Comments regarding Plant Delights Nursery

Ordered a variety of plant material to be delivered in 90+ F temperatures on the week of July 4.

Shipping:
This is an in-state delivery, so the plants likely sat in trucks for about 3 days. Pick-up notification was prompt, shipping on Monday. Delivery was on Thursday in two boxes. The soil for all plants was slightly damp, with each plant pot wrapped in a plastic bag. The shipping container was a double box, and none of the plants were loose or damaged.

Plant condition:
1. banana - a 14 inch pseudostem with 4 leaves arrived in a box accompanied by one other "small" pomegranate plant
2. pomegranate - with 3, 14 inch branches full of large, glossy leaves
3. elderberry - a thick 1/2 inch diameter stem with well-developed new branches, but those had not lignified yet.
4. hellebore - healthy looking plant, but the leaves and stems on hellebores always look good until they're dead.

The root systems were well developed for all of the plants, requiring teasing the roots apart to prevent girdling. There was no evidence of the plants being root bound in prior containers as the core of the soil remained loose.

I've ordered 25 unique plants from Plant Delights on 4 orders placed over the past 3 years. Every plant was well-rooted, free of disease and the foliage was always perfect. Every one of those plants are now thriving in my garden.

In terms of cost, my less than perfect experiences with more than 2 dozen nurseries compared to my success with the plants from Plant Delights, makes the total expense equivalent with all other nurseries since I've never lost nor have I ever been disappointed in the long-term growth of plants from Plant Delights.

I praise Plant Delights as a dependable nursery that sells healthy plants that always survive and thrive in my hot, weedy, disease-rampant garden.

I have been ordering from them for over 20nyears and have always been pleased with their service, willingness to answer questions and the plants have always been healthy. Great selection!

Overall I’ve been happy over the years with my purchases.
I have noticed the last few years I have been told plants I ordered I could not get even though they were in stock when I ordered them.
I realize plant failures happen but I also think if I order something I should be able to get it. Especially when it’s rarely in stock. Re: Tetrapanax Steroidal Giant. I have the regular Tetrapanax and it’s very aggressive which I want it to be where it is.
I hope I can get this plant sometime soon.

I was hesitant to order from them this spring because of the confusion caused by the Wuhan Virus shut down and the reduction of the work force. Therefore I was very impressed by the on time delivery and the quality of the plants (2 Bubblegum Blast Monarda). The plants were lush and green and better then many plants at the local nurseries. Not your skimpy seconds or immature plants you so often get from some mail order nurseries. Good job in the face of trying circumstances.

One of my favorite mail order nurseries ever. I've ordered from them about 5 times over the last 8 years and the plants they send always thrive for me. Every plant is labelled correctly, and they carry things that are not available anywhere else. I live in California and grow a lot of agaves, mangaves, etc., and their selection is the very best.

First let me say that their varieties are very unique and tempting to plantaholics like myself. This spring, I sent an order for approximately $175 for 7 plants with $35 of this being shipping. When my order arrived, six of the plants were very stocky, well-rooted specimens and one, in my opinion, was very skimpy for the $17 price tag. I emailed them twice with no response, only to learn that complaints should be directed to office@plantdelights.com. Very quickly after I sent the email to the proper address, I received a response from Elaine in customer service. I had included pictures of the skimpy fern. Within a week, I had a replacement. Now, all the plants are growing quickly. I watered them with Myco + root inoculant to help avoid future maladies, and they seem to be thriving. I have to say that my experience with their customer service was great, and Elaine was true to her word. I am certain, I will not be able to resist ordering again.

What a joy to unpack an order from Plant Delights Nursery. Their shipping boxes not only protect plants from the worst abuse in transit, but they also make unpacking easy. Plants were all healthy and have been in the ground for three weeks...all doing great. Will continue to order from PDN.

Posted on July 11, 2013, updated November 30, 2018
I can't say enough good things about Plant Delights. They always have the most unusual, quality plants. I ordered Kniphofia 'Lola' a few years ago even though I was a little skeptical about the mature size listed. I was amazed at just how large it grew. Their catalog is always a good read because of the plant material offered and Tony Avent's humor. My only problem is that my budget doesn't allow me to order all of the cool plants from Plant Delights that I want to.

My latest order included a clematis that arrived in pretty terrible condition. I sent photos, then called, and they immediately shipped a replacement plant which arrived in perfect condition. I couldn't ask for more from customer service.

I really like this place. I have ordered from PDN for the last three years, with about a dozen orders in that time. I rate them positively because my experiences with them have been, speaking holistically, quite good to outstanding. Just some positives: they offer a great selection of rare/hard-to-find plants, are usually very quick to respond to questions, provide valuable information, the customer service has been great for me and the plants, while expensive, are of generally of much better size and quality than most of the other mail order nurseries I have tried (7+).

My slight issues have been some plants that have been slightly underdeveloped - by "some" I mean only a Clematis hybrid and a Baptisia "Dark Net" which I hope they will sell again. I am not sure if this is really an issue, as there were still plenty of roots to ensure development, but I am including this here having seen similar concerns raised by others. I also find their soil medium to be of better quality than some other mail order places, whose media completely desiccate in what appears to be seconds in the Southern sun. For us, that at times makes it harder for plants to get established unless we water constantly even when in ground for several months.

I am also aware that their prices are high, but the place is devoted to becoming a great center for botanical research and transitioning to being a non-profit botanical garden. Perhaps consider that you could be bringing greater benefit to others through science through your payment contributions?

I will finish by noting that I admire their personal touches. I took my parents to their early March open house this year, our first visit to the premises. Though I live hours away from my parents, we have decided to collaborate on designing and planting our family garden as a way of connecting and keeping in touch via a mutually engaging project. This (and so much in our lives) has sadly been made more difficult as my mother has been recuperating from ovarian cancer in the last year and a half. When we went to the PDN open house, one of the staff (Megan, I believe) very kindly spent several minutes chatting with Mom (who was intrepidly walking around despite her pain) about her condition and later offered us 4 beautiful hellebores that staff were preparing to throw away because of PDN's exacting quality standards. (She had remembered that my mother was really interested in figuring out a problematically dull area in shade.) We were so touched by the kindness, generosity and consideration, especially as my mom had made such an effort because she wanted to see the place despite the 2.5 hour drive.

I received my first order from PDN last week, 2 Houseplants and 1 Hosta ('Time Traveler'). All were much larger than I expected and were very healthy. I look forward to doing more business with this company! . . . and they are FUN too! ;)

Posted on April 24, 2017, updated April 22, 2018
Posted on April 26, 2012, updated April 24, 2017
Ordered cat thyme and White Surprise Caryopteris, received call from Diane that due to weather damage the caryopteris was no longer available, but that I could substitute another plant, which I did (a form of Salvia Guarantica). All plants arrived when I requested very healthy and larger in size than expected.

Great customer service, very proactive in preventing customer dissatisfaction. As always, I'm glad to be a customer and highly recommend them.

One sad note, my cat loved the cat thyme too much and in rubbing all over it, he broke almost all its branches.

Posted on April 3, 2018, updated April 6, 2018
Posted on April 2, 2018, updated April 3, 2018
Posted on May 13, 2013, updated April 2, 2018
Posted on May 8, 2013, updated May 13, 2013
Posted on May 7, 2010, updated May 8, 2013
Posted on May 25, 2006, updated May 7, 2010
My very favorite mail order garden place. Cool plants, Good info, and great customer service!.

"On Apr 2, 2018 2:44 PM, Plant Delights Nursery responded with:

We guarantee that any plants we send are true to variety. We hope that you will respond to our direct message, and if you have any other questions we are also available Monday through Friday via email or phone; sales@plantdelights.com or 919-772-4794."

Posted on August 30, 2010, updated March 29, 2018
It is when you have a problem that you find the worth of a company. How did the company react to a your needs? I have only respect for Plant Delights. I had a problem with a Lycoris purchase. They happily, and with humor replaced the plants--which were dormant at the time of shipping. I am always very pleased with plants purchased from Plant Delights and now the customer service accorded me matched the high quality of the plants they sell and ship. If you like plants that are out of the standard offerings of many vendors, this is the place. Take a look at their web catalog, and if you want to have a good time monthly--subscribe to their e-newsletter--although sometimes Tony shares some sad news here, it is always interesting and well-written.

unlike the vast majority of people commenting on here, I buy in person on open house days as I live only 15 miles from PDN. That being said the best part about PDN is being able to visit their display gardens, and view in person all the plants for sale on the grounds and in greenhouses and being able to talk to their staff. And I might add, their display garden is amazing..... Never ordered and got deliveries via mail so I cant comment about that...

I ordered 9 plants from this company - three different kinds of flowering maples and hellebores that I couldn't find locally. The plants arrived in about a week. Was impressed with how well they were packed. All plants were in good shape even after being shipped across the country! The flowering plants all had buds and blooms on them. A brochure about caring for plants after unpacking, as well as return policy and contact information was thoughtfully included. Very good overall.

Returning customer. Ordered several perennials. Shipped on time, packed well for shipping. Most plants were a good size for the container except Amsonia Georgia Pancake which was very tiny. I notified PDN and they noted my account in case the plant doesn't make it.

I am happy with the several plants I ordered and received. The prices are not the cheapest on the internet but the quality of the plants was good. I would like to single out the Spiranthes cernua 'Chadds Ford' as being an extraordinarily good value and I've never seen a peony lactiflora species strain offered anywhere else before.

This is our family's first time ordering from Plant Delights Nursery and we are very happy with our experiences. The staff was very kind, knowledgeable, and patience with every questions and changes we made to our order. Shipping was very prompt and a tracker number was provided. When our plants arrived, our family immediately inspected the package and we were very pleased at how carefully everything was packed and how generous in size our plants are. We're glad we discovered and gave this nursery a chance.

We look forward to ordering more plants from them again next spring! Yes, we would recommend this nursery!

I have purchased from Plant Delights for many yrs. I have Always received Healthy Large Plants.. I recently received an order that did live up to my expectations.. Customer Service was Amazing and the issue was handled Promptly and with my Satisfaction being their Goal.. Outstanding Company with the Utmost of Integrity!!!

Best plants I've found and I love the variety. Everything was healthy, larger than other suppliers and just beautiful. Generally good packing. But shredded paper is a pain and dirt not as contained in pot as I liked. Still one of my top two suppliers and I bought 150 plants this year.

I placed an order almost two weeks ago, and these arrived last Thursday. The plants were very large for a mail order, and were protected very well. They were packaged nicely, and were in great condition. The plants I ordered were: Tiarella 'Pink Skyrocket, Pulmonaria 'Dark Vader', Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette', and Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash. I am very pleased with all of these plants, an d would recommend this mail order nursery to anyone.

have ordered several times from Plant Delights......initially worried that plants needed to travel across the country.....NC to OR.....but they carry varieties I couldn't find elsewhere................usually I simply order from Annie's or Far Reaches Farm (both highly recommended)......but surprise!....plants were fabulosity! good size and uber healthy............they arrived wrapped in several layers of careful care..........

I have ordered many times from this company and have never been disappointed. I knew they were having problems with their new system, so I expected somewhat of a delay. I will never stop ordering from them because they are the only company that has such unusual plants! Every plant I have received has been full, and packaged well.

Shipping for my small order was expensive however it was lightening fast. I ordered two clematis glaucophylla. I couldn't find them anywhere else. They arrived small but healthy.

I just received an order of mostly Epimediums and Hellebores, and am very pleased! They arrived in 1 day after being sent, and arrived safely. I recently became interested in Epimediums, and am looking forward to the blooms this spring!

I rarely order plants from across the country, since different growing conditions often cause failures. However Plant Delights has so many unique plants, I took a chance and ordered some that I couldn't find anywhere else. Their prices are high, but the quality of the plant material made up for it - everything was very robust (its not their fault that a critter dug up one plant the night after I put it in the ground, and it didn't recover).
What I most wanted to comment on was their packaging. Extraordinary! These plants were shipped, in summer, from North Carolina to Oregon, and arrived with the soil, and the newspaper wrapped around it, still damp! The plants didn't appear to be stressed at all, just a little crumpled (very temporary).

Posted on March 14, 2012, updated July 17, 2014
This company was a delight to work with from beginning to end. I was able to find plants I wanted at a fair price and was very happy to find they are close to my zone. I had a little problem with my bank and received a polite email from Diane who worked with me professionally and did not make me feel like I was ruining her day. Actually I felt like she enjoyed helping me. I got email next day telling me everything went through and my plants were on the way. Next day I received 6 beautiful plants that are just breaking dormancy, they look very healthy and have big healthy root system. I found the packing to be very unusual but effective, no dirt missing and they were still moist. I just love this nursery and would be happy to order again and recommend them highly.

I ordered 6 heucheras of 3 different varieties from Plant Delights. The company was easy to communicate with--they answer their phone and their representative was polite and helpful--and the plants shipped promptly and arrived exactly when promised. Some were smaller than others, but all were acceptable size and are beautiful and healthy. Would definitely order from this company again.

Posted on May 26, 2014, updated June 6, 2014
Posted on May 24, 2014, updated May 26, 2014
I have been a customer of this company since the early 90's and happy with the company and their customer service. This year was different. I placed 2 orders with them and one came in fine but a few of the plants were quite small for a price of 24 dollars each. The second order was missing a plant I ordered so I called customer service and they said they would check on it and get back to me. I found that pretty insulting that they would "check" on and get back to me instead of taking care of the problem and get the missing plant out to me ASAP. I then found the number of plants was one too many and they had shipped me two "Miss Ruby's" buddleia instead of one, so I immediately called back and talked to another customer service rep and told them what had happened and they said they would get the "Miss Molly" in the mail to me and they were sorry about the mix up. It's bee about a month now and nothing was sent. Guess I was supposed to just forget about it. Not a happy camper in Owasso, OK!

Posted on May 22, 2014, updated June 1, 2014
Posted on May 22, 2014, updated May 22, 2014
Let me state first off that my quibble with Plant Delights is not with the plants, which are fabulous. I am a garden designer, and like to experiement in my own gardens with different cultivars. I ordered well over $1000 of plants this year alone - only one looked sort of sad, and it is now recovering.

Their service had always been excellent. Even earlier this year, I made a mistake and ordered some items twice. They contacted me to make sure that I really wanted both orders, and changed the orders with no problem.

Then things went downhill.

One of my orders was about $600, including shipping. It was scheduled to go out 4/28. On 4/22, I got an email saying my order was rescheduled to go out on 5/14. This was kind of upsetting. I had wanted to get many of the plants started earlier, and I might have gotten something else (or the same plants from somewhere else) to fill those spaces had I known. I wrote back asking if there was any chance we could make it earlier. I got ZERO response to my email.

On 5/18 (four days after the already-more-than-two-weeks-late order was supposed to go out), I got a generic email saying that they were very sorry, they had been busy, this isn't how they usually do business, etc. etc., and my order would now go out on 5/19. I wrote back saying that I was pretty upset about being delayed a second time. Again, ZERO response. Certainly no offer of a discount!

I was notified that the plants shipped on 5/21, still later than the second delay.

It has taken more than a month to receive my order that was supposed to arrive in 11 days, with no response to any of my emails. Totally unprofessional. I wish I had not given them nearly so much of my money.

The only way I could ever see using them again is if they have a plant absolutely no one else has.

"On May 23, 2014 10:38 AM, Plant Delights Nursery responded with:

Hello MDepicci,

We want to address your concerns posted about the delay of your orders. While your first 3 orders from us were shipped without delay, we were unfortunately unable to meet our originally scheduled ship date for your most recent order. Since our new software folks seem to break something every time they try to fix something. During the busy spring season, we schedule the maximum number of plants that our two car garage shipping department can process so the perfect storm of errors created a backup that we are working diligently to correct with additional staff and man hours. I see that your emails asking for multiple changes to your orders were addressed by myself or other customer service individuals , but could not find the email you refer to regarding asking that we ship sooner after getting the delay notice nor the email you reference in your second post yesterday. I hope you can let me know to which email those were sent so that I can investigate further.

Your order this week does show delivered, but I'm afraid not all of your plants were correctly addressed since your tracking information shows only 1 box, when there should be multiple boxes for 31 plants. So I have left you a telephone message and sent an email to you directly so that we can determine which plants you have not received and get them shipped today or with your remaining order scheduled for next week.

I would like to reiterate that this is not how we normally conduct business and hope that your prior experiences are evidence that we have no interest in delaying plant orders at any time of year. I look forward to hearing from you so that we can work to resolve any and all issues.

Kind regards,
Virginia Meehan
Manger of Customer Service & Shipping
Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.
office@plantdelights.com
"

While I have placed small Plant Delights orders in previous years with satisfaction, 2014 has been my first year for significant purchases. Plant Delights prides itself in unique specialty plants, well researched, test-grown in their NC gardens and grown under expert care. Their catalog is a horticultural education course in itself; it can usually be found on my nightstand (or bathroom vanity).

Their prices are not for the faint of heart. These are “show-stopper” plants! By all means continue to support your local nursery/ garden center…learn and purchase locally. But when you find yourself wanting to go to the next level (which usually occurs about the same time you spend hundreds of dollars to amend your garden soil), Plant Delights will be your Mecca! That’s right, these aren’t your Home Depot caliber plants and the responsibility of the buyer is greater. Do your own research, know your zone, your sun/shade, summers/winters, your successes/failures and mindfully select.

Over a two month period, I made three purchases totaling almost $500.00. Every plant is healthy and I am very pleased; no regrets. Three plants arrived dormant (and they are normally dormant for the time of the year they were shipped) but with warmth, sunshine & time, they are awake and flourishing. It’s not time for anything to be blooming yet but growth is evidence that they are acclimating well to their new home. Plant Delights have done a great job with my new “garden amusements” thus far, now it’s my turn to foster them to my best ability.

I must confess that I do suffer from mild case of sticker shock when I see their shipping costs. But when each order has arrived, those doubts quickly disappeared. They try to anticipate any common shipping problem by impeccable packing and experienced shipping practices. Why cut corners during the final step with cheap & risky packing and shipping? Most of these plants are grown in their entirety at Plant Delights; pride and uncompromising quality is evident.

I’ll be back next year for more!

The selection of plants from PDN is fantastic. The packaging was great and the plants were all in excellent condition save for one that I may have broken when unwrapping it. I was so pleased, I immediately placed another order for plants that were unavailable at another mail order. Their prices are high in comparison to their nearest competitors but it's worth it to get a hard to find plant. I really only purchased from PDN what I couldn't find elsewhere but I'm definitely glad I did purchase from them :)

I've only placed one order with Plant Delights, and it was initially a bit rocky, but I am so immensely impressed with the quality of their plants and their customer service that I believe the positive rating is well-deserved.

For the sake of transparency, I should admit that I've never really been a fan of the infamous Plant Delights catalog covers, or their "colorful" plant descriptions (the domestic violence one springs, violently, to mind). The "helpful" instructions on how to conduct oneself as a customer are glib, condescending, and a little too pleased with themselves. The website (though recently lightly re-designed / re-formatted, making things somewhat easier to read) is a lesson in poor design and amateur coding. Photographs are mangled, poorly-lit, and laughably edited.

None of this really matters to me. They offer plants I can't get anywhere else, and their reputation for gargantuan, healthy specimens at reasonable prices makes up for any distaste I might have for some of their "hilarious" marketing "quirks."

I kept minimalist for my first order--again, a bit wary of those instructions--and limited it to three plants. My order was confirmed and processed promptly. A third e-mail confirmed shipment, with a helpful tracking number attached. The day it was set to arrive, I received on my door a form from my local ag commissioner's office: the shipment had been seized, suspected of harboring delinquent, out-of-state live pests. In addition, the package itself was rejected for delivery by the California FDA because accompanying certification stamps were illegible. It was with a touch of trepidation that I phoned Plant Delights to inform them of the problem.

To reiterate, their customer service is superb. I was immediately in touch with the manager of the customer service and shipping department. She assured me that Plant Delights acts in accordance with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture protocols concerning pests and quarantines and that orders sent to California are packaged and treated according to prevailing inter- and intra-state regulations. She followed up our phone conversation with an e-mail, restating this information with greater detail, and contacted me again when she got word from California quarantine officers concerning the insect found with my order. The insect turned out to be benign and was probably associated with one of the three species I had ordered. Plant Delights' on-site pathologist and nursery manager suggested to her that I might prefer to select an alternative to this plant, whereupon they would ship a replica of my order immediately. I did so, she overnighted me that order, and it arrived in excellent condition. In addition, and to prevent a potential problem with their printed certification stamps, a full size copy of their certification was included in a pouch glued onto the outside of the box along with my invoice.

Throughout this experience, the manager was polite, informative, and helpful. We exchanged a number of e-mails, sometimes overlapping, but she sorted out any potential confusion, and was concise and detailed throughout, quick to return e-mails. Although I missed two of her phone calls, she phoned me to expedite the second order and e-mailed again following delivery to ensure that my order was in good condition and that I was satisfied.

The plants I ordered are thriving. I wouldn't hesitate to order from Plant Delights again, catalog be damned.

Last night I received my first ever order from PDN. The only negative thing I can say about it was a nasty comment from my husband about my plant buying habits. As I pulled one plant after the other out of a box that I just knew was too big for the number of plants I ordered I just kept saying "Oh my, Oh my!" When they were unwrapped they were beyond gorgeous! They were huge!! They were green!! They were so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes!! Yes they are a bit pricey for mail order but "Oh my!!!!" A botanist friend came over and she just kept ooo'ing and aahh'ing over them. PDN you've not only earned a place in my heart you have a place in my favorites list as well. PDN, well done!

I placed my first order with Plant Delights this Spring and it was a resounding success. The plants arrived in near perfect condition and very well packed. One of the two raspberry hibiscus I ordered arrived with a broken stem; I called and was assured it would throw up another within a couple of weeks. I did and both are already blooming and 4 feet tall. I was assured they probably wouldn't bloom until next year. These people are very knowledgeable and super to work with. I can't wait to order more treasures next year.

Posted on May 10, 2012, updated June 14, 2013
Posted on September 7, 2006, updated May 10, 2012
i just received my plants today. i think this is my 3rd or 4th order from PDN. they are terriific. their selection is awesome, communication is first rate, they ship right on time (your choice of dates) and i love how they package with the shredded paper. i also get a kick out of the box itself. it says, "help, let us out of here". best of all, of course, are the plants themselves, big and healthy. thanks to all of you at PDN....a job well done.

I have been ordering from Plant Delights for years and have always been extremely happy with both the quality of their plants and their customer service. I just received a shipment of 8 Colocasias and was amazed at the way they were packed: Filler of shredded newspaper, then a wrapper of tissue paper, then an outer wrap of some sort of stretchy material that was definitely high-tech. The box itself was padded with huge bubble cells, no horrid styrofoam peanuts or other messy stuff. The delicate plants--which were huge, by the way--arrived in perfect condition, without a single damaged leaf. I love this company so much that we're going to spend our anniversary visiting them and their botanic garden in July during their 'open days'...all the way from Chicago!