Comments regarding Wayside Gardens

Posted on May 30, 2020, updated May 30, 2020
Posted on May 27, 2020, updated May 30, 2020
I realize this is unprecedented times with Covid-19 and all, but I am a bit frustrated with how my situation was handled. I had an order, parts of which came in two different shippings. Then, I was left waiting on the last part of my order, two wisteria plants. (We just moved into this house last fall, and I have been wanting to have an appropriate venue to plant wisteria for years...) I waited and waited, and when I finally called, they said that their supplier had not been able to fulfill the request. Nothing more. I had to continue to question the representative to determine if I was going to get them at all or if I was going to be billed later for them and receive them after I had found them somewhere else. Finally she said no, I was not going to get them. I then asked if I needed to officially cancel the order... and after seeming very confused about what I was asking, she finally said no, I was not going to get them at all and that I did not need to cancel my order because it had been cancelled by them. NO email, no comment on my order statement; I had just been left in the dark, and would have continued to be if I had not called to ask.
Granted, the hellebores have done well and I was not charged for the wisteria plants, but to be completely honest, the wisterias were the only reason I had ordered anything through them in the first place. And the real "dig" is that part of my order was the tree diapers and stress mixture that I had bought specifically for the wisteria plants. They arrived back in April...
Again, I acknowledge that Covid-19 is playing a part in this, but as other people have commented, when they screw up, it is usually because of poor communication. Gardening is something that people get excited about, have visions of what they want to accomplish, and disappointment is exacerbated when left confused and not informed. This was my first order with Wayside; most likely my last.

"On May 27, 2020 3:03 PM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for your negative experience with our company. We are committed to working closely with our customers to resolve any service issues and will continue to focus our efforts on creating a positive experience.

Please accept our apology, we never want to disappoint our customers in any manner, customer service is very important to us. Please email me your order number and reference this Dave's Garden post and all the issues you have referenced. I'll be more than happy to look into your order and see if I can get a resolution for you.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

I have ordered from Wayside Gardens in the past, but always Perennials. This year I ordered 3 of their basket combos and 3 paks of specific plants. The entire experience was a nightmare. They sent 1 combo- in pretty bad shape, and other 2 along with one of the 3 paks that were some of the worst I've ever seem. If I worked at nursery I would have been embarrassed to sell them. When I contacted Wayside the service was atrocious. About 10 days later they sent the rest- on a Thurs. over Memorial Day weekend. I contacted them with a "why on earth would you ship them now". This time I was lucky enough to get an"old pro" on the line and she was wonderful. Sent me new plants, refunded for the ones that couldn't be replaced and the customer service was what I expected from them.
I have 2 suggestions- and I did pass these on- Stay away from annuals. They excel with perennials. And teach next years telephone reps how to deal with customers in a knowledgeable and courteous manner.
I kept this Neutral because when I was able to contact a person with a few years experience I was treated like a valued customer and she put right what she could.

"On Jun 10, 2019 9:24 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

Please accept our apology, we never want to disappoint our customers in any manner, customer service is very important to us. Please email me your order number and reference Dave's Garden, I would like to look into whom you spoke with on your first call. We are so very sorry for the condition of the Annual plants and I am happy to see you did get a resolution. I look forward to hearing from you.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

Posted on April 18, 2019, updated April 26, 2019
I bought two quart size plants (Nepeta 'Cat's Pajamas') in early March 2019. The ship date was changed once from the end of March until April 12, no big deal as it's still plenty early enough in the planting season but I was never notified. I only knew because I checked on the status through the website. Their communication is not at all good for an online company.
My issue comes with the plants themselves. Both plants were TINY, approx. 3 inches in height and containing only one growing stem from the soil. For $15/plant, I was expecting something that looked like it a young healthy plant, these were not it.
They were both shipped together, on their sides with the plant ends facing each other, packing peanuts filled the dead space in the box. Once I opened the box I was immediately disappointed in the quality. One plant had two semi-healthy shoots growing from the main, the other portions of this plant had blackened, shriveled leaves. The other plant looked like it was slightly better until I cleared away the packing material and found that most of the stems were broken off the plant entirely. Again, two to three young, healthy-ish shoots.
I potted them within an hour of opening the box, in hopes of being able to nurse them along to healthy plants but it's not looking good as of this morning.
I contacted Wayside immediately by email, with pictures of the plants and here we are, 3 days later, I've yet to hear even an acknowledgment from Wayside. I would not recommend buying from Wayside at this time, use a local nursery where you can see the quality of plant you're buying.

"On Apr 18, 2019 1:44 PM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

Please accept our apology, we never want to disappoint our customers in any manner, customer service is very important to us. Please email me your order number and reference Dave's Garden and all this issue you have referenced. I'll be more than happy to look into your order and see if I can get a better resolution for you.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

I made a fairly large order at the end of the growing season as I was creating a new garden and looking to get things in the ground so they had time to settle in before spring. Everything arrived ina timely manner and was fairly well packed. I had nursery bed ready to go and got things into the ground within a day. Some of the plants looked healthy, with good root systems. Others not so great, but my beds were well established and the weather was good so I decided to give them a chance rather than give up on them and/or make a complaint back to the company. A few days later it was clear that some were not going to thrive. I contacted the company and at their request sent pictures to show their condition. I had almost given up on hearing from them, but they did follow-through and gave me a credit for the plants that immediately failed. I've purchased from them in the past with no problems and will again, although I am a bit deterred by the number of complaints I see here. Perhaps the issues that arose for me were more related to buying starter plants at the end of the growing season, something I won't do again. We'll see what looks like it made it through the winter--a moderate one with a fair amount of rain so far. I'll add further comments in the late spring if they are merited.

"On Jan 2, 2019 11:26 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

We understand people seeking an outlet to voice their opinions and we do try our best to resolve all the complaints and concerns brought to our attention from all online garden forms.

We ship thousands of orders each year, and our goal is to offer only the best in both products and service. Unfortunately, because of the volume of orders we receive yearly, there are instances when it is simply impossible to avoid a mistake or prevent an error from occurring. When that happens, we will make every effort to correct the problem. Our way of assuring this is our willingness to make the appropriate adjustment whenever a customer expresses dissatisfaction with any product purchased.

We have been operating for many years and are known in the industry for offering only the best products and service possible. Our continued success is due to the many satisfied customers who return year after year. They know that we will honor our promise to them of offering only the best.

Please let us know if any of your items fail this Spring and we will be happy to take care of this for you.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

My first effort was going to be a negative for poor product quality, misleading statement of container size and unresponsive customer service, despite emails and snail mail.

This page gave me Angela Davenport @ Wayside as a direct contact. I did that.

She addressed the company's failures quickly and to my satisfaction with a full refund, including shipping, credited to my bank card the next day. That would have gotten a positive comment.

Averaging the negative about the product and service with the stellar service Angela provided balances out.

This was my first time ordering from Wayside Gardens ... and while the plants arrived within an acceptable time, they were very small and moderately healthy. That said, they are growing, so I'm planting them.

I ordered several plants from Wayside during their spring clearance sale. Wayside does have a nice selection of plants that are not run-of-the-mill but their regular prices and shipping costs are pretty high.

Six of the seven plants have grown nicely but the seventh, a Geranium 'Raven', was dry and light weight with no viable looking roots when it arrived but I planted it and cared for it meticulously. It did not ever put out feeder roots or any kind of shoots.
So I called their customer service and asked for a refund. The rep refused to refund my money for the defective product that was sent to me, refused to replace the dead plant in the fall, and refused to comp shipping when I place another order!

I will definitely think twice (or more) when I am tempted to order from Wayside again.

"On Jul 11, 2017 8:04 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

Please accept our apology, I will be more than happy to assist you, please email me directly with your order number and reference this and let me look into this for you please, I'm certain I can find a resolution for you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

Posted on January 19, 2017, updated January 26, 2017
I recently placed an order with the company and was linked up to a discount code - FABWG (10%) which their website stated had been applied. However, after checking out and furnishing them with the proper shipping and billing information my submitted order did not have this discount deducted. I notified the company on several occasions and to date have not received a courtesy email and an adjustment to my order for this applied discount.
Previously, I had submitted an email request regarding a product inquiry and did not receive any response whatsoever from that.
It appears that their customer service leaves a lot to be desired as to responding to customer email inquires and I am hoping that with my posting this comment someone at Wayside Gardens will get on "the ball."

"On Jan 20, 2017 8:50 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

Please accept our apology, we never want to disappoint our customers in any manner, customer service is very important to us. We are experiencing some issues with our Email service and apologize that you have not received a response to your inquires. Please email me your order number and I'll be more than happy to make the appropriate adjustments for the 10% off promo code FABWG.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

Posted on June 15, 2006, updated May 23, 2016
I ordered two bare root rose plants from waysidegardens.com earlier this spring - Honey Dijon and Ebb Tide. They arrived carefully packed and in good health - budding. They've been in the ground for two weeks now, and are growing vigorously. I am very satisfied, and happy with my experience with waysidegardens.com.

"On May 23, 2016 11:32 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

I have reviewed your posting on Dave's Garden Watchdog website. We want to resolve the problem but are unable to locate your order with the information provided by the site. Please forward your order number or complete billing address (including zip code), and any other pertinent information and I'll be happy to assist you.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com
"

I've ordered several times from Wayside and have always been pleased with the plants I've received. I also like their catalog because it's really informative for a rookie gardener like me! But, every time I have received a shipment I curse the darn styrofoam peanuts, which fly away and are such a bother...plus, they can't be recycled.

I just now called the company and asked if a shipment could be sent without styrofoam. The answer is "no". The man I spoke with was courteous and said they're considering other options. End of conversation. So MAYBE I'll call them in a year and find out, since otherwise I won't be ordering from them again.

"On Jul 30, 2015 8:14 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

I am sorry to hear you are dissatisfied with the packing peanuts used in our shipments. Currently, we do use paper and cardboard inserts whenever possible. Unfortunately due to our wide assortment of plants, bulbs, seeds and gardening supplies, we have been unsuccessful in completely eliminating the use of peanuts in some of our shipments. These shipments sustain a high level of damage during the shipping process when peanuts are not used. In the past, we have tried many different materials, including newspaper, wood shavings, and starch (biodegradable) peanuts. Because the Styrofoam peanuts do not dissolve and do not trap or absorb moisture, we feel they are the best option for certain shipments at this time. However, we do regularly explore other packing material options; therefore, this may be something we are able to change in the future.

Packing peanuts are Styrofoam, which is a byproduct of the oil refining process. They not only make great, light-weight packing material but they have many other uses for the gardener. For instance, use them in the bottom of large containers to provide drainage without adding significant weight, making it easier to move them when necessary.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com

"

Placed an online order on Feb. 9, 2015 for some plants that would not ship until the Spring sometime. Never received any kind of email confirmation of my order (which is strange in this day and age). So mainly for my own records, I emailed them and cc'd myself saying "this is to confirm that today I placed an order with you for four plants at a total cost of X." No acknowledgement from WG of my email to them.

Two months later I thought 'gee, shouldn't I have heard something by now?' So I emailed them asking the status. No reply.

Two days later, box suddenly appears with all my plants. Box says Live Plants Open Immediately.

Now...what if I were out of town...on vacation? Did they ever consider to check with me first to let me know when the items would be shipped...if someone would be home during that time period to open the box??!

The box had no indication of which side was 'Up'. The four plants were put into one long box...about 3.5' long. Each plant was separated with packing peanuts etc. Overall the plants looked in good condition though there were a few broken stems, which often happens when buying plants via mail. I guess I'll see how they do once I plant them.

I'd have to say however that I was not impressed with their total lack of communication.

"On Apr 10, 2015 1:29 PM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

I am sorry I was unable to contact you directly, I am unable to locate your account with the information given on this site. I would like to assist in bringing a solution to your issues. Please email me with your name, address, and order number so that I may help you with this situation.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com
"

I got a catalog from wayside gardens, check Dave's garden watch dog and will never buy from them after seeing these comments I threw away all their catalogs, sorry wayside you're way to big for your own good.

"On Mar 3, 2015 11:02 AM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

We would like to assist in bringing a solution to your issues. Please email us with your name, address, and order number so that we may help you with this situation.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com

Posted on October 2, 2014, updated October 20, 2014
I used a $50 gift certificate to order 3 lavenders and 1 verbena. I took them out of the box as soon as they were delivered. All 4 plants arrived with no wrapping in a box of packing peanuts. One was dead and the other 3 were fading fast. I took pictures immediately and contacted the company. They sent an auto email saying they would contact me in 2 days. I sent pictures again the next day and finally got an email saying they were sorry the plants didn't thrive in my garden, (they never made it to my garden). They offered a $38 merchandise credit. I said that was unacceptable. I wanted a refund or a replacement for the plants I ordered. Have not heard from them since.

"On oct 3, 2014 7:37 , Wayside Gardens responded with:

We would like to assist in bringing a solution to your issues. Please email us with your name, address, and order number so that we may help you with this situation. I would like to review your account so that I may bring a better resolution to your issue.

Angela D
Wayside Gardens Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com

I ordered 4 plants from Wayside in May.Each plant was about $25.Each plant arrived in good condition.The 2 Clematis plants were very small(1 shoot about 8 inches tall).The other 2 plants were about the size of a 1 gallon plant.I ordered from Wayside even though the ratings were poor because I wanted a rare plant that they carried.I would not order from them again due to the small size of the 2 clematis plants.After reading others comments I am just glad my plants all arrived in good condition here in California.

"On Aug 26, 2014 3:06 PM, Wayside Gardens responded with:

We have reviewed your posting on Dave's Garden Watchdog website. We want to resolve the problem but are unable to locate your order with the partial email address provided by the site. Please forward your order number or complete billing address (including zip code), and any other pertinent information to assist you. We want to help.


Angela D
Park Seed Sale Associate
adavenport@parkseed.com"

Posted on May 21, 2013, updated June 7, 2013
A terrible experience from start to finish.
I did not know that Wayside Gardens had been bought out by another company prior to placing a recent, hefty order.
I ordered early this year because, as a zone 5/5a gardener, you get tired of everything being out of stock when it's finally safe to plant. Wayside's website stated that plants would "ship at the appropriate time for my zone."
When I received an e-mail in early April that my plants had shipped, I immediately e-mailed to let Wayside know that my garden was still covered in snow and that a hard freeze and more snow was in the forecast.
I had to e-mail twice before I got a response saying, I should let them know about any trouble with the plants, but that the plants were shipped at a time judged safe for my zone. Hah! We don't plant anything but radishes and cabbage here, until Memorial Day. We certainly don't plant spindly, half dead infant perennials.
The plants did in fact arrive during a snowstorm and had been packed on their sides, one on top of another and covered with foam peanuts. Once I untangled the contents of the box, I could see that the tiny, spindly Caryopteris were already dropping curled dried leaves. They appeared not to have any roots at all but were just cuttings.
Each of the three pots of miscanthus had only one sickly blade of green, and a pot of "dormant" delphinium never emerged at all.
I managed to keep a number of plants alive until it was safe to plant them...Only a few have managed to survive out in the garden.
The caryopteris died within two days along with two of the Miscanthus. Never any sign of life from the "dormant" delphinium. Lost one of three echinaceas, another one is barely clinging to life. The coreopsis and a ground rose have survived.
Total $$ lost, $66.95.
Repeated e-mails about the "trouble with my plants" have garnered no response at all, and phone calls go to voice-mail.
Never again, Wayside Gardens.

I am giving the company a neutral rating because the plants came in alive and sprouting new growth. Now the reason that I am not giving them a positive and should give a negative are these:
1. Plant size was terrible. Three "shrubs" is what I ordered. I understand that the size of the plant was going to be small. What I did not expect was that it would take 4 or 5 years of growth for the shrubs to amount to anything. The plants are literally less than the size of the palm of my hand.
2. Expensive plants. I cant believe that I paid the company $55 for these tiny little plants. Should have gone to the local nursery.
3. Shipping at the wrong time. Let it be known to all mail order companies. IF YOU SHIP AN ORDER ON FRIDAY THAT HAS TO TRAVEL OUTSIDE YOUR STATE, IT WILL SIT IN A CRATE AT THE POST OFFICE AN EXTRA DAY! ONLY SHIP PLANTS ON MON OR TUES IF THEY HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR STATE BORDERS.

These things being said I did receive the plants alive and in good condition. But I will not order from this company again for the reasons stated above. I have ordered from other companies and got substantially better product. Just go with the top 50 on Daves Garden website and you cant go wrong.

I think I may try to order some bare root plants from another company next just to see if the quality improves.

Anyway, Landscape, Garden, Harvest, and ENJOY!!!

Neutral from a previous very positive, now bordering on negative.
I used to love this company, but like many more, it has gone downhill. I also had to nurture the plants in containers for a year before they went into the garden. Meanwhile, prices have skyrocketed. I had an old catalog, from just a couple years ago, and many plants have quadrupled in price (mostly by shrinking the container size).

But, I recently purchased 2 Peace roses for the price of 1. I wish I had read all the negative comments here first, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed now. This is their last chance.

I placed an order for three Sedum 'Pure Joy' this fall. Prices were quite high so I guess I had an idea of receiving plants of great quality. My plants arrived as single stems in 1 quart pots. In spite of what seemed like adequate packing, all three plants were snapped to bits, the one stem in each pot snapped off at or very near the base and at various places along the stems. Whatever. They are sedums after all so I planted the rootstocks in my garden beds and planted all of the bits and pieces of stem that were broken off. I am sure they will all survive and grow.

I should add that while sedums can be fairly brittle, I have never received them mail order from any other source with such damage. To me, that says a lot about Wayside's commitment to quality.

I doubt I will ever order from Wayside again. They are just not a good value and the quality of their plants is disappointing.

Posted on May 29, 2009, updated March 9, 2012
After almost 20 years of doing business with Wayside Gardens, I am saddened to report that they have turned into one of the worst catalogue companies in regards to customer service and quality of plants.

I ordered 3 passiflora. One was obviously dead, but I planted all 3 anyway. After about a week, they all turned black and pulled up from the rootball.

I immediately contacted WG. They did the standard "those plants are just dormant and in 4-6 weeks, they'll start growing!" Well, they did not, so I contacted them again. The poor little things were ONE WEEK in transit to me on a hot UPS plane/train/truck/whatever, as I live in California and the plants came from the east coast. It's a miracle they were even green, albeit withered, when I got them.

They sent me one plant. It is doing fine, but when I try to get the other two plants, they are now sold out. They tell me they'll give me a credit. I ask for a refund. Suddenly, my emails are not answered.

I wait a week and again email them, asking them for a refund, and letting them know that they're getting LOTS of negative reviews on the 'net.

I get a very snotty-toned email back from Josh, saying that if I would've asked for a refund, that's what I would've gotten, and that my money would be refunded in 3-5 "working days". I forward the original email I wrote to them, asking them to refund my money.

Well, it's been over two weeks now and still no refund to my bank account, PLUS they do not respond to any of my emails.

I agree with others in that their catalogues make great reference resources, and I will now be taking them to the local nurseries and asking the very nice people at said nurseries to special order plants for me.

It's very sad that after all the good experiences I've had with them, I guess Park Seed's buyout has brought with it some very bad customer service. Why the quality of their plants has gone downhill, I know not.

I notice that several negative reports on this website have been answered by a VERY lame cut-and-paste response from WG. They are not fooling any of us. I won't be surprised when this company goes "tats" (sic) up, as there seems to be very little they're doing to prevent this.

I have never ordered anything yet from Wayside yet but the prices are outrageous! Probably because they do offer the latest stuff that are coming out. Unless you want the latest, I would go somewhere else. I have been drooling over the new Decadence series of Baptisia that are smaller than the typical 4-5 feet ones. I may just go for it when some of my flower beds are reworked!
(Of course the other expensive one is White Flower Farm)

Ordered 3 venus hostas at $15.95 each. I rec'd 3 bareroot hostas wrapped up about the size of a banana. For $15 I expected a little more plant or at least a plant in a pot.

I'm rating as neutral to see how the hosta do this year. I would definitely say their products are over priced for what you get.

I was also told my plants would come mid-May. They arrived 3rd week in April. One box came UPS the hosta came via the mail.

FYI

Parent companies Park Seed Co. and Jackson and Perkins have filed for bankruptcy protection.

//www.indexjournal.com/articles/2010/04/12/hot_headlines/1a10405%20parkseed.txt

I ordered three lilacs this spring. When they arrived, two of them looked like they were infected by the pseudomonas disease. I had to throw them away because the disease would spread to other plants. Luckily I was able to get the refund. I only hope in the future the company will have better quality control before they send out the plants to the customers.

Although I said I would never order from them again (I had bought a weeping ornamental tree from them last year that died within a few months), I went ahead and ordered 3 ornamental oreganoes from them. I know these are not for my zone, I am using them as annuals here. They smell wonderful and are beautiful, as I have had them before. They came in the mail fast and are doing wonderful in my window. When it warms up enough I will put them outside.
I just needed to say that this one order has worked well, nice plants, quick shipping. I am saying neutral just because of the tree that died that came from them. In all honesty I don't know that some of that wasn't my fault too, watering, site location or planting depth. I had called the company about the tree last year, but was told to shade the plant and keep well watered and it should recover. Well, it didn't even faze the plant. It died anyway. I gave it all winter to recover, but alas it is RIP.

Unfortunately, I discovered davesgarden.com and the rating page after I placed my order with Wayside. Needless to say, I was a little worried after reading all the negative commentary; however, Wayside was the only source I could find for a specific Hydrangea I was looking for. I placed my order on September 12 and continued to check the website for the status. My plants shipped on September 17, and on September 19, I emailed them requesting a tracking number. They replied 2 hours later and I was able to track my shipment through FedEx (I do think it's poor customer service that Wayside doesn't supply this communication to web customers). According to the FedEx website, my plants were scheduled to arrive that day (the 19th). I called FedEx to verify my shipment was on time and was told they (FedEx) had mistakenly put my plants on the wrong truck and they would not be arriving on the 19th. Since I was having them delivered to my workplace, that meant my plants had to sit in a truck all weekend long. I can't blame Wayside for that mistake. When I received the plants, they were packed well, and we're miraculously still moist. The plants are okay; they're a little small and the leaves are somewhat yellow with some blight, but this may be from sitting in a pot for too long. If I saw them in a local nursery, I probably wouldn't pay $20 a piece for them (maybe $10). Overall, they should be fine once they're in the ground and getting some nutrients. But after reading all the negative commentary, I probably wouldn't take another chance on Wayside Gardens.

They haven't made me so mad that I don't still order from them occasionally, when they have something I really want. They often have unusual varieties that you can't find easily elsewhere. But in general I am not happy with their service. Very often the plants don't arrive right away; on several occasions they have not arrived for 6-10 months after I ordered them (with no initial indication that there would be a delay). They do not communicate well; I don't receive notices when plants have shipped, which would matter less if they shipped promptly. But since they don't, this is a problem. (You can check your order status on their web site, but it is not always accurate and anyways who wants to do that every other day for months on end? It's depressing.) I just returned home on Aug. 25 from a one-month vacation and found that a clematis I ordered back in April (and was later told it would arrive in the fall) had arrived while I was gone, and was wilting in its box. (It survived, but would not have lasted more than another day or so.) If they had just sent me an email (like every other company I use) saying the plant had shipped, I could have asked a neighbor to come over and unpack it. On the positive side, they do replace or refund plants when there is a problem, and the plants are generally healthy.

"

I would like to further research your above posting. To do this I must request that you please e-mail me with your full name and address. If applicable please provide an order reference number. Thank you.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Department
e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com"

I have always received plants of excellent quality from Wayside.

I ordered 6 azaleas last spring. 3 arrived in good condition, 3 did not. I emailed the company to let them know I would set out the 3 poor ones to give them a chance to leaf back out. They did not. I requested replacement early this spring. Then they told me about their replacement policy--their plants are guarantee for the growing season--that is from when you get them till the end of May! After several emails similar to ones described in earlier I replied I would no longer shop at Wayside. A manager replied and gave me a credit for the azaleas. Now I know their replacement policy, I will probably order less, even though I did get a credit.

"

Dear bewyser,

We are sorry to learn that some of your Azaleas have failed to survive. I would like to further research your above posting. To do this I must request that you please e-mail me with your full name and address. If applicable please provide an order reference number. Thank you.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Department
e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com"

I CANNOT EMPHASIZE STRONGLY ENOUGH THAT YOUR COMPLAINT ISN'T OVER UNTIL YOU WRITE TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. GOOGLE IT AND THERE IS AN SHORT PROCESS FOR FILING A COMPLAINT.

All mail order companies of any size and reputation belong to an organization of mail order companies, which are supposed to adhere to standards, which include money-back guarantee in speedy form.

When I was getting noodled by National Garden Club (another trick place) and could not get satisfaction, I contacted the BBB and within a few weeks the "NGC" finally let me cancel my membership. One report did it, compared to at least three letters and phone calls.

"

Dear idabean,

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I ordered 12 pink double knockouts on May 9th. After almost two weeks and not being shipped, I got a little impatient so I called customer service on May 21st and was told they would be shipping earlier the next week. As it turned out, they were shipped the following day on Thursday, May 22nd.

I was a little perturbed by this as they were being 2-dayed. To me, it would have made a little more sense to 2-day an order on a day that it wouldn't be held up by a weekend, especially a holiday weekend. So, rather than the plants sitting in a box for 2-days, mine were sitting in a box for 5 days. They arrived in okay condition, a little yellow, but nothing to get upset about yet. I let them sit in the pots for a few days and planted them on May 31st.

Only one plant is showing new growth at this point, the others are still a little yellow, but have not gotten any worse. So basically, the jury is still out. This review won't ever become "positive" as I think the items should have been shipped much sooner or the website should tell you the items would take a couple of weeks to ship and the condition of the plants was so so, but it may become negative if these plants don't recover.

I'll reserve judgement for a couple of weeks.

I received a tempting email for buy 1, get 2 free. I thought if half died, I would still be ahead.There were also free clematises with the order. I put $82 in the cart and then checked the shipping. $32. I don't think so. For that much, I can drive up the road to the friendly greenhouse and get and see exactly what I want.

I wrote the company asking them an environmentally sound manner of disposing of the storofoam peanuts they sent. I asked them to take my name form their mailing list until this issue is resolved. They agreed to take my name frorm the list, but gave no suggestions about the peanuts. The company shipped substitutes for plants I had ordered. When I called to say they were unacceptable, the company agreed to credit my account for the amount of the plants.

I have mixed feelings about Wayside Gardens. I love their wide selection and how easy it is to browse their website. Of a couple dozen plants I've ordered from them, only one has failed so far (and I think deer were at fault). My problem is that they don't communicate well. Their website offers being able to check order status, but that page always errors out. And on two out of my three orders, I had to call to bug them about when my plants were going to ship. Most recently, they told me my x.pardancanda had been delayed until the fall (which I knew when I ordered it), but it seemed that up until that minute, they hadn't planned to ship any of the other plants that were available. They did make up for it by upgrading the shipping on the available plants. But stranger still, I just received an email telling me the x.pardancanda have shipped! I just get a sense of disorganization from them.

THANK Y'ALL SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

I ordered from Wayside last week BEFORE I found this page.

I happened across this page last night and bristled because I'm currently re-landscaping my yard.

I found wayside and the pictures looked so wonderful so I ordered over $275 worth of plants. But, I was able to cancel my order this morning because it hadn't yet shipped.

But I'm a bit concerned on whether or not they'll actually credit my card back like they said they would.

I appreciate your candid feedback and am so happy I was able to cancel the order prior to them shipping out my stuff.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

In late January 2008, I placed an order for twenty plants with Wayside Gardens (Order No. 5023777). All were to be shipped the following spring. As of today, only three (rosebushes) have shipped, and that was several weeks ago. Although they were planted with painstaking care, only two appear to be sprouting leaves. The third has shown no sign of growth at all.

I've contacted Wayside three times now: twice by phone and once directly by email, using Mr. Johnson's address as posted on these forums. Both times I called I've been given entirely different answers. I've also left my number and have been promised that a supervisor would return my call; no one has. I do not expect a response to the email, but as the spring planting season grows shorter every day, I am increasingly anxious to receive my ordered plants.

I wish I'd read the reviews here before ordering so much from Wayside Gardens. I still hope that they'll contact me and resolve this matter to my satisfaction, but after seeing this site, I'm not holding my breath.

It's been an unfortunately expensive lesson to learn, but that will teach me not to research a company before doing business with them. And the fact that they charged my card before shipping the product (Is that even legal?) should have been a huge red flag.

Upon resolution of this matter, I will happily change my review to a positive one. Until then, I cannot recommend Wayside Gardens to anyone.

I bought a Astrantia Roma for $9.95. The picture on the website was very pretty. I knew i was being sent a bareroot but when it came in the mail and i opened the rather large box it was sent in i was suprised at what i saw. It is about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch yellow looking straw. I hope that when i plant this something will grow. What a dissapointment. I did contact them and they told me that if it didn't grow to call them and they would replace it. My thought was i was getting alittle more for the money i spent and i'm not thrilled with having to plant twice.

Wayside has a lovely catalog filled with all sorts of varieties to drool over. Unfortunately nearly everything that I’ve been drawn to in their catalog I either found for substantially less elsewhere for the same size or larger plant or it is an exclusive in which case the prices are bumped far too high for me to consider paying especially when the quality of what I would receive is uncertain.

Despite that there are some exceptions in their pricing and sometimes they have sales that bring their plants down to a reasonable price. While the quality of most of the plants I’ve received from them was nothing to rave about, many of them were not bad either.

I have some lovely painted ferns that I purchased from them a couple of years ago that took a while to get going but are quite lovely and are still doing very well. The columnar apple they sent last year arrived in great condition and continues to thrive. The Ebb Tide rose, though not vigorous and initially blooming with a completely different flower type, sorted itself out later on.

On the more questionable side, of the three clematises I ordered one was no longer available, the second arrived dead and the third, while alive, wasn’t all that much bigger than my finger and has spent two years doing very little of anything at all unlike the clematises that I’ve purchased locally. The tiger canna (a plant that I’ve had a lot of success with from other sources) that came with the order promptly rotted without breaking dormancy.

Their customer service was very helpful and did promptly refund the cost of the dead clematis without hesitation so overall my experiences with this nursery hasn’t been negative. It’s just that there are a lot of other nurseries out there that offer consistently fabulous quality of plants at very reasonable prices and that just hasn’t been my personal experience with Wayside.

I've been ordering from Wayside for nearly ten years, with some positive and some negative experiences. Quality tends to be somewhat erratic, and I've even had a couple of orders arrive DOA. However, they have always been very good about crediting me for failed shipments.

This past spring, I placed a large order for about a dozen items. Half of the shipment arrived on time and in reasonably good condition. The other half arrived has arrived sporadically (3 separate shipments) over the past six months.

Most recently (in late October), I received a hydrangea (Vaughn's Lilly) that arrived in a dry pot in an apparent state of dormancy. I'll have to wait until Spring to see whether it is actually alive or not. From the bill of lading, it appears that it spent 2-3 weeks in transit.

Overall, I think Wayside offers good value (particularly if you use their coupons and discounts) for specific items that are more costly at your local nursery. However, you need to be vigilant about inspecting the shipment immediately upon arrival and reporting any problems. And you may have to provide some extra TLC to get the plants through the first growing season.

My first order was 11 days in transit and after opening the box I found dead or almost dead plants, all 13. The shipping box had no air holes and was packed with foam peanuts. After calling their customer service I was assured they would send another order, at no cost to me, to replace the whole order. That they did and most promptly. But, the second order was almost as bad as the first. The weather was cooler and the shipping time was 5 days but I still found some dead plant material on each plant, some worse than others. At this time I figured I just lost about $170.00 on a very expensive lesson....don't order from this company again. After planting my poor plants and hoping for the best, I decided to write my second note to their customer service department. I felt the need to again complain about their poor packing and shipping practices. I was surprised and happy to receive a email back from Jay Johnson letting me know I would be getting the whole purchase price back on my credit card! He also sent a $25.00 gift certificate for another purchase to make up for lost planting time.
To be fair, I have to say this is excellent customer service. Their packing does leave a lot to be desired and I buy from other online companies often, and always with good results. My neutral rating blends the terrible packing and their excellent customer service.

I placed an order on-line on Sept 7, 2007 for live plant materials. There was a total of 7 varieties of plants for a total order value of $104. (Ref Order nbr 4907598)

I immediately opened the box and was dismayed at the visual impression of the plants. The tops of all plants were pretty ragged and one variety had no tops.

I took pictures of each plant and e-mailed them to Jay Johnson. He responded in 4 or 5 days with an apology and commented that the plants should all be viable.

However, he offered me an in house credit of $30.80.

I thought that this was fair. Even if the plants are viable, I will have to pot them up and nurse them along.

He has also agreed to allow me to use the credit at the Park Seed website, as I need some materials from that side of the business.

I have ordered hard goods from both Park and Wayside with good results. Looks like the problems are with live plants.

Although I was disappointed with the overall quality of the plants, Mr. Johnson responded and made a reasonable accomodation.