Comments regarding Van Bourgondien Dutch Bulbs (dutchbulbs.com)

This was the first time I ordered from this company, so I didn't order a lot of stuff. What I did order seems to be doing good. I ordered the electric orange asiatic lily, both bulbs are coming up. I also ordered a perennial - blushing bride tradescantia. This came bare root and took about a month to come up, but looks like it will be okay.

It was a small order but was good so far.

I ordered from Van B. and just received a backordered item. I received foxtail lilies and candida sidalcea about a week ago. Planted them out and their greening up just great. the company was fast and notified me promply that one item i ordered was out of stock. I'd definitely order from them again.

Mixed bag. I ordered 2 pink hardy orchids and 2 lavender hardy orchids. The pink orchid bulbs were enormous, ready to explode to the soil surface...and they did. The lavender ones were small and somewhat dehydrated...they have yet to appear. (I suspect that they won't.)

I also received a free large begonia bulb, which was an "Internet order bonus." No sign of any begonia life to speak of...

All bulbs were planted a month ago.

I received my order on 5/9,mostly bareroot perennials and everything looks healthy.There in the ground and we will see if everything grows.I have had good luck in the past with them but some things are overpriced.

Ordered 3 tree peonies in January with the understanding that I would be billed in May and they would be shipped in May. Exactly what happened. The plants look great and were very reasonable.

Overall good impression, although some of the ferns I ordered were very small. Bleeding hearts were nice and are currently up and blooming again; Arum and Cyclamen are also doing well. Amaryllis were exceptional; all bloomed twice with four flowers. When an order of Amaryllis arrived frozen, they sent out another order with no hassle.

For larger quantities of bulbs, I'd go to Ven Engelen -- prices are better and bulbs much larger.

I ordered from this company in 2001 I recieved my order of several daffodils and some cyclamin and lilies promptly but was dissapointed by the quality of the product several of the bulbs were very mushy but I planted them anyway and no surprise all were dead. the only thing that lived was the monte-negro lillies which in the description are red but in reality are orange. They did send me some extra bulbs but I don't think they could be counted as bonuses because they were very rotten.

I have ordered and have enjoyed ordering many plants from various companies. I have to say that my experience with this company is absolutely perfect. As I write, I am enjoying several beautiful amaryllises. When I purchased them, they were on sale and I figured I'd get what I paid for. Was I ever wrong! The bulbs were huge, lush and vibrant. NO seconds here. I waited several weeks to plant them and still they have bloomed like crazy and are awesome. Some bulbs have sent up 4 stalks with perfect blooms. I couldn't have been more impressed and pleased. Yes, I will definitely order from Van Bourgondien. The service was quick, precise and as requested. I am pleased!

Achimines are extraordinarily large and healthy, EVEN WHEN ORDRED FROM THEIR BARGAIN SECTION! However, in the distant past, I received some pretty marginal material from these "deep discount" pages of the catalog. Van Dyck is A-1! Perhaps this affiliation (acquisition?) has enhanced the experience??

I ordered 5 tree peonys from this company last
fall. This spring one of the trees didn't make
it. I e-mailed them for possible replacement.
Got a quick response that it's on the way
and received a new peony tree within a week.
I want more tree peonys and will be ordering
from them again in the fall.

So far I am very impressed with the plants and bulbs I have received from here. The Dahlia bulbs I just got are the biggest I have ever seen in any high end nursery here in Houston. Also, the plants I have received have been well rooted and are already getting established. Another bonus for me is that I have placed order with several different nurseries this year for similar plants and I am going to track and see who's performs best. Van Bourgondien has been the first nursery to make delivery to me, weeks before anyone else. When they say they will deliver to the correct planting time for your area, they obviously know what they are doing.
I will be ordering from them again, if I can only find more room in my beds....

This season I ordered bareroot perennials from Van Bourgondien Wholesale. After reading many of the posts here I was worried but when I received the plants I was very happy.

I got large, well developed root systems, well packaged and looking like healthy dormant plants. I now have them potted up and I plan to move them into the garden as the weather warms.

Had ordered a few times from Van Bourgondien & was always satisfied until last year. The bulbs were good but the perennials looked dry/dead. When I called to complain they told me to plant them and they did grow. They told me if nothing grew I could have a replacement but if it wasn't available I could either have it replace next year or get a credit. I never had a problem with customer service, always pleasant. I will be ordering from them again.

The plants arrived in poor condition. None of them survived. Customer Service was rude and insisted that I had to get more plants - I could not get a refund. So, I ordered more plants for the next year - same problem. And, one of the plants was unavailable so I had to wait 3 years to "complete" my order. None of them lived. The experience was frustrating, unpleasant and costly.

Ordered from Van Bourgondien once. Bulbs were ok, but nothing special--similar in size and condition to those in packages I picked up at the feed store at 1/3 the cost. Ferns and astillbes I ordered from them were small, dried out root divisions--none were successful.

I am one of there wholesale customers and I have always received a superior product, I would highly recommend this company to those both in the industry and as a home gardener.

While I would caution against ordering certain bareroot plants in general, their bulbs have always done very well.

Several years ago I was gearing up for a small nursery venture, and bought $400 worth of bulbs from Van Bourgondien. Every single order of bulbs arrived completely withered and desiccated, moldy and dead, so immature that they were at least two years from blooming, or infected with virus that manifested when the plants came up. In those cases I was able to detect, I called customer service and received replacements. When the replacements arrived, it was immediately obvious they were from completely different stock than the first bulbs. It appeared that the company was systematically sending out garbage for all first orders, and assuming that they would make a profit on the portion of orders that were not caught or that people were too busy or too naive to call and complain about.
Two other friends had similar experiences. The catalogue is quite seductive with many hard-to-find plants, but people should be aware of the company's tactics.

I had a great experience with the Lion's club I belong to. We used Van Bourgondien's Holiday Fundraiser this past fall with great results. Everyone was very happy with the prompt delivery of the Amaryllis, Paperwhites and Hyacinths we ordered. All were recevied in great condition and bloomed beautifully. We plan on using them again for a spring fundraiser.

I ordered approximately $135 worth of bulbs in early September, 2002. Never Ever received them, even after ten very "long-wait" phone calls and never answered emails. The great irony was that I did get the worthless freebies. The best explanation I got from them was that FedEx was the problem and next time I should ask for UPS. Geez, no next time for me.

Last year (2002) only six of 36 plants grew and 2001 was about the same. I am planning to try someone different this year. Overall they seem to be headed down hiil, 5 years ago they were as good as other mail order plant company, but in the last 2 years their reliability has dropped.

I have had several experiences with plants arriving that were obviously dead---customer service replaced them with more dead plants--they should stick to bulbs.

I really like Van Bourgondien. I've placed many orders with them. I have had a problem with a number of plants that never came up, but they never ask questions when you ask for free replacements. However, if you call too late in the season they will likely be out of stock and you'll have to wait until the next year.

Their bulbs are very good as others have mentioned. Their customer service isn't always the best, I have spoken with a few people that really shouldn't deal with the public, but most are very good.

I like their web site, it's one of the best, very good information, pictures and search features. The Express Order Form is great if you are placing an order form the catalog and have the Item Numbers available.

I ordered bunches of bulbs and 20 or so bare-root phlox plants in Oct 2001. The bulbs were fine but the phlox never came up. In fact, they looked like dead roots. I called this past spring and told them. They were not very polite but grudgingly agreed to replace them. The new plants came in Oct and they were vastly superior to the first order. But the jury is still out on whether I'll have phlox in the spring. In summary, I'll continue ordering bulbs from them but that's all.

I had a very unpleasant experience with this company, and I concur with some of the other comments that: (a) the quality of the bulbs is poor, and (b) the customer service is very rude. I ordered a large quantity of lily of the valley pips and paid extra for expedited delivery. When they did not arrive I called to find out the problem. They told me that my card had been declined and that they had not sent the pips for that reason. This turned out not to be true (I checked) but even if it had been why didn't they let me know so I could give them another card? It would have taken a two-second email. (See the other person who commented on the same "declined card" tactic, below). Instead I had to follow up with them in order to get the bulbs sent. When they finally arrived (not within the delivery period specified for expedited delivery) the pips were very dry and very tightly bound in rubber bands. About a third of the pips were useless once freed from the rubber bands so I threw them out. The rest were planted in carefully prepared shady soil that was properly watered. The result? One spindly plant sprouted--out of 50 pips purchased and about 35 that could be planted!

You can guess the rest. When I complained to customer service they behaved as if I, and not the pips, were defective. The refused to give me a refund and insisted on a credit for only the pips' cost--not the extra cost of the expedited delivery (I got stuck for that). They were very rude through this process, acting as if my whole criminal modus operandi was to scam them out of their crummy convalaria majalis pips. I have rarely dealt with a company that has such a disregard--verging on contempt--for its customers. It's been several months and I haven't even gotten around to using my credit because I have such low expectations of the result. In my opinion DO NOT buy from these people. They don't deserve your business.

I placed a $100 order and about 90% of it arrived in 5 weeks. I got healthy barerooted perennials (phlox and butterfly plants)and healthy daffodil bulbs. I also got about 20 free daffodil bulbs. I e-mailed asking where the rest of the order was (autumn crocus), and where were the dozen free tulip bulbs I should also get. After 2 e-mails, they responded that they were sold out. So I e-mailed again, asking about the free tulips. I received a quick response that they'd be shipped shortly. I haven't seen them yet, but I believe they'll arrive. Based on the quality of the plants I did receive, I was pleased. E-mail seems to be the way to communicate. After extensive internet searching, I found the autumn crocus from Mcclure and Zimmerman. We'll see how that goes!

After waiting for several months for my spring order the plants I received from them died within days, and they could not replace them but gave store credit. Three months later I am still waiting on the bulbs that I ordered with the credit. Customer service is non-existant. I will never give another dime to this company.

They were the only company that had 'Black Forest ' Calla.

I just had to have one. Well, it grew and this year it bloomed. it was a bit pricey for just a corm, but it was SO pretty and bloomed for such a long time, I just had to get another one. That one "came up" as well, and I will expect it to bloom this coming spring.

In the past I have had some troubles with an order, but this one was just fine.

Slow delivery. Undersized bulbs.

I have no idea whether their plants are any good but their customer service STINKS. In April, I placed a small order with this company (3 trumpet vines) and waited and waited and waited. The plants never arrived and I never had any notification from the company as to the status of my order. After a little more than two months, I called the company to inquire and they told me they were out of stock on the items I wanted but that they would "probably" come in by MID-SEPTEMBER. I began the process of cancelling my order and the person there initially argued with me about whether I could cancel the order and then was snippy when I insisted.

Plants arrived late and in terrible condition. The scabiosa were moldy pieces of mush. The hostas and lobelia were fungal. Overall quality was poor on over $100 worth of merchandise.

There are much better sources with better quality plants and bulbs out there which I will be using in the future.

I have dealt with Van Bourgondiens since the '60s. Bulbs are good but pricy. Their plants are really bad and over priced for the size they are. They should stick to bulbs and forget about merchandising plant material. I have to stay neutral

Last fall, we ordered crocus, jonquil & daffodil
bulbs. All are coming up and look healthy. We were
happy with the price, and are happy with the results.
We'll order from them again this fall.

My first and only experience with Van Bourgondien bulb suppliers has been very disappointing. After ordering some very overpriced Canna Lily bulbs and planting them next to ones I bought from my local Wal-Mart, the difference is apparent. The foliage on the bulbs from Wal-Mart is larger and much more robust. The overall plant size on the local bulbs is much larger. Shame on you Van Bourgondien.

BIG FAT NO!!!! Will not refund. Plants not good. Bulbs did not come back, if they came the first year. Did not replace the dead plants, because some were freebies. NO NO NO

I placed an order for lilies and a tree peony this past fall, and although it took awhile to get them, they appeared to be in good shape. The peony is growing, and many of the lilies are starting to come up. I got daylilies and Siberian iris bulbs as a free gift, and they are all growing extremely well. In fact, I saw new growth on the daylilies two days after putting them in the ground. I've placed another big order this spring, and I'm hoping for great success!

The plants were dead when they arrived. Some things were out of stock, and they had no substitute. They would not give me a refund, only store credit, even for the out of stock plants.
Their cust service was rude and simply did not care about their plants or me. I pointed out that it was fraud to advertise and sell merchandise they did not have, then keep my money so I have to purchase something else.
I called VISA immediately and got a refund.

Bulbs were good, perennials were mostly dead or dying on arrival. The company won't give you your money back, only replacements or store credit, that is IF you can ever get customer service to answer the phone. I finally sent them an email.

Ordered Dahlias from them,good price,quick service.One was rotten when it arrived.Called them and they sent a healthy replacement right away.And they grew like crazy.