Comments regarding The Hosta Farm

I was concerned after reading the businesses' post on personal health issues. I'd been waiting for my order and saw lots of posts of folks that had not. I had written it off as a possibility that nothing would ever arrive, but had a box of hostas waiting for me when I got home.

Thanks! Stuff happens - thanks for fulfilling the order.

Brian

Posted on August 18, 2015, updated August 10, 2016
I'm a newer customer as I've been given a lot of hostas from my neighbors. I was very excited to find that this store had several of the larger varieties like Jurassic Park. I placed my order and the hostas were delivered exactly when they promised and in good condition. I planted them the day I got them, and in very short order, I had leaves.
Much to my surprise, the hostas that grew were variegated when I had ordered a non-variegated variety. After a few pictures and email exchanges, my money was refunded since they had run out of stock for the season. With luck I'll be able to order again in the spring. In the meantime, the hostas I was given are very healthy and look great, even if they were not what I was expecting. The company was very professional in handling my claim and I am looking forward to doing future business with them next year.

I have ordered from them before but not lately. In April, I placed an order for 6 items. I later ran across the DG reviews and got a little nervous, but I paid with Paypal and used a credit card, so knew I was not without protection. After 3 weeks, I received one of the plants, which was actually the one I was most interested in. I was very pleased with the item. It was a nice size, looked healthy, and had put out new leaves. Two weeks later, it is twice the size it was when I got it. That was also the week I received the rest of the plants, and was very pleasantly surprised. The plants were all as advertised, large with very well developed roots, and I am confident they will transplant well and will thrive. I will try Hosta Farm again in small batches to be sure they have the kinks worked out but for now, I couldn't have asked for better products.

I ordered seven Hosta from The Hosta Farm after seeing that they where offering them with a 35% discount if shipped in October. They confirmed the order would ship the week of October 5th and the order shipped as promised. Today (10-09), I received the order.

After reading about the size of the plants they ship using the Ellepot, I figured I'd receive smaller plants. I was pleasantly surprised to receive some good size plants and one in a larger plastic pot. They were well packaged and healthy. I'll get them planted this weekend and see how they do in the spring.

This is my first experience using The Hosta Farm and would recommend them to others.

I just received my hosta's. They are beautiful. The root system is full and healthy. Cathedral Window is stunning. Thank you so much for good descriptions of each plant. My plants from last year have been doing well as I expect these will also. I checked other places for their prices and yours are still the best. Thank you. You are making my garden beautiful.

Posted on August 20, 2015, updated September 16, 2015
Buyers beware of The Hosta Farm. I ordered 30 hosta plants for the business I work for and they were received and planted last September. Come this past spring on 6 of the hostas came back out of all 30. I contact the Hosta Farm on May 12, 2015 to inform them of the 24 hostas that did not return (they supposedly have a guarantee) My first email was answered by Kevin of the Hosta Farm I was told if the plants have never shown any signs of growth that he guesses they would need to replace them. I emailed back and told Kevin that we really appreciated his assistance. I received another email from Kevin informing stating"Ok, I will forward to the greenhouse mgr to replace or refund the plants, Thank you." We have never heard another word from the Hosta Farm, they are impossible to get through to via phone, they don't answer our emails and we have received no refund and no replacement plants. Shame on you, Hosta Farm you didn't stand behind your email or your guarantee. I will never order from this company again either personally or for the business I work for.

"On Aug 21, 2015 7:49 PM, The Hosta Farm responded with:

Sorry, this issue must have slipped through the cracks somehow as it was entered into the data base to be taken care of. Contact me sales@thehostafarm.com for a full refund and $25.00 gift certificate. Thank you. Kevin TheHostaFarm"

I have been purchasing hostas from The Hosta Farm for over 7 years now. In this time I have never been disappointed with what I receive. I have ordered well over 125 plants and all but one has thrived and looks amazing. Note, one plant was the victim of two 80 pound Bouviers, death by big paws trampling it over and over so not a warranty issue. Because of my experiences I am hooked on The Hosta Farm and though I can sometimes buy larger plants at the same or lower prices, I can never find the variety. I have never had a concern about ordering plants, I have always been updated on shipping status and they arrive looking fresh and vibrant. If anyone is looking to feed their passion for Hostas, I always recommend The Hosta Farm. I am part of close knit dog group, both show and competition, I shared photos of my dogs in the woodland gardens this year and most everyone commented on the size, variety and colors of my hostas -ALL from The Hosta Farm. I saw some very limited editions coming soon on your website - I cannot wait and hope I catch a few!!!!! Keep up the great work and thank you for helping make the gardens a real statement.

I have been ordering from The Hosta Farm for several years now and have had nothing but great experiences. They offer a huge variety of hostas at very reasonable prices. The plants come right on time, are packed wonderfully, and are healthy. I will continue to order from them in the future.

After deciding to create a hosta garden on our property last year, I found The Hosta Farm site and was amazed at the amount of varieties they had to offer. Because of our extreme PA Great Lakes winters (which I might add seem to be getting worse), I e-mailed the farm with some questions. My e-mail was responded to within a matter of hours. I mailed my order immediately (May of 2014). I received my order promptly. Every plant was in exceptional condition. So much so that I promptly submitted another order. It, too, arrived promptly and in wonderful condition. Come the Fall of 2014, I was so pleased with my new garden that I expanded it and sent in another order. It promptly arrived and all plants were beautiful. There was one plant missing so I e-mailed the company to inquire. They responded immediately, apologized, and said the plant would be shipped immediately. And it was. To my surprise they had also included a "gift" plant (a heuchera) for their error. Now how many companies consider that option? I must thank them for that particular plant because I am now a lover of the heucheras and heucherellas as they compliment hostas wonderfully. I have already submitted two orders this season and am in the process of compiling my Fall order.

I am extremely satisfied with The Hosta Farm and have actually recommended them to several of my friends. I did not know they had been hit by the severe winter storms that raged in several parts of the country this year. Our area which is used to severe winters also experienced more severe weather including heavy ice and much more severe sub-zero weather. This created considerable damage in our area as well. My sympathies to the destruction you have been dealing with. Your pictures reminded me of local damage in our area as well. It's not always easy to quickly recover from such damages ( and yours was massive). I cannot believe the impatience and lack of understanding of some of your customers.

I will most certainly continue to do my business with The Hosta Farm! Thank you for being there!

My first order with The Hosta Farm was great! My order of Humpback Whale hostas arrived at the time it was promised and the stock looked healthy. My concern was that they looked lime green and their description is that of a "blue-green heart shaped" leaf. I emailed The Hosta Farm and Kevin quickly responded putting my fears to rest that that they will return to their correct color next season once planted in full shade...Something to look forward to next Spring! I am also awaiting my 2nd (larger) order of Hostas and Astilbe.

I ordered a few Pandoras box hostas last year. I got them in great condition and they began to thrive. A few weeks later, one started dying. I emailed the hosta farm for help. They were quick to respond with helpful suggestions for nursing it back to health. As a novice gardener I really appreciated the quick and helpful response. I have ordered from them again. I will get my order in a week or two. I do recommend this company, because they were quick to offer help when I encountered a problem.

I have ordered from the Hosta Farm several times and each time the quality of plants is outstanding. The order I placed that got filled this spring was missing plants, I emailed and while there appeared to be some confusion between the customer service rep and the order filler, it did all get straightened out.

It would have been helpful to know they were trying to operate under difficult circumstances, instead of adopting a business as usual facade. Perhaps an email at the start of the season asking for customer patience and loyalty, and explaining why there might be some bumps but bear with us.

Bottom line, great plants, great prices = an abundantly beautiful garden for me and a loyal customer for them.

As a customer of The Hosta Farm I was so saddened to hear of your terrible losses due to the storm. Living in snow country, I know what destruction a bad storm can cause. My heart goes out to you. I did want you to know my orders were filled timely, accurately, and with great quality plants.

I think you have truely done well with what you were given this year, and want you to know you have a life -long customer here. As long as I am above the dirt, I 'll be ordering plants from The Hosta Farm to plant in my dirt!

Best Regards,

Joyce Misdom

Absolutely wonderful company! I ordered a little collection of hostas from them, and they are thriving (despite my inexpert care). Great prices, great shipping, great plants. Highly recommended and looking forward to ordering from them again!

I've placed three different orders with The Hosta Farm and have been very pleased with both their plants and their customer service. First, the Brother Stefan and Royal Wedding hostas I ordered are doing great. The plants arrived in excellent condition--and that doesn't always happen here in the Deep South in the summer. The plants were well-hydrated in Elle pots and some were even ready to bloom. After planting, there wasn't any leaf droop and the ones with spikes even bloomed. All are doing well.
I was also pleased with their customer service. I understand that they had storm damage this past winter and needed to rebuild the nursery. They were very responsive via email when I sent a message to inquire about arrival of the plants. They responded to my email the same evening of the day I sent it, stating that they were about two weeks behind schedule this year and apologizing for the delay. As promised, the plants arrived two weeks later in great condition.
I'm quite pleased with the plants and with The Hosta Farm.

Over the years I have known about the Hosta Farm. This year I decided to make a purchase of some Hosta 'Snake Eyes' from this company.

The plant ordered arrived as they indicated. It would be wise to warn purchasers that The Hosta Farm sends hosta out as rhizome balls only - with no open leaves. As a Midwesterner I found this slightly disconcerting. I went with the flow knowing that each nursery has their own procedures of doing things. I planted the rhizome ball in good faith and the best I could. Within two weeks I had a first leaf up which confirmed that what they sent was what I had ordered.

A short while later I received a note from them indicating they were having an inventory sale due to the effects of a February (2015) Snowstorm. As my family owns a greenhouse and as I live in MN I fully understood the predicament they were in. I submitted a second order for several Hosta 'Vulcan', and Hosta 'Popcorn'.

As Hosta 'Snake Eyes' settled in it has sent up several spikes which at this time are opening to become its first eyes and leaf cluster. The plant looks very healthy. I expect that the order of Vulcan and Popcorn will produce the same when it arrives later this month (week of August 31 to September 5th).

Cleaning up from storm disasters is not an easy thing to do, When your managing an effected business; the business has to both keep the product sales going while at the same time move forward with property clean-up, and restoration. This process is not a one month event - it takes several months if not a few years. I am a person with several disabilities. If I was abled-bodied person I would have found a way to go down to The Hosta Farm to offer 1 weeks time to help clean up but that's not something I can do. BUT I could support them by buying Hosta. Did any of The Hosta Farm's readers stop to consider what they could do to assist them to get back on their feet?

Peter Kelley
St. Paul, MN USA

I have had positive experiences with Hosta Farm. Nice plants, well marked, well packaged.

My wife and I have been buying from the Hosta Farm for years and we've never had a bad experience. The plants arrive in good shape, ready to pop in the ground or pot. They run fantastic sales and offer easily payment through paypal, often with no interest. I feel bad that people aren't nore understanding of their situation. As for us, we are customers for life.
Mike & Irene
Richmond, VA

I ordered 30 Hapsden Blue hosta plants, choosing early June as the shipping date. They notified me about delays due to the storm damage, so I requested by email if my shipment could be held until the week of July 6th. No one would be home for 2 weeks at the end of June and I feared all the plants would die sitting on our porch. The Hosta Farm's response was great. My plants arrived the precise week I requested - and in excellent shape. All plants are thriving.This extra mile on their part is all the more amazing considering the chaos they must have endured.

Used this greenhouse for many years. Always great plants, shipped quickly and never once has a plant not survived the shipping, and all have come up the next spring and subsequent springs. Very happy with their products

I ordered several hosta and clematis this year. The hostas were beautiful and are growing well. There were some substitutions with both clematis and hosta. I am happy with the substitutions. The clematis were outstanding and beautiful and a fair exchange financially. I am so sorry about the winter trouble they went through and the rebuilding of their greenhouses. But my orders have been outstanding. I hope you are back on your feet next spring and going strong.

I have purchased hostas from the Hosta Farm several times over the past few years, and without exception they were healthy, lovely little plants. I have been very pleased with my purchases as well as their customer service, and would order from them again.

I bought 5 "Remember Me" hostas. They came in looking very healthy and are a great addition to my newly refinished garden. Thanx Hosta Farm.

After reading several reviews about late shipments I was somewhat concerned about getting my plants early enough to plant this season since it was already half way through the summer. I read the Hosta Farm explanation about them having heavy snowfalls that damaged some of their greenhouses and delaying shipments. I live in the Chicago area and we had 81" of snow this past winter and there were some roof cave ins of houses and businesses here also and I have relatives that live in the Western Virginia/Kentucky area, where Hosta Farm is located, so their explanation was VERY plausible and understandable. So I chose to go for it and I placed an order with them. My plants arrived on time and were in EXCELLENT condition. Better than I expected. The roots were moist and the plants had no broken stems or leaves. Their overall condition was as if I had purchased them at a local nursery. Very satisfied and I will be ordering from them in the future.

I am a new customer to TheHostaFarm this spring. I originally ordered 4 hosta earlier in the season. There was a small but acceptable delay in the delivery of that order and I was kept informed of 'weather-related' changes to my original delivery date. When those hosta arrived, they were beyond my expectations, with large, well-formed root systems and several eyes on the the larger variety. These I promptly planted and they are thriving! Shortly thereafter I placed a second order for 4 other varieties. That is when the fun began! My delivery date came and went. When I emailed about when to expect delivery, I was given a new, later date, which to me was understandable with the extensive rainy weather the country and our region had been having. Unfortunately, we were going to be out of town when the rescheduled hosta were due to come, and I contacted and worked with Kevin to defer that delivery until we would be back home. I thought things were all set, but then I unexpectedly got a 'your hosta have been shipped' notice; again contacted Kevin and he aborted that delivery. When we returned from vacation, the next 'new' delivery date passed...I was getting worried that this order was beyond salvage and I had already been billed for the shipment that was cancelled; again contacted Kevin [I think we are getting to be very good friends!] and shortly thereafter the hosta were shipped. They arrived in perfect condition, nice plants with huge, vigorous root systems. I potted these all, fearing a summer planting, and knew I would be able to monitor them better in pots for now. I did send Kevin a note to this effect, and he assured me these hosta most likely will be fine with my now deferred planting plan [September, for my zone], and would/could be replaced come spring if need be. I feel very comfortable dealing with this company. They have been very receptive to my requests. I understand that in business, 'stuff' sometimes happens and it is how that adversity is handled that shows their character. I have seen some negative comments; maybe I am just more patient than some of the other posters. But, I would not hesitate to recommend TheHostaFarm if you are interested in a nice variety of choices at fair prices and very healthy, vigorous plants.

I recently ordered 8 hostas and a heuchurera, it was my first order with the hosta farm . I received them yesterday and I couldn't be happier, I'm a Master Gardner and I've looked all summer for a few of the gorgeous blue hostas they had , I was so impressed at the quality of the plants, the prices and variety are outstanding!!! There was supposed to be a couple of days delay in delivery, but they actually came really fast and earlier then expected. They were fantastic about keeping me posted about the delivery date and time frame , I've never had any company do that . I've read both good and bad reviews and I think it's pretty cool that their company representative responded to every negative review, and it sure seemed to me they were doing their best to make things right and make everyone happy , I've yet to deal with another online company who's ever done anything like that . I will definitely be continuing to order from hosta farm , I look forward to seeing all the new hostas they keep bringing out and I'm so happy I discovered them !! I 110% recommend them .

Huge pat on the back for this company. This was my first order and will not be my last. Order was mainly for hosta varieties; all were very large, most 4-6" tall with at least a 4" root ball. Order was shipped when they promised but I was unable to get to the package until 7 days later; was sure I would have lost most of the order; the only plant to suffer was a Pinky Winky hydrangea (which is now resting in my shaded nursery area and looking much better), everything else was fine, not even slightly wilted. And I love that they reuse plant tags because I do the same thing; I never throw out a tag, I use a permanent marker to write the name of the new plant on the tag. They will definitely be on my list of go-to nurseries.

This review is based on my first order with The Hosta Farm. The entire process was effortless and the product was terrific! My order arrived promptly and and every piece (21 hosta) arrived in top notch condition and are thriving in two new hosta beds

In addition, due to my requesting a modification to my original order prior to shipment, I had occasion to be in touch with their Sales Department (Kevin) and I can only say that he went out of his way to ensure my satisfaction. Thank you Hosta Farm and especially Kevin.

I have ordered 4 times from The Hosta Farm. All of them have been great experiences . They arrived when they said they would, except for this last delivery was 2 weeks late due to bad weather. They answered my email quickly and correctly. All plants were well packaged and arrived healthy, as described. All have grown and thrived as described. I'd hesitate to order from some one else. "Thank you", The Hosta Farm!

I placed an order for hostas from The Hosta Farm. The plants arrived when promised and I was delighted with their condition! I was expecting a bunch of limp little roots...but I received healthy, vigorous plants, much larger than I expected. I will definitely order from The Hosta Farm in the future.

I ordered 4 different hostas from The Hosta Farm a few weeks ago. Ordering online was easy and reliable. Shipping was quick and I was notified of when to expect the plants. Less than one week after planting the new hostas, all have sprouted several new leaves. I was impressed with the pricing, quality of plants and service.

My order was supposed to arrive last Friday however there was a delay at UPS that prevented getting them to me.
So I spent the weekend in despair that my little plants were sitting in a hot warehouse.
The truck finally arrived late in the day on Monday. Fortunately my son was home and he put them into some moist soil in the garage.
Got them into the ground on Tuesday and gave them a good water. But then it was a busy work week so I did not see daylight at home until early on Friday. Looked out the window at the back bed and saw 8 wonderful green baby hostas who had taken root and were in just a few days flourishing beautifully.
Could not believe how much they had grown!
What a testament to the quality of the plants from the Hosta Farm. Will definitely be back for more.

I placed my first order to The Hosta Farm 10 days ago for 2 hosta, 1 lung wart, + some foxglove. Emailed the company to add more things to the order on Saturday. The adjusted order was sent out on Monday + arrived Wednesday. I've never had such speedy service. The plants were good size + healthy. Well packaged. I was very impressed. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again.

The Hosta Farm has won me over as a repeat customer for these reasons: 1). They always have the best selection of Hosta cultivars, old and new; 2). Plants arrive healthy and vigorous. 3). Their prices are VERY reasonable; and 4). Their customer service is outstanding. You may never need to contact them post-purchase, but when a perennial we planted last year didn't come back this spring (they sell shade-loving perennials and beautiful ferns too), I emailed them and Kevin quickly made it right.

I highly recommend these folks, especially if you can't find the cool varieties that you really want at your local nurseries, don't want to spend an arm and a leg for ratty specimens, and are leery about buying live plant material online - like I once was.

I ordered about ten hosta (bareroot) plants from Hosta Farms -- they were at a good price and mailordering seemed convenient. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive after reading the reviews here though.

In short, my order with them was a success. They arrived quickly, and within a week of being planted, the bareroots sprouted. It's been two and a half weeks, and my formerly bareroot plants look almost as full as the small potted ones I bought at a community sale one month ago.

Couldn't be happier and will be buying from them in the future.

I needed a handful of inexpensive Hostas and Astilbes to fill in a bulk order from a more-expensive company that didn't include as many plants or as much variety as I had expected. Having read the appeal from Kevin, I decided to give The Hosta Farm a try. I couldn't be more pleased with my decision. Here's why:
1. Their prices were excellent.
2. The order was shipped promptly and correctly.
3. Four of the plants were bare-root, and were about average quality for mail-order bare-root plants--on par with the ones I purchased from the more-expensive company. (I've been doing mail-order gardening for over 20 years, so I have a lot of experience.) Two of the plants (the Hosta "Loyalists") were leafed out and beautiful--some of the nicest plants I've ever received by mail.
4. Within 10 days of planting, the bare-root plants emerged, and all plants are now flourishing.
In short, I am completely satisfied with my experience and will certainly consider The Hosta Farm as one of my reliable sources for the future.

I ordered three hostas back in March from this company. I rec'd one leaved-out plant with a good root ball, and two bare-root plants (in loose soil). All three were quickly planted and are doing beautifully. The only suggestion I would make is for the inclusion of planting instructions (for bare-root plants) ;-)

Thanks, Hosta Farm!

L. Bartell, MI

My name is Kevin with TheHostaFarm and I am now taking care of all customer service issues. Anyone having a negative experience with TheHostaFarm should contact me at sales@thehostafarm.com and we will do our best to resolve any issues. Thank you. Kevin TheHostaFarm

I placed 2 orders with The Hosta Farm this spring and I am very happy with the plants! My first order contained Hostas and Heuchera and they were all very healthy and now are growing very well! My second order came just 2 weeks ago and all of the Hostas, Heuchera, Heucherella and Ferns were healthy plants, as well as the dormant roots. ALL of the plants are doing well. I would recommend this company as a good nursery to buy from and will definetly order from them again!!!