Comments regarding Great Garden Plants

First time plant order, first delivered one wrong plant, haven’t received a replacement - another was dead. Still waiting. Four others were listed as deer resistant, the deer enjoyed them first day out, when contacted GGP said it was a marketing error in their website listing and they would “correct that”. No offer to replace or refund plants, rather a coupon for $7 off my next order. Not happy with this experiment or their customer service.

I ordered 12 Thuja Green Giants and they were all at least 1 foot shorter than the advertised 3 feet. When I called them to let them know I was not happy that none of the 12 trees I had ordered were actually the advertised 3 feet, they said they measure the height of the tree from the bottom of the pot. Some of the trees I received were 1 foot tall. I have been an avid gardener for at least 20 years and this is a first for me. No where on their site do they define how they measure the height of their trees. I was only asking them to deliver what I paid for and the height of the tree they promised. They refunded 10% of my money. Whether they intended to deceive or not, this is still dishonest. They would do far better if they under promised and over delivered like any good business would. I feel ripped off and I am not happy. Bait and switch at its best. I cannot recommend Great Garden Plants.

"On Apr 23, 2018 12:59 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We regret to hear of your experience regarding a recent shipment. Due to our late spring, Green Giants have been runner smaller than normal averaging around 2 feet tall from the rim of the pot.
Your complete satisfaction is important to us. We ask that you contact our customer service department for a complete refund on your order. Call 877-447-4769
Sincerely,
GreatGardenPlants.com"

Ordered 24 thuja green Emerald a few weeks early before shipping time (April in my zone) and purchased for the sale price at the time...before they shipped the price was lowered and they wouldn't honor the new lower price (24Thuja Emerald again on this order) that cost me over $500. When they arrived they looked very heathy and green but a lot smaller that the 24 I ordered in 2016. When I went to plant them I noticed from old photos that they were less than 1/2 the size as my 2016 order. These were $20 apiece and Home Depot has the size I bought in 2016 for 14.95 right,now...I guess I'm stuck waiting 2"years to get them to the size they advertised. Too bad as I had been a customer for years....no more....

"On Apr 20, 2018 1:02 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello. We just want to confirm that we did indeed lower the price AND we were honoring the new lower price. The lower price is reflective a somewhat shorter tree - but still measuring 24" tall from the bottom to the top (as stated on the website). At no time did we ever offer a tree twice the height as indicated.

We would appreciate hearing from you directly so we may settle this to your satisfaction.
Please contact us Toll Free at 877-447-4769.

Thank you.
"

I just received my 16 Thuja Green Giants about three days ago. As I was opening them I was surprised to see that one or two were shorter than advertised, and about 6 of them were not even close to being rooted into the ball enough. When I was removing them from the pot, I had to tip it upside down and be extremely careful in taking it out. The 6 that were not rooted in well enough were not attached at all to about half of the ball and will not stay standing up straight because they are so extremely weak. Very disappointed in the quality of the trees and I will not be ordering from them again. Buyers beware, I did get about 16 more prior to this from a local nursery and they were MUCH sturdier and higher in quality for the same price, only reason I got these online is because the local store had been out of stock for a while now.

"On May 26, 2017 11:29 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We do appreciate your feedback and are anxious to hear from you directly by contacting us at info@greatgardenplants.com. We are happy to send any replacement for unsatisfactory plants. Please let us know asap - so we can resolve this issue."

Great Gardens - NEGATIVE - Plays fast and loose with zoning recommendations. Assumes no fault if plants fail to overwinter in a zone they deem hardy, even though other reputable nurseries do not.
Planted 25 Dwarf Pampas grass (purchased from Great Gardens) in the creation of a long hedge mixed with 25 Zebra Grass plants. Same environment-same soil conditions-same planting method-same everything. All plants did exceptionally well thru spring/summer/fall. Zebra grass came back heartily by mid-April and by mid-May, the Dwarf Pampas is obviously dead. This following a milder than usual zone 5 winter. I learned from local nurseries that dwarf pampas is not recommended for zone 5 (although early varieties years ago were hit and miss). I also reviewed other on-line plant distributors and found that they do not consider Dwarf Pampas as suitable for zone 5. (High Country for example) This was an elaborate purchase for someone of my means ($400 in dwarf pampas alone - I can't afford start over). I did not ask for a refund, but merely sought an agreement for replacing with an ornamental grass suitable for zone 5. Great Gardens responded by providing their 30 Day Guarantee Statement and denied any responsibility for inaccurate zoning recommendations, although I provided attachments stating that many nurseries "Contradict" the Great Plains guidance that dwarf pampas is hardy for zone 5.

"On May 15, 2017 5:02 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We are in Zone 5 (but located very close to Zone 6) and have had years of success growing what is called Cortaderia s. Pumila. This is a dwarf pampas grass regarded as much hardier than most selloana types. My soil is sandy and well drained.
It is important to me that you are completely satisfied and I'll work with you on a replacement for these plants. Please contact me directly at mary@greatgardenplants.com."

I ordered 5 one-gallon sized THUJAS in early summer and planted them in Southern California. That was my big mistake, considering the drought conditions here. This company's BIG MISTAKE was sending the Thujas too early, before sufficient root balls had formed. When I removed them from their black containers, the soil around the immature root systems fell away. Within a month they were turning brown. I emailed Great Garden Plants and they said they would extend my 'warranty' after seeing photos. Now 2 are dead and there's no offer of any refund, even after sending photos showing skeleton branches. Think twice before ordering from this company.

"On Nov 16, 2016 11:29 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello,
In reviewing your file, the plants were sent in May and if that is too early for southern California, than I apologize. In reviewing our correspondence, a warranty was extended to July. However, we never heard back from you until now (November).
We like to resolve this matter. Subsequently, we are issue you a credit for all 4 (not 2) of the Thujas.You'll be hearing from our office staff shortly with the details. We always appreciate when folks can contact us directly - we are here to help and eager to resolve any issue."

I ordered 7-8 plants, all of which shipped quickly, and arrived looking healthy. My problem is that they sent me an incorrect item. I ordered the sedum maestro, but they sent me sedum matrona as I have both plants. I immediately contacted them, and they brushed me off. They told me that they look the same as young plants, and to wait for it to mature. It is not maestro as I ordered, it is matrona. They do not look the same and it is living, but it isn't the correct plant. They did not ask me for a picture or anything. They just told me that I was wrong and that was the end of it. So, the plants were healthy, but you may not get what you actually order and they do not care if you receive the correct item, so I can't give them a positive review.

"On Sep 8, 2015 6:58 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Jessica, We are a bit perplexed. We never have grown either Sedum Maestro or Matrona. I believe you ordered this from another online company.
Sincerely,
Mary"

I purchased $156 of plants from Great Garden Plants . Received/planted them at the end of Oct. This spring, they did not come up. I asked Great Garden Plants to replace them. They refused, stating their 30 day guarantee had expired. I explained at 30 days, I could not tell if the plants were dead or just dormant. Again they refused to offer replacement. In the past I have bought plants from Wayside Gardens, and Steambank who have graciously replaced merchandise. Indeed Wayside has a ONE YEAR guarantee! When I ordered from "Great" Gardens, I did not look/see their short guarantee. Hope this is a warning to plant shoppers.

Placed an order for 2 roses of the same variety that were not available elsewhere. I think it took about a month to receive them, which was fine, however they were small and droopy, appearing to me as if they had been recently rooted from a large cutting. One survived and one did not, so I requested a replacement. They did ship that, and it was worse than the first. It died after about 2 days. I asked for another replacement as I was planning to plant one on each side of a window in front of my house. I have no other place to plant a climbing rose as I ordered about 30 roses this year from various companies and the rest are all planted and blooming (and I received most of them after the original shipment from Great Garden Plants). They responded that 1) They only issue a one time replacement and 2) they are out of that rose. Now I have an unhealthy rose that I don't need, and cannot propagate it myself due to it's current state. Also ordered 2 other roses from them last year, am awaiting a replacement for one that died. My success rate with roses from other companies has been 100% so pretty sure I'm not the problem. Will not use this company again.

"On May 28, 2015 1:06 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We truly regret to hear of the issue with the Rose Garden Sun and are happy to issue you a 100% refund. Please contact us at info@GreatGardenPlants.com with any further questions.
Thank you.

Read more: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/6675/#ixzz3bSRHFWfF
"

Posted on May 6, 2015, updated May 6, 2015
placed order and was told would ship in 2 weeks. then received notification that one item was delayed.

Order of in stock items arrived as promised. plants were small , one dead and only 4 of 6 item arrived. Emailed and called and was told that the missing items would be shipped in two weeks. Informed that there policy was to stick to the shipping schedule for new orders or replacements and not displace other orders. I requested that since my order was never filled those two plants were still pending and should be shipped immediately. was again told it didnt matter but that they would have mary, one of the owners call me. No call came but did see shipment notice and presumed that might be the items- no luck. it was the backordered items. so in fact they could have just put the two little plants in the big box...

this order was for a mothers day garden and while two plants wont make or break a garden the premise that their shipping error doesn't merit any precedence of shipping an that you go to the end of the line doesnt work for me as a customer. Also commiting that someone will call and not- bad form .Doesn't live up to the- make gardeners happy with quality plants and service .

order at your own cost, aggravation and disappointment

"On May 11, 2015 3:47 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We were pleased to have an opportunity to chat with you and clarify a few things along with resolving this issue to your complete satisfaction. Let us know if we can provide any additional assistance at 877-447-4769."

Horrible experience, will never use them again!

I placed two orders and many of the plants arrived in terrible condition including rotted leaves and even slugs! I took pictures and emailed asking for a refund on the ones that were really bad per the advertised 30 day refund policy. I was told to plant them and give it some time as the journey can be hard on them. It didn't get better and I got no response. I called several times and left messages. I finally called my credit card company to file a dispute. GGP responded no refund because the plants were shipped and were fine just in a "dormant" state. I was never told they would be dormant and didn't look dormant, just dying and very bad quality.

I don't expect to have to revive my plants or pick off slugs when I'm paying over $200 for "superior plants" from a nursery. The plants looked worse than what you get at a run of the mill place like Lowe's or Home Depot. I am still in dispute and sending pictures and additional paperwork to the credit card company to counter GGP's response.

This has been the worse customer experience of my life. I understand plants are live things and may not arrive in good condition but the customer service was the worst part. Does anyone have any advice, can you file a complaint with the BBB or similar?

"On Jan 15, 2015 6:37 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Our records indicate you will be receiving a 100% refund on your order since you notified us within the 30 days.

We make every attempt to return all calls and messages during the off season, even thought we might not be in every day during the winter months.

Since plants are dormant (sleeping) during the winter, we always appreciate a spring assessment, although not mandatory.

If you have any further questions or concerns please contact Heidi at info@greatgardenplants.com, so we may resolve this to your complete satisfaction."

Posted on June 10, 2014, updated July 3, 2014
On 2-20-14 I placed an order for several different plants to be delivered in mid May. (order #93029 )On May 12 I received an email saying that they were having trouble with one of the type of plants I ordered, so they were substituting a different plant unless they heard from me. The substitute they offered was selling from a lot less than the one that I had ordered. I wrote and said that I didn't want a substitute so they wrote back and said they'd credit my card back instead. Fine. Then they sent me an email saying that they would be shipping my remaining plants in Mid June. A full month later than originally promised. So today, June 10th, they sent me another email saying that the other plants that I ordered aren't meeting their quality control standards so they were cancelling that part of my order. So many months of planning for these specific plants, and I'm getting no plants at all. I'm not happy. To make matters worse, as of today, I have not been credited for ANY of the cancelled plants. My order total was only $75.70 but it was my money and I want it back. I don't think they should bill the card until they can ship the plants. What are they doing, taking all sorts of orders in and using the paid for orders to float the cost of doing business and then cancelling the orders? Needless to say, I'm not going to risk ordering from them again. I plan to contact American Express within the next few days if my entire payment isn't credited by the end of this week.

"On Jun 12, 2014 4:31 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

I understand that Jen has contacted you and provided an update. Your order is being shipped next week and the credit is being processed. We trust everything has been communicated to you in a satisfactory manner. Please contact us at info@GreatGardenPlants.com or 877-447-4769 if we can provide any additional assistance in this manner. Thank you."

27 out of 30 plants arrived in good shape when my first order arrived, so I ordered again. I ordered two collections which each contained 1 ornamental grass as the focal point and 2 or 3 each of 3 other plant varieties. The ornamental grass was not available, so they sent the rest of the collection without it, indicating it was back-ordered. I called to see when it would arrive, and was told it was not back-ordered as indicated on my shipping statement, but was totally unavailable. They told me I could not return the other items and that I had only two choices - take a refund for only the grass or choose a different grass. This is absolutely unacceptable so I called back and was told the same thing again by a different agent. I chose the collection because it was exactly what I was looking for, and if the whole collection couldn't be shipped, they should not have shipped a portion of it. I sent an email days ago to let them know I would be disputing the charge, there was no reply. I just looked at the website and they are still selling the Heat-Lovers Delight Sun Collection even though they know they know a portion of it is not available. Very bad business practices, I will never shop with them again.

"On Jun 9, 2014 11:19 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Thank you for your comments. I truly regret your recent experience. I have looked into this and we have turned off this collection page. I will be happy to issue you a 100% refund on the entire collection if you contact me directly at mary@GreatGardenPlants.com
Your satisfaction is very important to me and I want to make this right with you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Mary"

I placed an order, paid for it, but my items remained in the cart.
The charge went through, but I have not been able to get this resolved. I have had no response to numerous e-mails, and have filed a claim to have the charge reversed.

"On Mar 17, 2014 10:13 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We are happy to assist you with this issue. If you call us Toll Free at 877-447-4769, we can verify your order and send you another copy if need be. If 2 separate carts where started at separate times and one completed, it is very possible that there other is still remains in your cart, thus explaining why you might be receiving emails from us. Anyway, we are here and happy to help you resolve this. Our email address is info@greatgardenplants.com
Thank you. Mary"

I have ordered from them for 2 years. I have come to realize that the actual plants I received were not the specific type I ordered. I ordered dwarf Blue Chip butterfly bushes (at a premium) and last year I emailed them that all but 2 are now 6-7 feet tall!! No response after emailing pics for them to evaluate. This year my Dwarf Shasta daisies are 2-3 feet tall except for 2 that are actual dwarfs. I am very angry that my small front garden bed has to be completely re-done. The butterfly bushes are just the "native" variety and not worth the very expensive price I paid to get something special. They offer "specialized" varieties of plants but, send common types often found at Home Depot for much less money. Not worth the time or effort. Poor customer service. You are better off ordering special plants from your local nursery.

"On Jun 10, 2013 7:41 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Dear Gardening Friend,
We truly regret to hear of this situation and find it highly unusual that you would receive the wrong material. I do want to solve this issue for you immediately if you would email me directly at mary@greatgardenplants.com. Your satisfaction is important to us. Mary and Chris"

I ordered 9 knock out rose bushes from them and some Nepeda Walker's Low. The pictures showed beautiful plants. The plants that arrived were anything but.

When they came, they were scrawny and the Nepeda looked dead. I ended up planting them anyway. The Nededa's are growing leaves and will be okay but the roses look awful.

I contacted customer service, sent photos and was told to wait and see if the plants adjusted. I sent them a photo and they said "Oh, the roses just need to be fertilized and pruned". That wasn't what i paid for.

I went to Costco and picked up replacement Knock out roses that I could plant immediately and would look healthy from the beginning. The Costco roses do, they are flourishing.

I wish I had read these reviews before I bought from Great Garden Plants. Don't waste your money or time, buy locally.

"On May 23, 2013 6:50 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

We regret to hear of your recent experience with your purchase. It is important to us that you are 100% satisfied. We do take pride in what we grow and ship and want to make sure that we remedy this situation to your satisfaction. Please contact me directly at mary@greatgardenplants.com. I look forward to hearing from you and resolving this issue. Thanks you, Mary"

I puchased twice from them this year and both times I was suppose to get a free Matchstick Mum with my order. I did not recieve it with either order and just figured it would be closer to fall. I contacted them to see when it would ship and Megan replied "In regards to orders #121840229 and 19900829. When these orders were shipped out the Free Mum Matchsticks did not pass quality control. Chris and Mary upgraded all orders by adding a Free Pink Lemonade Tree to the orders; taking the place of the Free Mum"

I emailed her back and asked what a pink lemonade tree was and I did not recieve anything extra her reply was
"In regards to orders #121840229 and 19900829. I apologize that you did not receive the upgraded plant, at this time since the order was shipped in July I am unable to just send out the Free Mum. I am though able to add a Free Mum to a new order and have it shipped out at that time."
They should not advertise free if they don't want to send free.




.

"On Sep 6, 2012 2:36 PM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello,
I do regret we did certainly have a crop issue with a free MUM Matchstick that we were giving away with orders earlier this year. On the rare occasion of this happening, we try substitute an item that is of equal or great value than the free item we are offering.

In checking our records, we did upgrade to a more expensive free plant, namely Blueberry Pink Lemonade as a replacement for the Mum Matchstick which at that time was currently unavailable. This was sent to you at no charge with one of your orders. If I am in error on this information, please let me know.

Your satisfaction is important to us and we do our best to resolve any issues.
Sincerely,
Mary
"

I had the same experience as most of the negative responses, very small and under developed. Nothing like advertised or the video of Chris shaking the plant in a pot to show how strong and developed the plants are. When I took the plants out of the pots there were no visible roots, even after digging into the soil there were barely any roots.

Bottom line, our $444 purchase came in two shipments separated by a month or more and part of the order was canceled because of "crop failure"... I planted what I received, when most of them failed I went to my local Home Depot and purchased less than $200 worth of plants (same coverage), all of which survived and are doing well, giving nice flowers and growth.

I did get a refund on what was cancelled and part of the last shipment, but was that sufficient for my efforts to plant and save these undersized seedlings or time lost?

No. I would have saved time and money shopping locally.

Shipping date delayed 2 or 3 times. Roots of most plants received are only moderately established, so some plants didn't make it. Bad value for the price. Advise purchasing elsewhere. Stick with Watchdog top-rated sellers.

"On Jun 6, 2012 8:17 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Hello
Read your post and would like to know more about your recent experience. Please drop me a line at your convenience at mary@greatgardenplants.com so we can have a better understanding of the nature of the problem
We want you to be 100% delighted and if not, we'll refund or replace any plants that you have an issue with.
Thank you for your time."

After reviewing Chris's videos at Great Garden Plants for about 2 months and reading their reviews on this site, I finally took the online plant buying plunge. My first order was $730, which I felt was a substantial order.

The size of their plants are GROSSLY misrepresented on their videos. Most of the plants I receive were tiny compared to what they claim they send. Some of the Heurcheras are a down right joke. Also a Japanese Maple was basically a 18" stick with barely visable green leaves. The only thing half way acceptable was creeping jenny ground cover and how can you get that wrong.

I called and complained and the lady was very rude. I wanted to send some of them back. However, after learning about the 10% restocking fee and figuring the cost of shipping charges, it was not worth it. I explained the plants were very small and insubstantial - nothing like their vidoes. She started arguing with me and said they didn't send plants out that weren't a certain size. I sent her pictures but have not heard back.

I did receive all but a Limelight Hydrangea on time. However, when I did get it, it was the smallest Hydrangea yet!

After my experience with this company, I am wondering if some of their positive feedbacks are legit. I will never again buy a plant online. I was hoping I could post my pictures online here for all to see but doesn't look like I can.

"On May 7, 2012 10:14 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Dear Faithstep,
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. I truly want to know more! We are stickler's for quality and want to resolve this immediately with you. Would you be so kind to email me at mary@greatgardenplants.com along with your Name and phone #.
Our plants have been getting fuller and fuller on top as they are breaking out of dormancy - you'll find well established roots systems - which is the key to your garden success.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mary
"

I received my plants today. Pretty quick shipping, very pleasing!

Ordered several "2 gallon" hydrangeas for my mom, sister in law and mother in law-
Sadly they were not near as big as their ad & website boldly boasts. Got free matchsticks but they were pretty much dead. They had brown spots on what was left of any leaves... I ordered the 'deal of the day', a Cityline Paris Hydrangea, my husband threw it away before i even got home because it looked so bad. I tried to get it out of the dumpster to have a look but it was too far down. It must've looked pretty bad for my not gardening husband to notice it was not plantable.

Other than that, none of the plants were in even a gallon size pot and they were all very, very skimpy and limp upon arrival. I emailed Chris & Mary, I guess they are the owners. Their ad says they stand behind their plants but I have not heard from either one of them nor anyone else at Great Garden Plants!!!
I am totally disappointed. That was my first & last attempt at online plant ordering. Sadly, I've seen better looking plants at Wal~Mart.

"On May 4, 2012 8:58 AM, Great Garden Plants responded with:

Dear Katy,
Wow, I was really surprised to read your email and would love to learn more since I just talked to a customer about how beautiful the Hydrangeas looked this year. (we grow them in a 2 quart pot - not a gallon) I checked my spam folder and did not see an email from you.
Certainly, we stand behind our Risk Free Guarantee and want to make the situation right with you - whatever it takes. I will try to contact you today to resolve this. Mary"

I ordered nearly $600 worth of plants. When I received the plants, I immediately opened the box and was surprised at the not so great condition of the plants. Because of their condition, I planted all of them that same day. Within a week, it became clear that a number of the plants would not survive. Nearly 2/3 of my order died during this season and the remaining plants do not give me a lot of confidence that they will survive.

I'm very disappointed with Great Garden Plants customer service, which is sad, because I have had great luck with their plants over the last several years. They tried to charge my cc twice two separate times, and never released my order. The Customer Service rep I spoke with was unapologetic, rude, and insisted that my CC was declined, even though my CC company confirmed in writing that on both occasions the error was made on the vendor side. They've lost my business for good.

09/06/2010 I just ordered from this company for the first time. My order #37108. Upon receiving the plants I opened the box right away and was shocked. The size of the pots were tiny and 10 out of 11 plants were looking sick with yellow and torn off leaves.The free offered white lily was not even placed in a pot -open roots were placed in a plastic bag. I felt tricked. For the money I paid I could go to the closest nursery and buy large and healthy plants. I called the company to hear:"We are sorry". The company probably bases their business on one time customers.

3 times in the past 2 yrs. I have tried to order from this company, and 3 times I have had to cancel my orders because the shipping dates were bumped-up, not once, but twice each.Ordered from another company, and got them when scheduled, and long before GGP's est.dates. Enough is enough. They aren't worth the frustration to me.

I just ordered from this company for the first time and am very disappointed in their plants. I feel their prices are very high for the size and quality of plants. The hollies were tiny plants in a big pot. Several other plants were spindly, floppy, or yelllow, even though I immediately opened the box. I will not order from this company again.

I ordered 3 double knockout roses and 1 clematis vine and the I received an email from the company telling me that they would be shipped on May 19. I waited a couple weeks and finally called. They said they were back ordered and would be sent June 2. I called a couple of times and they reassured me they would be sent. Finally on June 17, they sent me an email telling me that they could not ship this summer. This is the poorest service I have ever received from a mail order company. I would not recommend them to anyone, let alone ever ordering from them again.

Placed order on 5-27 and never recieved a shipping confirmation. Only when I requested a status, was I informed that one of my items was on back order AND the order had already shipped.

Order arrived on 6-8. Plants were fine, except that the tag markers had fallen out, so now I can't differntiate between them. Ugh.

Lastly, they billed me for the item on back order and listed it on the invoice as being included. I am awaiting a refund on the over charge. Very disappointed with my decision to order from this site.

"

We regret to hear of your recent experience. Please contact our company so that we may come to a meaningful and fair resolution on this matter."

After a about 10-15 mail order experiences this spring, my purchase with Great Garden Plants is proving the biggest disappointment. To begin, I found them here in the Dave's Garden files. At that time they only had a couple of reviews. None of the reviews were particularly recent, but I checked out their website, which looked great, and so decided to take a chance; I'd buy some plants from them. I placed my order back in mid to late March, and according to their e-mail confirmation, they predicted a mid to late April delivery of my Creme Brulee Coreopsis, Clematis, and Geraniums. Yet April came and went with no plants, nor any e-mail to explain the delay. They had not charged my credit card though so I wasn't terribly concerned. I was however beginning to suspect that maybe they had gone out of business, because I had heard nothing from them since that March confirmation e-mail.

Apparently they were still in business, because finally in late MAY, the Coreopsis, and Clematis arrive. The Geraniums were absent and listed as back-ordered. The box itself was a disaster. From the outside it looked fine, no dents, scuffs or tears, but when I opened it, dirt was everywhere and came tumbling off of the plants as I tried to carefully lift them out. The plastic pots had been damaged and contorted, one was almost completely crushed. They looked as though they had been jammed into the box despite having been just slightly too large for all of them to fit. Though the Clematis seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage with over half of the soil missing from its pot, all the the plants had lost some. Two of the Coreopsis were so completely unseated that even when re-potted, the plants could not stand up without support. I was really concerned that they might not make it.

I unpack and resettle everything. I do what first aid I can and hope for the best. As if the state of the box wasn't enough, after placing my order so far in advance, I am annoyed that some of my plants are back-ordered. I call to find out when I could expect my Geraniums to finally arrive, which they had now charged me for since I got them as part of a special combo with the Coreopsis. I was told they would be shipping the next week. The next week comes and goes, and nothing, no plants, no updates. Two more weeks pass and again I must call. I was told that they started shipping the Geraniums the prior week, and they could not figure out why my order had not also been sent. I have now been given a new window of perhaps next week or the week following as a projected arrival time. By the time these finally arrive, I will have paid for these plants over a month ago. It will also be mid June, or nearly July and so far into the growing season they will be at a disadvantage compared to my other plants. With that late a start, I can only hope they can do enough growing to make it through the winter.

I can say that all the plants I have been sent thus far have survived, some despite having been almost totally uprooted, I expect this may be because the plants were for the most part healthy and large, however that does little to mitigate what a huge disappointment his entire experience has been. There are a number other places where I could have gotten these same plants and many for a cheaper price as well. When I do choose to pay more for something that I can get elsewhere cheaper, I expect a superior product and first class service to come with it. I should not need to do mass first aid, just for the plants to live. I should definitely get my plants around the stated time and not so far into the planting period that I could have purchased the same items elsewhere at an end of season sale. If there is going to be some significant delay I should be informed as to why, and when I can expect them. Based on this experience, I see no reason to buy from this company again, and I would encourage others to check elsewhere as well.

"

We deeply regret to hear of your unsatisfactory experience. Please contact us so can come to a fair and meaningful resolution on this matter.
"

I placed an order with this company on March 25th. The shipping date was listed as April 21. When the plants did not arrive I called them. They said that due to snow they wouldn't be shipped until May 5; then it was postponed until May 17. Promised calls were never returned. I called today and was told the shipping date would be June 2nd--no explanation for the continuing delays. I cancelled my order. Two months is too long! I'm very disappointed as I had wanted those plants to be up and blooming for a garden tour June 14th. Even though positive comments on this site raved about the quality of the plants they received, I'll take my business to other companies with a better track record.