Comments regarding Van Engelen, Inc.

I had been a very satisfied customer with this company and received great products. The problem is their customer service. Last year, I had ordered Casa Rosa lily bulbs from both them and their sister company John Scheepers. When the lilies bloomed it was quite obvious that they were not what I had ordered. They were neither the color nor the shape of Casa Rosa. I explained the situation to them and asked for replacement bulbs that WERE the Casa Rosa. I was told that since no one else had complained of receiveing incorrect bulbs for Casa Rosa, they would not replace the bulbs and that my soil pH must have changed their color. Yeah, right! So if you have been sent something by their mistake, don't count on them correcting it. It is a real shame too, because I had always thought they were a good company to deal with. I guess they are ONLY if there is not a problem.

I made several orders from this company in the fall of 2002. I am very pleased with all aspects of my experience with this company. Their selection is extensive and the website was very easy to navigate. I received an order confirmation and a shipping notice (with a tracking number) for every order. The bulbs were large and in great condition. They offer the best combination of quality and service of any vendor I have worked with. When I did get one batch of narcissus with some mushy bulbs, I obtained a prompt credit from a very pleasant customer service rep. My first choice for bulbs.

I ordered 200 Narcissi from them: 100 King Alfred DN2 and the Grand Narcissi Mix. Biggest bulbs I've ever seen! A lot of the DN2 were big double bulbs with one or two smaller ones attached (probably more like an extra 100 bulbs or so). They're all coming up now and are spectacular. I've order daffodils from several different mail-order companies, and these are by far the nicest; I even managed to buy them during a sale, so I spent < 30 cents per bulb. I was so impressed with the shipment I sent them a thank-you note. Wholesale only, though.

i buy 100 paperwhites from this company every year, and they far exceed the quality to be found elsewhere- better size, heavy flowering, shipped on time.

I ordered huge number of bulbs from a few places each fall, including VE.

Prices at VE are good, but the quality is consistent with the price. If you want better quality, try Brent & Becky's Bulbs instead.

Few years ago I ordered Scilla sibirica 'Spring Beauty' from Brent & Becky's Bulbs. I ordered the same from VE last fall at lower price. They are all blooming now. The flowers from VE are much smaller than the ones from Brent & Becky's.

You get what you paid for. I'll order more from Brent & Becky's next time.

I have order bulbs from this company for two years, about 2,000 in all--tulips, daffodils, lilies, etc. All were healthy and produced excellent plants and blooms. The end of season clearance offers especially good value.

I've ordered many bulbs from them over the years and they've turned out well for the most part. They have a good selection. Their orders are always fulfilled correctly.

I placed an order with this company this year in the fall and the bulbs were of good size and very healthy looking.
Obviously they are not up yet but it was nearly 500 bulbs mostly alliums of all different varieties I am hoping for a spectacular garden, but their service was great and the order was complete.
I will hold judgement on weather or not to order again until I see the finished product.

I order bulbs from this company for the garden center where I work and for home use. I have always been happy with the selection, size, and condition of the bulbs. A $400 order I placed for a planting job last fall that included large numbers of dozens of varieties arrived complete and in exceptional condition. I highly recommend their amaryllis bulbs--great selection, huge bulbs, almost all produce multiple flower stalks. Also had great success forcing paperwhite bulbs from this company for Christmas sales--bulbs were 1/3 or more larger than those from other companies we tried.

I've ordered from Van Engelen for about ten years, between 1000 and 1200 bulbs every year. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies, amaryllis, and paperwhites. Everything comes in great condition, packed wonderfully, and does extremely well. I like to plant early (because I plant bulbs under pansies) and have to request a two week earlier shipping date. They are not thrilled with that, but they ship them early. Their lilies seem to become available late and can hold up an order, so I've started splitting into two orders to accommodate that. Their prices and selection are great. I also get the John Scheepers catalog which has pictures of most of their stuff. I couldn't be more pleased with this company and will continue to order from them.

I have bought bulbs from many companies over the years, and from this one for probably the last 5 to 6 years. There bulbs are superior in size and their prices are great. I would not buy anywhere else.

I ordered about 500 bulbs from them last year. While they came in a timely manner and in good condition, I wasn't happy with their "pleasing mix" of colors on my tulips. When they came up spring of 2002, I had the 80-90% of my Tulip Bouquet Mixture one "color" , a yellow and red tulip. Like the Tulip Colour Spectacle. Not what they showed in the pictures. (purples, pinks, yellows etc.)

Also, my "pleasing mix" of Tulip Single Late Majestic Mix was 75% Tulip Toyota, a sort of red with white stripes tulip, again not a "pleasing mix".

That said, the rest of my order which was specific in nature was great. they all came up and were absolutely beautiful. Even had cars slowing down as they drove by. Will definately order from them again, but have learned my lesson and will NOT be ordering any "Pleasing mixes"!

I ordered over $100 worth of bulbs from this company last year and everything arrived on time, was a good size and grew beautifully in the spring.

I have ordered from this company for 3 years now. Spending several hundred $$. I was pleased up until this last year when I recieved an order where the bulbs I thought were not up to par. Some were 1/3 the size of the others. They asked me to send the bulbs back, which I did and finally credited me the cost of the bulbs (not the shipping) saying that this year they had extraordinarily large bulbs from this plant so I got some of them and the smaller bulbs were just normal size. I don't believe that. And if that was the case why didn't they know without my shipping the puny ones back to them??

What could be more enticing to a gardener than hundreds of fabulous bulbs at a reasonable price? Van Englen opened my eyes to the concept of planting bulbs on a large scale, and it is great fun. In fact, several hundred tulips and daffodils (or more??) may be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to achieve a sensational garden. Van Englen's selection, price, quality and service have always been great. I like the John Scheepers catalog because it has color photographs which the Van Englen catalog does not have. Usually if you are on the mailing list you get both catalogs anyway.

I just recieved my first order from this company. It was a large order. It was well packed and labelled and arrived when the company stated it would. One fritillaria bulb was "bad". I emailed them and within hours had a response that they had credited my charge card for the cost to the bulb plus S&H. All of the pther bulbs look very healthy.

I've ordered from Van Engelen for the past seven years. The bulbs are always excellent quality and the prices are the best.

Excellent company. Large, high quality bulbs, good prices and great customer service. I have purchased 5,000-8,000 bulbs from them for each of the past three years and have had outstanding results. E-mails requesting special ship dates or asking questions were always quickly, politely and accurately replied to. My first choice for bulbs.

Good quality bulbs, best of prices for quantity purchases, prompt service, high rate of success in spring blooms. As a small-time gardener, I've combined orders with family members in order to get good prices on bulbs I wanted--sometimes things I'd had a hard time finding elsewhere.
As another respondent mentioned, the company does have an outlet--John Scheepers--that offers smaller quantities of most of the same bulbs, though at higher prices, of course.

I have been buying bulbs in very large quantities from this company for the last 7-8 years. I've never had a problem with an order, the bulbs are always larger than ones I can obtain locally, the selection is fantastic, and the prices are reasonable. There is also a retail catalog available from an affiliated company at only slightly higher prices for those who would prefer to order smaller quantities. I highly recommend this company -- it's the only one I order bulbs from.

I ordered over 100 assorted spring and summer flowering bulbs in Nov. from Van Engelen end of season specials. The bulbs arrived in just 5 days packed to withstand a tornado. The bulbs were big fresh and healthy and the prices were so good I ordered an additional 300 lily bulbs which came in the same condition and time frame. I can't wait to see them bloom. I will order again next year.

I’ve ordered several times from Van Engelen. Good experience on all occasions. If you’re looking to buy bulbs in quantity it’s a great. I wish I had caught their fall sale before it was too late in my zone. Maybe next year.

Based on the comments here, I placed a large order with this company back in June. I will not be ordering from them again. I live in zone 9, so bulbs must be pre-chilled. They recommend ten weeks. I wrote to them in September because my order had not yet arrived; they assured me the bulbs would be shipping October 5. Great, that means I'm planting in the middle of December. It's now October 17 and they haven't even charged my credit card yet, much less shipped the bulbs. I don't care where you live, January is WAY too late to plant bulbs (especially since most spring bulbs bloom February-March in my climate), which means I won't have time for adequate pre-chilling. I've never had bulbs shipped so late by any other company.

I ordered from this company in 1999 and 2000. I will not be ordering again. I agree that their prices are lower than most (especially if you are looking for larger quantities), however,I had problems both years. In 1999, I called when my order arrived because the Erythronium were very mushy and the iris tuberosa were dry and crackly. I was told by Van Engelen that I should "plant them anyway". As expected, none of the erythronium came up and I had a poor showing from the iris tuberosa and the fritillaria meleagris. I contacted them this year before placing my orders and was offered replacements if I placed an order this year. I placed my order and waited - and waited - andwaited. Van Engelens order arrived last. The replacement items, if anything, were worse than the original shipment, and of this years order, all 100 of the Baby Moon bulbs were sprouted. I am attaching the letter I sent to Van Engelen - I have yet to receive a response. I will never order from Van Engelen again.

I was very pleased with last year's order from Van Engelen. The grape hyacincths were just fantastic! I was promptly given credit for the Eremus that never came up (zone problems they said) and I eagerly placed another large order last fall. I am confident that my bulbs will make a great show. Can't wait!

The company has a good reputation but poor customer service. The website says that you will get the bulbs at the appropriate planting time- which may not be what is good for your area. Choose your delivery date!! I called to ask when my bulbs were to arrive and was told they were on the way. I called a week later and was told that they had left the day before and not all of it was being shipped. I will be planting my lilies HOPEFULLY sometime in November. I sent an email to customer service with my complaint (and called). I received a form letter in return saying that my catalog was on its way!

I have ordered from this company in bulk two years in a row. Even last year, when I was late ordering, they made replacements happily. The Cutomer Service is outstanding. Pleasant, and easy to reach. This is the place for bulk orders and no hassle, you choose, replacement orders.

Ordered loads of bulbs last year, which were all terrific quality, top size. Only complaint: the descriptions in the catalog didn't really match some of the bulbs when they did bloom. Still, the back yard looks beautiful, so I can't complain!

Absolutely the best and cheapest source for quantity orders.

This is my third year of ordering from this company. The prices are great and the quality of the bulbs cannot be matched anywhere. I had only one disappointment and that was with paperwhites. I ordered late and think I received the bottom of the barrel. The staff also called me personally when there was a mix-up on an order. Good company.

My results were better [than Van Bourgondien] with the bulbs I ordered from Van Engelen

This is the best place in the US to get your spring blooming bulbs! Their quality is excellent, and they are reliable. I have ordered over 1500 bulbs from them in the past two years, and have not been dissatisfied. With prices like theirs, you can plant bulbs as if they were annuals, and not feel guilty ripping them up in the late spring to make way for other plants. Or you can do what I did, and put them in your perennial garden, and have fields of flowers as early as March. I would recommend this company to everyone. Only one drawback is that they don't list any fall flowering bulbs.

Ordered approximately $200.00 in bulbs from Van Engelen in 95 and will never do business with them again. Description of Narcissus I ordered from 95 catalog was incorrect. This threw of my whole design. I discussed the matter with them prior to placing a 96 order. The 1996 catalog had what apparently is the correct description. At the time their supervisor could not confirm which was the right description. Her idea of a solution was to replace the bulbs I would not have ordered (given the proper information) with more of the same. Their quality of materials and prices may be good but the knowledge and attitude of the staff leaves was lacking.

I've ordered from Van Engelen for 6 years. I've found the quality so superb and consistent that I've set up a bulb buying group called the `Big Bulb Buy'. This year we had 15 people participate and together we ordered 3400 bulbs for only $1100…This is the best source I've found and believe me, I've done a lot of looking.

This is the place to go for wholesale bulbs. The prices are great and the quality outstanding, but you have to get large quantities. Especially great are the lilies - of these you only have to get 5 at a time.

I too have had very good results from this supplier. The species tulip collection is outstanding.

I have been very happy with Van Engelen. They've got the lowest prices and everything came up. I ordered first in the fall of 1994 and the Muscari started to come up during the warm December. The deer mowed them down in Dec and also when they tried to come up in March. I fenced them off and they came up yet again and bloomed.

I have received fabulous bulbs from Van Engelen. All healthy, properly marked & packaged. My only complaint is that they have not sent me another catalog since my initial order. I assumed that they kept a mailing list, but maybe not.

I have bought from Van Engelen for 35 years. They've been the best all along, and they will continue to be one of my two preferred sources for bulbs...