Comments regarding Plant Delights Nursery

Plant Delights is almost too good to be true! My experience was excellent from start to finish - amazing selection, quick processing and shipping, reasonable prices for such rare plants, and the plants themselves are beautiful and arrived in immaculate condition. Highly recommended!

I luckily live quite near Plant Delights and never miss an open house if I can at all help it. The gardens are ever-evolving and breathtaking! The plants are always wonderful and a collector's delight.
As for the catalog, having met Tony Avent several times, and having read numerous articles by him, I can't imagine it any other way. Don't change a thing!

Have read the catalogs cover to cover since I discovered this place. I learn lots, and the writer is a hoot. I'm guessing his sense of humor is lost on the poor souls who don't know that 'Jihad' is arabic for 'struggle', and don't understand the comedic use of hyperbole. Alas for them. When my friend (a landscaper from Seattle) came to visit last summer, he made this place his Mecca (n.b., now I'M doing it... get it?). We lost track of time in their display gardens and nursery houses, and totally forgot to eat lunch. Each of us came away with souvenirs - my Boehmeria 'Nichirin' is now established and beginning to leaf out for spring. I'll go back - but I'll bring some lunch!

I placed an order with Plant Delights Nursery on December 1st, 2006, for eight ferns and one Spikemoss (Selaginella).

Last week the nursery called me to say that my order would ship soon, but that one of the ferns (Cheilanthes alabamensis) had sold out and would I like to substitute another plant (which I declined to do).

The plants shipped on March 19th via Fedex and arrived on the 21st in good shape.

Overall, I would say that the plants were a little on the expensive side. The Fedex shipping was also costly. My biggest disappointment was not receiving the Alabama lipfern (Cheilanthes alabamensis), which I had originally ordered back on December 1st.......

"

Dear Cretaceous,

Yes, we agree that it is very expensive to ship live plants to our West Coast gardening friends. Our shipping charge also includes the handling expense incurred with each order we process. Though you elected to order three plants, the $27.00 minimum shipping/handling charge facilitates the processing and shipment of six plants. We realize that everyone will not always need or want six plants, but whether an order is for one plant or multiple plants, fixed expenses force us to adopt a minimum shipping charge in order to remain in business.

In addition to the fixed expenses, the State of California Department of Agriculture requires documentation of certification against Gypsy Moth, Witchweed, Imported Fire Ant, Burrowing/reniform nematodes and Japanese beetle. This is a requirement for any nursery transporting live plant material across California state borders. In cooperation with the State of California, each plant must be treated with a low-toxicity pesticide drench prior to leaving the nursery. In order to administer these chemicals, we are required by law to employ a licensed professional. The cost to offer our plants to gardeners on the West Coast is greater than plants shipped to customers in other states. We recoup expenses along with the actual cost of carriage through our shipping/handling fee.

Also, I will mention that we were unaware of your concern surrounding our shipping charge. We would have gladly addressed your concerns had you expressed them while placing either of your two orders this season. We regret that your experiences with us have prompted an array of neutral and negative posts.

While I am here, I would like to extend our sincere apologizes regarding the cancelled Cheilanthes alabamensis. We were very disappointed too. We lost every plant in our crop of 62.

In closing, we would like to go on record saying that it is our desire and preference to always meet customer concerns with professionalism and fairness whether over the phone, by email, in person or on these forums. We appreciate the same and will look forward to new opportunities to serve you in the future.


Kind regards,

Dianne Austin
Customer Service & Shipping Manager
Plant Delights Nursery
"

I just got their catalog and will prob. be ordering from them sometime this year. However, I must agree that the artwork and commentary is a bit over the top and offensive (my boss particularily did not like the Gardening Jihad title on it - he is Jewish and basically banned me from having it in the store he hated it that much!) The redneck (at least I think that is what it was supposed to be) commentary at the end was just plain stupid and ignorant - and I'm a Redneck! I don't think politcal stuff should be in a gardening magazine but ... it is free speech and as long as the quality is good and the prices reasonable for what I get in return I will shop there. I just think they need to rethink their humor before they get in to real trouble.

I ordered 2 canna 'Tropicanna' and the 'Borneo Giant' strain of alocasia, all the plants arrived in great shape and much larger than I expected. Its been over a week now and while I still haven't put them in the ground, I potted them and they are doing great, already sending up new shoots! Their prices may seem a little more expensive than other mail-order nurseries, but believe me your paying for quality and more than likely, larger plants. Will buy from PDN again!

Great collection, fast delivery, very good packing ( not one plant damaged, full box, and wrapped and filled with paper, not those nasty white thingies that get lost all over the place).
The plants fill their pots with good roots and look happy, just waking up. ( I can't wait to see their face when they meet our California climate :-) )
Thank you for your plants, they are exactely what I hoped for, I will order again.
And no, the cartoons in the catalogue do not bother me!

Christie
Ask me for pictures if you want!

I shop with Plant Delights every year as well as try to go to their spring open house. I have always had a wonderful experience with their plants. Their catalog is so wonderful that I never throw one away and keep them for future reference.They always have a wonderful selection of the new and the rare. A true collectors delight! If you have never shopped with them.....please go to their website and order their catalog! Just wait til you see it! Their nursery is also a botanical garden, so if you are ever near their area, please call and try to get an appointment to visit or at least tour the gardens. They are amazing!

I love this nursery, I would order just to keep the catalog coming.

In April 2005 I ordered baptisia Blue Pearls. When they bloomed this spring they bloomed white. I thought I must have ordered the wrong thing. About that time the nursery contacted me through their newsletter and said they accidently shipped the wrong plant for a week or so at the beginning of the previous season, and just to contact them and they'd send new plants. I promptly came down with pneumonia and planted nothing this past spring because I was so ill.

This fall I placed an order and sheepishly included a request for replacement plants. I mean, come on! It's been a year and half and the plants they sent are lovely, if not the color I orginally wanted. I felt like such a slacker for waiting so long. They just laughed, sent the new plants, and I didn't even have to trot out my sob story about being sick.

I'm SO in love with my Sparkler Sedge that I'll probably order more next year! It's a standout in the shade! The Sundown Coneflower did not have a chance to fully bloom this year since I ordered late but it looked like it was starting to turn orangish-red before cold weather hit. I'm very excited to find this great nursery with unusual plants. I enjoyed reading their catalog (and amusing comments throughout). 2 green thumbs up!

I have a degree in horticulture and chemistry, have been gardening for some 35 years, and have never had an overall experience, at every level possible, from quality of plant to shipping, packaging and more that would compare to Plant Delights. Forget the rest...I've found the best!!!!!

I ordered two items,( elephants ears)
They arrived promtly and in excellent shape.

In the last 2 years, I have purchased 35 hostas, 20 cannas and 5 hellebores from Plant Delights Nursery. The hostas are very carefully shipped, correctly labeled and have thrived (specially the second season as there is an adaptation phase during the first season). The cannas have done extremely well as well: they are shipped potted ready to plant. When needed, customer service has been very professional. It is a real pleasure doing business with this nursery!

I have ordered from PDN at least 5 times over the past year and a half. Every order was shipped exactly when it was supposed to be. All the plants were very carefully packaged, and during hot weather one was sent Fedex when I had only paid for UPS. They quickly respond to calls or requests for information. Highly recommended.

I purchased a Thai Giant Elephant Ear from them which was advertised as "seedlings". The plant arrived damaged due to shipping so that wasn't the company's fault. The other 3 types of Elephant Ears arrived OK in the same shipment probably due to the fact that their root systems were already well-established in their pots.

I was expecting this Thai Giant "seedling" to recover from the shock of shipping. I thought it was going dormant but instead it went to "mush" several weeks after. This company never responded to my e-mail for a replacement.

What I had discovered and reported to them was that they did not send me a "seedling" according to what was advertised but instead sent me a rooted cutting whose roots only covered the circumference of the cut and not yet even a quarter inch long. If they were going to send out a rooted cutting, at least, they could have sent out a plant to me that had enough roots to hold the soil together.

I later e-mailed them a couple of months again expressing my desire for a replacement for a "seedling". Again no response for the 2nd time.

I felt like a victim of false advertising.

"

As customer service manager, I am writing in hopes that San Fran_Gardener will read our rebuttal to (his/her) negative posting. First I would like to respectfully address the topic of unanswered email. Since I am solely responsible for the disposition of all company email, I would like to clarify how our email is handled. We make every effort to answer every email received within 24 hours from the date of receipt (excluding weekends). On any given day during our busy season, we could easily receive 200 + spam-related emails. Those must be eliminated prior to responding to each individual customer correspondence. I am sure that we have had an occasion where we have inadvertently deleted a customer email while filtering through all of the junk mail. However, it would be highly unlikely that the same customer email would meet the same fate twice. Could our spam filter block a legitimate email from the same customer more than once? I don't know, but perhaps one of our computer-savvy customers could answer such a question. One thing we are certain of is that we would never purposefully ignore our customers call, email or other correspondence. Unfortunately, like the email system, we are not flawless. Whatever may have happened in this particular case, all we are left to do is apologize and extend an invitation to San Fran_gardener to try again. Perhaps the email address used to contact us was miss-spelled or sent to sales@plantdelights.com The sales address is used for web confirmations only. The email address that we read and respond to is office@plantdelights.com

The next point we would like to address is the method utilized to propagate our Colocasia gigantea 'Thailand Giant Strain' crop. Colocasia gigantea 'Thailand Giant Strain' cannot be propagated from root cuttings. Some Colocasia send out runners and for those that do, we can cut new runners and root those. This method is practiced by us on several of our variety but not Thailand Giant. All of our stock is seed grown or (due to high customer demand) from tissue culture. Further, C. g. 'Thailand Giant Strain' does not form a tuber right away. Our plant in our trial garden has been in the ground over two years and has yet to develop a tuber. It has been reported by one of our avid aroid collectors that some will and some won't. This is all speculation at this time. A Colocasia shipped too wet can rot (turn to mush) in the box. This condition would be evident upon receipt or quite soon after. A Colocasia that turns to mush several weeks later indicates that perhaps some environmental problem exists in the planting site. Poor drainage and too much water can cause a steady decline, marked by yellowing foliage and eventually rot (mush).

However, if there was any problem related to the quality of the plant when it left the nursery or damage during shipping, our customers only need to notify us. If all efforts to rehabilitate the plant fail, we gladly replace our customers' loss.

As for the false advertising...well...we'll just let that one go.

Regards,

Dianne Austin
Customer Service Manager
Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.
"

I made my first order from them this summer. I'd always been impressed by their interesting selection of rare plants. Most of the plants arrived in good condition, except for a Berlandiera lyrata that must have taken some damage during shipping. I tried to revive it and failed. Luckily, after contacting them and explaining, they offered to replace the plant.

Also, I have to say that although some find the catalogues offensive, that I find them "edgy" and really funny. It's definitely not the kind of nursery my grandmother would order from, but that's kinda why I like it... After all, anyone with any knowledge of botanical latin knows that there is a long history of "offensive" plant names (Clitoria mariana, for example) Besides how can someone sell Amorphophallus and not be just a little offensive! ; )

I've purchased plants from PDs for years. Their plant display gardens are stunning. The plants are very healthy and the selection is superb. I've been very happy with the plants purchased there. Their free catalog is very informative. However -- the artwork and commentary in the catalog ranges from distracting to annoying to deeply offensive and their prices are very high. As much as I appreciate their expertise and terrific plant selection, I avoid them due to these factors. Too bad!

As usual, another great mail-order nursery experience from Plant Delights! I am always pleased with their unusual selections, and this time was no different. I whooped and danced and then coddled the four different sarracenia that arrived beautifully packed and in fantastic shape. They were prompt; the plants were of good size and packed well and they're a delight in the ground, too.

I've recently placed a couple orders with Plant Delights and have been very happy with the quality of the plants. Their selection is awesome as well--definitely someplace I'll order from again. I also had a good experience with their customer service--one of my orders ran into some problems with the CA agriculture inspector and they were extremely helpful in getting the right paperwork sent quickly so that my plants arrived within a couple days of the day they should have been here.

I could not be happier with this company. Their service and quality is as fantastic as their catalog. I ordered several plants from the catalog. Unfortunatly it was during the heat wave. A week later I recieved an e mail explaining not wanting to ship in the heat.which I understood. After recieveing the email I went to the web site and found several web only plants that I had to have. I emailed them a note and immediatly recieved an answer that I could change my order.
I e mailed them the changes and again immediatly recieved confirmation. A few day later the entire order arrived healthy and complete. If there was a speed dial for ordering plants.. Plant Delights would be on mine

Having ordered from many on-line nurseries I am ordering almost exclusively from Plants Delight now. The quality and size of their plants make other nurseries pale by comparison. They ship when they say they will ship. They respond very fast either by email or the telephone. Of the few problems I have had with plants from PDN they suggested how to deal with the situation and/or sent a replacment. One time I placed an order and upon reciept was one plant short, not charged for it, and when I called them I was told that the plant was too small and not ready for shipment. What honesty.

Healthy plants, very well packaged. Great customer service as well, would highly recommend. A little pricey but where else can you find such a great selection ?

Just got my first shipment from this company -- 3 clems (Jan Fopma, Rooguchi and Fascination). Young plants, but really moist and healthy. Cute little containers too. Will keep them in the containers the rest of the season. No nonsense order; shipment on time. Will definitely do business again.

I ordered from this company the same time I ordered from Brent and Becky's. The difference was night and day! My plants arrived promptly when PDN said they would, and they were much larger than I expected! Everything bloomed the first year (last summer) even though my daughter promptly dropped my Raspberry Hibiscus upside down and broke it down to the soil. I just planted both and got two plants out of it! The plant were extremely healthy and not stressed a bit. Everything I got came back this year 3 times the size.

This company may seem like it costs more than other nurseries, but not when you compare size, quality, and variety. I will definitely order from them again!

This is a company I am very pleased with. They have a large and sometimes unusual assortment of plants. I found many things there I couldn't find elsewhere. The plants come are a minimum of 6", very healthy and very well-packaged. Cute message on their box. Quick shipping. Pleasant customer service. And probably the largest collection of Hosta I personally have ever seen...with photos!

I ordered hostas from them this spring and the prices were a little higher than some nurseries, but the plants I received were very large with extensive root systems. I would order from them again.

I just got back into town to discover that my plants had been delivered the day I left! (I'd asked for them to be delivered the week of May 15, and they arrived 6 days after that.) I was disappointed that they had what I thought was slow delivery, BUT, my neighbor opened the box, put it in the shade, and when I got back into town 5 days later all the plants were still in great shape. Good sized plants (not like some others I've dealt with), all healthy, and all packaged well. I have always been pleased with Plant Delights. Besides, Tony Avent is a hoot and I love the catalogue.

On February 28, 2006 I paid these people by credit card $117.00 to cover $96.00 worth of plants and $21.00 shipping. They were to ship on May 8th, and today was the 23rd, and still no plants, so..... I called in the AM and was told by someone there that they would check to see what happened, and call me back. About 4:15 PM, my time, I finally called THEM back, and was told by the person that answered the phone that they would tell customer service I called about my order, and have them call me back. I told the person that I had heard that statement from them early that morning, and no one had bothered to call back all day, upon which they said they would walk up to customer service and have them pick up. They did, and they told me they really would check on it, this time, and get back to me.... After a while they DID call me back, and told me that they had run out of one of the plants I ordered, and normally they would refer the order to customer service so that they could notify the customer and ask if they would like something else, but in my case they hadn't, they just didn't do anything, and they had no idea why ( I kind of thought to myself that it might be because they already had my 117 bucks). I asked them how they could run out of a plant before filling my order, when I had pre ordered in February. They said, well....that sometimes some plants may not all come out of dormancy and they are short on them. I said I ordered in FEBRUARY, so surely I should have been covered, in even a shortage situation, and they sort of stuttered around and said, well ,,, some people order in January and early February, so maybe I had been too late. Personally, I found it a little insulting sitting there debating a hypothetical situation with someone who admittedly had no idea if that was even what had happened. At that point I told them that I could tell them what they could do for me now, and it wouldn't take 3 months to do it. I asked them to credit my card back the full $117.00, and cancel my order, immediately. We will see how that turns out, and if bad, I will amend this, or put up another evaluation. I made several other early orders this year, to several sites on the internet, and Plant Delights is just one of several that have not sent my orders yet, and unless I really AM the unluckiest person around, I strongly suspect that they get a lot of people that order stuff in the early months of the year, and then forget they ordered, or who they ordered it from, and so they don't ship till you call and confront them about it. I am sorry to say that Plant Delights had the feeblest and least believable excuses of all of them I called. Here's a hint- if you screwed up, just admit you screwed up, don't try to make up reasons it could have happened besides your own monumental incompetence, it goes down badly. My rating- Caveat Emptor, and if you order early, save your copy of the receipt. I also believe that it is somewhat indicative of the ethics of a company when they process your credit card charge before they ship the items ordered, especially when we're talking MONTHS before shipping is even scheduled, but it is, unfortunately not an isolated practice on the web. In all fairness, they might be the victim of a snafu of their own making, but although they have lovely photos, of unusual plants, and it's a great place to dream, I, personally will not know if they are worth the fairly high prices, at least not this year. Might try them again next year, if they refund my money promptly, and I get over being mad by next JANUARY (can I pre order in December and be assured of my order being filled?), I don't know. LOL- in this case means lots of luck.

I ordered some plant from them last fall. They arrived promptly and made it through the winter just fine.

I received three Yuccas from PlantsDelight and was quite happy with my purchases.
I have to say, I ordered a yucca from them a couple years ago and it was really on the small side, but the current Yuccas are 4 times the size.
They sell numerous plants, many grown in warmer zones, but other than can be grown as houseplants, too..Toni

I ordered several plants, including 2 Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle Palms), several Musa basjoo (hardy bananas), hardy sugarcane (Saccharum arundinaceum), and an Amorphophallus konjac, and 2 days after they shipped, all plants arrived at my house well-packed and in very good condition. The bananas and sugarcane were bare-rooted, to save on packing space, but they were wrapped in moist newspaper, and in good shape. The Needle palms were the right size for what one would expect of a 2 year old palm seedling, and the A. konjac, as was expected, was shipped as a dormant bulb (probably won't emerge here until the middle of June). Also, if you get the chance, try to visit one of their open houses... They have an amazing botanical garden, and you can even buy stuff there yourself (I bought about $100 worth of plants when I went down for their spring open house), and Tony and the rest of the staff are very courteous and helpful in answering any questions that you might have. I'll definitely be buying from them again (especially when they finally get some more Sabal minor 'McCurtain' ready to ship.... They're currently sold out).

I got my order last Thursday, as promised. The plants are healthy and beautiful. They may seem a little pricy on some items, but when you consider the size (not little 21/3-3" pots), the service, and selection, I think it's just about right.
They have just gotten another return customer.

I have been ordering from online catalogs for years. I had stopped ordering from Plants Delight Nursery 3 years ago because I was disappointed in the size and quality. Boy has that changed! I ordered Dicentra eximia 'Dolly Sods' because they were the only company that had this specific species. Added Lespedeza thunbergii 'Gibraltar' as a trial. The plants arrived in great condition, large and very healthy. I am now looking forward to ordering from this creative and rare plant company in the future. Thanks for your improvements!

We visited Plant Delights last weekend during their open house. I purchased a number of hosta, Autumn Miniaret, Red Abysinnian, prickly pear. All of the plants I ordered were delivered to me by Wednesday here in New York. They were in perfect condition...each and every single one. I would order from them again with complete confidence.

If the opportunity ever presents itself, do yourself a GIGANTIC favor and visit the nursery in person. It was truly heaven on Earth!

I anxiously await the formosa lilies I preordered. Can you believe they were already sold out when we visited? However a fresh crop will be available June 1st and will, I am sure, be in as perfect a condition as the plants I received this week.

There is something to be said for picking out the plants you want and having them mailed back to your home. I enjoyed the whole experience immensely.

Wow. I received my first order from these guys today and am extremely pleased. I place several orders each year from various companies and I just cannot remember ever being this pleased when I opened the box. All of the plants are healthy, are a good size and are just beautiful. I'm thrilled! (I'm going back to the website to see what else they have). Thanks! -Kristen

Great nursery! Have ordered from them a few times now. What a strange and wonderful collection of plants. My only complaint is that my garden is not in a warmer climate, so that I could grow more of the plants they have available.

I was looking for unusual hosta and shade-loving plants as well as a couple of specific perennials. Based on the Garden Watchdog ratings, I took a chance on Plant Delights and was very well pleased. One of the items I selected was not available until later in the spring, so the customer service rep helped me select a replacement item and also placed my order for immediate shipment. I received everything yesterday and am very pleased with the size, quality, and packaging for shipment. Thanks, and I will order again.

i placed my order way back in dec. while i realized they were a bit pricey i decided i would give them a try. i ordered a number of cannas and asked they ship them to in april....that way i would have plenty of time to get them started and ready for their late may planting.

well you can imagine my surprise when they arrived yesterday and instead of the rhizomes i was expecting i rec'd large beautiful cannas plants some with well over the one of each rhizomes i was expecting. this did present somewhat of a problem for me because i can't plant them for almost another 8 weeks and my understanding was when starting to early indoor it may effect the plants general growth when transplanted. so i called and was received with the best customer service ever. someone passed me on to their "specialist" and she went through the proper caring procedures to follow to assure the plants health. since i'm certainly not new to planting these what i was told made absolute good sense.

once again ...although a bit high in cost...the bottom line...you get what you pay for and these are beautiful! i highly recommend them and will purchase again with no hesitation!

I ordered 6 plants and all arrived nicely packaged and in good condition. Yes, they are a little pricey but they also have plants you will not find elsewhere so it is worth it to me.

Will definitely order from them again.