Comments regarding Hirt's Gardens (formerly Hirt's Greenhouse & Flowers)

This is my first time buying from this vendor. I ordered on April 1 and received the plants on April 3; they were sent by priority mail and were well packed and arrived undamaged. The bare root strawberries are obviously alive with dormant buds. The 3 potted kiwi plants and the potted Carolina allspice plant are healthy with leaves or leaf buds. I transplanted all of them to bigger pots for now and all 4 had strong and healthy root systems filling their containers. I do like getting plants shipped when they are young and small both to save on the cost of shipping and because I think the little younger plants tolerate shipping better, so I have no complaints about the size of their plants or pots. Also, unlike so many mailorder companies now, Hirt's charged me actual realistic shipping fees and did not jack up their prices by charging half again the price of the plants. There was a discrepancy on one of the emailed forms when a discount did not show up but I emailed a question and received a reply very quickly. Communication was very good and very fast. A very good experience and I expect to buy here again.

Just Recieved an 8”pot(12” tall) Ponderosa Lemon. Was worried it won’t survive the trip from OH to the West Coast.A heat pack was included which helped a lot. So winter shipping is feasible. Well taped citrus helped it from shifting a d soil wasn’t overly wet. Surprisingly the shipping was only a little over $9.00 for priority mail.

It was a mistake to make my first direct order from Hirt's at the end of July last year. Their plants are mostly one-stemmed cuttings put in small containers and then wrapped in plastic and taped to suffocation for shipment. When I received them, I saw all 12 were all crammed into one box, one on top of another, broken, droopy and dying, and one plant was left out completely (yet I was still charged for it.) So much for paying higher shipping fees for better packaging! Fast forward to today, one of twelve live plants is thriving, and by "thriving," I mean alive enough to survive this year's season. I reached out to Hirt's before this review, but Matt Hirt said they would not guarantee the dead plants as they were not shipped out in the fall. My season is short where I live, so what constitutes fall shipping? Needless to say, I will not be ordering from them again. They lost a customer by not offering to make things right with me. I will not be ordering from them again and I especially do not recommend them. There are so many other nurseries whose stock continues to thrive in my garden and I will be happy to do business with those who care well for their plants and customers!

I've purchased quite a few plants from Hirt's over the past few years and overall I've had a positive experience. I've been able to design a beautiful garden on a budget thanks to them. All of the plants are doing great and I'm very happy! The only problem, and it's not really a problem, is that the shipping is extremely fast and it's a good idea to place an order so it ships out on Monday so the plants don't get stuck in the mail over the weekend. They refunded the money for the plants that died...and that's why I keep buying from them.

I ordered a French tarragon plant and, over all, I'm unimpressed. The packaging was very good, preventing any planting mix from falling out of of the 2.5" square pot during shipping. The shipping time was reasonable.
The plant, however, was very unimpressive. What I received was a 1" sphere of leaves, 1/3 to 1/2 dead or yellow. I soaked the plant in its pot immediately, drained it overnight, and transplanted it the next day. When I squeezed and shook the plant out of the 4" tall pot, I found that the root ball was as unimpressive as the plant, occupying just about the same volume in the top of the pot as the plant did above it. The remaining 2.5 inches of potting soil contained no roots.
It remains to be seen whether this plant will live or die but the cold damp spring seems to have ended and the weather is now mild and mostly sunny, so it has a chance.

I ordered three kiwi vines and one dwarf fig. They were shipped quickly and with secure packaging. They were dormant when shipped but the stems were solid and pliable. I received them a week ago and I now have nice vigorous leaves on the kiwis. The fig leaves are coming in more slowly but also appear healthy.

I have sought wintergreen plants for several years, and they were usually very expensive. But I love this plant and wanted them in multiples. I ordered them from a garden center and the supplier was Hirt. I was a bit concerned because of the large number of negative ratings, and the price seemed too good to be true, but I took a chance.

They were delivered the other day complete with heat pack, and I was completely blown away. My five wintergreen are perfect small plants, have numerous berries and healthy green leaves, and were packed with great care. They are by far the best I have ever received, and at a fraction of the cost of the others.

I am delighted. I will definitely buy from them again.

My first order arrived quickly and the plants looked beautiful. However one plant quickly died within a few days. I reached out and someone shipped me an even more beautiful replacement.
Another plant died a few weeks later. I reached out again and they refunded my money. I didn't inquire about a replacement since I thought that was the default based on the first plant issue.
I ordered two replacements, both of which looked BAD upon arrival. One has some sort of disease and the other had 60% brown/crunchy leaves. I don't think the plants could've looked healthy when they were shipped. I reached out again, specifically asking what I could try to do to salvage these plants or if I could get replacements. The reply was a curt "I've refunded the money." I'm not about to order replacement replacements without assurance that they will send healthy plants and am frustrated they didn't address my concerns or my request for replacement.

First time customer here. On June 30th, I ordered three plants. I was notified by email that they shipped the next day, and they arrived on July 3rd. Pretty quick, I think, from Ohio to Maine, although there was a bit of soil that had spilled into the shipping box. I bought a ZZ plant, a Birkin Philodendron (which they call "rare" in their online catalog, although after I ordered it, I discovered quite a few of these rare plants at Home Depot! LOL, oh well!), and a Double White Serissa. It is now not quite four weeks later and I think the ZZ plant and philodendron are doing okay, but the Serissa appears to be struggling and I'm not sure why. I know it tends to be a thirsty plant, so I haven't let the soil dry out too much and I do have it in a sunny west-facing window. So, hopefully the little tree will make it. Overall, my experience with Hirt's is a positive one so far. Will update if anything changes.

I have ordered several times from Hirts and highly recommend. Last 2 times it did take longer for the items to arrive due to USPS issues. I do not blame Hirts for that. They offer great plants at reasonable prices. A great vendor.

I ordered some bareroot pineberries and a lemon thyme from Hirt's via their Etsy shop. Honestly I was a bit concerned having seen mixed reviews on this site but decided to go through Etsy in case I had any issues.

My plants arrived in three days, completely healthy and beautiful. The pineberries came with an instruction sheet to make sure they get the best start possible. All of the plants in my order have been planted outdoors and all of them are growing quite nicely. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again as I had a good experience.

Ordered and received (on Jan 22, 2012) 4 Haskap plants from Hirts Garden. It is now April and 3 of the plants were living, one is dead. I feel I allowed plenty of time for the plant to sprout. When I contacted them, they wanted a photo of the dead plant. I sent them 2 photos of the dead plant, and a third photo showing the living ones with the dead one. The next day, the told me the didn't get the photos. Resent. Next day, they told me they had no record of the order. Ebay has a record. PayPal has a record. I have a record. I sent them proof. Every day they give me another reason for not honoring the sale. They have been giving me a run around for over a week now. I will never do business with them again. I would recommend avoiding doing business with this outfit.

My plants arrived quickly and in excellent condition. I knew based on other reviews to expect very small plants, but I was impressed by the large roots on these tiny start. I will be ordering from them again.

Ordered from this company several times over the past few months, and I am always impressed with the quality and shipping speed. They also have a great selection and better prices than most places. I would highly recommend this company!

I wanted some small plants to place in crevices in a stone wall. The Hirt's plants were shipped the day after I ordered them and they were beautifully healthy and packed--I was impressed.

I ordered 2 Millennium allium on March 11. I received the order on March 15. I had expected bulbs or bare root plants so early in the season. Instead I got live potted plants. They were in 6" (diagonal) pots, and each had 3 growing sprouts with leaves 4" long. Very satisfied.

This is my third time ordering from Hirt's. I love the fact that I can get smaller versions of plants that I find in more expensive nurseries.I'm the type of person who enjoys watching plants grow...I don't care for the instant satisfaction of larger plants. Every plant I've purchased from here has grown, except one, ['All That Glows' Viburnum] and that was my fault. (over watered) I understand that people complain that the plants are small, but they are a good size for the price. Go to a nursery and price larger or similar sized specimens!

I ordered a specific aster plant that I was obsessed with through Walmart's online site(!) this month because it was the only place that had it for sale this late in the season. On the Walmart site it noted that the plant was supplied by Hirts. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing but really wanted this plant so I bit the bullet and ordered.
The plant arrived quickly and was extremely well packaged...a gallon pot, with no loose soil and the foliage protected with bubble wrap. The plant was stocky and very healthy and it has been acclimated and planted out already. Very pleased with the quality of plants from this company and may order directly from them in the future.

My experience with Hirt's has been good. I have ordered from them several times, and plants usually arrive in great condition. Recently had some plants arrive with damage from shipping. I emailed pictures of the damage and received a response right away that the plants and shipping were being refunded. I plan to continue ordering from Hirt's in the future. Thanks!

Super fast shipping; however, less than desirable quality. I ordered 3 clematis -- Jackmanii Superba. Nothing superb about them. I knew they were going to be small (that's why I ordered 3), but they were very poor quality. One of the vines was about a foot long with leaves only at the top. One of the others completely broke off at the soil line as I was repotting. Live and learn. Based on this experience I'd say don't waste your money on this vendor.

I've used the ratings here to help me find vendors for many years. Seeing the amount of negative ratings for this company, I was reluctant to purchase a dozen plants---but the price was untouchable anywhere else. So, I looked for reviews on the company at other sites and found they were much more favorable. Without trying to read too much into it, I decided to roll the dice and see what happens.

To my great relief, all the plants arrived perfectly packed and in excellent condition. Very happy with the purchase

I've had 3 orders with Hirts and great experiences each time, the plants are all healthy and larger than I would've expected from the price, shipping is extremely prompt and everything is well packaged. I have had to go through their customer service once to cancel an order and had zero issues, will definitely keep my eye out for some of their unique offerings for future orders!

I had a really fantastic experience with Hirt's. They shipped what I ordered the day after I ordered it, and it arrived to me in 2 days. The plants were well-packed and excellent shape. And they have been doing well since I've planted them.

I had a good experience with this company. I ordered two hoyas from them; they arrived healthy and in good condition. I did have to wait a little while to receive them from time of order (several weeks), but that was due to the cold temperatures, unsuitable for shipping plants. I think that their prices and shipping charges are reasonable, and I would not hesitate to order from them again, as they have plants that are difficult to find elsewhere. I had no problems whatsoever. Just be aware that it may take over a week or longer to receive your plants, but that they arrive in good shape and are healthy. Will buy from again.

Posted on March 8, 2020, updated March 8, 2020
I ordered Katharine's Gold iris from them. What came up this spring was not Katharine's Gold.

Ordered two plants. They arrived as dead sticks in 2.5" pots. The plants when dormant are not like this - just twigs with no soil connection - we tipped them out and checked.

I complained at the website and was asked to send pics, which I did. A refund appeared the same day. No comments/suggestions/apologies so I guess they'd rather not send more or deal with disgruntled customers. I would not order from them again.

I recently ordered two plants from hirts garden.
A peperomia prostrata (string of turtles) and a ceropegia linearis woodii (string of DAGGERS).
The string of daggers is a close cousin of the string of hearts plant which I'm familiar with as I have 3 large plants of the HEARTS variety and one DAGGER variety that I have been growing for a while now (not from Alan Hirts but from actual honest sellers).

For starters, these plants are EXPENSIVE for tiny 2" pots. So my expectations are that they are gonna be good investments.

Fast forward to receiving the goods.
Instead of what I ordered (string of TURTLES & string of DAGGERS), this guy sends me 2 string of HEARTS.

After several back and forth emails with photos, he finally Sends a partial refund for string of turtles only because he says "What a joke.............String of Daggers is the same genus and species as String of Hearts."

Alan you are a joke and a scam artist at best.
Don't buy from this guy. There are a lot of sellers who are honest and customer service oriented and will work with you. I've been buying plants online for a couple of years now and have had good luck with many online sellers including Etsy shops. I've never had quite an experience as I've had with Alan hirts. You should google his shop reviews too, they are eye opening...wish I had seen sooner before my purchase as mid-shipments of plants are a regular occurrence.

If you do decide to take a chance with Alan hirts, don't buy direct from his website. Take your risk through his Etsy or eBay shop because if you do (and you will) run into a problem with this guy, you can dispute it at least without dealing with his shadiness directly. Good luck to whomever decides to try your luck with hirts garden. Didn't say I didn't warn you

I have to be honest - there are quite a few mixed reviews out there about Hirt's, so I was a little nervous ordering, especially given the low prices. But sometimes I take the opinions of others with a grain of salt (some people are just never happy) and ordered a few small plants I've been searching for to add to my collection through their website. And let me just say - I was pleasantly surprised! My new plant babies arrived safely and so quickly! Opening that box totally made my day!!! All of them were well-packed, healthy and arrived in beautiful condition! If I'm splitting hairs, there was one tiny leaf on the crocodile fern I had to prune, but I think it had been that way prior to shipment. And they put tape around the pots/soil, so take your time to carefully remove. Bottom line - great selection of hard-to-find plants at bargain prices!

I've ordered several times from here and each time was really not a good experience. I don't know why I continued to order, but I won't again. The customer service is terrible. My orders showed up with items missing or damaged.

I messaged and sent photos of my plants upon arrival and got excuses or brushed off. My most recent order I had emailed five times or more with plants that arrived in terrible. I finally got a message back stating "live plant sales online are final". Well, if you send me a dead plant and I email you immediately, good customer service would be to refund the plants.

They have a decent selection but dealing with the service isn't worth it. I'd shop elsewhere if I were you.

Posted on January 26, 2020, updated January 27, 2020
I placed my first online order at Hirt's Gardens for 4 plants in Jan 2020. The order arrived fairly quickly; however, when I opened the box there was dirt everywhere. Plus, three of the plants were listed as being in 3" pots and 1 in a 2.5" pot, but all 4 plants were in 2.5" pots! And, a crown of thorns plant priced at $5.99 is tiny at barely 1.5" x 2", which means it will probably take years to become a nice size plant since it is a slow grower and only needs to be repotted every two years.

Disappointed and feeling ripped off! Caveat emptor!!!

After reading mostly negative reviews, I decided to see for myself if Hirt's was as bad as most were saying. I placed my first order with Hirt's in Dec. 2019. I ordered 5 plants, and received within 4 days of placing the order. The plants were packaged and packed well (no soil mess to clean up).. The plants were absolutely beautiful and healthy, even the roots, the potting medium was fresh--not any damaged to one leaf!!! I was thrilled, and I immediately placed an order for three plants, two ferns and a tricolor prayer plant. I, again, received my order within 4 days--great!! All three plants were well protected with bubble wrapped and a heat pack was included (that I hadn't paid for, nice right?!) I began to unwrapped one plant (Boston Fern) and soil and water came drizzling out, the fern was drenched, leaves smashed and stems broken--it had maybe 3 long stems/frons (2 broken) and maybe 4 black dried stems laid on the side of the pot, the roots were showing, no soil covered half of the pot--not healthy. The second plant, another fern, in the same condition, both will need to be nursed. The only decent plant with good soil was the prayer plant. So, if I could rate my experience, I would give Hirt's 2.5 stars out of 5 stars. I am truly disappointed in Hirt's. I am not going to ask for refund or replacement because in the reviews it stated Hirt's doesn't admit fault, do refunds or replacements, so buyer beware is all I can say.

It's a leap of faith to place a first-time order with a garden catalog. I'm extremely pleased with my purchase of 48 Pink Lightning Ajuga Plants. I placed the order on Friday and they arrived on Monday. The plants were well rooted with fresh leaves; a couple were even beginning to bud. I will definitely order again.

Posted on May 13, 2019, updated May 15, 2019
I ordered plants through Amazon and they came from Hirt's. It was a very large order and included many lavender. All of the lavender looked weak when it arrived, but a few of them were dying and the rest died after they were planted. However, Hirt's was the only source I could find for Lavender Thyme, and although the website states "no refunds," I was given a partial refund the first time, so I decided to give them another chance. The plants arrived today. All of them are dying and completely bone dry. The Apple Mint had yellow leaves all over the plant. There is a plant in the box that I am assuming is Lavender Thyme--it's not labeled. The plants were wrapped in plastic and squished on top of each other--I've never received plants packaged like these. I also ordered peppermint seeds. The seeds say "Mint" and the description says it has a "peppermint scent." I wish I could remember how I ordered the plants so I could send a picture, but the paypal deduction says it came from Hirt's and the Hirt's website says I didn't buy anything from them. I suspect the problem is in the warehouse--at some point, these plants were alive. If this company wishes to continue doing business they will have to examine their packaging or go back to the beginning as a local nursery. Their reputation is already lost.

Have a problem with the tomato plants I received. Plants are a mess. Not a straight plant in the bunch, bent and broken leaf stems, top leader part of plant at least five are broken off and were broken off before shipping as none of the tops were in the box.
They are so over grown there is not one that will stand up and most stems are curled up and deformed. I don't know why these would have even been sent out. I attached pictures and I have 19 more if they wanted to see those.

I requested replacements if they have plants in better condition or refund. If they wanted I would put them back in the box and send them back.
Also whoever packed them up put the packs in the box facing each other instead of next to each other and with their bent and curling stems were a mess to separate.
Needs retraining on how to pack delicate plants. The styrofoam peanuts for packaging and bubblewrap, & dry soil did not help. I have never received plants that looked like they were gotten off the trash pile and sent out. Their reply was "the plants will be fine. tomatoes can be planted deeply and they will root all along the buried stem resulting in a fuller plant." Not even an apology. They had several other items I would have liked to order but after this experience I will not be buying from them ever again.

I have had mixed results with Hirts in the past. Dealing in barefoot plants has inherent difficulties so i am sympathetic towards that but also cautious.

My recent order arrived quickly! I ordered 50 strawberry plants because they had both varieties I wanted and at a great price. The bare root plants arrived with large root clusters. The plants were clearly arrived and started thriving within days.

Unfortunately I also ordered a "Romeo" bush cherry. The plant was the correct size but was also clearly dead. It arrived desiccated wrapped in completely dry paper towels. No fibrous roots and the twigs just snapped off with no green core.

I contacted Hirts and they were great. They asked me to plant it and try to wait 2 weeks to check for any growth, then contact at them back. I gave the cherry a soak and planted it in a pot and doted on it. Two weeks later still dead. I contacted Hirts and within minutes they sent me a refund for the plant.

I didn't get a plant I wanted but the strawberry plants were great and the customer service was excellent.

Posted on October 25, 2018, updated October 25, 2018
I’ve ordered from hirts three times now. I’ve gotten Aglaonemas, a philodendron “Swiss cheese vine”, peperomias, and a fiddle leaf fig. I’ve also ordered a Sansevieria TWICE now. Never have recieved it.

Each plant I’ve actually recieved has been great. The shipping is fast and the plants are as pictured, and really pretty- at a great price.

My issue lies with the sansevieria. I’ve bought and paid for this thing twice now.. and just never got it. The first time I thought it was a mistake, so I emailed Matt. He said it was out of stock and sent me a new order form, with the sans X’d put and a note that I had been refunded.

The second time I emailed him again asking if he could send me the new order form just like last time, so that I could have in my records that this had not been sent to me, with written confirmation of the refund. He was very curt and rude- saying “I can not. You attached the order form with your email.” I was like, yeah I know but it says on here that the sans is in my shipment, but it’s not. I assume it’s out of stock yet again and I’d like a written record that it wasn’t sent to me and I’m not being charged. He responded to my email with the proper order form. That’s it- no apology or any other words just the form. Kinda “meh” customer service but whatever.

My suggestion would be- if someone orders something and it’s out of stock by the time you go to mail it, you really should send them an email or refund notice or at the very least include a packing slip with the shipment that says “not in stock, wasn’t sent to customer, customer refunded”. I like to have a paper trail when it comes to my money because if I look on my account and am still charged for it, I have no proof I didn’t get it. You know what I mean?

I also feel like overselling things once is excusable. But twice? They need to keep an updated online inventory that correlates with their in-house inventory. It said that multiple were available when I purchased it. I have no clue why I can’t seem to actually receive it. It’s very odd I’ve never experienced this before, and I shop 99% online these days.

Received the 3 shrubs I ordered. All 3 of them exceeded my expectations, considering the sale price I paid. They are bigger than expected and all 3 are full of green leaves. 2 of them have multiple stems, instead of just one. I'm very happy. One of them is a Venus Sweetshrub, and although I've seen other sweetshrubs and spice bushes for sale, I haven't found many offerings for Venus (its the sweetshrub with large white flowers). Anyway, I'm very happy with my order.

I ordered a Eureka lemon last spring from Hirts via jet.com. I nurtured the plant through last winter, brought it out this spring. It flourished, bloomed, and set many fruit, Unfortunately it was definitely NOT a lemon. It produced very large fruit, shaped very close to an jumbo avocado with thick rind and many seeds. No lemon flesh whatsoever. Also the fruit never turned yellow, even though it set fruit very early this spring. I sent an email to Hirts and all Matt Hirt said was that it was "impossible". Well, either I'm a lying or they are. Or it was a mistake. Either way a good company would attempt to make good on it. I feel like I tossed $35 bucks down the drain.

My impression is this vendor does not like to be told that he or she sent an incorrect order or forgot to send all ordered items. Even worse if you ask to get the missing plants or have the order corrected.

The first batch of plants I recieved from them was missing two items. Plants from this batch arrived in okay conditions and they're still growing well more than two weeks after receiving them.

I should note that the company only likes to communicate via their personal web-based messaging system, which doesn't really initially have any way of showing that it works.

The second batch was basically the two plants that were missing. These plants appeared to have committed seppuku prior to getting shipped, and they look mostly dead still, despite getting the same attention from me as the same plant from the original batch sent (THAT plant is actually growing beautifully).

Seeing that others had the same experience, I suspect that the Hirts garden owner is the type of person who doesn't like to have people catch a mistake and kindly request that it be corrected (especially since a payment was already made). It's sadly reassuring seeing that I'm NOT the only one who had a negative experience with this vendor... even moreso in seeing extremely similar experiences to my own.

One can't help but wonder-- if a mistake was made on the part of the vendor for a paid item, shouldn't the vendor be willing to correct the problem? Why be punished for asking for the services or items one already paid for in full?

For curiousity's sake regarding the possibly hijacked plants I recieved in my second batch, I tried ordering a third batch of plants-- Hirts immediately cancelled the order themselves with zero explanation why. Lame.