Comments regarding Wayside Gardens

This will be my first time ordering from Wayside but so far the customer service has been good. I will post again come spring after I receive my order. I have 5 plant orders coming in from different companies. I will see how Wayside does.

I haven't ordered from Wayside in over 10 years. 10 years ago, the roses and bulbs I ordered were completely satisfactory--very nice plants at acceptable prices. I haven't ordered in recent years because the prices just seemed too high given the size of the plants listed in the catalog.

I enjoy looking at their catalog because they have a lot of unusual varieties, but the prices seem awfully high. This fall, two items I had my eye on went on sale, so I decided to give them a try. I ordered a bamboo and a hydrangea. When they finally arrived, the hydrangea was so dried out, it was practically dead. The leaves also showed signs of having powdery mildew. The bambooo was very dry too. I planted both, and they seemed to perk up, but the jury is out until spring.

Giving a Neutral rating is probably to kind, but I have to wait until the Spring to find out. This summer was the first time I've ever purchased plants on the internet. I chose Wayside because I knew the name. I ordered close to $800 worth of plants from them. Most of the plants were small with weak root structure. Of five Clematis I ordered done have made an appearance above the ground. All the Clematis I've ordered from Big Dipper and Bushwood (all bare roots) have made a showing and continue to grow. They are all in the same garden and I've dug deep holes and used top quality soil. Half the plants Wayside sent have not emerged. I've called Wayside and they tell me to wait for the Spring. I'm glad I purchased the 2 year guarentee. I'll have to do the digging and planting again, but I will have the plants. I can tell that some of the plants I purchased from other vendors may not come up but the lower price the charge mades it easier to replace them. Plus the other venders send healthy, larger plants which have already made an appearance. Wayside will have to do better to keep getting my business.

Ordered grasses. Took 10 days to ship to me. 9 plants were in a 3 1/2' long beat up box. (Granted the leaves were long but not that long) The plants were banging around in the box. Have planted them. Will let you know how they do. Not impressed with shipping care.

"

We have contacted wintrwoman, and this problem has been resolved."

Mixed feelings on this company. Ordered last year for the first time. Of course it was sale, clearance blowout items. They arrived rather healthy looking but some bulbs did not come up and a bi color butterfly bush dried up and died. I did get a credit on the non sprouting bulbs and re ordered. Items very small for the money but so far so good, the remaining items are all living.

I ordered quite a few plants that I am unable to find locally. The bare root plants arrived in beautiful condition and are growing well. The potted items were not so good. The stems were thin and weak. Many were snapped off due to the packaging:

The Bare root roses were on the bottom of my box with all of the other bare root items packed (individually) wrapped in damp straw and then in cling wrap. On top of this was scattered around the potted plants. The lot of this was all covered with packing peanuts (not the biodegradable kind either). Of my potted items, six were supposed to be "free gifts." Only three of these were viable. When I called CSR, they were polite and quickly offered to replace the damaged plants.

In the end, I can't say that I wouldn't order from this seller again, but they have a lot of room for improvement. Had CS been rude or unhelpful in any way this would have easily been a negative.

I mail-order from many nurseries, and plants from Wayside consistently arrive in the worst condition. If you're going to place an order--and Wayside's broad selection is tough to resist, I know--please consider express shipping!

On the other hand, I so far have had good luck getting questions answered and plants replaced.

I've only had positive experiences with Wayside Gardens. It's too bad others have had such bad results, so I had to give my regards to this company. I ordered several perennials last fall -all are doing well this spring. I ordered 3 roses from Wayside this spring. WOW! They are doing wonderful! I thought the communication and packaging was good. Hopefully, Wayside Gardens will learn from their mistakes and improve for these other customers.

C&NN

These people have made me very angry today. I called to check on 2 orders that they billed my credit card for last Tuesday, a week ago. The woman who answered the phone told me they had shipped out on Friday which she claimed was a post office holiday as well as Monday (President’s Day.) The Post Office observes federal holidays only and only had Monday off. She told me “well here they had Friday off, too.” Of course, if they did for some reason have Friday off “there”, Wayside would not have been able to ship via USPS on Friday, now would they? I did not argue the point, though. I asked her to add a comment that they shouldn’t be shipping live plants just prior to a weekend when there will be a federal holiday that Monday. She started arguing with me! She told me that the plants were dormant because they’re kept in cold storage and sit in shipping boxes for up to two weeks! When I told her the little clematis in 3 inch pots would be DOA if they spent that long in a box, she told me they shouldn’t have any foliage when they arrive because they’re dormant! Then she told me “there’s no point to this, just wait until you get your plants.” How rude and dismissive. Guess what my attitude will be if I receive dead plants? It will be one I think they’ll understand.

Nice catalog-moderately high prices-good packing.

I ordered a Blue Muffin Viburnum and a few other items earlier this year (2004) and was disappointed that the Viburnum appeared to be diseased with an ugly fungus. I was also perturbed that the plant I wanted most was backordered, and no timeframe for delivery was known. The other plants were rather small but healthy and grew just fine.

On the flip side, when I called them about these issues, the sales representative was pleasant and apologetic, and they refunded the cost of the Viburnum. However I still had to give up on the plant that was backordered.

All in all, a decent experience. I'm willing to give them another try. Had they been rude like some other companies I've had the displeasure of talking to, I would never have given them another chance. Never underestimate the importance of good customer service!

Merry Christmas =)

I have been purchasing plants from this company for about 3 years now. It's been sort of a hit or miss experience. I purchased the Citrus Limon Meyer that came in great shape and was much bigger than what I expected. However, I've purchased several begonia's that were really small, especially for the money, and most of them didn't survive. Their customer service is very good and they do replace plants without any hassle. The biggest problem here is by the time you discover they aren't going to make it, the season is over. I have received some plants that were D.O.A. and were replaced. Their clematis vines are all bareroot, and depending on the variety, the size can vary, but do have a good developed root system. But they are small and are only a 'good deal' when they have them on sale. They also carry some clematis I can't purchase anywhere else, so I end up buying them from them.

Bulbs are a different story. I've order a few dozen lilium, oriental and asiatic lily's and all were huge in size and very healthy. When they are on sale, you can't beat their prices! I purchased Lilium Leslie Woodriff for only $2.99!!! This is a $10 to $15 bulb! Bulbs from these guys is a 'no brainer', great prices when on sale.

In recap, their plants are, in most cases, small in size, except for the bulbs. Sometimes you get plants sent that are D.O.A., but they do replace rather quickly. They do have several plants that you just can't find anywhere else. But when they have a sale going on, you can't beat their prices. And they do have great customer service.

In June I ordered a daylily and 2 filigran russian sage plants at half-price. I received the plants - the daylily was bareroot with no growth and the 2 russian sage plants were brown twigs in pots of soil. (no sign of green at all) I received a leaflet which stated that the plants were not dead but dormant. Well, they looked dead to me, but I promptly planted all 3 plants. The daylily did put out new growth and I even got a few flowers but the 2 sage plants didn't do a thing. A month and a half later they looked the same as they did when I received them --dead! I called the company in August and they said I would receive a credit to my credit card account. The customer service representative seemed very nice and I promptly received a postcard from the company stating that my account had been credited. I haven't received my credit card bill yet to see if there is actually a credit to my account but hopefully there will be.

I have dealt with this company in the past with excellent to poor results. Their quality control was poor and so it was a long time since I had placed an order. One positive is that they would replace dead plants or plants that died without question and they had a habit of sending out such plants. However this year I ordered three plants from them on sale and all three arrived in great shape and are growing along nicely. All three were shrubs. They're potted perennials are good but their bareroot and dormant plants can be a problem.If you're careful about what you order fromthem it can be a good experience.

Wayside is a crapshoot - sometimes the stuff lives, other times it is DOA.

In this last shipment, 2 plants were DOA and 1 was mismarked and I have no clue what it is...

As long as the plants are on sale (which they generally are when I order) I'm willing to take the chance...

DECOBUG

I placed my first (and last) order with Wayside on May 1st. I did not print a copy of my order confirmation at time of placement as their website said I would receive an email confirmation. I did get the confirmation but failed to read the details of the confirmation until 3 days later (I assumed it was correct) but discovered it contained only 1 of the plants I actually ordered!! The other 3 items on the order were selections I put in my shopping cart while browsing their site and later deleted from my shopping cart. I emailed them as soon as I discovered the incorrect items listed on my order (3 days after placement (order placed on a Sat. and emailed them on Tuesday).

They emailed me back EIGHT DAYS LATER saying the order shipped 2 days after my cancelation email was sent! Furthermore, 1 of the items was still on backorder and if I didn't want it to let them know! (Sheesh!! I already canceled the entire order!!!) So I emailed that same day (12 May) saying to cancel the backorder and I would return the shipped plants for a credit (which their email said they would do).

EIGHT DAYS LATER they replied to my cancelation of the backorder (which mind you was canceled on 4 May) and told me that they did not get my email in time and it was shipped that morning!! Canceled entire order on 4 May, they shipped partial on 6 May, canceled backorder (AGAIN)12 May and they shipped it anyway on 20 May!

I am disputing all charges to my credit card and emailed them that they were in possession of my cancelations well before their shipments and that it is their company's problem, not mine, if they don't read their email in a timely fashion.

They need to hire more staff or disable their email until they have sufficient staff to handle the volume of email they apparently get. I had seen their overall negative rating here before and have avoided them because of it. However, I was swayed by their buy 1 get 1 free SPAM mail and figured what do I have to lose! I had no idea that their online shopping cart system would retain items I had deleted from my cart and ship them even though they weren't ordered. Do yourself a favor and find the plants you want somewhere else - you'll get nothing but headaches from this company even when they have very enticing sale offers.

Signed,
Learned a Lesson the Hard Way

Have now ordered twice from Wayside. The first order, bareroot roses, arrived in great shape and are greening up quite nicely. The second order took 8 days to get from SC to NC! For some reason, it was sent 4th class. I'm worried about the health of the plant after that long in the box. However, I'm happy to say that when I called Wayside and told them how long it took, they agreed that was completely unreasonable and refunded my money. What sets apart companies that I take my business to is not whether or not there ever is a problem but how they handle it when there is. Given the two experiences described above, I will be happy to order from Wayside again.

Have not ordered from them in several years, so I can't comment on current plant quality. I still regularly receive their catalog and find their prices to be much higher than many other quality mail order nurseries for the same species and plant sizes - that's what supports those beautiful, glossy, free catalogs.

Last spring (03) we had a rather large order of Daylillys, Spireas, roses and a few Bluebird Hybiscus standards. All arrived in outstanding condition and were very well packed. All of the plants propagated well. Communication with staff of Wayside Gardens was very responsive. The roses we ordered were on sale, however they were also of excellent quality and are doing well.

This spring I purchased both perennials and roses from Wayside. I also purchased a Sieboldii Magnolia this fall. I got the roses on sale at 75% off like some of the others here. What a steal! I agree that for roses and trees they are tops - but perennials - phewwee they stink! My perennials were shipped bare root - most of them. The grasses were so tiny they can barely be seen in my garden. My poppies and delphinium didn't even survive a week. When I called to report the deaths they cheerfully gave me credit for the dead items - but even so - for what they charge I was sadly disappointed in their perennials.

I've always had mixed emotions when ordering from Wayside Gardens. There have been times when I have received an order that was almost completely dead, or I received plants at a time that was too late for planting. If you are looking for perennials, bulbs, and the such, I'd find another company. However, they have always shipped very nice selections of trees, shrubs, and evergreens and this, for me, elevated them from a negative to a neutral. The roses they shipped were unbelievably large and healthy for a bareroot plant (I'm still amazed at the quality of the roses I received) and the golden western redcedars WOULD have been nice if they had shipped what I had ordered instead of replacing the items with an evergreen that reached 1/4 the size of the cedars. Still they were marvelous plants and have grown rapidly. While they could do much more to improve the quality of their tender plant materials like the tropicals, perennials, etc. I consider them one of the best sources for hard to find shrubs and trees.

I have ordered a few times from Wayside Gardens and never had negative treatment, first of all. Their cataloge is a never ending resource of gardening knowledge and I always look forward to getting their latest printing.
The plants I received were definintely small, to say the least, but seemingly healthy. After planting, they seemed to flourish but the following year only 2 out of 6 survived. Unfortunately, that will happen with internet ordering. The two that did survive were totally magnificent this summer though! All in all, I will give them a neutral+ rating and may order from htem again.

It's happened to me on several occasions when I've ordered from Wayside that the plants I've received (irises and peonies)have turned out not to be the colors and varieties I've ordered. I kind of get the sense that they just grab the iris rhizomes from some big bin and hope that the customer doesn't complain when they end up with a different color bloom than the one they've ordered. Wayside has always been very nice and replaced the plants, but this is getting annoying and I've decided to buy from only local nurseries in the future.

I have placed two orders from Wayside and have had good experiences both times; once last year and once this year. In total I have ordered 4 clematis, a climbing rose, and a raspberry. My experience is similar to a lot of other posts:

- the bare root plants are on the small side. I don't care if they are small since I ordered vines and they fill in quickly. The climbing rose I received was much bigger than I expected.
- they are expensive, but I am willing to pay since local nurserys don't always carry the varieties I am looking for and I don't want to drive around looking for them. I don't order more common plants or annuals via mail order.
- their catalogs are very nice with good info, but a bit too much hype for my liking.
- customer service was excellent. My raspberries died (probably my fault in hind-sight) and since it was too late in the year to re-order, I was given a credit to order them next year.
- the plants have arrived healthy and in good shape with good roots
- the plants arrived promptly after ordering and they were well packaged

That said, my rating is neutral since the clematis I ordered last year didn't grow a whole lot during the year. This may be a result of the location and/or my inexperience. The clematis are doing better this spring and the vines I ordered this year are doing well already. (It seems to be important to get them in the ground as soon as you receive them. I may have waited too long last year). I will upgrade Wayside to a positive if my plants have a good summer.

I ordered a Paper Bark maple that was advertised on their website as a 2-3' tree. When the package arived the tree (not counting the roots) was only 8-9". I called them and they placed another order for me at no charge and they told me to keep the original tree. I am giving this company a Neutral rating since they are shipping me a new tree, but will have to wait and see what they ship me the second time around. The speed at which they process the orders is not the quickest either. I have been waiting over 1 week since I called them for the second order and they still have not shipped my order.

I find Wayside Gardens to be an inconsistent company in that Customer Service is very courteous and forthcoming, but some of the errors made by the company should not have been made. My very first order, in 1999, was from Wayside, and consisted of two collections of bulbs. One of the collections of 100 was supposed to be in blue, purple, white and yellow. 98 were yellow. Of the second collection of 30 bulbs, only two appeared. When I called to let them know that the collection was not as pictured and that the other bulbs had failed, the representative promptly credited my account, which I did appreciate.

I have twice ordered Wayside plants to go along with plants I raised from seed (platycodon grandiflorus and malva alcea fastigiata). The fact that I raised these plants successfully from seeds does, I think, indicate some knowledge on my part, but all of the additions from Wayside died. I was given replacements, which also died.

Last year I ordered three Lilium Rose Elegance; there are few sources for this lily. When the bulbs bloomed they were rather small and short, but more importantly they were white. When I called Customer Service the representative was aware of the problem because others had called about the same matter, and offered me a replacement in the same price range. I requested three Olympic Star, which is red (they had no pink bulbs)and received six, which was most generous and appreciated but I had to accomodate 9 red and white bulbs instead of the three pink I had requested. Since each lily takes approximately one foot of garden, and since I really wanted the pink and got it from another company, I had to scramble to find 12 square feet of useful space instead of three.

On the other hand, I received six wonderful Lilium Artistic, one of the pride and joys of my garden. So I would have to say that I might order if there is a bulb item I really want that is available nowhere else, but otherwise I will gaze at the pictures and order perennials from Bluestem, Forest Farm and Munchkin.

Only ordered once and that was MANY years ago. The catalog
is a masterpiece and a source of pictures of many varities
not usually seen and the picture quality is excellent.

My only complaint is they have excessive high prices.

On a scale of 1-10 I rate them an 8+

I have ordered from Wayside many years. They always send me their seasonal catalogs, and like eye candy, I spend more than I should. Usually, I have had good experiences. I ordered two Dogwoods from them this last Fall, Cherokee Chief and Stellar Pink. When the package arrived via UPS, I noticed it was very well prepared. Until I opened the box and found the Cherokee Chief (bareroot) just laid in the box. No plastic wrap, no moist wood shavings, etc. I immediately placed the bareroot in a bucket of water and let it soak overnight. Don't know if the tree survived, will know shortly. Very expensive plants. If you want a good plant at a price less than Wayside, try their sister company, Park Seed. Park Seed offers many trees, shrubs, etc. at a fraction of the Wayside price. I will still order bulbs and occasional specimens from Wayside even after the 'negative' encounter.

I used to order from Wayside regularly 10 or 12 years ago, and had always been happy with their plants. Therefore, I was sorely disappointed when I ordered from them two years ago and received tiny, poor quality perennials that had to be nursed along. The packaging was poor, and many of the plants had been damaged in transit. However, I have never had any problems with the roses and bare root shrubs I have received from them. Unless they have something I can't find elsewhere, I don't think that I'll be ordering from them again.

I have had both good and bad experiences with Wayside. I have a little better than 50% plant survival rate (but that is attributable in part to a horrific vole problem). Every year Wayside offers a discount if you purchase over a certain amount, and every year the discount does not come through in full. Two years ago my sister ordered a gift certificate for me. I placed my order, and part of it was delivered to my sister, another portion to my daughter-in-law, for whom I had ordered a gift certificate. It was months in the unravelling. I too am a sucker for their beautiful catalog and interesting selection, but I wish they'd get their cs act together!

Nice selection, good catalog, very expensive!

I have been ordering from Wayside for a couple of years now. I probably will not order this year simply because of monetary reasons. They're just too expensive for me right now.

I have had some very good experiences with Wayside. My orders have always been well packaged. I have purchased perennials, shrubs, roses, and one dogwood tree. I once ordered a wintersweet which died, was promptly replaced and also promptly died. The next year I ordered a butterfly bush for the same spot. It died. Replaced. It died. Now I have a gardenia there (purchased at a local nursery). It's hanging in there. Maybe it's the spot and not the merchandise... The dogwood tree is doing very well. A few of the perennials that I have ordered have not done very well. (Verbena, geraniums...) But some of them have (asters, acanthus).

All in all, I would say that I'm extremely pleased with some of the plants that I have purchased from Wayside. But price and inconsistency is keeping me away from them for now.

All plants have servied but some were questionble and I had to gave them alot of care. Five plant were backorderd forever but I was creadeted for them. The packing in the shipping was great.

I'm a novice gardener who's placed a couple of orders from Wayside Gardens. My results have been generally good, and I've never had a problem they didn't resolve. A bare root weeping cherry they sent me was good sized (for $55 it better be), but was poorly packed with only dry crumpled newspaper around the roots. I figured that since the roots were bone dry, it was probably a goner, but I planted it anyway and sure enough it broke dormancy and grew just fine. I had an issue with their Rhododendron 'Unique Marmalade,' which I ordered for fall of 2001, however. Again, it was good sized, but arrived with dry brown edges on several of the leaves. A couple of weeks after planting it, I noticed that the brown spots had spread and several leaves had curled and fallen off. The plant died in a matter of days. I called and was sent a replacement quite promptly. Unfortunately, it arrived in exactly the same condition as the other plant! I called Wayside immediately and they issued me a full credit, telling me to go ahead and plant it and see what happened (sure enough, it died just like the other one in a week or two). Even though I did get my money back, it concerns me that they didn't really take this problem as seriously as they should have. When I speculated that it must be some disease that was affecting the rhododendrons, the customer service rep said, "Oh, no, it can't be a disease-they're sprayed before we send them out." All I can say is, too bad they don't have this miracle 100%-disease-curing spray available in their catalog!I will definitely keep ordering from them as they offer many hard-to-find plants and customer service is satisfactory; however, I think I'll steer clear of the rhododendrons from now on.

If Wayside Gardens website looks a lot like Park Seed, it should. They're owned by the same company, but Wayside tends to price their plants higher than Park Seed.

There seems to be a bit of a shake-up going on at this company. You can no longer order bulbs from the Park Seed branch--only from Wayside Gardens. And they have a new spin-off for perennials, etc. Countryside Gardens. It's all very confusing. In terms of quality, I've had good luck with bulbs from Park Seed, but the perennials from Wayside have been 50-50.

I ordered a total of 9 own-root roses from these two, related companies (Park and Wayside). They arrived tired, with broken roots and branches, and several with blackspot. Six have died. Of the 27 own-root roses I bought from other vendors, only one has died. The others are flourishing - Austins, shrubs, hybrid musks, climbers, and OGRs.

Quite by accident, I found the page in your site reviewing Wayside Gardens merchandise and customer service and thought I'd offer some comments - which also pertain to mail-order shopping in general. I am an award-winning Horticulturist, Hybridist, Garden Writer and Author, Photographer, Artist and Illinois Certified Nursery Professional. I have ordered plants from both Park and Wayside for years, and have in general had good to excellent results - with the few problems resolved quickly in the form of credits, replacements, etc. A few comments on some other past responses. If there is a problem with a particular type of material, it is likely that a company of Wayside's caliber would not only work to resolve the customer end, but also initiate a claim with the source grower of that plant. If a CustomerService problem was encountered, I would think that at some point, a supervisor further up the food chain should and would intervene - even in the case of Sandy Palmer's several complaints - I'm sure they would credit or refund her for all the trouble, wrong varieties, plants whichfailed to grow, etc so long as she asked. She may have given up on Wayside, and that is like any other choice we all make as consumers, butif she did so without finalizing or resolving credit or refund for all unsatisfactory items, she has only herself to blame. Also, like most mail-order garden firms, Wayside has a "May We Substitute/Do Not Substitute" option, and it is up to the consumer to exercise this option; if the order is from a firm where those are not listed options, the customer should specify it outright - in long hand on a paper order form, verbally over the phone, or on-line --- depending upon how the order is placed. Perhaps Ms. Palmer should take a closer look at Marcia Kindlmann's testimonial; she raves about the quality of plants as well as an excellent response from customer service, by which she was graciously refunded for a Rosa moyseii "Geranium" which thrived and bloomed, but didn't produce the "flagon-shaped hips advertised in the catalog." Perhaps there were no bees to pollinate them so was it really Wayside's fault? I hardly think so, as Roses are insect- pollinated and there have been devastating population crashes of both native andEuropean honeybees for the last several years due to mites and disease; in my opinion, Ms. Kindlmann should hand-pollinate her flowers if she wants fruit so badly. That's the least she could do in return for a free rose! So, the plant was hardly defective, yet Wayside refunded her money anyway. Would other companies be so kind? Thomas J. Moran writes that he took a drive to the nursery in hopes of finding some "seconds", etc. and to "check out the beautiful specimens". Commercial mail order horticultural firms vary greatly in size and scope, with some material produced, held, warehoused or cold-stored on site and some drop-shipped from other locations (in varying quantities or proportions, again based upon the size and scope of the firm), so it seems presumptory that a retail catalog consumer, especially after not calling ahead to verify locations, visiting and/or display conditions, etc., would be surprised to venture on his own to a such a site and findwhat he found --- and then express his wide-eyed surprise about it! It's like visiting Sears headquarters here in metropolitan Chicago andexpecting to find aisle after aisle of merchandise! And even before I obtained a degree in Ornamental Horticulture, became involved in the Horticultural Brokerage industry (though now I manage content and marketing for a Horticultural Software company which serves major young plant producers both here and abroad), I was aware (or could manage to figure out) that firms which offer the scope of material --- on a National level no less --- that a company such as Wayside does, probably team with other sources and locations to complete their offerings. And, before visiting such a firm (I have visited several when I had the opportunity, even before my involvement through school or the Industry began), would call ahead for directions, etc. Also, It has been no secret that Park Seed acquired Wayside Gardens over 20 years ago (not sure of the exact year, though I believe it was in the late '70s), as there was much press in garden magazines at the time, the partnership is generally well known, and the company has never been secretive or concealing about it. Moran and others seemed unduly surprised at this, as if there was something wrong with two companies forming a partnership.In regard to his visit to Park Seed, the company maintains extensive display grounds and is an All America Selections Trial Ground location,has an annual Flower Day event (this year, 2001, it is on July 23), and states in their catalogs that peak viewing times for Field Trials arethe months of June-July. I'm not sure when Mr. Moran visited, during what season or weather conditions, so again, if he didn't call ahead toverify conditions (most nurseries will say over the phone what plants or collections are at or off peak), he has only himself to blame. Wayside may be pricey for many items, but they are industry leaders in terms of bringing newer introductions forward for the general gardeningpublic. They are generally up front about the sizes and forms (bare-root, container, pot, bulb, etc.) they ship, so it's up to the consumer to make a decision at the time of purchase -- is this the size and form, for the money, that I want, or will I hold out for another catalog or a local source? And if things don't go well, consumers need to speak up. And if things still don't go well, they need to speak with their wallet, as Ms. Palmer did. In this respect, horticultural shopping, by mail or otherwise, is no different than any other type of commerce; as always, caveat emptor.

I have ordered quite a bit over three years, and have found the quality of the perennials, clematis and roses to be good. I wouldn't order other shrubs again, though, as the azaleas and rhodies I've ordered have been small and smashed upon arrival.

In the fall of 1999 I prepared a large circular rose bed for 40 English roses ordered from five companies. The English roses from Wayside were reasonably priced. Of the 20 ordered plus from Wayside most did very well here in zone 5. They were planted bare root in Feb. 2000. However 6Fisherman's Friend were mislabeled (a wild rose sent). They made good on their guarantee and refunded the money. This problem of mislabeling is a frustrating experience however and wastes lots of time and energy.