Comments regarding Bluestone Perennials

I purchased a number of plants in Spring 2009 from Bluestone. Because I was going to be away when my plants were scheduled to ship, I wrote to the company requesting a change in shipping date. After a bit of email confusion, they cheerfully accommodated my request. Score one for Bluestone!

When my plants arrived, I noticed that some of the plants did look a bit ragged, but I read through the materials that Bluestone sends with every order, followed their directions to give the plants some water and a few days outdoors in a shady spot, and they did perk up. I planted them, and although they seemed a little worse for the wear at first, they quickly settled in and took off. I figure they must be healthy plants to rebound from stress so easily, and with no extra care or fuss from me other than keeping them watered.

Of the numerous plants that I ordered, three ajuga did not fare well and eventually died. (But, as I said, I didn't baby them. Had I tended them more carefully, who knows?) Bluestone has an unconditional guarantee, so I wrote them to tell them about the loss. They immediately shipped me out 3 new ajuga with no questions asked. These three plants not only survived but thrived.

Mail order nurseries are not for everyone, but I do feel that Bluestone provided a great bargain and helped me fill in a lot of empty spaces in my garden quickly. Overall, working with them was a very positive experience.

I want to complement Bluestone Perrenials on their fast service and standing behind their guarantee. I ordered a special last fall on three clematis plants, planted them according to directions and all three "disappeared" in January. I don't know what happened to them. I emailed the company and within 24 hours or so they replied and said that they were sending replacements free of charge this spring planting season here in Tidewater Virginia!

Posted on June 24, 2009, updated January 16, 2010
I've gotten lots of good and great plants from Bluestone, most at half price, and many of those have outperformed the plants I bought from other companies. I have been treated so well by them and their great customer service I have almost been spoiled for dealing with other companies.

I haven't given them any credit-or deserved good ratings, until now. So this is lots & lots of belated good ratings.

If Bluestone's plants are small at first, they don't stay that way. A good many other companies have sent me smaller-or worse- dead plants while charging much more. Or sent plants which I am sure left them alive-more than three weeks before.

Bluestone on the other hand, ships on Monday and I know the plants will be here, in Idaho, by that Friday. They will ship on any Monday I specify, as long as it is within the season they normally ship plants or bulbs by.

I make sure someone (usually me) is here on the Friday my plants will arrive, to open the box, remove the plants, water them well and place them in a protected spot.

If the plants looked sad at first, generally they are looking ok in a day. If they still look sad after a day or two, I call customer service & talk it over. They might recommend I plant the plants & see how they do in say a month. But IF I don't want to, IF I am still unhappy, I get a refund. I have never had to return anything to get a refund. Not plants, not packing slips, not receipts-nada.

If my credit card was not credited I would simply call again & tell Bluestone. I have never had that problem, my credit cards have always been credited quickly.

If you keep your styrofoam (sp?) peanuts & your boxes, Bluestone sends (with the plants) a label and information on returning packing stuff to Bluestone for a recycling credit. Each credit = free shipping on another order. Even if you (like me) sometimes lose the credit after they send it to you-they keep a record of how many credits you have. (Note: I am not recommending you not try to keep track of credits.)

You do have to pay to return the (sans plants) box and peanuts. But YOU can send your boxes the cheapest (ie, probably slowest) way possible. For me that has been parcel post. If you have lost the label Bluestone sent, you can print another from their website. Maybe it's not a perfect system, but it's recycling that pays.

This system only works if you like Bluestone's plants and want to order again. As it happens, I do.

I have ordered from Bluestone Perennials for many years. First perennial plants, then shrubs. All are doing well, some growing slower than hoped for; like Major Mount Airy frothergilla and some have exceeded my expectations; like Caryopteris. Out of numerous plants only one kind ever died, it was Euportorium and I never told them about it! I now start most of my perennials from seed, but I do by an occassional something I have to have that I can't find seeds for.

I ordered from Bluestone for the first time last spring and was happy with the plants they sent. The plants were a bit small, but they were healthy and grew fine.

I only live about 20 miles from the nursery, so I plan on visiting in the spring.

Posted on November 20, 2009, updated November 20, 2009
Posted on July 01, 2001, updated November 20, 2009
Sorry to have some negative feedback on this company. I ordered 3 - 6 plant collections of the chrysanthemums (one football mum collection, one large flowered garden collection, and one spoon & quilled collection) last fall for shipment this past spring. Each plant was supposed to be a different color, kind, etc. Of the eighteen plants, all but 3 of them are the same yellow mum!! They had the different labels on them, but were not what the labels said! I called and they said they 'didn't know how that could have happened' (I do...shoddy quality control) and offered to send more next spring. I had looked forward to these plants, and am still quite upset about it. I had several other plants that arrived and were mislabeled, but nothing of this magnitude. If the replacement mums aren't correct, I won't order from them again. [update 8/24/2002] received the supposedly correct chrysanthemum plants earlier this year that they promised to send me and they still managed to send me the yellow mums!! This after my begging them not to send me any more of the yellow ones!! I just give up. I will not order from them again. In my opinion, a company should have someone in charge of Quality Control (or whatever they care to call it) to make sure a customers' order is correctly filled! Care should be taken to ensure that correct labeling is used, the descriptions are accurate, and that the plants are what they are supposed to be! Thanks for letting me vent.

I ordered from their fall sale. Everything was good - I ordered both bulbs and a lavendar. I'll reuse the peanuts by putting them in the bottom of a large pot.

This company is great for standard perennials. The plants are small but strong and healthy, and thrive once set out in the right locations. My first order was small and the package arrived in a jumbled-up mess of emptied pots and dried-out plants. I complained and they quickly sent the entire shipment over and everything was perfect. Since then, I order regularly in the spring. I'm a happy customer for certain!

Recently placed my very first order with this company and was absolutely thrilled with the experience. I received my little lovelies just today and they were well packaged and looked very healthy. I will absolutely order from them again.

I am so happy with this company. On Sept 22, I used their website to order crocus, lily, and tulip bulbs. I immediately received a confirmation email. Two days later, I received an email that the order shipped. The next day, I received the bulbs. Everything was just as ordered and expected. Already started planting!

I have ordered from Bluestone before and have not had any problems. I placed my order on Aug 13th and had to email them about the delivery time. My order arrived yesterday in excellent shape. A little dry, the daylillies were average size. I have been well pleased with Bluestone. I will order from them again in the future.

After reading so many positive comments, I decided to order a catalog, then ordered one of their border collections, and other plants. They came when expected, last spring, but due to cold weather, I had to wait a week to plant. I followed their instructions, and all plants survived the planting. Now it is fall, and I am so pleased with the results! Only 3 of over 100 plants did not survive the dry summer (and I think it was my fault). Right now, the asters are the star of my garden. Over 3 feet tall the first year planted and loaded with thousands of dark pink flowers. By buying the collection, I could try flowers I was unfamiliar with. Now, I am planning my purchases for next spring to fill in the holes in the rest of my garden. Don't worry about the initial size! If you have properly prepared your bed, they will grow!!!

I ordered during the spring sale and was initially disappointed. My order was for 15 plants. I received a shipping email on Friday that my order shipped. Shipping on a Friday still seems idiotic to me, as the order sat in a mail truck or mail warehouse during a hot weekend. Shipping on Monday would have delayed the order by only one day and the plants would not have been subjected to the mail storage. Someday I'll let that go. The plants arrived and some had wet, rotten greenery - like when you store lettuce in a plastic bag and it goes bad. Upon contacting BP, I was informed that they would replace any plant that died. I immediately planted and trimmed off all rotten growth. I now realize I should have waited a bit to plant, but I put the plants out on a hot sunny day. Every plant is now healthy and showing substantial growth. Not all have bloomed, but the plants went through a lot of stress, on BPs and my own part.

Unhealthy plants would not have survived. I will definitely buy from them again and upgrade the shipping to expedited service. I am certain these plants would all have looked fabulous if they had not spent days in hot, idle transit.

I was disappointed with the health of the plants I received: they did not look good and despite lots of TLC, 2 of the 5 I ordered have died. I will not use this company again.

"On Aug 24, 2009 4:00 PM, Bluestone Perennials responded with:

I hope you will give us the opportunity to regain your trust. We are now shipping for fall planting, and could get some replacement plants out to you right away at no cost. Your original purchase was guaranteed, and if you will be in touch, we will reship or refund - which ever you prefer."

I ordered Bluestone's 'Perennial Starter Garden' and 3 Coreopsis 'Creme Brulee' in May of this year. This was my first mail-order purchase of live plants and my first purchase of perennials as well. About 2 weeks before I ordered, I tilled the soil and added organic compost as suggested by Bluestone and a few books I had read.
When they arrived, my first observation was that the plants were very small but healthy. I planted them about 3 days later spacing them as stated on the plant tags. I thought they looked sparse (but again, healthy) and hoped they would fill in.
It's now August 9th and they are thriving way beyond my expectations. 54 plants were delivered and 54 plants are alive! I can't wait to see them next year.

Look at these Before & Afters.
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]

I've ordered twice from Bluestone, taking advantage of their late spring half-off sale, and have been very pleased with their plants. Shipping is fast and well-packaged, with helpful gardening instructions and detailed logistical information. All the plants I ordered are thriving in my garden, and some are neat varieties that I got at good prices. However, I do wish they offered single plants for some of their stock...often the only option is to buy three packs. Sometimes, that's great--especially for groundcovers and massing perennials--but not always. But overall I am really happy with this company and will continue to order from them!

Ordered from Bluestone for the first time last month. Purchased several butterfly bushes, spireas, and tall phlox, all on sale at the time.

The box which housed the new adoptions contained an excessive amount of foam peanuts, making retrieval of the plants cumbersome (be sure to do it on a windless day, unless you want your garden to have a fresh layer of foam mulch). But I won't complain too much, as the plants arrived without handling-induced damage.

The shrubs were cuttings and a decent size, in surprisingly shallow pots. They seem to have had some pruning done before the trip. Slow release fertilizer tablets were provided for them, which is a plus. Despite being planted in early Summer on southern exposure, the shrubs showed no signs of stress after a mere week of careful watering, all displaying enthusiastic new growth along their manicured branches. Very pleased by the shrubs.

The phlox on the other hand arrived looking uniformly less impressive, with much wilting and some other physical damage (ironically, they came in much deeper pots than the shrubs). But they too have transplanted successfully... not quite impressive specimens yet, but green and sturdy enough to allay worries about their short-term survival.

Based on this single experience, I might be slightly hesitant to order tender plants, at least until the phlox pass the test of winter. But I would have no reservations whatsoever about woody plants. The performance of the butterfly bush and spirea has been superb thus far, delighting in both the briskness of growth and tolerance of heat.

I ordered eleven hostas from the half off clearance sale at the end of May. One was out of stock when I order was filled, but my credit card was never charged. The plants were shipped FedEx and arrived quickly. Although they'd been packed in peanuts, three arrived with significant leaf damage. I emailed Bluestone and received replacement plants within a week. I'm happy to say I would order from them again.

I ordered from this company and was very pleased with thier plants..

I have nothing but good things to say about this nursery. I have been doing business with them from years & have had great success with their plants !!

I placed three orders from Bluestone Perennials recently, and was very happy with the quality of the plants!! They were well- packed and very healthy upon arrival. They were very good about emails confirming my orders and on letting me know when the orders were shipped. I have ordered from them before and have never been unhappy about their plants. I highly recommend this company. Thanks for doing such a good job Bluestone Perennials!!

I am a new customer to bluestone this year. The many plants I have ordered have been beautiful, healthy plants. You would never even know these plants had been shipped, they looked like they just came from the nursery. I have been more pleased with these plants than those from any other mail order nursery.

I have always been happy with my plants from Bluestone. If there is a problem with a plant, they are quick to replace it or issue a credit. I find most of their prices reasonable.
Yogijoan

I stumbled upon Bluestone Perennials while surfing online several years ago and am glad I did. Their plants are tops, their customer service unbeatable, and replacement for "no shows" the following year (no questions asked) is hard to beat. Compared to the prices at Maria Gardens or Petitti's (around Cleveland), Bluestone is a bargain.

I have ordered plants from several lousy companies (Spring Hill Nursery and Michigan Bulb, to name a couple) and have received nothing but a stick and a couple of roots that they call plants. Not only did they not come up the following year, but their policy on returns is to send a certificate to reorder from the mail catalog. "Didn't grow the first time, so why should I reorder?" I thought .

Living in NE Ohio, I plan on visiting their greenhouse this summer as I am really curious to see all the goodies they have.

Again, a wonderful company that I have recommended to people several times and will continue to recommend in the future.

I ordered from Bluestone two years ago. I admit I thought the plants looked awfully small, but I had looked at others' reviews of this nursery and was expecting smallish plants.
My plants have flourished--nepeta, campanula, anemone, daylily, and others. They're huge plants--the kind they photograph to show you how beautiful the plant is--and have exceeded my expectations.
Good job, and keep it up!

I've placed several orders from BSP and although the plants they ship are not that large, they seem to do great the second year. I planted some Plum Pudding Heuchera last fall and they almost tripled in size this spring. This year I requested they move my ship date twice and it was no problem. They did make a mistake with an order (they sent the wrong ajuga), but I had an e-mail back within 24hr and the new plants within two weeks . They might not have the biggest plants, but they're healthy, grow well and their customer service is tops. I will definitely be ordering from them again.

We were going to order a perennial border garden online and then I realized they were only 1 hour drive away. SO up we went to Madison Ohio. What an amazing garden center!! EVERY SINGLE PLANT AND FLOWER we bought survived and we bought about 200!!!! That was 3 months ago. We even kept them in the garage for a month since we couldn't plant them after the last freeze.
We are very happy with bluestone and will continue with them. Great customer service!!!!

Bought 3 Stokesias (among other things) last year. They were small plants and at the time I was concerned. But I can tell you they are HUGE now, full size Stokesias, blooming profusely. I am so pleased and plan to order more from this company.

I order from Bluestone's late May sale every year. The plants always arrive tiny and look sad at first glance, but I follow the directions in the package and they perk up and look healthy within a day.

The first time a few plants never perked up, and died soon after arrival. I wrote to Bluestone and they replaced them immediately without any argument. (even though I had gotten them on sale.) I realized later that it was my fault, I had overwatered them. This year, the plants all looked great. I think they were bigger this year too.

Many thanks to Bluestone for their excellent customer service and excellent plants. It is a pleasure to order from them.

I made my first order with Bluestone on March 15th, ahead of the spring shipping date for my region. The order was shipped on April 9th, and arrived about 5 or six days later.
This was my first time to order plants online, so I was really surprised at how puny everything looked when I opened the box. I went ahead and repotted everything the plants are all a great size a few months later. A few didn't make it, but the customer service was awesome! I got new plants within a week of contacting them. I definitely recommend using this company. No one can believe I got my garden in the mail.

Great plants, great bargains, as I bought only their discounted ones - they were nicely filled out, packed well, arrived safely, and are growing happily. I will buy from them again!

I've ordered a wide variety of plants from this company; latest arrivals were some "Bronze Beauty" ajuga which arrived in great condition (and are now attempting to take over a bank in front of my property).
I appreciate their attention to each and every order. I wish there were a better alternative to the packing peanuts; in the meantime, I drop them off at my local pack-and-ship store - they are happy to take them.

I can't say enough good things about this company. I consistently buy & always get great looking plants, I've never been disappointed! I've only bought a few plants at their regular price, most all have been the half off specials. Great bargains, healthy plants, super customer service.

I hope that my review can help some gardeners make the decision to order from Bluestone. I initially heard from this company from a very respectable and knowledgeable gardener who seemed to be extremely pleased with the plants that she had received. I, therefore, decided that I would give this company a try since former sites (mainly springhill) were horrible. I too was extremely disappointed when I first opened up my box to see all of the relatively small and half dead plants. I was soon proved wrong though.
The garden where my plants were going was not ready so I placed the plants on my screened porch, which gets mostly afternoon sun , for a few weeks. Within the week of their arrival they soon began to put forth new growth and soon many were looking very healthy.
All in all I am very pleased with the company, I will agree that the plants they ship do seem to be in bad condition initially, but I was pleased with how the plants preformed.

"On Jun 15, 2009 2:58 PM, Bluestone Perennials responded with:

Thanks for providing the extra TLC! I'm glad to hear the plants revived for you - you did exactly the right thing by them. You are correct that the extra time in the box did not do them any favors. Although we cannot foresee shipping delays, we CAN stand by our guarantee and will reship immediately if your plants do not make the trip successfully."

I have been ordering from this company for a number of years now. The plants arrive in good shape and grow well. Bluestone is a wonderful source of plants!

I ordered anemones last year at the 50% off sale and rudbeckias this year in same sale. 5/6 anemones made it thru winter and are now huge and the rudbeckias survived being left on my porch 2 extra days when I was out of town. Their plants are great and the catalog has a huge selection. The only downthing about bluestone is the styrofoam peanuts they ship with, which are a pain to pick out of your plants. Plus-yeah you can reuse them, but who has the storage space or patience b/c they go everywhere when you unpack and then have to pick them up-I always end up putting them in the trash. The plan to ship peanuts back to company, burns more gas and creates global warming. All the other mailorders have alternate ways to ship healthy plants, bluestone should look into one of these, but their plants and service are first rate.

I have been ordering from this company for a few years now. The plants are always healthy and shipped quickly. I haven't had any problems with my past orders and look forward to future purchases.

First rate service; plants arrived quickly and in excellent condition; superb selection, and great information on the website. The search function on the website is good too; though it is probably easier to first browse a paper catalog because of the sheer number of plants they have to offer! They were quick to inform me of the one item that they could not provide; and the packaging was good (you can also re-ship them the packaging peanuts-- and receive a discount on shipping costs on your next order).

I have ordered from them 3 times this Spring and each order has arrived in good condition. The plants are healthy. They have amazing customer service. During the 1/2 price sale I placed an order totaling 99.00. Promptly received the order and then a few days later received an invoice. I was initially confused as to why I received an invoice as I had given them a credit card. Then I realized what had happened. Right after I placed the order, I lost my purse. I called and cancelled all the cards that were in the purse. So when they got ready to charge the card, it was declined. THEY WENT AHEAD AND SHIPPED MY ORDER WITHOUT GETTING PAYMENT AND JUST BILLED ME! I was amazed!