Comments regarding Great Garden Plants

I placed a small order with Great Garden Plants just to test the water. Firstly, they are located in Grand Haven, MI and I am in Northern Idaho. I always look to see the nursery's location prior to ordering and base my plant orders on how far and time of year the plants need to travel (distance and extreme temperatures can stress plants, some more than others). Currently the Midwest and our region are in a heatwave


I was EXTREMELY please with my order from Great Garden Plants. They were 3" pots with very healthy plants shipped in cardboard sleeves. On top of that they were snug in a plastic wrap that was attached to the pot so there was no chance of slippage. The plastic helped maintain the soil moisture, and it was obvious the plants had been watered prior to shipping. I'm ecstatic because they have a great selection at great prices. I'll definitely be ordering from them in the future.

Ordered a Proven Winners hydrangea that I couldn't find in stock elsewhere in a gallon size. Plant shipped on date requested, arrived in great condition via Fedex, with reasonable size and helpful directions. Overall very happy with the transaction and looking forward to my first blooms!

Vendor: Great Garden Plants

Date: May, 2017 Purchased Heuchera Blackberry Ice - 3 plants

I received wonderful stout, healthy, large plants. They began new growth almost as soon as they were planted! We had a string of 5 days with 100-degree temperatures, and these plants just kept growing and looking beautiful. Shipping was reasonable and prompt.

I am very impressed by the quality of the plants and would like to share this with other gardeners.

We ordered $150 worth of plants from Great Garden Plants last spring. All of them were very large and healthy when they arrived. We planted them all and they were nice last year, but are even larger this year! We got a hosta grab bag and a heucheras grab bag. Out of all of them, only one heuchera died, and my husband had to try to kill it (he still gets chewed out about it). Everything else either stayed gorgeous all year or just came up again. We are very happy with our purchase.

I ordered two Fire and Ice hydrangeas, and one Aralia. The plants were large and very healthy and were delivered when I wanted them to be. I have planted them out and they are doing great! I was extremely impressed by the packaging. The plants couldn't move around and lose soil like some companies plants do. I suppose it takes a lot longer to package them when such care is given to protecting the plants. I am sure glad they take the time to do it right! I will be ordering again! I am just really impressed by the quality of the plants. I have been gardening for many, many years and know good plants from not so good plants.

I ordered two bicolor Buddleias. I was delighted that they were available at Great Garden Plants because no one else, either locally or via mail order had them is stock. The plants arrived today, along with the free sedum, and all appear to be in good condition. This is my first experience with this company, and it has been a good one. I have ordered a lot of plants from catalogues in the past many years I have been gardening. I will definitely look at Great Garden Plants in the future.

Posted on May 29, 2015, updated April 18, 2016
I ordered 10 Thujas and a few other plants in my first order. The trees were very healthy, very big and packed very well. So I ordered a few more of them and some shrubs and plants. Second order was also very good. One Heuchera and one Salix looked like they may have suffered in transport. I emailed the company, they replied the same day. Mary said to give it a few days and to email or call if they don't perk up. I emailed back a week later to let them know the plants didn't die but didn't get any better. They responded the next day and let me know they were sending replacements. The replacements were in excellent condition and have really grown well. Till this day the two plants which were replaced have not died or grown. So I can't even say they were unhealthy or dead. Overall I'm very pleased with this company and would order again. My only suggestion to them is to list the prices for one plant instead of "as low as" price for multiple plants. Also, would be great if you can sort by price. It is hard to go through 20 pages of listings. I have made lots of purchases on other sites simply by sorting by price and seeing what was really cheap that day and buying "extras" for my garden based on what was on sale.

I ordered 2 Zephirine Drouhin climbers this year. They arrived looking full and fresh. They only spent a couple days in transit, so that was a good thing. The packaging was secure and no dirt was lost in transit.
Overall positive experience for my first purchase from them.

Posted on April 20, 2012, updated May 15, 2015
Posted on April 21, 2010, updated April 20, 2012
Posted on May 8, 2008, updated April 21, 2010
Appears to be a very disreputable company. Placed order March 9th, 2008. Confirmation scheduled ship date as 4/21-4/28.
Charge to be placed when order is shipped. Order still not shipped 5/8 and charge has been posted to my account.
They do not respond to emails.
I wrote to cancel order and owner called Saturday 5/3. She offered me 20% discount to accept order and said it would be shipped right away. I agreed.
Order has still not been shipped. 5/8.
Once again no response to email.
I WOULD STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY.

"On May 2, 2012 12:15 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello Stormcloud

You are my hero...you've stuck with us as we made some very important adjustments the last couple of years. We've worked hard to improve our quality of plants and this year we introduced our BRAND NEW PACKAGING - which has so far been 100% fool proof. Yes, we still have our challenges on not be able to conjole some plants to finish when we want them - but we just keep working on it.

Thank you for being a loyal customer - it means so much to Chris & myself.
Here's to great gardening!
Mary"

Got my Hydrangea Bloomstrucks from Great Garden. They were the size that was mentioned on their site. I think it is a 2 quart container? Anyway, I kept them out for a few days, watered them and then finally planted them (as per their instruction)....They have taken off so fast already! New leaves are beginning to grow and I can see buds that are ready to bloom! Awesome!

Purchased 4 knockout roses last summer and they did great. Lets just ho[e they make it through this arctic winter..... can't wait for spring to see how they made out.

I ordered 6 perennials. First time I have ever ordered from this company. The packaging was first class. I don't think I have ever ordered perennials with such beautiful packaging. And the plants arrived on time, sent within days of my order. Perfect ordering experience. The prices were excellent and the quality of the plants was extremely high. I WILL definitely be ordering from them again.

I ordered from this company for the first time last fall. My order arrived promptly and expertly packed. The plants were healthy and in great shape, and I planted them all within three days of their arrival. Despite a particularly long, cold winter, most of the plants survived and are now doing well. I am particularly pleased with a Hellebore and a Brunnera Jack Frost. There are a couple plants that have shown no signs of life yet, but I want to give them a little more time before I contact the company.

At the same time I ordered from GGP, I placed an order with another well known company. It was more costly than GGP, and I was not nearly as happy with the packaging or the condition of the plants when they arrived.

I am planning another order from Great Garden Plants this spring.

Posted on August 3, 2011, updated May 2, 2014
I did place a good sized order last spring and received a large box where they had sticks in every plant and a weak rubber-band. All the dirt was out of the pots and everything was everywhere. I emailed the company and explained to them that the 'this end up' label means nothing to ups or fedx. The box had been upside down and dropped several times. I had ordered a Viburnum shrub which never did recover from the box trauma. Just as with a previous order I took a picture of the plant and emailed it to the company and they gave my money back. I was disappointed that the shrub was only 9 inches tall. I have never had a problem getting refunds for dead or damaged plants but I would rather not deal with it.

This was my first order from this company. No problems.... nice size plant packed very well, and arrived in timely matter. Will order from them again.

We ordered 75 plants (groundcover) 2 months ago and they have done wonderfully. They came packaged very well and were delivered as promised.
We ordered more plants this week and received a call from them this morning to review the order so there was no confusion as to what we ordered. We highly recommend

At the first part of June, I received 6 Echinacea plants, raspberry, marmalade and pink double. The packing was excellent, large, deep quart pots and well rooted plants. much nicer than seen in local nurseries. As a bonus, they all had buds and are now blooming in less than 3 weeks.

I have bought a number of hellebores from this company over the last three years. Always impressed with the plants I receive - all are healthy and large. Well packaged. All doing well in the garden. I highly recommend this company.

I have to say, I was a bit nervous after placing my order with Great Garden Plants. I did not receive the usual e-mail confirmation for my order and wondered if the order had even been received. I had also just had a terrible experience with Wayside Gardens so I was mail order wary to begin with.
However, Great Garden Plants had good prices and also had Caryopteris in stock when virtually all other mail order sources I checked, were out of it.
Thankfully, I had printed my online order and when I checked it again, I saw that the receipt stated, I would be notified by fed-ex when the order shipped. Just as stated, I did receive the e-mail from fed-ex, right on schedule when the plants shipped.
I really appreciated the fact that GGP allowed me to pick the shipping date. Nothing worse than having plants arrive in the middle of a zone 5a, April snowstorm.
The GGP plants were wonderfully packed and I received them within a day after shipping. Each plant was carefully placed in a separate, sturdy, rectangular cardboard tube and the tubes were fitted snugly inside the shipping carton.
All foliage looked healthy and green. The plants looked full and happy and ready to plant.
For those who've complained about smaller plant sizes, well, mail order plants are typically smaller than what you might buy in your local garden center. But that being said, you will likely never be able to match the variety offered by mail order sources in your local garden center. Besides, perennials being perennial, they'll soon catch up, while adapting to the conditions in your garden at the same time.
Overall, I was really pleased with my order and will definitely order from GGP again.
Thanks to GGP, my faith in mail order plant purchasing has been restored.

I have ordered several plants and have had no problems. They arrived well packaged and in good shape. They are doing well in my garden. They are a bit pricey, though. I guess you get what you pay for.

I just received my first order from Great Garden Plants. All I can say is that I am one happy customer. First, the customer service is excellent. They are willing to work with the customer and was kind enough to adjust my bill to match their on-line price reduction that happened after my initial order was placed. Second, I can't believe the size of the shrubs I received. One of my items was a "Limelight" hydrangea which I had also placed an on-line order with another GW Top 30 nursery. The size of plant from GGP is at least 3 times larger, and for the same price! My Bloomerang lilac and Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea, which were on sale, are at least a foot tall and quite bushy. I am extremely pleased with this order and I expect myself to be a repeat customer with GGP.

I had Great experience with Great Gardens, and this was my first time ordering from them. My order for Beauty of the Moscow lilac and Zepherine climbing rose arrived healthy, well packed and included bonus matchstick mums, that are quite tall flowers and yet they all survived shipping, not a limb was broken...the order shipping time was accommodated to my needs, the plants were well packed in individual cartoons and then in box, and the folks were very helpful when I needed to ask some questions. People get upset that sometimes order arrives misshaped. I would note that in my years of shopping online for material goods I have seen the best of the packages being busted- it simply comes down to who and how handles it during transit. Ordering live plants over the mail always has risk. I am very pleased with Great Garden Plants. My lilac bush is already looking good in its spot, the mums were planted yesterday and covered with row cover for a few days for better acclimatization and I am yet to plant rose bush...thank you, Chris and Mary, for making my garden prettier!

I just received the six hostas I ordered and am so pleased I needed to let you know.  I am very impressed with the packaging of the plants.  The individual cardboard containers, the plastic bags that the pots were in...all arrived without any sign of the long trip!  The leaves weren't wilted or damaged and the plants are a good size...just as the video described them.  

I know this company has had some mixed reviews out there and I was honestly a bit concerned about taking the risk and purchasing from them, but I can say, the plants are perfect!

The only thing I was surprised with was that I ordered them on June 8th and had a FedEx ship date of June 18th...longer than I expected but if waiting a bit longer to get a better plant, packed well..then I'll wait.

I ordered a Meyer Lemon tree and was truly impressed. It was large and healthy. I would certainly buy from them again.

I ordered numerous plants back in February for April shipment, after reading the review on the watchdog. The plants were all a generous, healthy size for mail-order plants. Packaging was excellent. One item was on backorder- I received an email explaining why 2 weeks prior to shipment of the rest of the order, and received exactly when promised 2 weeks after the original shipment. Very pleased with my order. For those not happy with the plant sizes they received, my assumption is that they are new to mail-order plants and were maybe used to the sizes that you would expect at your local nursery. BTW, it's now May, with a very hot spring, and EVERY plant has survived.

Good selection and they have good customer service. I have purchased many Hydrangeas and Echinaceas from them over the past few years and everything is doing great. Really good specials too. I will buy from them every year.

I bought plants from several on-line companies this spring for my new house. Great Garden Plants' prices are competitive, though not the cheapest. When my first order arrived, I was surprised by the over-sized box. Inside were individual cardboard tubes for each quart-sized container. When I slid a Hosta Great Expectations out of its tube, the yellow and blue-green leaves sprang out like a magic trick. I actually said, "Wow!" I've ordered from them twice more, and the plants ship during the week selected on the web-site. I particularly liked the beautiful condition and color of the Dicentra Burning Hearts (blooms intact), and the large, healthy Pink Lemonade Blueberry plant (the stem is 3/8" thick!). My last order included a Brilliance fern that, a day after planting, has settled to nearly two feet wide, and has new fronds unfurling. I highly recommend Great Garden Plants for its large, high-quality plants and outstanding shipping methods.

I ordered Hellebores and Heucheras, my order was mailed in a timely manner and the plants arrived healthy and were well packaged, I did not receive my bonus plants, though. Will order from Great Garden Plants again.

Plants arrived as ordered - large and healthy.

I just received my Black Lace Elderberry in great condition. I know the leaves are probably lighter than normal because of it being shipped. Hopefully, they will get the dark color I've seen in photos. I was pleasantly surprised at how large my plant is! I am very impressed with the way my plant was packaged.

My Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea I ordered this Spring is also doing very well. Thank you for sending such quality plants. I couldn't find any of these locally. The plants I received look as good as if I did get them locally, however!

Posted on August 1, 2011, updated September 9, 2011
Not pleased with my purchase of hydrangeas at all. Three of the plants were what I consider to be bare root in a pot. One of those the root system had been exposed and I'm fairly certain won't survive. Two citylines did arrive plant like but even putting the two together wouldn't be worth the price of one. The snow queen is a few stems with hardly any leaf growth. Granted it has been hot but the plants are not worth the price. I always check the watch dog before buying and at that time July 13th the reviews were good.
The plants weren't worth half the prices I paid and were surely not something I would have bought if I saw them in person. Sorely disappointed. I made them aware of my disappointment and was told they would come back if I wait three weeks.

Posted on June 25, 2011, updated July 24, 2011
I bought a lilac and a hydrangea from them. The plants arrived packed well and in good condition. The red lilac I bought was actually bigger and better looking than a lilac I had purchased earlier in the season for a lot more money from a lilac grower.
I'd buy from them again.

Posted on July 20, 2011, updated July 22, 2011
Posted on July 14, 2011, updated July 20, 2011
Posted on July 14, 2011, updated July 14, 2011
I ordered from this company for the first time back in May. I diligently researched them here at Dave's Garden (what would we do without it?!!) and was willing to overlook the few negative comments because most folks were delighted with their orders. The trouble began with the delivery of my order... the big box arrived and contained only 2 of the dozen or so plants. I called to ask about the rest and was told that they had all been shipped out. To make a very long story short, the second set of boxes arrived about a week later and I was really shocked. The three "Endless Summer" hydrangea plants were wilted and parched, with a number of yellow and torn off leaves. Two other hydrangeas arrived with no leaves at all, but a few white buds! The free "bonus" plants never arrived at all. I felt that a mistake had been made. I called the company to tell them about the problem and even sent photos of the sickly plants. The reception was not pleasant, and the best I got after negotiating with them was a partial refund for some of the worst looking plants... I didn't get an email response and had to call. I received no apologies, no care at all, and actually, I don't think the woman to whom I spoke believed me. Moral of the story: prices that look too good to be true really are too good to be true. Best of luck to you with these people if you want to try them out, but I'm sticking to my tried-and-true sources because I want a great garden guaranteed!

I recently ordered two coneflowers from Great Garden Plants (my first time doing business with them). One cultivar was on backorder - so I had to wait a week or two longer for them both to be sent at the same time. This wasn't a problem for me at all. They arrived in great condition...healthy and with buds! Thank you!

This is my second order from this company. I am so impressed with the quality of the plants and the care they take in packaging them. I was also very pleased with the help I got from Mary when I talked to her in person. She was so helpful and it was nice to be able to have human interaction with a knowledgeable person rather than someone only capable of reading something from a computer.

I ordered 42 Green Thuja giant plants from this company.

These people were excellent from start to finish. The CS rep was Extremely helpful prior to me placing the order and answering all my questions.

The plants shipped on the date they told me it would, via FEDEX. They arrived in 7 boxes, packed with excellent care, arrived very healthy and green from MI to NY.

I have had NO troubles with these folks and would definately order from again. everything was as stated and sent off with care.

Hi, I'm ruby 3.3 from Jasper, Al. and I'm VERY pleased with Great Garden Plants.Only two things scared me a little about my order. The first was, they emailed me to tell me that my order would be late, but I liked that they took the time to email me to explain. The second was, I ran out of money on the card I used to order my plants, but I emailed them to explan and they were patient with me.They didn't instantly take the money from my card until they got my order ready. I liked that, but it was my own fault that I didn't prepare better. I liked that they emailed me every time something was happening about my order.We comunicated [ nicely, patiently, and professionly ] and that is what is needed when you are doing some kind of business, no matter how big or small. My plants were/are green and healthy, well packed, 99% of the dirt was still in the three little pots and still moist, the plants were staked with little canes and everything was just green, healthy, and in order. AND, the UPS driver was actually holding the box upright. The plants got here even a little earlier than I figured, after we both got our end of the deal straightened out. I like em.

This is the first time I have order plants on-line and I was a bit apprehensive but the experience was all positive. I ordered 6 Thuja Green Giant trees on March 26th with shipment scheduled for April 11th (a Monday). They shipped on the 11th and where delivered on Thursday, the 14th. The packaging was excellent. The soil was moist with no spillage. I ordered the 1 gallon size. The foilage was green and fairly lush and the size was exactly as indicated on the web site (between 30 and 36 inches measured from top of rootball). It is now about a month since I planted the trees and they are still looking very good. Our soil is very sandy, we get little rain and the winds have been blustery recently but the trees seem to be taking it all well so far. We enhanced the soil and are fertilizing and irrigating. Very pleased and would order from them again.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered the Great Garden Plants web page while searching for hellebores and ordered eight (8) plants. I requested an April 11, ship date and the order shipped as scheduled. Upon receipt of the order I was amazed at the quality of the plants - all were healthy and the sizes were as advertised. The plants were clearly labeled as to type & color. It was apparent they were careful to package the plants to stabilize them during shipping. I had the opportunity to contact the company after placing the order to add an item. I left a message and they returned my call within a couple of hours which I found acceptable. I will not hesitate to order from Green garden Plants again.