Comments regarding Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com)

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Posted on September 29, 2016, updated March 20, 2019
First order and no complaints. My bulbs arrived in short time safe and sound. No real complaints on bulb size. Crocus corms looked decent, but the narcissus were slightly small, but maybe that is due to the variety. I'm satisfied with my purchase from this company, and will likely order again.

I know a lot of other people on here have had bad experiences with this site, but mine was all good. Super prices, free shipping from the Netherlands? Yeah, it seems like a scam. However, I received everything that I ordered, and they all did great. Sure, some of the perennials were small, but I expected that for the price. I lost a couple of plants due to my own errors. The rest are still happily thriving in my garden. Ladies mantle is doing great, Dr. Fokker anemone was beautiful. Hard to believe anything could grow from those shriveled little corms. Lol. The coral bells were healthy when I got them, but after lots of mistreatment, ended up giving up the ghost. I don’t remember what else I ordered from them, as I placed several orders from several different places at the same time, but I do remember being very pleasantly surprised. My only gripe with them now is that they seem to be constantly out of stock!

This company may be worth a shot for some, but I did not have good luck with them.

On the positive side, their prices are quite good. I, however, had extremely high failure rates with their plants. I ordered 180 hardy gladiolus. I recall about only about two dozen coming up in the first year and perhaps only half a dozen flowering. Not a single one made an appearance the second year. I also ordered Echinacea, Achillea and Anemone from them. 1 of 9 achillea thrived, but I ended up tearing it out after realizing that it was a seeding variety. The anemone started to grow, but did not survive through the summer (though I think they may have with a bit more care from me). The echinacea never even made an appearance.

Out of over 200 plants purchased I had none by the second summer.

I ordered 3 iris bulbs. The first shipment was encouraging as the bulbs seemed of normal size and had "eyes" from which I expected sprouts to appear. When this did not happen, I contacted Bulbs Directed and they replaced the order, but with small unhealthy looking bulbs that I did not expect to germinate. I was right. None of them did. When I contacted Bulbs Direct they said that they had already replaced my order once and that is all they could (would) do. I was very disappointed as I expected them to see this transaction through to where I had healthy growing plants.

I will NEVER buy bearded iris rhizomes from this company again. I ordered the "Peach Jam" a couple of years ago, it finally bloomed; but was not "Peach Jam", it was a washed out dull peachish color. Decided to give it one more try when I saw the stunning pictures of the "Blazing Sunrise". I just received the rhizomes and will be very surprised if they bloom at all. Both were stunted, but, one of them had a big scoop taken out of it. To me it looked like the rhizome had rotted and they just scooped out the rotten part and dried it out, though I find it hard to believe Bulbsdirect would spend the time and effort to do that. On the other hand I've had better luck with the Iris Hollandica and the Freesia bulbs with a bloom rate of 85% the first year; and would order those species again.

Dishonest to the core! I ordered 3 collections of their plants. As they arrived I was disappointed- the bulbs and roots were small and wilted, but I planted them anyway. Nothing (!) performed at all! I contacted the company for the refund, as they give money back guarantee, but in the SECOND letter they wanted me to take photos of the soil and plans. I bought something from them a couple of years ago and frankly I was not paying attention if anything grew back then. But now the markers next to two agapantus plants that never did anything have been a constant reminder. I was appalled at the audacity to request more work from me - as I planted the poor quality bulbs and cared for them all this time. They refused to honor my complaint. They were also trying to prolong the process, as I paid with pay-pal and paypal stands by their users for 180 days. I am reading now about people who actually took photos of their soil and whatever was left of the plants , and were still refused the refund on the basis of their soil being bad!!! Everything else is growing! This is a horrible company and I wish I read the reviews before I ordered anything at all!

I ordered a bearded iris "collection" of six plants. The rhizomes were quite small - one was only about an inch long! They managed to hold on, and two seasons later they finally bloomed, modestly prolific and quite beautiful. They also were not at all the varieties they were supposed to be. They were so pretty I didn't mind. Daylilies - VERY bare roots! - were a similar story. I soaked them, they struggled on, and have bloomed the 2nd year. However, the Dutch Iris bulbs I received with that particular order were healthy, and performed very well the first year in the ground. They came bounding back this year as well - nice.
I won't order any bareroot stuff, but bulbs are another story, hence my "neutral" review. On the basis of success with the Dutch Iris, last year I planted about 70 more bulbs from BD: "Valery Gergiev" ; "Negrita" ; "Holland Baby" ; plus 40 different species types. They all performed beautifully this Spring - healthy, strong plants with gorgeous blooms.
Bottom line: Actually, I have learned to avoid bare root plants from anyone! They are a real dicey proposition. But this company's bulbs are definitely OK.

I had a very difficult time with customer service with this company. Their website says, " MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
Not happy with your order? - FREE replacement or money back. You decide." I ordered ranunculus and gladiolus from them. The gladiolus did fine. The ranunculus were poor, weak performers in the garden. (I babied them but still was not successful.) When I requested a $17 refund for the ranunculus, I was required to email a picture of the soil. After looking at the photo, the customer service representative determined that I had a soil problem and denied me the requested refund. I had had the soil tested by UGA extension service before I planted! After going back and forth, I called and spoke with Rebecca. She again argued that I needed more proof. I couldn't believe it. After I complained about what a hassle trying to get a refund was and also quoting their website, she agreed to issue a refund. I did receive a refund, but I will NEVER use this company again.

Posted on May 31, 2017, updated June 29, 2017
I ordered some bare-root plants from them this spring - geraniums, columbine and astrantia. I've ordered from a number of different suppliers this year so I can make a direct comparison on each of these products. The astrantia I received was the size of a quarter, dried/dead and starting to mold. When I received bare-root astrantia from others I got a budding plant with 4-6" roots. The geraniums were disappointing but not dead. If they grow then fine, but these were sold as bare roots and what I got was a bare root - singular - as in 1 root per "plant". I wish I could post a picture, but these were slightly thinner than a pencil and 4-5 inches in length - more of a tuber than a root ball. It looked as if someone had taken 1 plant and sliced each individual root off of it and sold it as 5 plants. If these don't grow I'll ask for a refund but I'm likely stuck with a small/struggling plant all season. These were slightly cheaper than what I found elsewhere (9 for $14 vs 3 for $7) but I got more "plant" with my order of 3 than I did with these 9. The columbine was very healthy - 6" roots and starting to bud, no complaints there. Maybe I just had bad luck and chose 2 plants that they don't have a good supply of. I've asked for a refund on the astrantia and I have no reason to expect the customer service won't be satisfactory but I wouldn't order from them again.

I placed my first (and last) order with this UK company. Plants arrived relatively fast, most were barefoot, packed in plastic bags with peat moss, and some completely barefoot with no protection. The plant quality was mediocre, to say the least, with most being very very small and half-dried out. Three of the plants were dead on arrival. The customer service of that company puts you through a ringer to prove that the plants are dead! I had to send them photos and multiple emails, and even then they recommend that I should just plant the dead stuff and wait! It's a crappy company that doesn't stand for it's crappy products. Do yourself a favor and don't buy from them! Waste of time and money.

I've received all 7 boxes of my order in a very speedy shipment. I was very excited in getting the dahlias but the excitement becomes disappointment as soon I open the boxes and find dried, shriveled dahlia tubers. I'm so sad for spending almost $500 to get such poor tubers. I wish I could post the photos here for all of you to see.

I LOVE Bulbs Direct! I'll admit I am an impulse shopper when it come to flower bulbs. After placing an order, 3 hours later I will decide that I should have ordered something else along with the other purchase too. To date I have placed 16 orders with bulbs direct in less than a year. At first I couldn't believe they were actually located in the Netherlands because not only were the bulbs I ordered very reasonable priced, but they were shipped for free & arrived within 5-7 days. To put that into perspective, I ordered a purse for my wife from the UK that took, 60 days to arrive (25 days after her birthday, ugh.) Unlike many of the other mail order flower bulb companies, everything I have purchased from Bulbs Direct has actually grown. I have planted over 1,200 crocus corms alone in my lawn that I have ordered from Bulbs Direct. Cumulatively that has cost me about $227 total. Those same 1,200 crocus corms from other sites easily would have cost me well over $1,100! Last spring when everyone else was still cleaning up from the snow, our yard was awash in yellow, white, blue & purple flowers. I've have also had amazing success with the tulips, daffodils, huechera, hostas & irises I have ordered from them as well. I have yet to have a bad experience from Bulbs Direct. Oh... and they take Paypal so there is that extra layer of security in the transaction as well.

Instead of huge order, I received a piece of packing paper with my address! I would not recommend to by abroad as the US has lots of restrictions to the import of plants

I made an order a month ago and never recived it. When i emailed the people they kept saysing wait paciently and i did but the order never came. A month later the they tell me i gave them a diffrrent address and i webt online to check and i admit i gave the wrong address. They said it was up to me to let them know but how was I supposed to know when none of the emails i recived had the address i sent it to? If i had seen the address in the email i would have contacted them right away. Upon saying this the lady i spoke to over the phone was very rude. She did not care about me as a custumer. I asked her what they were going to to. I did not want my money back i wanted the bulbs sent to my mother. They said that i have to wait 8 months for them to get their order sent back to them so they can resend it. If it was alive! That they were going to lose money too. I orderd a huge number of bulbs from them. When i asked to speak to the supervisor she said to call back later that i cant speak to them. How am I supposed to know when to call? I said i want to hear back right away and she said she cant do that. I am thuroughly disappointed by this company and suggest that everyone who wants to order from this company to please go somewhere else becouse they dont care about the custumer at all. I have never delt with such horrible custumer service.

Excellent company. Good prices, free and quick delivery, good quality stock, and immediate and courteous customer service. Initially had an issue with my credit card being accepted, Nikki responded the very next morning with the solution. Placed the order that night and received an email the very next morning that it had been shipped. One item I had chosen was not available so that was corrected and once again that item was also shipped the following morning. All correspondence with Nikki was both immediate and very friendly. Package arrived seven business days after ordering, all items were clearly marked. The bulbs were solid, I soaked the rhizomes and bare root plants for eight hours and they plumped up ready to plant. I will definitely make another order this fall. I have suggested them to friends and plan to be a long time customer.

Just got my bulbs today for their Florist Favorite Garden bulbs and they are beautiful bulbs. Correct size, packed well, and look fresh. I will update after planting and let you know how well they grow.

I can hardly wait to plant them and watch them grow!

I ordered the Mr. Fokker anemone and the mixed color ranunculus. The shipping was free and it was the cheapest price i found anywhere else online, and i wasn't too sure how reputable the company is, but i took a chance anyways, ordered the bulbs and am glad i did. I just received them in the mail, all the bulbs are there and i can't want to plant them! Thank you bulbs direct, I will order from you again.

I ordered Chionodoxa bulbs and Crocus bulbs in November, knowing absolutely nothing about bulbsdirect.com. The prices were good, and shipping was free. I had forgotten about my order when the box arrived on my front porch. The tiny bulbs were well packed and appeared viable. In the meantime, I had ordered essentially the same bulbs from Brent and Becky's. Already looking forward to early spring, anticipating the lovely little blooms from both orders.

Posted on April 18, 2013, updated March 18, 2015
Posted on April 6, 2013, updated April 18, 2013
I received my order today and upon unpacking I saw the all too familiar and very disappointing sealed plastic bags of dried roots in peat moss, like you used to get from cheap nursery sources. These things are factory sealed by the supplier one season without a date stamp and can sit on the shelf for years without knowing how old they are. When they are finally shipped, a new sticker is stuck on them. This appears to be the case with the Monarda, Astrantia and Heuchera I received. The Astrantia fell apart like dust in my fingers and the crown completely disintegrated before my eyes. The Monarda was small and completely dry sticks that easily broke in half when bent, and the Heuchera were the same. These all definitely looked like they were more than 1 season old. Conversely, the Gladiolus and Anemone bulbs were of the proper count and looked very healthy. I would order bulbs again from them but I highly recommend you stay away from any roots and rhizomes. They are not potted, just dry (supposedly dormant) roots in peat moss. The problem is, it would appear they've been dormant for more than a year and have become a fire hazard. I've emailed and am waiting for a response.

I recently called Bulb's Direct because I have not received my order. I spoke with Nicky and she was extremely rude. She spoke in a very nasty tone. After speaking with her I have no idea how my issue will be handled. She said in order to get my money back I had to refuse the shipment when it came. I explained the the problem was the shipment never came. She said to call back at the end of the week and she would "decide" if she was going to refund my money.

I believe Nicky is Nicola; the same person that HappyGardener NY spoke with in 2012. M. Jansen, Managing Director, rudely replied to HappyGardener by saying...

"This person was taken care of by Nicola who has been working with us for many years, and is not inexperienced.

I have no problem with people not being happy with our service, I do have a problem with people directly attacking one of our employees (see username created).

We are a family owned company and I would hate to see that we have to use nicknames for our employees in the future because of responses like this."

Apparently you can't say anything about the rudeness of Nicky/Nicola even if she is rude. You will simply be given a rude reply.

In the meantime I'm out $75 and I have to continue to "deal" with customer service until my issue is resolved.

I purchased Pink Lily of the Valley. I received my order confirmation immediately and then a shipping confirmation the next day. My purchased arrive in less than a week! I planted them, and they seem to be doing well.

I placed an order with Bulbs Direct. They have several very hard to find plants I'd been looking for. I had a problem with 1 of the plants. Contacted them got response Next day. There customer service is extremely quick & very pleasant to deal with. They reshipped the plant & I received a few days later from the Netherlands! Couple wks later contacted them asking about their guarantee. One of the rare plants / ordered & planted just died. Sent them a picture & received response again Next day. They are resending the plant to me. In all my years of gardening plant ordering I have Never had such great customer service! I sent a reply thanking & got reply thanking me for making her smile after a long day. Real live customer service not chain/form letter. Welcome change of pace. Highly Recommend!

I ordered Lily of the Valley, Crocus, and Gladiolus nanus from them via 2 separate orders. Will not know how they do until next year. I am giving them a positive review based on the service I received. Very prompt shipment (free all the way from Netherland). The pips and bulbs look fine when arrived. One crocus I ordered was out of stock. To my pleasant surprised, they replaced it with a different kind (Cream Beauty) that is not on their website. I just love the color! I had a question about the size of the Gladiolus nanus (6/7 cm) being too small to bloom next year. Their customer reps reassured me they will bloom next year. Since they are the size as described in the ad, I can't really fault them even if they don't bloom. I appreciate their prompt response to all my request and questions. Especial thanks to Nikki for all her help.

the minute i logged on to their site, i was hit by a serious virus which completely knocked out my machine - within 12 hours, my bank account was hit for over $1100 and the vendor, of course, was from somewhere in Europe - strange I'd say. I'll never log on to their website again.

on May 8th 2013 I placed $230.+ order with bulbsdirect.com=
Papaver, Rudbeckia,Dahlia,Amaryllis, Anemone, Astilbe, Ranunculus and more.
on or around memorial weekend I had NOT received my order & emailed bulbsdirect.com . Their response was timely. They would reship what they could, they verified my address. An email came approximately a week later that they were reshipping some items, but not all. No refund for the difference? so far I emailed again 2 weeks later. still no plants. My planting season is getting shorter still NO ORDER. Well it's now JULY 8th= 60 days no plants no refund yet. I am hugely disappointed my growing/planting season window for perennials has ended as well as my patience. I will have to say I definitely did NOT do my homework. Had I read the posts here I would have NEVER Placed this order. So, if you are like me, you will get burned too. Then you will come to this forum & post your headache. SAD very SAD I live for my Flower Gardens

"On Sep 4, 2013 12:15 PM, Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com) responded with:

Dear Customer,

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience.

Your initial shipment went wrong because the address provided was wrong.

We reshipped your order asap.

The fact that this second shipment did not arrive despite the corrected address is very bad luck, we send out thousands of parcels, and very few do not arrive.

We stop shipping at the start of June because planting season ends for our products, they would fail.

We were therefore unable to reship your full order.
Some products were no longer available and new crop is not available for shipping until the end of August or even next Spring (Dahlias are not shipped in Autumn since they are not hardy).

We should have communicated this clearly and have given you the option to get the remainder in Autumn or have given a refund straightaway. Now the system assumed the remainder would be shipped in Autumn and next Spring automatically

In the mean time you have received a full refund for your order, but we understand that you are disappointed that you did not receive the actual plants.

Regards,

Customer Service





"

I ordered $100 worth of ranunculus, bearded iris, and nanus gladiolus from this company because they had the best prices. You get what you pay for...the bulbs arrived and were all very small, and some of the gladiolus had rot holes. The iris rhizomes looked very, very dried out - not like other rhizomes I have planted. What's more, the planting directions given on the package were inappropriate for my zone (Zone 9A) and so the iris all rotted in the ground - not a single one sprouted. The iris were sold as being appropriate for Zone 9, but little did I know that they must be planted at the soil surface and not 4" deep as recommended on the package. The ranunculus sprouted and were weak at best, still waiting for the glads to bloom. Only bright side is that the company finally refunded me for the iris after sending 3 emails. They said they had responded twice before, but I never received their emails (from the sounds of other reviewers, this doesn't seem like an isolated occurrence). I won't order from them again as I would rather pay extra money for top-size bulbs and more informed growing information.

"On Sep 4, 2013 9:08 AM, Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com) responded with:

Dear Customer,

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with us

All flowerbulbs you ordered are guaranteed, we are happy to send you new ones or give you a refund for the remainder that has not been refunded yet.

However I would like to state that we do not ship rotten flowerbulbs. All bulbs are pre-inspected by USDA inspectors just before we ship, we are not allowed to ship bulbs before they are inspected and approved. We do ship live products and sometimes they fail due to all sorts of circumstances, but that is why we have the guarantee.

It's true that in some rare cases people seem to not receive our emails, but you can always contact us direct thru our toll-free hotline as mentioned on our website.

Regards,

Customer Service

"

Ordered last year, one bare root plant and iris rhizomes. The plant was dead, dry, and brittle. I planted it indoors anyway, to get it started, and it never did anything but sit there nailed to the perch and pining for the fjords. Honestly, it just looked like floor sweepings. Their customer service was extremely snotty about it, said their "expert inspector would never make a mistake or send shoddy merchandise" and I had to send them a picture of that dead little bit of trash to get a refund.

The iris didn't look too good, either, but I planted them anyway. They also appeared to be whatever had fallen on the floor and the packers grabbed a handful and called it order fulfillment. There were some bonus free Dutch iris bulbs (not the type I ordered) and ironically, they did bloom last summer, but the ones I paid for never did a thing. This year no plants have appeared, not even the free ones. I am giving up on the lot of them. If you can believe the company's website, their European customers are thrilled to death with their products, so I think they should stick to that side of the pond and not bilk us Americans out of our money and give us false promises.

Also, Bulbs Direct sold my email address, so now I get all kinds of Euro Spam in my mail box.

"On Sep 3, 2013 11:18 AM, Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com) responded with:

Dear customer

Sorry to hear that you were not happy with the performance of our products.
Your order is guaranteed, we would be happy to send you new flowerbulbs free of charge this Autumn.

We do not, and never will, trade email addresses. of our customers.

Regards,

Customer Service "

I placed an order from this company through Amazon.com. I ordered 60 freesia bulbs. The estimated delivery date from amazon was going to be about 3 weeks. I was suprised when I found my package a week later sitting in my mailbox! The bulbs are very very small, and inconsistent with size, but all looked healthy. Seeing as how I just planted them I can't speak to how many have grown, but will update soon. I am giving a positive experiance for price, selection, and expediancy of shipping. If they grow, I hope to do more business!

I just received my latest order from this company, and the plants were sturdy and clearly alive. Over the years I've ordered from them a number of times and most of my experiences have been positive. I now have thriving clumps of Echinops, Aconitum, Brunnera, Anemone hybrida Pamina, Dicentra, and Geranium himalayensis acquired at little cost from this source. There have been failures, however, most notably Astrantia major a few years back, which arrived dried out but did sprout before succumbing. On the whole the successes are worth the occasional failure, given the price and the usual quality.

I like to deal with this company. I like their plants and their prices and they always ship very fast. I am sure that all the companies have problems with their plants, and Bulbs Direct is no exception, but I like the way they settle all the problems, and I have always been satisfied. Not all has been ideal in my work with this company, but if I like something they offer I will never have doubt about ordering because I am sure they will do their best to please me. Thank You.

I E mailed the company regarding planting instructions on my bulb order. The instructions were on the website however wanted to verify that I understood them correctly as I am a beginner. Within a day I received a detailed well thought out e mail from Nikki. She went the extra mile in answering my questions. There are a lot of online providers that provided the same services however outstanding customer service and impeccable knowledge is what separates the good from the best. Bulbs Direct is the best. I do intense research before making a purchase. If you are the same , save yourself a little time and buy here. You will be glad you did.

I ordered a number of items (36 bulbs/plants total, 10 different items) on March 9th from Amazon.com as one item they did have was showing as out of stock on their main page. It took only 10 days to get to me - although it's a tad early to put in the ground here, I'll be able to plant in about another week or so. All the plants look wonderful and very good size. I can hardly wait for them to come up! Great packaging too.

Very pleased right now - will update if there are problems with growth or customer service issues in the future, but I do plan on ordering from them again for sure!

I ordered bulbs for a xmas gift, and ordered timely per their website. The bulbs did not arrive in time. I emailed the company stating that I was disappointed and they refunded the total purchase! I know things go wrong sometimes, but these folks did more than necessary to make it up.

I will definitely order from them again.

This year is my second season ordering from Bulbs Direct. Their prices are wonderful, and I've never had any problems with their products. Sometimes the shipping can take a while (they ship from Denmark), but they're never too late that I can't plant the bulbs. This year, one of the packages got lost in the mail, and they promptly sent a replacement without charge.

We ordered a large quantity of bulbs (600 - too many varieties to name) and are very happy to report 50 have sprouted already. The bulbs looked to be in great condition and we look forward to the rest coming up as well; overall very pleased with their performance so far, especially for the price. We will order from them again.

Posted on March 12, 2012, updated June 1, 2012
Posted on March 5, 2012, updated March 12, 2012
I recently placed an order for (30) Gladioli nanus mix, (1) Crinum Powellii White, (3) Hymenocallis Sulphur Queen, (1) Sauromatum guttatum, (60) Tigridia pavonia mix, (60) Allium moly, (20) Sparaxis tricolor mix, (1) Crinum Powellii Pink, (20) Ranunculus asiaticus Mix, and (30) Gladiolus Rose Laguna. All of the bulbs received were as advertised (yes, smaller than what many walk-in nurseries offer but the sizes are clearly stated and the bulbs priced accordingly) and within the time frame given (2 weeks). When I received the shipping notice, I saw that the Sauromatum guttatum was on back-order. I emailed the company for a tentative ship date and received a response in less than 5 minutes. Happily to say, the bulb has already been sent - also within the time frame given. Although I was a bit nervous ordering out of country, I am very pleased with the order (and you can't beat the free shipping). Items are as advertised, reasonably priced, healthy, firm, and shipped/received rapidly. Their customer service is fantastic and I would order again in the future.

Very happy with them. Got a fast email confirmation with shipping info for 7 business days. The bulbs arrived sooner than promised and in fine conditions. No complains and would use them again.

Four years ago I ordered the English Cottage Inn irises, 2 of them and I got one free. All white. They bloomed this year. One is brown, one is yellow and one is dutch iris blue. I planted them among black Irises I already had, looking for a color scheme.It took them a while to get big enough and it sucks not one is white. They evidently just mailed me whatever color and type they had laying around. Very disappointed and I nor my family and friends will ever order from there. Sorry, but it's the truth.

"On May 7, 2012 7:43 AM, Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com) responded with:

First of all we can imagine the disappointment after waiting for a number of years (besides the color, they should have flowered earlier anyway).

But we do not just grab what is laying around, this must have been a human mistake. Somebody must have grabbed the wrong bag by accident (we also sell collections of different Irises). We do thousands of orders and are (fortunately) human beings, sometimes mistakes are made.

We regret this error and are willing to send a refund to this customer. We would also like to resend some new English Cottage Inn Irises to make up for the inconvenience.

Contact us thru CustomerService@Bulbsdirect.com referring to this rebuttal so we can arrange this.

Our guarantee always stands.

Regards,

Customer Service
BulbsDirect.com




"