Comments regarding Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com)

This link no longer works.

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.

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.

Posted on October 27, 2010, updated May 18, 2011
The pro-s: low prices, free shipping (even on a $6 order I added later to my order total). The con-s: you get what you pay for- even though everything was healthy looking, the bulbs are SMALL. I also ended up getting some ranunculus which after additional research I found probably won't last the winter here, which is a mistake on my behalf, but I do think it would've been considerate to mention on the website that in zone 7 you plant them in the spring, not fall. I'll have to see how the rest performs but frankly I'm not holding my breath- I only did a small order with BulbsDirect, the majority of my fall order was with another company (Van Engelen) with which I'm extremely pleased.

I made several orders last April and May from this company. Received everything... some of the iris... the dwarf ones never greened up over the summer. I gave it til this spring. All the dwarf iris failed and the tiger and dutch iris rotted in the ground. I used plenty of mulch to protect over our harsh winters.

Contacted customer service, they sent different things to replace them. No problem there. Great company.

The yellow Iris I ordered is doing wonderful, highly recommend.

However,

Here is the rest of the order:

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1086 1 $ 11.98 Iris barbata Purple & White 6
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1018 1 $ 9.98 Iris Barbata Blue Flag 6
SW0974 1 $ 12.98 Bearded iris Combo Blue-Gold 6
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1084 1 $ 11.98 Bearded iris Combo Blue-Gold 6
Total: $ 11.98

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1088 2 $ 19.96 Purple Night Sky 6
Total: $ 19.96


One slight little problem.... I had marked each section with what they are.

And... they are not Purple Night Sky, Blue-Gold, Purple White, Blue Ruffled.

All of them are.... some kind of medium purple, run of the mill Iris! With the little yellow throat. I have photos if anyone wants to see. Just email me!

I have emailed photos to customerservice@bulbsdirect and just explained to them what I have explained here.

I want to know what kind of Iris this is and what it is called. I didn't ask for replacements but only to find out what it is and that they are sending this out instead of all the different ones I ordered.



I have now have approximately 54 Irises or less, I didn't count them all... that are all the same color! I don't even like this color.

If it wasn't for that, they would get a positive in a heartbeat. I will wait and see what they say and or if do.

I have a lot of work to do moving all of these to the "back" somewhere. It isn't just the money... it is the time and engery spent and the anticipation of seeing that Purple Night Sky. I really, really wanted to see that one.