Comments regarding Bluestone Perennials

I ordered a whole bunch of perennials from Bluestone back one fall after drooling over the catalog all summer [nobody else in the house was a gardener then]. Then that winter, I was hospitalized for five weeks, half-dead one week, ICU the next, 24 hours to live, blood transfusion, the whole nine terrifying yards. When I made it back home in April, weak as the famous kitten, I found my order from Bluestone had arrived. My horrified family had stored the box upside down; the stuff inside was for the most part withered and useless.

I e-mailed them my situation, or maybe I called, and was told something along the lines of don't you see the this-end-up signs? don't place an order when you're planning a medical emergency! and so on. It can't really have been that insensitive, but if they had said 'oh you poor dear, are you better now? We can't refund your whole order but we CAN send you X, Y and Z instead,' they would have had a customer for life. As it is, now that I have learned how to treat new plants, and my garden is nearly full of lovely plants, I'm ready to look at their catalog again.

1 in 3: that's about how many of the plants from this company survived. I don't know if that's to be expected; the prices were relatively low...but I'd rather pay a little more and not be sad when I see what my money went for.

I ordered plants this spring and when they arrived they were one leaf and very fragile. They did not survive. Bluestone was very nice about it and will replace them with what, I hope, are viable plants but why send them in the first place. When I spoke with them they stated they had problems this spring. No one wants to go to the trouble of nursing plants, planting them and then having them not survive but at least they will replace them free of charge.

I just got my plants today - everything was on sale and came one week from ordering. The shurbs were all good sized and the prenns well most had three really good plants. The Baptista was the exception I will wait and see if they live or go. Really sad to seeing they are what I wanted that made me shop for the rest! LOL Oh well they are good sized to me compared to the other plants I have been receving this year so I am happy. I will change if due to planting this late they do not make it seeing they told me they would for sure make it - Mitch

We went to their outlet store in Madison, Ohio. I was shocked to see how few plants were available, considering how many plants are offered in the catalog.

We purchased quite a few plants of various types but were shocked that less than a whole flat of mixed plants came to over $65. We thought it was quite pricey and there were no prices posted anywhere so you could figure out how much everything would be.

So we are neutral about this company. If you are in Madison Ohio there is a nursery every mile or two, and this one I would bet is the most pricey with the smallest selection of all of them.

I've ordered from Bluestone in the past, so I know the size of the plants are small. However, this order arrived and many of the plants were barely seedlings. I can't understand why they can't send them out after they've grown more. While checking my local nursery I compared similar plants. The size difference between Bluestone's and a local one costing $2 more was extreme. Adding the shipping cost makes it even more so. I will only use Bluestone if I can't find the plant I want here. Again, I've been pleased in the past but this problem has always caused me concern.

Another reviewer wrote the following...
"Bluestone had jammed all 40 of my plants in their flimsy plastic pots inside one large cardboard box, cushioned only with some biodegradable plastic peanuts they kindly asked me to return to them if I placed another order. No wonder my plants arrived quite dry and in a beat up state."
I had the exact same experience. I planted the sad-looking plants and am taking very good care of them. I'll give them a month or two to see if I can't bring them back to health. If some of them should die (which looks like will probably be the case), I'll contact BSP and ask for some replacements. Depending on their response, I'll shift my review to either positive or negative.

I was disappointed with the packing and the condition of some of the plants I received this past weekend. I opened the box as soon as I received it on Saturday morning and found the viola, digitalis and sedum bone dry and starting to shrivel. I immediately put them in a bucket of water with some Super Thrive and let them soak for about 10 minutes before I planted them. Since they've been in the ground for two days now, they look much better, except for the viola. Because the plants are shipped so tiny, which means a smaller amount of soil, Bluestone should take the extra effort to at least bag the plants to retain moisture. But they are shipped only in packing peanuts. I like Bluestone, especially for their selection of plants -- and their customer service (!), but they would be stellar if they would just improve their packing -- especially for plants being shipped "ground" across the country.

I don't care for their minimum order policy. If I want one plant, I don't like having to buy at least 3 of them to get the one I want.

I picked out 3 plants I wanted, but because of their quantity setup, I would have had to pay over $35 and have 6 extra plants I didn't want.

Much easier just to drive to a local nursery and get what you want, or order from somewhere else. Regardless of the quality of the small plants, why pay for extras when you can get something locally that is already larger and less expensive...plus no shipping costs.

I've been very happy with Bluestone for the past three years. Yes, the plants are small. But, I like the selection they offer and the plants always arrived alive (unlike Wayside Gardens on the latter).

BUT... Be aware of significant price increases for 2005. The early bird buy-2-get-the-3rd-free is gone, replaced by 20% off or 25% for returning customer (via a discount code in the print catalog).

After suspecting the price increases, I re-entered my order from last year (they still had all the plants) and found a n overall 21.5% cost increase using the 25% discount. Some of the pre-discount prices went up, some down. Shipping stayed the same

I'll be sure to shop around further this year before placing an order.

Tiny plants that don't always survive and aren't always glowing with health upon arrival. Otherwise, great selection. However, I will only order from them if I can't find what I want anywhere else.

I am a three-time customer of Bluestone. I like their catalog and their prices. Their online ordering is easy and efficient and the telephone operators are also competent and pleasant. I have had mixed results with their product.

The first order was in spring (2 seasons ago) and was satisfactory in all regards. The plants were smaller than I expected but all did well. The second order was in autumn as we have such a short (non-existent really) spring in SW Georgia. The humidity and heat comes on suddenly and ferociously here so fall plantings usually do better.

My order always contains 4-5 selections and the last two times at least two of the selections are particularly disappointing. In both cases (autumn orders) at least one of the three plants (they come in 3-packs) were dead. The lobelia were all dead. The adenophora were dead or nearly.

The selection and price is great so I will probably continue to press my luck. When they are good they are exceptional but unfortunately, they are not consistently good.

This was my first time ordering from Bluestone, which I chose based on the multitude of positive feedback. I was disappointed when I received my order. The plants weren't packed as securely as I'd have liked; many had bent or broken in transit. I was really surprised at the condition and size of the plants; some looked like twigs, many had dead leaves and stems. Only two plants in a few of the 3 paks were alive... I was almost embarrassed to even put most of the pathetic looking plants in the ground. The good news is that I did, and the plants are growing,some quite well, oddly enough. Maybe I'll be thrilled next year if they come back big and healthy and strong, but I was very disappointed upon receiving my order and doubt that I'll be ordering from them again. I am happy to see that others are stilled pleased; maybe my order was a fluke.

For the last two years, I've been trying Bluestone once again. I had ordered from them a few years ago, and gave up after their plants died over mild winters in Texas. Now that I have moved to Massachusetts, and need to re-establish a garden, I have tried them again.

All of their plants are tiny, especially compared to those from other nurseries highly rated on this site. I was surprised to discover extra protein in the box, in the form of slugs. In my case, about 90 percent of their plants (even including hostas)died over the winter. I don't know that I would consider them "negative", but there are definitely better suppliers to be found for mail order.

This post is for newbies to mail ordering like myself. You may read how small Bluestone plants are and think that's fine, but be prepared, because they are really small. Often, if there is no sale, a three pack is nine dollars. That's three dollars for a tiny plant. Unfortunately several of the plants I ordered also look close to death. I think part of what you pay for is variety, more to choose from than at a local nursery.

i've been receiving blustone catalogs for years but have never ordered from them. living in a four story walk-up in new york city didn't offer me the opportunity to order many plants from them!

i moved to the country recently and ordered over $300 worth of perennials from bluestone. they arrived on time, and for the most part, well packaged. one box was smashed and consequenlty many of the plants inside were also snapped or smashed as well.

overall, i think this company is great. but i must admit, once i unpacked the whole lot, $300 worth of plants didn't look like much. i am aware that they will all grow up into big healthy plants and i constantly tell myself "these plants come from good stock!" but to say that i wasn't disappointed would be an understatement.

the particular things which disappointed me were the size of some of the plants, the clematis were absolutley miniature, barely 3 inches tall! additionally, some plants (rudbeckia, persicaria, saponaria, gaura) were rotted in their 6 paks. having worked in a nursery, i know that a "dead cell" in a 6 pak can easily be popped out and replaced with a viable plant specimen - this should have been done at bluestone instead of mechanically fulfilling the order.

i'd hate to tell folks that they should simply go to the corporate DIY store, because I truly believe in supporting the independent grower. But for basic plants, i think i will buy at my local independent nursery and worst case scenario at the corporate DIY store in my area and get only the unique, hard to find plants at Bluestone.

i haven't yet contacted bluestone regarding my order. i will shortly and update this entry with their response.

sorry to say I'm not impressed. Bluestone's idea of optimum planting time and mine aren't in agreement.I would much prefer to plant perennial in 70 degrees as opposed to 85. I ordered $250 worth of plants and shrubs and knew from this website that they would be small. No surprises there. I was, however, not so pleased with the packaging. Some 70 odd plants in one box. Some of them a half inch high and some six+ inches high. Unfortunately the box was only 7 inches high and with the pots and packing the taller plants were bent so badly that 2 of the 3 black papaver were broken at soil level as was one of the knautia. The artemesia frigida were very spindly from insufficient light and 3 of the six were rotting from over-water. The purple-leaf honeysuckle had mostly black leaves and neither the seven sons or the kalmia elf look well. Really not too bad for the size of the order or the overall price. average price for a three-pak is $3.00 and for shrubs $5.00. Have mixed feelings here.

Ordered in mid February. Was charged the next week (almost $100). Order did not arrive until April 30. I was surprised by this (maybe I missed it on their web). I am glad they waited to ship because I am in Ohio, but it would have been nice not to have been charged until April. Very Healthy plants. Great packing. But, unless I am looking for something I can not find locally, or the price is outstanding, I will think twice about using them again. I do like the idea of their recycling program.

After seeing so many wonderful positive comments about Bluestone I decided to order. The plants arrived as expected, however, they were dry and some of them were very rootbound. Maybe it's different if you order 'non-sale' items.

Disappointed in this years plants half were yellowed and root
bound. I am sending them a note as they always replace anything that is damaged or dying. Will give them another
chance as I believe in turning the other cheek.

I have had good experiences with this company for several years, but I have stopped ordering from them. First, I feel that they're getting awful pricey ( $8 to $12 for 3 tiny plants seems expensive to me!). The buy 2 get 1 free deal helps some, but I feel they should just lower the prices a little and not bother with that. Also, I don't NEED 3 of many plants, they used to let you purchase 1 of something for a slightly higher price, but they have stopped that and when I emailed them asking about it, they never replied.
I started dealing with them because they had unusual plants ( my specialty ), but their selection hasn't changed much in the past few years.

I ordered from Bluestone Perennials for the first time, this past spring ('99). The order was lost somehow in transit, but after contacting Bluestone, they promptly sent out another shipment sent Fed-Ex which arrived within 3 days. The plants were in excellent condition and very well packaged. I transplanted them per the instructions, but lost one lilac shrub after much attention and care---never quite figured out what happened. Two of three mums went on to thrive quite well, and 2 out of 6 salvias managed to make it through the summer. The others died. I've contacted Bluestone and reported my losses, and they offered to replace everything that died, this coming spring. Customer service was excellent for each time I contacted them. Still, it is disheartening to lose so many plants from an order. I am a beginner gardener, but do not know how much to attribute that fact to my losses.

In reading the comments, I notice that in later posts, the negative comments start to slip in. As the last post as of 1-15-97 mentions, we hope Bluestone is reading. The three packs used to be a great deal, but now I think I wouldn't order any more of these. They often are plants which should have been potted up into larger containers, and consequently they tend to have NO soil around them and arrive wilted and dried out. I would also say that my gardening buddies here in Illinois like to joke that the 3 packs only ever have 2 correctly named plants in them. The third ones invariably tend to be something else. I still find lots of tempting plants and will probably order again this year if something unusual draws my attention.

I've been buying from Bluestone for ~6yrs now. Wonderful people. However, each year their quality seems to slip a little. My first few orders were outstanding, but each of the last few years I've gotten mislabeled plants, Out-Of-Stocks (and I place my spring order by the end of December!), and a badly formed Magnolia. As the other correspondents have said, though, the people at Bluestone are very quick to make things right. Still I've been leaning more toward Surrey Gardens in Maine for similar pricing and consistently good quality. Bluestone - if you're reading this - I'll still buy from you; consider this constructive criticism. Many of my best plants come from Bluestone, and no one sells a nicer Caryopteris!