Comments regarding Hortico Nurseries Inc.

I was extremely pleased with my 1st dealings with Hortico. I placed my order for 8 rose bushes on November 18, 2003. I was notified within 1 day that two of the roses I ordered were not available (both were the same variety) I had my REVISED order confirmation on the 20th, 2 days later. I requested Fall shipping with a ship "window" between 11/18/2003 and 12/07/2003. Good Enough. I realized on 12/10 that they should have been shipped. I wrote the office at Hortico late in the day as to inquire if my roses had been shipped. (more anxious than anything) I received a reply the NEXT day, Dec. 11th, that due to bad weather they had been shipped the 9th. My order came a few hours later, December 11, 2003, perfect timing for weekend planting. All 8 roses were tagged and were dormant, healthy and green. I counted between 5 and 11 branches on each bush, just beautiful. They were bundled nicely and the roots were surrounded by a lightweight, wet potting soil-like mix. Just Beautiful. I am sure I will order from Hortico again, as soon as I can make some room for more plants. The website is fantasic and it is very easy to use and order from. Thanks to all at Hortico for a wonderful buying experience. Sincerely, Jay

I have ordered many times from Hortico. They have many hard to find roses and I consider them an invaluable source for roses. I have never had a problem with the roses I have ordered from them. I have placed orders 3 years in a row for a total of 40+ roses. True their started eyes are small but in my garden their growth rate well makes up for any difference.

I too have just recently had a very bad experience with this company.

I ordered a huge order of plants that I had had difficulty olocating elsewhere (bog plants and woodland plants, including lady-slippers, and stepable plants). I also bought a Milky-way flowering dogwood, 2 azaleas and a pieris mountain fire.

My pre-order emails communications were very nice, however, going to pick up the plants and most post-visit experiences have been very bad.

The following plants were sunburnt:

fern-leaf peony
sweet woodruff
ajuga chocolate chip
lysymachia numillaria aureola

The following were nutrient difficient (iron):

The dogwood
The pieris
Both azaleas (also too packed in at the greenhouse -- no lower branch growth)

The following were simply very very week plants:

The dog-toothed violets (trout lilies)
marsh marigolds
cardinal flower
siberian iris
anacyclus depressus

The following were mislabled:

wrong variety of pieris
wrong variety of cardinal flower

The following were very healthy and surprise me given the other's conditions:

pitcher plants (but I would order from niagra exotics next time)
ladyslippers (big plants looking decent! for half price)
jack in the pulpits

However, more than half my order was unavailble (and I wasn't told until after I got there). But, probably a good thing in the end!

I wrote a letter to ask a question on how to help my plants (not demanding a refund!) and got no response, wrote another asking if the dogwood was mislabelled (far, far, far, too pale a set of leaves) and got no response. Phoned and got hung up on!

Anyways, never never do business with these people.

That company can't care less about its customers. NEVER answer mail. Sent me dead plants
and others in very ba condition. NEVER AGAIN. They should try to learn from real professionnal company like Garden Import in Thornhill, Arcadian Daylylies or Vivaces Nordiques.

If you visited their greenhouses, you'd understand why the negative comments.

I was going to place a mail order last year, but instead drove to their place for a visit as I was very impressed with their selections of hard to find trees and plants in their catalog.

When I got to their nursery I was dismayed. The greenhouses were completely disorganized, many pots were full of weeds and many were mislabeled. Many were just dead.

But..i did find a lot of what I was looking for, but it was only because i got to hand pick what I wanted. As for the ephemerals, I just didn't take a chance if it wasn't already poking up in the pot. We did get a lot of wonderful trillium species and a few hard to find clematis.

Have twice ordered approximately 25 roses. They have the most comprehensive selection available in Canada, with a very detailed catalogue. All roses arrived on time and in excellent condition. All were true to name with one exception, and it turned out to be better than the plant I had ordered. Extremely knowledgable if you talk to one of the managers. Had asked for their best yellow Hybrid T explaining I live in zone 3b, and they recommended a variety Berolina. The 3 plants I ordered as a result still outperform most of the roses in my garden. My first choice for a Canadian grower.

Can't post a real opinion right now since I didn't get my roses yet and I oredred a lot! Customer Service could be better since they never responded to my e mails, asking about a shipping details. Oh well, I will wait and see!

Last spring I ordered several- a lot of perennials from this company, I must say, the plants arrived in very good shape, good size, etc. Two of the plants were on backorder which they shipped to me this past fall in time for planting, they too were lovely.
They were also very good at their office about emailing me promptly when I had any questions.
I do plan on ordering from them again-

Nightmare dealing with this company. Wasn't sure they'd gotten the order as no one sent any type of comfirmation. When we finally got someone to talk with the nightmare continued. The order was sent, not sent, not billed, the billing wouldn't go through - we heard all the excuses. When the roses finally arrived...Roses arrived DEAD. Dead, brown, brittle dead, dead, dead. Company won't do anything about it other than offer to replace at 1/2 price. Seems they won't guarentee anything arriving alive after May. I've done business with other mail order companies and have never had the experience that these people put me through. No matter how tempting their roses are I will never give them another cent.

It is traumatic to relive this mail order experience. Some of the roses I received were no more than twigs. Several weren't sent, though I was never informed they weren't in stock. Actually, I was glad they weren't sent because of the general poor quality, but it took months for me to get a refund (the company wanted to send them two years later, but I insisted on a refund). Customer service was very slow--e-mails and phone calls were unanswered for weeks. One of the roses proved to be understock when it bloomed, but no refund was given. All in all, a nightmare!!

I have had nothing but problems with this company. all of the roses I ordered from them died, even after diligent care, but the worst part is, that they will not contact me back to correct this, I have sent them email after email, more than a dozen, with no response, I ended up calling them one time, and the person that answered said, "all the email sits on the boss's desk until he decides what to do with them", they have definitely lost me as a customer!

I ordered too many roses from Hortico. They all arrived in good condition. The roses were bound together, in a black plastic bag-bare root, but with some moist potting type mix. I couldn't get them all planted immediately, so some of them died. My fault, not theirs. I wont know whether or not they're mislabled till they bloom. I'm very pleased with my purchase!I would have had to order from one half dozen nurseries, to obtain the unique selection that I got in one order from Hortico. (No one else had Rembrandt)I'm very "thumbs up" Hortico.

I am a repeat customer, they can't be all that bad.

I've had several experiences with mis-labelling from Hortico. However, the selection of plants is unmatched; that keeps me returning. And their prices are really, really reasonable. A big plus. You take your chances, but they're not robbing you blind.

Many of the best-loved plants in my garden have come from them: Japanese Maples, magnolias, poppies...

This company is a mess. I have never received what I've actually ordered. Many of their varieties are mislabeled and the plants I've received haven't been good quality. Some of them have arrived dead and others looked as though they've been run over or chopped up. Their selection is great, but I think they're over their heads. I don't order from them anymore.

I ordered a number of plants at once from this company, assuming from reading their catalogue that they knew what they were doing. All the Podophyllum peltatum I got were dead, and some had grubs eating the roots. The Amsonia tabernaemontana were all crispy with rotted roots. The reeds had worms. The hellebores were small and some were not even rooted yet, just stuffed into loose dirt, but they all survived and are healthy. Pink Jack-in-the-pulpit also came up, as did Actaea. All in all, about half the plants were okay and the other half not usable, so I would not order from them again.

This is a hit and miss nursery as sometimes the order is not mixed up and okay but many times you get a poorly packaged, mislabeled and very low quality plants.

Ordered about a dozen rose plants and over 100 perennials from their catalogs. All but one rose was in excellent condition and grew well last year. I had very good service from them and have recently had an e-mail reminding me (!) that they will be replacing that one rose this spring. Excellent pricing. I always pick up my orders personally and have been ALWAYS very pleased. Their rose selection is superb. I recommend Hortico to anyone.

From two orders they have send shipments which required 3 weeks in transit - some plants withered, others ok, all sprouting. One plant I requested replacement was replaced. All in all: expensive, chancy, good variety though. Management seem both positive and behind times at same time.

We have received plants from Hortico Nursery for the past few years and have been completely satisfied. Ordering by fax is much better than phone! It is good to specify when one does not want substitutes because they match the closest variety. Hortico has an exceptionally large variety of unusual and hard to find plant material. Hortico's packaging is great and via UPS. I also hear they are planning to come on internet--we can't wait!