Comments regarding Bluestone Perennials

I just received my order and was very pleased with the quality of the plants, as I was with last year's order as well.
Thanks, Bluestone!

I ordered on monday and the plants came on Friday. They are health and ready to go. Great Job! Thanks!

I placed two orders with Bluestone Perennials and just received my plants yesterday. This was the first time I have ordered from this company but all hesitation was put aside after reading the wonderful feedback this company has on the Daves Garden website. All of the plants that I ordered arrived exeptionally healthy, they were nice and green and full of life. The majority of my order were hostas (several different varieties), several astilbes and a clematis. I look forward to ordering from Bluestone Perennials again very soon. They kept me well informed via e-mail of receiving my order and letting me know when to expect my plants. They are a great company. Their catalogs are quite informative and they have sensational specials listed on their website. I wish I could plant today but I decided to wait as the PA temps are expected to drop next week. I look forward to a great garden this year with the beautiful plants that I purchased from Bluestone Perennials. An overall great experience!

This year was my first experience with ordering from Bluestone or any garden center for that matter. This will be the first year I am doing anything besides a few pots on the porch. I ordered in February. I had concerns while waiting for my order to come. I was reading reviews saying how small the plants were and how bad they looked when they were unpacked. I was honestly shocked when I opened my box and the lovely smell came from it. The plants looked WONDERFUL. None of them are even wilting, some even have small blooms (the campanulas). This could be due to the fact that I live in Ohio so it was only 24 hours from the time they were shipped till I received them. From all the reviews I was expecting very very small plants that could barely be seen, but what I got was just the same as any plants you would buy in the spring from a nursery (but at more then half the price). The only problem my order had was I was given pink ridge creeping phlox as a substitute for herb chives, which look nothing alike nor do they grow alike. I was also not told about this before they were shipped, HOWEVER I called to mention that I was disappointed that I wasn't told and that they were nothing like the plant the replaced and was told they would be sent out free of charge within the next week (only problem I have with this is why were they not sent out in the first place?? but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth). My experience with Bluestone has been a great one and i fully expect these plants to flourish this summer.

I have ordered from bluestone before and I have to say I was so pleased with this plant I have to tell everyone. Two years ago I ordered 6 Rudbeckia Nitida(autumn sun) these plants
thirved and grew huge over 6 feet tall they bloom like crazy summer too late, late fall when the mums have quit and look shabby. My soil is not that great but they don't care. My kids
use the dried flower stems which hold all winter as giant magic wands. Ok I'll stop now about this plant.
Today I got my order of 3 more Rudbeckia Nitida. I also got 3
Rubeckia Maxima, 1 Hydrangea mac royal purple, 1 hydrangea mac. alpenglow, 1 hygran. tokyo delight, 1 hydran. grand., 1 clethra, 1 clethra hummingbird. All plants came in great shape and although they are small I know that
for the price I got a deal. I can't wait to plant them and I'm very
happy with this order.

I am very pleased with my order last spring. Another attestation to the fact that the small first year plants really take off the following season. The root system on the young plants was well developed and they were very well packed.

When I received my plants, I was skeptical, because they were sooo little! But I planted them, and now, three seasons later, I am very happy. In particular, I was very surprised when the clematis came back the second year, because they were sooo little when I planted them, and did nothing at all in the first season. In the second season, they grew up the fence and flowered a little. This year, they are already up the fence, leafing out, and much bigger than the larger one I bought last spring at a local nursery. I have also been very happy with the bulbs I bought from Bluestone -- they've all bloomed, and are thriving.

I've been buying those SMALL plants from Bluestone for my Zone 6 garden since 2001 and I'm proud to inform you that most are VERY LARGE. Yes occasionally things die but its not always the providers fault. Yes they have replaced things. The important thing for ALL to remember is if you plant a great plant in a bad spot or at the wrong time it will not do well.

Ive even grown a Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackey to suitable size after receiving a tiny plant from them.

I was so afraid to place an order not knowing what to expect. I did call to make sure what I was getting into and I was happy their responses that I placed my first order. It came the other day and to my surprise it was better than expected. The plants were well packaged, big and in great shape. I planted them today so let's hope and pray they grow the Company's expectations. I'm getting ready to place another order in a couple of weeks. This is my first time I have ever placed a mail order...I used to shop at my local garden shop.

Ordered achillea 'Paprika' & coreopsis 'Sweet Dreams' back in November then completely forgot I'd ordered them until an email arrived from Bluestone Perennials advising me to be on the lookout since my order shipped 4/15 via UPS. Package arrived 4/17 & placed in the shade on my breezeway. Plants were healthy & vigorous in the box with no sign they'd suffered in transit. They look happy to be here (and I think the coreopsis grew two inches since I took it out of the box)! My garden-under-construction would like to thank everyone at Bluestone Perennials for growing such great plants and maintaining the highest-quality, outstanding communications & superb packaging.

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You are welcome! It sounds like your UPS driver is a gardener, too. "

Very positive experience. Plants arrived promptly, well packaged and protected, and my goodness--they are considerably larger than what you usually see from some of the "up-scale" plant mail order houses. Also keep an eye on their web specials--there are some real deals here. I plan to make Bluestone one of my primary sources as a result of this transaction.

YEAH! Perfect plants! Perfect packing! You made my first purchase with you such a pleasure! Thank you so much!
ps- I've just put in two more orders with you! I can't believe the condition of the plants- just like from my local nursery! A little smaller, but so healthy! Just bursting with life :) Thanks again!

I am really impressed with this company. Although they are a bit pricey, their service and products are top-notch. I received my order in a timely manner, and they were so well packed that not a leaf was out of place. I received healthy, vigorous specimens and they are doing quite well in my garden thus far.

This business is easy to recommend!

I have ordered from Bluestone several times and will continue to do so. The prices are reasonable. The website is so easy and useful. I really appreciate the variety of plants offered and I often take advantage of the specials.

Just recieved my order today and my " large plants" are in fact a very nice size. I was displeased about the "peanuts" used for packing but they include recyling info and will even pay for the box and packing to be returned for re-use. They're a class act!

Based on former reviews, I ordered from Bluestone for the first time with two separate orders. I was very dissappointed in the size of my plants. Some of them even came in small cell packs! I walked into a local home improvement store and found one of the same plants in a much larger container for about the same value. Yes, I looked at the picture of the packaging in their catalog but was still not expecting "sprigs" of plants. I have contacted them to send back the plants. I have new flower beds and don't want to wait two or three years for the plants to get to a exceptable size. I am giving a neutral rating until Bluestone responds.

Last spring I placed a small order with Bluestone and was very satisfied with the service and plants, so this year I decided to purchase more ($300+) in three separate orders. With such a large total order, I was concerned that there would certainly be some disappointing plants included with the shipments. Three large boxes arrived yesterday, and after carefully unpacking the plants that were protected like Fort Knox, I was absolutely delighted by the size and condition of every single plant...dozens of healthy fresh perennials ready for the garden. Then tonight I checked my credit card statements to find they actually combined the shipping charges on my three separate orders into a single charge, saving me more than $10 in shipping...that's integrity! What an absolute pleasure it is to deal with such a professional garden center!

I have ordered "basket-of-gold" from bluestone last year and was pleased. The price was reasonable and the plants arrived in a good sized container, well packed, and in good health. They took off running after I planted them! They didn't bloom because they are a early spring bloomer and were planted after their usual bloom time, but I hope they made it through this nasty, super wet winter we had here in Southwest Ohio. I can't wait to see them in bloom. Spring is slow getting here this year. I am pleased to have found a good company in my own state that knows the crazy weather we have here in OH and can recommend good plants. I have ordered more plants this year and am confident they will be top-notch. And from what I've read in the other coments it sounds as though if someone had an issue with their purchase, then Bluestone's customer service will make it right. I highly recommend this company.

I have order from Bluestone the first time last year. They have excellent prices, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The plants were tiny, but fresh, and they grew like you wouldn't believe. In Illinois clay, they were about full grown the first year! I ordered violets and geraniums. I had ordered others from another cheap mail order place, and they languished, being about half the size at the end of the summer. Don't let the small size fool you, they'll grow wonderfully. If you order early, they have a special discount that really makes it worthwhile.

Just received my shipment. The plants were packed superbly; were in good condition considering that they had travelled across the country and arrived in the midst of a Spring snowstorm! Thanks, Bluestone Perennials, for maintaining such high standards and earning customer satisfaction. Stan S.

I have never left feedback about a company before, I've always thought that if I ever did it would be because of a negative experience. I'm glad to say that Bluestone has impressed me so much that I'm leaving positive feedback!

There was some confusion about a couple of orders I made this winter that were being combined. I used a lot of coupons and by combining the orders, I lost some of the coupon value. I wrote to customer service, and someone named Pat credited me for the repeat use coupons. However, I realized that an order that I cancelled was included in the order. I called their customer service department and actually spoke to Pat!!! A real live human being was talking to me and being very pleasant!

Not only did Pat fix the problem, but she also gave me credit for my inconvenience! Will I order from Bluestone Perennials again? You betcha!

I've ordered from Bluestone several times over the years. The plants always arrive in itty bitty containers, but they are healthy and thrive despite looking puny out of the box. If you are expecting big lush plants, I'm not sure you can get them from mail order at all, but you won't get them from Bluestone.

With that said, I think they are a tremendous value. Most of their products are in 3 packs. Compare their prices and you will be impressed. They always have some nice half-price specials and their sales and coupons can save you a fortune.

I received my first Bluestone order last week...and given the rave reviews I am very disappointed! These are THE smallest little weak plants I have ever seen...I am giving them a neutral since I don't know how they will respond to my email. Will update my feedback when I hear from them.

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We are in correspondence with robcorreia and have offered to reship or refund (either option in part or in full) according to her wishes. We are grateful that she was in touch so that we can make it right."

I order from Bluestone every year at least once -- usually in spring and again in fall. I've always been completely satisfied -- never a bad plant in the bunch. Four years ago I moved into a house on a very large, mostly sunny piece of land where almost nothing ornamental was planted. I have been busily filling in the bare lawn with trees, shrubs, flowers & grasses, and have ordered heavily from Bluestone because it is affordable to order in large quantities from them. The plants are always very small but they're healthy and they have consistently done very very well. Buying large quantities of plants from Bluestone at low prices is the only way I could have built such a thriving garden so quickly.
Some shrubs in particular were ridicilously tiny when I first planted them 3-4 years ago but are big and thriving now. Physocarpus and calycanthus were depressingly tiny (4 - 6 inches) when I planted them in spring 2005. I thought they would never fill the space they are in. Now they're both over 6 feet tall.
Half a dozen delphinium I planted that spring have been thriving wildly since and are the envy of everyone who visits. I'm told Delphinium can be tricky to grow but the Bluestone delphs have been coming up like weeds for me since I planted them in 05.
I could go on and on with success stories.... The point is the Bluestone plants are indeed small but the prices are very low. If you can be patient they're definitely worth it.
Only thing I don't like about Bluestone is the packing -- they pack with styrofoam peanuts that are a wasteful and a pain to deal with. Bluestone will credit you if you send them back for reuse but that's an annoyance as well.

Great plants and wonderful people to deal with. I've been buying from Bluestone for many years and have always been treated fairly.

In recent years they have been selling spring-flowering bulbs. If you have lots of space to fill and like surprises, this is one of gardening's great bargains. At the end of the fall season, they heavily discount their leftovers to blow them out the door.

I've received all top-quality bulbs in excellent shape for a fraction of what I would have paid if I had ordered them early. If you get something in the assortment that you really hate, you can always gift it to a gardening friend.

If you live in an area far enough south so that you can still plant bulbs into December, I urge you to take advantage of this great deal.

This company delivered the healthiest plants at a fair price.
Their catalogue is lovely with a lot of information and a personal
touch as well.

This company is wonderful. A few of us pool our orders to save on shipping. We love ordering from them. Keep up the great work!

Bluestone is great for those tiny tigers-in-waiting that you can't get anywhere else. Are the plants small when they arrive? Yep. Do they survive and even thrive if you do your job as a gardener/plant steward? Absolutely.

To all the people who give up on the little plants you buy from bluestone.. Yes they are starter plants..Instant gratification does not come from these prices.. What you get are babies you watch grow.. 1st year they sleep, 2nd year the creep and 3rd year they leap.. I just went to my garage..I had alot of plants that I bought at the end of the year and thought what did I do.. waste my money..? I have growth on most of the babies that I thought died.. Plants sometimes get mistreated during shipment but that I have plants starting to leaf that have not been water or near sun for 8 months is a strong testament of bluestones stock....Thank you bluestone for the great treasures..
Carolyn from fairview, tn

I live in Northern NH and love the online custom plant search! Of all the plants I have purchased over the past three years only one group of plants has not lived and was replaced with ease. I always seem to receive my order at the perfect time for planting and I found them because of this site! Thanks!

I have used their catalog and the plants are fabulous - strong healthy and take off like crazy. If something from them doesn't grow, odds are that it is the fault of the gardener who put them in the wrong site, wrong soil, didn't water enough or didn't prepared the soil. We are in a tiny 6B zone surrounded by Zone 5. (Shore of Lake Michigan in the middle of huge sand dunes.)

We were in Cleveland Ohio last August and I succumbed to the temptation of visting the nursery which is about 35-45 mintues east of Cleveland just off the interstate.. I ended up bringing back over 37 new varieties of plants. If you can get to the nursery, do it. The catalog prices are very good but if you go to the nursery, the prices on site are about 33-40% of the catalog and you can buy the plants in quantities of one, two or whatever you want.

You can't go wrong ordering from Bluestone. The three packs of plants they offer are a steal. Although they are smaller pots, you get healthy plants and they establish quickly. The premium pots for single plants are good sized and are a bargain for the size as well. I purchased 2 eryngium "Sapphire" in the large pots last spring for less than what another company was asking for one dinky 3" plant.
I have a lot of experience with this company and would not hesitate to recommend them, especially to people on a limited budget.

I have had wonderful experiences with Bluestone. I have ordered plants previously in southern CA and they all did wonderfully...seemed like you could put a dead stick in the ground and it would grow there :). Last year we moved to Texas outside of Dallas, dug some new beds, ordered and planted plants and waited for everything to grow. Then it rained. And rained. And rained. Record rainfall, infact. And not suitable for the kinds of plants I ordered. Bluestone replaced everthing that died, no questions asked. Some of the plants that did grow, turned out to be shades off of what was in the catalog (I don't like orange) and they replaced them too! I couldn't be more pleased with this company and will definitely order more this year! Just about all the replacements are looking great even now in February (mild winter) I can't wait for spring!

I have ordered perennials AND shrubs from Bluestone in the past 3 years. I believe they package great and each plant/shrub I received looked wonderful out of the box. The plants have grown very well and have decided I will NOT order from anyone else but Bluestone. I just think they are a great company. My only wish? More than just one order form in the catalog. I'm always finding new places that could use a plant or a shrub.

A great place to buy plants online at great prices. Watch for there seasonal specials for even better deals of 10-20% off. They send very healthy, but smaller plants that I have had great success with. I've had plants that didn't survive and all it takes is a simple email and they ship out free replacements. No questions asked. They don't have the a huge inventory, but it's a great way to buy things that my local nursery doesn't carry. The shipping, packaging and delivery systems work very well. They do charge your credit card ahead of time, sometimes months ahead of your order. But they always deliver healthy plants and back them up with a great guarantee so this doesn't bother me much.

I placed an order this past summer - 3 different campanula varieties as well as a rudbekia. The plants weren't exeptionally big, but they show you the size of the plants to be shipped in their catalog so there was no real surprise there. All arrived in good condition and on my requested delivery date (September). I love to do my planting in the fall and don't ever "expect" to see growth on the "newly-planted-getting-ready-for-dormancy" plants ordered from any mail-order company (in fall). However, 2 of the 6 campanula "birch hybrid" actually bloomed in October!!! Also, 1 of those birch hybrids looked a bit damaged upon arrival. I immediately called Bluestone and they said that if it didn't fair over the winter to give them a call and they'd replace it. I won't be calling b/c that particular plant ended up recovering beautifully just weeks later! Thanks Bluestone for a very nice experience!

I have been ordering plants from Bluestone Perennials for seven years. I am very happy with this company. The plants triple in size the first growing season and when I have a problem with one they replace or refund me. I have told all my gardening friends to check them out. My plants always arrive in good condition and they have a recycling program for their shipping supplies. I will continue to use this company for years to come.

I lived in a northwestern suburb of Chicago for 12 years. During that time 75% of my garden came from Bluestone Perennials. Their catalog is very informative, telling you what the plant needs in way of sun/shade, moisture, climate, soil etc and describing its attributes without too much hyperbole. The plants are smaller than you get from a nursery, but you get 3 plants for $13 instead of 2, and I think that smaller plants settle in better and do better in the long run. The plants arrived in good shape (the one exception was a box that sat in the post office over a very hot Memorial Day weekend). They are a great guide to plants that grow well in the Midwest!

I have ordered a variety of plants and bulbs from Bluestone during the last few years with excellent results. Both the paper and online catalogues are quite detailed, but I usually order online. The packing and shipping are great. A few plants in the online catalogue are described in text, but are marked as picture "not available." If I am interested in an unpictured plant, I look up the picture somewhere else, then return to Bluestone to order. The plants are small, but so are the prices, which means I can buy more plants for the money. Small plants grow into big ones, and Bluestone's have always grown well for me.

Bluestone Perennials is a great company to work with. They have a fantastic website.
I placed three different orders each worth about $100 this year.
1) Collection of 25 Hosta plants in spring
2) 3 Mum collections(button, cushion and daisy kind)
which included 18 plants of different colors.
3)And fall planting bulbs. I just loved their Hyacinth collections.

Hostas and Mums were extremely small when they arrived but they quickly grew and flowered for the whole blooming season.
Now Im eagerly looking forward to see how Hyacinths will bloom next spring.
I get their catalog once in a while in mail and love the discount coupons which arrive with the catalog and also with the order. I'm delighted to see that they have introduced hardy Hibiscus this year. Im looking forward to ordering these next year. I'm also excited to buy Lychnis Chalcedonica from Bluestone next year.Overall a great company to deal with.