths from. I'm not sure if this will effect flowering, but I found myself searching for intact bulbs to put in my pots and then hiding the cut ones within larger plantings. I might try their daffodils again next year but will order hyacinths elsewhere.

After ordering from another bulb company for many years, I decided to try Scheepers for a fall 2019 bulb order because their prices were more reasonable. Among the six different types of bulbs ordered was Narcissus 'Misty Glen' which is described by every seller as being all/pure white, and it was for a white-garden area. When they bloomed they turned out to have a very pale yellow cup. Do they look white from the street, 40-some feet away? Yes, but not from the white garden planting which is along the walkway to the front door. :-( So I suspect that what I got might not be Misty Glen. Another disappointment: Out of the 50 eranthis bulbs I received, only 10 of them came up. All planted promptly and not ravaged by any "critters" either. Three of the other bulb types did come up as expected, and I am awaiting the flowering of the sixth which I hope is the color that I ordered. But overall, I am disappointed.

Posted on June 3, 2013, updated November 4, 2015
Posted on April 11, 2013, updated June 3, 2013
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Posted on June 15, 2003, updated October 23, 2012
Scheepers is my absolutely favorite bulb company. Their prices are excellent (for the great quality you get), the selection of daffodils and tulips is huge, the bulbs are big, and they've never failed to bloom for me - usually for many years. I also like the color catalog - very nice with some of the more unfamiliar bulbs. I only wish they had a better selection of fall-blooming bulbs and some of the older varieties of daffodils (like 'Geranium', which they never seem to have) - if they did, I'd never buy fall bulbs from anyone else

As a company in business for years, I would expect this company to ship seeds at the posted rate. I had to pay extra to the postal service to have my order delivered. Figure out how to lay the seeds flat - WHATEVER. I paid the extra postage due because I thought it was from a seed trade - desired seed trade...not a seed order for which I had already paid postage - quite a bit for the seed order total.

If you decide to order from this company, be prepared to pay extra postage to receive your order.

Ridiculous. And from the seed list that I ordered, not worth the extra postage.

I ordered a lot of bulbs from John Scheepers in 2010. Perhaps it was the weather, but they didn't do very well. I was especially disappointed that none of the 3 Eremurus bloomed; in fact only one sent leaves up.

Just happened across my receipt for $150 order of bulbs, etc. Place large order from Colorblends at the same planting time. Just realized how many of John Scheeper's products did not produce. Some did and were beautiful. Not sure why so many items did not survive. Wish I had realized this earlier.

I had ordered, among other bulbs, a muscari mix, and only ONE came up in spring. Scheepers offered a credit to be used on my next order, in the amount of approx. $15.00.

When I phoned them to place a new order for replacement of the same bulb mix, for $15.00, I was told that there was a $35.00 minimum for bulb orders. So I wound up paying more than I really wanted to spend, just to get my replacement.

Bad policy.

I placed my very first order 9/28/06, it was with a CS rep over the phone. I got everything I wanted and a ship time that worked for me, arrive by 11/1/06. Everything seemed fine, until today 10/26/06. I was notified that the scilla item I ordered is out of stock, not a big deal, I got a substitute item. Due to their low inventory I bought a more expensive scilla that was not in my preffered color. I asked if I could have a discount on the scilla, I was told no. I asked if I would be getting my items by the date I requested and was told no. But I was really surprised by the excuses they offered, which was that I ordered too late and that the item was out of stock when I ordered, (although the website still had it available and the cs person on the phone took the order anyway). They say they have no record of my delivery date request and didn't offer to do anything to try to get it to me earlier than their standard shipping process. My bulbs will go in a truck some time next week, and when that truck is full, it will take another 8 business days before I get them. They basically did nothing, I'm left with the impression that people in Zone 8 have few options with this company.

Weak on Customer Service: I did order one bulb which is supposed to be 32+cm and was noticiably smaller at 24 cm. It looks like a runt! The supervisor said there was nothing she could do unless I mailed it back at my own cost, and then they would credit me for the single bulb. I explained that I was quite happy with my other bulbs and I wanted this one, but expected it to be 32 cm. I suggested they offer me a partial credit and am waiting 24 hours for a response. I'm beginning to wonder if the slighted, unhappy person below dealt with the same supervisor. I had receieved one rotton bulb from Van Engelen and they said they would issue me a credit. It hasn't happened yet. Now I'm a little worried about the quality of my other bulbs from Scheepers (I ordered about $300 and still have another $90 worth of bulbs to receive).

I really liked the discriminating selection of vegetable and herbs seeds in their attractive catalog so placed a major seed order with them. However, after just getting through with the sowing of spring I was pretty dismayed at the truly stingy amount of seeds provided in most cases.

Maybe they need to re-check their scales. Will post again after germination.

Baker's Heirlooms, by contrast, gives you heaping amounts of seeds. Johnny's and Cook's as well (not quite heaping but a good amount for the money).

I have been ordering from John Scheepers and their sister company, Van Engelen, for a number of years. I've compared prices with other companies and find theirs to be the most competitive, their catalog to be the most thorough, and their bulbs the best quality of any single company. The bulbs always arrive at the appropriate time for my zone, and are huge, firm, and healthy. I've never had a problem with mislabeled bulbs. The daffodil bulbs are often 2 or 3 large bulbs connected together -- so I actually get more bang for the buck. The only problem I ever had was when they had a crop failure on a reverse bicolor narcissus -- by the time they notified me it was too late to order a replacement anywhere else and they were out of all their other reverse bicolors. But my money was cheerfully and swiftly refunded. I've ordered from other bulb companies, and I really think this is the best one.

I split a large order (about $100) with a friend who ordered. Shipping was a hefty 20% to Oregon. It was awkward dividing some things because, for example, we got 5 frittallaria persica and 3 were much bigger than the other 2. Of the others I ordered, …some of the bulbs were of obvious better quality than others of the same type. Not too bad except the high price had us expecting very high quality. My friend also had a hard time getting us a refund on the damaged products. The couple of bucks they did return seemed stingy to me. All told, I will not order from them again.