Comments regarding Easy To Grow Bulbs (formerly Willow Creek Gardens)

I have ordered from Willow Creek Gardens for the last three years. The orders have been shipped quickly, the plants have been in terrific shape and the customer service has been impeccable. I will continue to use them as a source of plant material.
Coleen Toone
Morinda Gardens
Provo, Utah

I had been searching for Amazon lily bulbs (Eucharis grandiflora) for some time, and I finally found them on the Willow Creek Gardens website. The bulbs were not in stock at that time, so the listing instructed customers to contact Willow Creek for availability, which I did. I was advised by return email that they did not know for sure whether they would be able to get the bulbs, but that if they did, they would let me know. I figured that I would never hear any more about this, but several months later, lo and behold I received an email from Willow Creek telling me that they had the bulbs in stock! When I received the bulbs (10 of them) this week, nine were in excellent condition, but one of them was nothing but mush. I sent an email to Willow Creek explaining the situation and received a prompt and gracious reply apologizing for the problem and promising to send a replacement bulb immediately. What great customer service! I'll definitely be ordering from Willow Creek again.

Ordered several bulbs everything arrived in timely matter and in good condition. Will order again.

I just received 6 hostas I just ordered. WOW! Beautiful plants, very large. They shipped when they said they would, e mailed me the shipping info. The packing was great and each one was in a bag ..perfect and ready to plant. I also ordered some roses, but they haven't arrived yet. Will order more from this source for sure!!

I ordered some hosta from them, and the root balls were giant!!!! I was very surprised. They send dormant bare roots, they were just eyes and roots, no stalks or leaves, but some of the roots measured from the tips of my fingers to my elbow!!!!!! Good Starts, and worth the $6.95........

i ordered early on preorder basis,the company gave me 10% off the heydichiums gingers were very lg healthy and send out express shipping very happy i ordered from them good service and nice exocited plants hard to find else where.

We ordered about 150 begonia tubers in January of 2008. Begonias must be started in pots in a warm greenhouse in our area and we have over 20 years experience growing them. We had probably the highest attrition rate ever, perhaps in excess of 30% failed to break dormancy and the failed tubers were discovered to have brown interiors, blue or white mold inside. We quarantined all the failed pots to give the tubers a second chance at growth and be able to make an account of them to report to Willow Creek but unfortunately they were thrown out by greenhouse staff before we could do an exact final count. Fortunately we had ordered more than what was needed for our gardens and those that did grow, grew well and performed better than any year in our experience. So the ones that did survive did great but we had such a high failure rate, we are very reluctant to risk another order. In contrast, we ordered 50 'On Top Sunset Shades' from Brent and Becky's and had nearly 100% success with breaking dormancy and excellent garden performance which gave us additional reason to be suspect of the initial quality of the begonia tubers ordered from Willow Creek. I have no doubt that they would have stood behind their product were we able to give them an account of the failed tubers so I'm not questioning their business integrity; we just weren't satisfied with the product quality.

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After talking with our customer service staff and reviewing product feedback notes from the spring '08 season, there does not appear to have been an issue with the quality of our begonia bulbs. This conclusion is based on phone and emails from other customers, or in this case, the lack of them.

First, these bulbs were shipped in March at the customer's request. While this was earlier than we customarily recommend for that part of the country, we recognize that growers' timetables are often different than those of home gardeners.

A check of the shipping record for this order indicates that FedEx attempted delivery on Saturday 3/22 but the delivery address was incomplete or incorrect. (Our automated systems feed the data input by customers directly to shipping labels.) We contacted the customer, gathered the right address information and delivery was completed on Tuesday 3/25. However, according to national weather records, that week's Saturday, Sunday and Monday night temperatures in Southport, Maine were all well below freezing (one was 14 degrees). FedEx warehouses are typically unheated, so even with the insulated wrap we use during cold weather; it's likely that these bulbs suffered some frost damage while awaiting delivery. (As a general precaution, when the weather is extreme and deliveries are going to distant locations, we ship early in the week to avoid having packages sit over the weekend in unheated warehouses.)

We wish this customer had contacted us to advise us of the situation and to review options. And while in this instance, it appears there was nothing we could have done that was left undone, we'd still like an opportunity to demonstrate that our bulbs are the best around. Seagardener, please give us a call at 760-721-7079."

Order was recieved very promptly and plants were in great shape.Can't wait to see what spring brings, when I can get these in the ground. Thanks for shipping quickly.

Website easy to navigate. Confirmation email upon ordering, plus another email to let me know my order was enroute. Super fast shipping and the order is well packed. My amaryllis and calla lily bulbs look FABULOUS! And I have never seen these varieties be so large and plump.

I am looking forward to planting them and watching them grow. Will definitely order from Willow Creek Gardens again.

If I was just basing this review on whether my plants thrived, then it would have to be a negative. However, it's not Willow Creek's fault that the particular cultivars of tuberous begonias that I ordered are apparently not happy in our heat... nor is it their fault that we went through two hurricanes this season. So, to be fair, I will rate them based on the tubers they provided. All nine of the tubers were in fine condition when I received them and were priced well. Willow Creek offers an outstanding selection and their ordering process is quite efficient and stress-free. Too bad my plants didn't turn out as well! Ev

Willow Creek Gardens totally impressed me last spring with the begonia tubers I ordered. Although I've been gardening for a long time, I've never realized the begonia tubers came as plump and big as these were. And although it's close to the end of the growing season here in Zone 5, the huge healthy plants are blooming on and on in their vivid and unusual color combinations. Considering the fact that Willow Creek sends very nicely packed lots of three tubers per order, I couldn't be more pleased--especially since the single nearly $30 tuber I ordered from a famous Northeast company never has bloomed. I'm expecting a shipment of iris and peonies from Willow Creek this week and I can hardly wait!

We ordered cannas ( tropicanna and tropicanna gold ) from them and they were in absolutely beautiful condition. The canna are now five feet tall and striking. They were also great help in finding others that they did not carry.

In April of this year (2008) I happened to come across Willow Creek Gardens while searching for begonia and achimenes bulb. The pictures on their site were beautiful. I ordered the "Picotee Sunburst" begonias, and several varieties of achimenes. The "Picotee Sunburst", and Achimenes bulbs were packed very well. Very healthy bulbs. I planted them indoors right away and when the begonia's began to bloom I didn't think they were the right color and seemed to different than the description on site. I sent an email informing them that the bulbs must have been mis-labeled and that I was just letting them know for their info. I did not expect such positive attention, and was surprised to get an apology via email within hours saying replacements were on the way. 2 days later I received double the orig. order. Now, after returning from vacation I was shocked to see that the orig. plants had 2nd flush of the most beautiful begonia blooms I have ever seen. So I emailed Kathleen for an invoice so I could pay them,and apologized for the trouble. She emailed me and said " I'm happy for you, and Thank you for being our customer. Have a beautiful summer. I will be ordering from them again, happily. Tookiebird

This was my first use of Willow Creek Gardens.I could
not be more pleased!!! Kathleen is a treasure! I hope
they realize that.Easy to work with.My order was filled
& shipped promptly...Plan to use them again in the
future. Only POSITIVE rating coming from me.Thanks
W.C.!!

My bulbs got here in a timely manner, they were nice and moist, packed well and most of them are really big.
Will recommend this company.
One funny side note; if you order from their sister company you get free bulbs if you order for a certain amount.
Had I known that, I would have ordered from them. The website shows the same products and who doesn't like gifts? :-)
Christie

I ordered 3 Alstroemeria and they arrived in beautiful condition in a very timely matter. I had been looking for the purple color for a while and voila.....Willow Creek had it!

Shipping was prompt and the shipping confirmation email was very friendly. I'll definately order from these folks again. I have them saved to my favorites!

I ordered 8 "Sparkling Burgundy" heuchera from this company. Although Willow Creek is in California (and I in Tennessee) I still ordered because they had the best price and the variety that I wanted. When the plants arrived, they were absolutely beautiful! The burgundy leaves were brilliant and in great shape. Also, the customer service for this company is EXCELLENT. Before the huechera arrived, there was a slight mix-up with my order. Willow Creek fixed the problem immediately and to my satisfaction. It's hard to find this kind of quality service and product anymore.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION! I ordered on Thursday, received Monday at 8:30 a.m., and had planted by 9:45 a.m.. HUGE Eucharis Grandiflora and Tuberose bulbs. Blazing communication in all respects by great people. Look forward to doing business again and again.

Cathleen Larson Buschman

I purchased freesia, ranunculus, rain lilies.Achimenes from Willowcreekgardens. Such wonderful customer service, my emails were prompt answered, Nicely packaged & shipped with bonus bulbs too!!. I will order again. I am very pleased with my order.
Thanks Jon.

I don't think I've ever received such large dahlia clumps before. The order was packed carefully and arrived quickly.

I like the good prices for packs of 3 (on large tubers like dahlias, and plants) and I like that shipping is calculated by the weight of my purchase -- what a novel concept, shipping that actually costs what it costs!

I wish they had a bigger dahlia selection.

I started ordering from Willow Creek Gardens last fall. My amaryllis bulbs, that I forced inside, produced awesome flowers in December. I have purchased other flower bulbs just recently, and their service and packaging is exceptional. Willow Creek Gardens is on top of my list for online purchasing!

Just recieved 20 handsome crocosmia bulbs.Well packed,clean and dry.
Will definatly do business with them again.DG hasn't let me down in my first year of ordering on-line.

Ordered bulbs and they were delivered quickly.One bulb was damaged in shipment and one email had a replacement at my door within three days.Service just doesn't get any better than this.Thank you Willow Creek,I will be ordering again.

Fast shipping /nice products !!!!

before willow creek gardens say they haven't heard from me my order number is 5964..I have called, e-mail (which was answered once and never again) and still have not been advised on what to do about the peonys I planted in Oct of last year that has tryed to mush (the root that is) the e-mail I got back from them told me that was not good..ha don't I know it! They asked how many I ordered I replyed and nothing! So willow creek gardens I can't wait to hear you say you didn't know about this one!

I recently ordered some carpet roses and several varieties of hostas from Willow Creek Gardens. They were at my door within 72 hours, beautifully packaged, and I was quite pleasantly surprised at the size of all the plants, particularly for bareroot. I emailed Willow Creek with a question about another order I wanted to place and received a reply within 24 hours. The quality of both the service and the products has been delightful. Thanks, Willow Creek!!

Received my bulbs and daylilies in good time and excellent condition. Looking forward to lots of pretties soon.

I have placed several orders this month, having been impressed with the speed of delivery, prices, and the condition of the items ordered on arrival. Although I haven't planted any of them yet, the dicentras and gingers I ordered have been large and well packaged. I'm waiting to receive some oxalis and geraniums and will report later on the growth after planting.

For Christmas I ordered three amaryllis bulbs from Willow Creek Gardens. Every year I’ve purchased amaryllis bulbs from the local grocery store for some winter blooms and have always been happy enough with them, but this was the first year I’d looked for a higher quality amaryllis. Those bulbs that I’ve gotten from the grocery store and those that Willow Creek sent might as well be two different plant species.

Willow Creek’s amaryllis bulbs are very affordable (not any more than those grocery store ones for the bulbs alone), of an excellent size and they have an amazing selection. The one that I did purchase potted came in a beautiful basket style pot and was packaged well enough that none of the soil or moss came out of the pot in shipping. They were very quick getting the order out even during the busy Christmas season.

The last of the bulbs started opening up its bloom today and the other two are still going. I’ve never seen such large and numerous blooms on such vigorous and utterly gorgeous amaryllis plants. I couldn’t be happier with them and look forward to ordering more bulbs from Willow Creek.

Best Begonias I have grown in years. I ordered -

Begonia Picotee Lace Salmon

Begonia Hanging Basket Salmon Serenade

Getting decent begonias in the midwest without a greenhouse is a long shot but these preformed perfectly.

Plus their Caladiums have done very well too. They started in mid June and are still going strong

An amazing company--tubers became huge healthy lush begonias, the size of peonies. Customer service also extremely responsive, polite and prompt. In form, color and size of bloom, these begonias are far superior to those of high- end Northeast nursery which markets expensive Blackmore and Langdon varieties. Even though the Willow Creek begonias come from California, they are thriving in my New York City garden. In the future, I will purchase my begonias only from this superb California nursery. Don't waste your money elsewhere: I highly recommend Willow Creek Gardens!

When I told people I was ordering plants from California off the web and having them ship to Florida - they told me I was crazy! I was very pleased when I received my two Tropicanna Gold plants.They arrived in excellent condition and I immediately unpacked watered and stuck them in the sun. My two are now in the ground and are truly growing. The service at Willow Creek Gardens was truly wonderful!

--deerinfield
Boynton Beach, FL

I forgot to provide feedback immediately after receiving my order earlier this year. Watsonias were healthy, properly packed and shipped promptly. Communications were efficient. Highly recommend.

Ordered 3 black canna And only 1 rizome had a eye and its doing good.Tried and left message and got no response.I will not buy again.The other 2 have not gotten an eye I think now thier dead

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We're sorry to hear that this customer has had a problem with a recent order. We were not notified of the issue when the order was received, nor have we received an email or phone communication to that effect. If this customer will call (760) 877-5926 or email us customerservice@willowcreekgardens.com, we'd be happy to try to resolve the situation."

Willow Creek Gardens is excellent!!!! I have ordered from them several times and have yet to be disappointed. The costumer service is exceptional. Every bulb I received was healthy, huge and most importantly bloomed the first year. I have never received anything from this company that was a “dud”. Plus every order arrived very quickly. I would highly recommend ordering from this company, you will not be disappointed. I know that I will keep ordering from this company time and time again. This company is a godsend amongst the sea of online nurseries and Bulb Company’s.

I had an excellent experience with this company. I ordered six Lily of the Valley pips from them several weeks ago and received them very fast. About a week or so ago I received another package from Willow Creek with six more HUGE Lily of the Valley pips! Apparently they thought the pips they had sent previously were not top quality and sent me the replacements for free. I was so impressed with their honesty and integrity; so few companies would do something like that. The Lilies are beautiful and have started to blossom already.

Willow Creek also has an wonderfully helpful planting guide section on their website. It has been extremely useful to me. And the customer service is excellent- Kathleen is so friendly and helpful! I will definitely order more from them in the future.

I don't even know where to begin! I am so completely impressed with Willow Creek and Kathleen that I'd hug her if she wasn't so far away. She started working with me in December as I was trying to put together a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I wanted more than anything to gift my SIL with Lily Of the Valley pips for her to use in a remembrance garden she was making in honor of her mom who crossed over last summer. I must have checked 100 different online and local sources and none could send me pips in December, but I was so impressed with the care and the promptness that Kathleen extended to me that I did place an order to be delivered as soon as they were available to ship. (and a 'wee' order for myself, hey, I deserve nice things too!)

Kathleen helped me chose the right plants for my zone, color preferences and light requirements, always patient and knowledgeable. When my order arrived I was 'doing the happy dance' at the size of the Astilbe, the bulbs were fat and healthy, and the roots on the Agapanthus were tree like, seriously I had intended to pot it up in a 1 gallon until the weather warmed, and it just laughed at that itty bitty container.

I worked customer service for many years, and it can be a trying and frustrating task if you don't believe in the products you're selling and love the people you're working with. Willow Creek and Kathleen have nothing to worry about on that account, their plants are top rate as is their service.

This week I've placed a second order (had to have the white Agapanthus and a few other things for my moon garden), and I'm sure to place a third order and a fourth!
jeannie/kini

Basically I have ordered my entire garden using on-line services. I recently ordered Crocosmia bulbs from Willow Creek. When I first called, I connected with an answering machine. Within minutes they returned my called, very prompt and extremely nice. I felt like I was the only customer that she was concerned about! One of the bulbs I wanted was not listed in her stock but she knew of some inventory that had not been added. She took the time to move plants and bulbs around on her inventory stock in order to complete my wants list. And instead of the 2-3 week delivery time, my order was here within 5 days! I will definitely be ordering from Willow Creek again and soon, I'm working on my "list" already!!!

I ordered 3 Flower Carpet roses. They arrived very quickly, well packaged and in beautiful condition. And when I managed to not treat the beautiful plants well and nearly kill them (my fault, not Willow Creek's), Willow Creek Gardens was very helpful in telling me how to resusitate the plants.