Comments regarding Veseys

Veseys is a good company to go to for vegetable seeds, but the flower department is iffy. I have never had any problems with the vegetables, but some of the flowers I ordered (parrot tulips and a blue iris) serve as a warning to shop in person (the flowers were not as advertised, since the avignon parrot tulips look like magenta dishrags, and the blue iris turned out to be a wild type iris). Also, I received someone else's order of flower seed, so I hope that customer eventually got their correct order.

I ordered a lot of lily bulbs from Veseys over a two year period and probably half of them had the right label on the bag but the wrong bulb. Bare root stock was so tiny they would fit in a sandwich bag. Other companies sell mature plants that often bloom the first year. Some Veseys plants didn't even survive the first year. I had better luck with seeds, only once did I get the wrong seeds. They offered me a refund or replacement for the bulbs and bare root stock but I declined. I was expecting the same problem with the replacements that I had with the original order. Why go through the disappointment of getting the wrong plants and then get replacements that may or may not be the right ones. I just chocked it up to a lesson learned and buy from other companies. I've bought plants from several other companies and never had this problem.

bought purple and green pole beans from veseys and less than 5% came up!

You get what you pay for, and sometimes less than what you paid for. I ordered bulk, and only some of the bulbs were satisfactory. The bare-root plants I planted late fall didn't came up. The only plant that came up was a mislabeled one, a hosta that was labeled (and purchased) as lilly of the valley.

I have been buying from Veseys for many years and with every order there has been a problem of some kind; whether its ordering 30 "mixed purple and white day lilies" and waiting all summer only to see them all a horrible shade of tacky orange/red or ordering 12 Amaryllis bulbs for Christmas gifts in a allegedly beautiful dark shade of Burgundy and then when the blooms finally open you realize they are fire engine red like the one's you could have bought at Walmart for half the price or ordering Peony roots that were described as " generous 2-3 eye roots" that turn out to be half rotted tiny little one-eyed roots. I have never left a review like this before but after my most recent experience with this company I decided that due to the fact that I have relied on others' reviews so many times I owed it to the gardening community to recount my experiences. You might ask yourself, " Why do I keep buying from them if there's always a problem". I have recently decided that the reason is probably one that many Canadian gardeners experience: After a long and horrible Winter one receives this flashy catalogue full of beautiful flowers and none of the garden centres are open yet so there's only 2 ways to fulfil your gardening needs: You can order seeds or pre-order bulbs/ roots and plants from Vesey's or Botanus. Its a perfect storm for these companies because they really have no competition and the marketing is so slick. Truth is that you end up paying double the price for something you could have got at a local garden centre a month later that is already thriving. At the end of the day, Vesey's seems like this quaint little Island garden oasis selling dreams of beautiful flowers and giant bulbs and in reality it is just a company selling average to sub-par plants at outrageous prices and taking advantage of winter-shocked Canadians who have no other choice then to wait a month or to buy from their competitor: Botanus who's quality by far surpasses Vesey's but so does the price point! It's almost hilarious what Botanus charges for a lily bulb. Before buying from Vesey's make sure you read the small print on bulb sizes, plug sizes etc; I assure with a little patience you will get a lot more for your buck and support a local business by waiting a few weeks. If you really must pre-order I recommend Costco, at least the prices are fair and the bulb sizes are amazing.

I have been ordering plants and seeds from Veseys for a significant number of years. While not all orders were trouble free, those that had problems due to dead plants on arrival or wrong bulbs, missing items, etc, I was always dealt with fairly and quickly by Veseys. Typically, they offered a credit toward my next order or a replacement when possible, all without hesitation. My latest dealings have been with Shirley at Veseys. A special thank you goes out to her for her professional prompt service and positive attitude toward her customers.

I've been ordering from Vesey's for a few years and have been pretty satisfied - I find their discounts and prices very good so if the odd thing winter kills or doesn't come up I don't worry about it. I really enjoy their catalogues. Last fall my order included 3 Brilliant double oriental poppies (rich red, black centre) - 2 came up - one of those died but the third plant did fantastic and even bloomed this spring (I've never had oriental poppies bloom the first year from a bare root purchase before). But - it was a pink poppy with a "ruffled edge". (Apologies to the poppy lovers that like a ruffled edge - but I don't care for them - they look ragged to me). Anyway I emailed Veseys and sent them a photo and I received a very friendly, helpful reply within a couple of days and a credit for all 3 poppies (they no longer stock the poppy originally ordered) - this was more than I asked for or expected. So I have no complaints about their customer service.

I have gotten the Vesey's catalogues the last couple of years, but I always ended up buying seeds, bulbs & plants locally because I liked seeing what I was buying. I always thought I should order one thing or another but always got sidetracked & never did.
However, this year, due to health reasons I no longer am able to drive, so I decided to order from Vesey's since there was a Free Shipping promotion on the items from the seed catalogue. I also wanted to buy a light garden, and having it delivered to my door just made sense, since I couldn't think of anywhere locally that would sell one anyway, and it is difficult to lug things like that around on a bus.
I was a bit nervous dropping almost $300 on items from the other end of the country, not sure if the items would be good or not, etc. I did pay a small shipping charge on the light garden, but that is perfectly understandable, and the extra charge was listed very clearly in the catalogue, so I was totally fine with it.
I got my order fairly quickly, especially considering how far it had to go! I noticed later that Vesey's had emailed me both when they charged my credit card AND when the order shipped (I am terrible at checking my email), which was nice.

I was SUPER excited when I got home to my order being here! I was like a kid at Christmas!
I have to say that everything I ordered was of really good quality -- I ordered the 4-foot Jump Start T5 light garden (grow-light that hangs from a frame/stand, with a pulley-type of thing to raise or lower it), which is really sturdy, it's not horribly heavy, quite light in fact AND it's not flimsy or tippy, which I was a bit worried that it would be.
I also ordered a dual-screen soil sieve, garden inoculant, a 3-in-1 soil meter, numerous packets of seeds, gardener's hand cleaner, some copper slug barrier, BTK ... you get the idea. A bit of everything. One type of seed I ordered was substituted for a different variety of the same flower, but otherwise everything was exactly as I ordered.

I am THRILLED with my order!
One particular packet of seeds -- Sweeter Yet Cucumber -- I sprouted some right away, and they are now utterly GORGEOUS baby plants! I have NEVER had such nice healthy baby cuke plants in all the years I have grown them. The order was packaged REALLY WELL, with things inside placed into separate plastic bags (ie, the BTK was in one bag, the 3 pks of garden inoculant in another bag, flower seeds in one bag, veggie seeds in another) with crumpled paper around the box so nothing would knock around too much. There was a lovely little "Thanks for your order" card inside that says my order was packed & shipped by Barb. She did a great job filling & packing my order!
I am now considering saving up for the Deluxe 3-Tier light garden for myself next Christmas -- I think it would be well worth the money. I will definitely order from Vesey's again!!

Posted on August 24, 2014, updated April 3, 2015
I was extremely dissatisfied in my experiences with Veseys. I placed an order for two honeyberries and one lionheart lily. The honeyberries they sent me were not the variety I ordered. After emailing customer service to find out how I can return it, they apologized and said a request for refund was put in. Never saw the refund. On top of that, when the lilies bloomed, they weren't the lionheart lilies I ordered. Take care when ordering from this seller as they will substitute without asking you and you may be disappointed.

I have now made 2 distinct orders from Veseys (a Fall and a Spring order) and I must say the Fall order was thoroughly successful, while the Spring order was "hit and miss." The Fall order was my first ever and the bulbs were large and firm and this Spring, everything sprouted and I have enjoyed a myriad of blooms from crocus, daffodil, and allium plants.

The Spring order saw several plants not grow. I contacted customer service via email and they have given me a credit for anything that failed to grow (replacements were not viable as the stock is sold out), so I'm pleased with the way the company handled the issue.

I will order from Veseys again this Fall hoping to try their peony and iris selections. Here's hoping it's a repeat of my very first order.

the plants I received from Veseys were all very small and dried up. much smaller and weaker than anything I've ever received via online order from other suppliers or bought in bare root form. ie roses I paid $5 each for were one tiny twig about 1 mm thick and 5 inches long no branches. Some of the trees i'd ordered looked quite dead upon arrival ie wood shrivelled and dry, ends of twigs curled up and no green to be found. Everything is so small I won't be able to find it again to monitor and care for it my yard and garden. They also shipped in multiple events making tracking and receiving hard and spread over several days. Shipping also took several days which isn't good for live plants at all. I wish I'd never spent money there and never will again!

I ordered bulbs online and requested a catalog. I received the catalog and enjoyed the many varieties to choose from.

I didn't know when my bulbs would ship and sent of a simple email to ask. I received a quick response and was also advised that my credit card would not be charged until the order was filled.

Before the order was filled (I ordered very early) my credit card actually expired and I was contacted via email and was requested to call as there was an issue with the charge. The person I spoke to was friendly and helpful.

A few days later I received a very well packed packaged (with lots of padding and air holes to avoid any damage to the bulbs).

These bulbs have begun to sprout and look healthy thus far! I am happy to see that other reviews show that issues with quality were resolved in a satisfactory manner.

Posted on October 13, 2011, updated October 25, 2012
I have to agree with what Seedhead said- "Veseys is a shadow of its former self". I have never really had conversations with the family that owns the business, so I have no customer service issues, but the quality in plants they deliver has really gone downhill. I was wondering if it was just me, but it seems not.

This year I had only ordered a few Coneflowers which were very overpriced for the teeny tiny plants they give you. Plus, they were starting to yellow and the soil around them was starting to dry out despite their roots being wrapped up. I am curious to see if these little things will perform well or not.

I am giving them a neutral, but I'm not sure I will order from them anymore.

"On Oct 18, 2011 11:33 AM, Veseys responded with:

To Lady Assassin,
I wish to assure you that Vesey's takes plant quality and customer
satisfaction very seriously. For that reason we publish in our
catalogue that if you are not completely satisfied by the quality of
our product upon arrival we will replace or refund immediately. From
your post it doesn't appear that you had contacted our company to
inform us of the quality issues you experienced with your Coneflowers
when they arrived.
We make this product quality guarantee as there are many factors that
affect the quality of shipping live plants beyond our control. While
we make every effort to properly store and maintain plants at our
facility, there are occasions when product is affected by shipping
delays (Canada Post) and/or the packages can become subject to extreme
temperatures while enroute. For these reasons we wish to remove any
risk that these uncontrollable factors can cause the customer by
promising them that they will be satisfied with their product or we
will make it right.
I would ask that if you have a concern with your recent order that you
contact our customer service department immediately so we can rectify
your problem. Thank you for placing an order with Veseys and I am
confident that we can meet your expectations on plant quality both now
and in the future.
Sincerely, John Barrett, Director of Sales, Marketing & Development,
Veseys Seeds Ltd. john@veseys.com"

Veseys used to be a good company with a good reputation and consistently high quality plants, but in the last few years or so it has rapidly slid downhill, both in terms of the quality of their plants/bulbs and their customer service. Not sure if there has been a change of management or just some mediocre personnel issues. I suppose I keep ordering from them out of habit even after I realized they have been skimping on quality, but no longer.
When the bare root perennials that I ordered hadn't arrived, their customer service rep named Pat had the gall to imply that my zone wasn't due to be shipped yet. Having been previously assured that they would go out in "early October," I knew there had to be a glitch. When I pressed her on it, she admitted that their stuff was late coming in this season. When I asked when they would be shipped, she very testily informed me "there are thousands of orders ahead of you." Never answered my question either. Not sure what prompted this attitude. I was not rude or nasty, didn't raise my voice and hadn't even complained yet, except to note that I had been told early October. Maybe she was having a bad day, maybe she has been fielding complaints from many other customers frustrated with the delays and was at her wit's end.
Of course, it's not their fault if there was a supply delay on the import side, but it's inconceivable not to receive an apology, or acknowledgement that this might be an inconvenience to customers. And of course she should have been forthright up front about why plants are late going out this year. I hope that doesn't reflect on the company's ethics.
I would have understood. Instead, she gave me a condescending gardening lecture as an apparent explanation of why the delay won't affect my garden. I'm an award-winning Master Gardener and, as we all know, best gardening practices are varied and subjective, not to mention subject to unpredictable weather patterns. I prefer to use my own expertise and experience as a guideline for planting, but maybe that's just me.
I have never experienced customer service as rude and shoddy as this in all my years as a gardener. Clearly, Veseys is a shadow of its former self. Inexcusable!

"On Oct 18, 2011 11:32 AM, Veseys responded with:

To Seedhead,
I am sorry for not responding to your comments earlier but I have been
out of province on business and have only just received notification
of your post.
Allow me to begin by expressing my sincere regret for your recent
experience dealing with our Customer Service Department. I agree with
you wholeheartedly that our representative should have explained that
the delay in your shipment was caused by our grower. Due to some
rather unusual and unfortunate weather conditions across the
continent this past summer we have unfortunately been subject to
harvest delays by many of our growers. Because of this our shipments
are substantially behind this season and this backlog has been causing
stress in both our production and customer service areas of the
business.
While it is true that we ship by zone in the fall (starting with the
lowest zones first), this shipping system combined with our grower
delays has unfortunately put you in a position of receiving your order
later than we would like. While I am not making excuses for the
communication issues you have experienced, I do hope that you will
take the other factors into account when considering our overall
customer service reputation.
I wish to assure you that our customer service department is operating
at the highest level of professionalism, gardening knowledge and
efficiency in our company's 73-year history. While that is certainly
no excuse for the manner in which your issue had been handled, I do
hope that you realize that we all have bad days and that your call was
certainly an exception to the over 200,000 phone inquiries we have
each year.
So that you are aware, I have double checked with our customer service
department to make sure that everyone is on the same page when it
comes to explaining the grower delays with customers. Trust me when I
say that ethically our company operates at the highest of ethical
standards and there was certainly no planned attempt to hide our
grower delays from our customers.
In closing I do thank you for your comments and would hope that should
you ever have an issue (no matter how small,) with our company in the
future that you would contact me personally so I would have to
opportunity to find an immediate solution.
Respectfully, John Barret, Director of Sales, Marketing & Development,
Veseys Seeds Ltd. john@veseys.com
"

I must say I am disappointed by the inconsistent quality of the bulbs and tubers. I have yearly ordered up to a couple of hundred dollars worth of mostly spring growth bulbs and plants for a relatively robust but typical Montreal garden.

I'm not a garden wiz, but I am studious, and conscientious in my general preparation, placement etc.

Some orders arrived rotten, while others were small, clearly seconds, while still others grew indifferently, not at all, or only bloomed once and never again.

Considering their prices, I think they could certainly improve their quality control and be more accurate in their advertising.

I don't think I'll be ordering again this year.

Posted on October 14, 2010, updated May 11, 2011
Posted on August 13, 2010, updated October 14, 2010
So far so good with my experiences with Veseys. My first order was for fall bulbs, so they have not been shipped yet, but they sent email confirmation quickly. The second order I put through with them were for seeds (for my parents as well as myself). The shipment was received promptly and everything looked in good condition. with so much to do this year around the house I have not had time to plant any of the seeds (although I did get some pots filled with soil). My parents have not had a chance to plant the creeping thyme they purchased to start covering the acre of yard that they have. They plan on starting in the corners of the yard as the riding mower can't get close enough to the fence.
My 3 order, was again for fall bulbs for my mother and myself. Email confirmation was sent promptly. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the right time for them to ship them on over.
I am so excited!
thanks!

I've ordered from Veseys at least 10 times now since 2007... plants/bulbs, tools/materials, and seeds. Their tools/materials and seeds come quickly, packed nicely enough and I've never had a problem related to these orders.

The plant/bulb orders have been hit or miss for me and actually as I look back over past orders, I am not sure how I manage to muster up the optimism to continue ordering plants from them regularly! I think the thrill of using a $25 off coupon on an order barely over $50 is usually to blame.

Early orders are most rewarding--with a majority of the plants in dormant or near dormant states when they arrive, in decent condition, in peat moss-filled bags generally. Usually nothing impresses, but nothing disappoints majorly when ordering early--except when they get the order wrong--more on that later.

End of season sale (50% off) orders tend to result in the delivery of up to ~50% "off" plants--dead or nearly dead, with no chance of surviving--and the survivors having to pull through being planted at the wrong time... so not such a bargain in the end.

I have received several wrong plants--max. 1 per order, and they were not substitutions, but packing errors. I contacted them by email to get a refund only one of the times that this happened (I hate dealing with this kind of stuff), and it would have been an okay experience except that the CSR and I were in disagreement about the amount to be refunded at first. I had to nicely argue my side to get an actual full refund (if I recall correctly, it took 3 emails from me before she conceded), which I found to be incredibly irritating. I was only asking for a full refund without any deduction to the value of the item (due to the $25 off coupon I used on the order since my order was well above the required $50 order without this item) and then obviously tax and the related dollar or so in shipping, since this item that I didn't receive had tipped me over into the next shipping bracket. To me, this was only fair and how the CSR should have calculated it in the first place.

After reviewing my orders, I don't think I should order plants from them anymore... I am apparently way too optimistic and forgiving (or forgetful!).

1/24/11.....Ordered Plant propagator trays and domes, along with plant pots....these work awesome, as I ordered
these from them last year also.....prices for these are reasonable.....decided not to order anything else due to
the negatives and neutrals existing with this company.....
Ordered a pkg of sunflower seeds also; but hopefully,
these will germinate well.........took about a month for shipment, but thats okay, as winter is still here..........

I have been a regular customer for 4 years now and have filled my garden with plants and bulbs from this company. I have never been disappointed! All the bulbs have performed wonderfully, we have been enjoying strawberries all summer (ever bearing) and have made lots of jam and pies from the conventional ones. Also raspberries have done exceptionally well. Peonies are gorgeous, dahlias and Asiatic lilies are beautiful. Have never been disappointed!

Ordered seeds, half the coreopsis germinated. NONE of the buttonflowers did. There was a fund raiser by Masons,plants from Veseys, I ordered strawberry plants, Hostas and fairy lilies. When I recieved the plants, the strawberries were just slimey mush, the hostas were the same but did actually grow and the fairy lilies are just now (2 months later) slowly poking through. I live on the Island but will not be buying from them again

I ordered seeds from Veseys. None of them were back-ordered or a special order but it took seven weeks for them to arrive in California. Their website says 3-4 weeks. Needless to say, I was incredibly disapointed.

I received a catalog from this company offering free shipping, so I couldn't pass it up. Prices for seed were comparable to seed companies I usually use so I ordered from them to lower shipping costs on orders from other companies. Seeds arrived 14 calendar days from my order, which is within the time promised when ordering. One item was backordered, but they shipped items in stock and will ship other item when it becomes available. Their normal shipping is high compared to other companies, so I don't know if I would order from them again, unless they offer free shipping :).

Ordered three times from this company. Although the roots I received were small they grew quickly into perfect healthy plants. Have also ordered seeds that germinated perfectly, and a large lot of gardening equipment that arrived packaged perfectly.

I ordered turnip seed from this company for the first time this year. The order shipped quickly and arrived within 5 days. Seed germinated without a problem. Thumbs up for this vendor.

Ordered for the first time, but will NOT order ever again because:
- tiger lilies were all white, not the multi colour indicated in the catalogue
- the 'dinner plate dahlia' flowers were no where close to a dinner plate - was a mere1.5 inches across
-the calla lilies - have never given me a single bloom, and the plant has stayed an 8 inch tall bunch of green leaves
- the tube rose bulb - did not sprout at all
- am thoroughly disappointed since I have a great garden and do take real good care of all my plants - but this order from Vesey's is very very disappointing
- on a positive note, the customer service is very friendly, and I got a refund on the a portion of my order
- I rather shop at a local nursery for great plants for a fraction of Vesey's price

ordered seeds and sphagnum moss -reasonable price and good quality. Professional packaging, but I didn't know when my order was shipped as they did not send me a notification email (I did receive a receipt/confirmation on my email though). Other than that, great customer service and shipping at a reasonable time (not price - they charge you different shipments for seeds AND bulbs...kinda pricey but not too pricey), got my package of stuff in less than 10 business days I believe. I would buy from them again even the shipping price is not cheap because they package well!

I have ordered several times from this company; each experience better than the last; the seeds I ordered grew very easily, and the seedlings have (so far) thrived in my garden...particularly the Foxy Foxglove, and the Helios Clematis (no small feat for a "let's just try this and see what happens" gardener).
But the best experience had to be with their roses; my best friend in Victoria gave birth to her first child in April, so to celebrate, I ordered three Morden roses from Veseys (a Blush, a Fireglow, and a Sunrise). I asked if they could include a little card with the order to congratulate the parents, and they happily obliged. I was very happy with the prompt and personal service, and my friend just informed me that the roses are blooming like there's no tomorrow.
Recently I ordered some Boyne raspberries to fill in a large gap in my yard, and though I wasn't expecting anything in their first year, the canes are bursting forth with healthy leaves. More happy! :)
I also really like their variety of...well, just about anything you can think of! I will order from this company again and again until I have a really bad experience with something, or my fingers fall off and I can't use email any more.

Ordered three times from Veseys.
Three rose bushes for spring 2007, two grew one died.
Three Hardy Geraniums, they wre hard as rocks never grew.
Three hyacinth which bloomed nicely this spring.
Three Dahlia Tubers order this spring were small and poor
quality. Dahlia Tubers never poduced roots or sprouts. They
shrivelled up and turned black.
Very disappointed with the outcome of the Dahlia Tubers.

I always order from this company - I have never had better service, quality, or selection. I recommend Vesey's to all gardeners... they are also extremely knowledgeable in all areas of the garden, which is especially helpful for new gardeners. I have never had a seed, bulb, or live plant fail, and have always had my questions answered right away whether I use the telephone or email. :)

I agree, their seeds are of great quality and they have a great selection to choose from, always something different to try each year.

However their live plants are not at best, I’ve also had many mislabeled lily bulbs from them. Nonetheless, they do stand by their guarantee of customer satisfaction and have always credited my account with no questions asked.

I ordered seeds from this company, so I cannot comment on their plants.

They have a fantastic glossy catalog and a very well designed website. Photos and descriptions are clear. These are not always necessities, but a definite bonus. I also like their all season vegetable seeds blends, which I've not seen from any other companies.

Everything I've planted this spring has come up nice and robust, especially the Picante salvia, broccoli & cabbage all season blends, and Touchon carrots. The two organic varieties I ordered, Tyee spinach and Bull's Blood beets, have done fairly well. I didn't have luck with the Magic Carpet thyme, but I'm pretty certain this was my own fault.

I will definitely be ordering from this company again. Absolutely no complaints.

Judging from the comments below, I guess not much has changed over the past few years. Of the items I ordered last year, I recieved cannas - City of Portland - that were twigs with root nodes on them - no tubers - I planted them and had small tubers by the end of the year - no blooms. From another source - other cannas that I planted last year flowered and multiplied. The bluebells arrived moldy and didn't survive. I chaulked it up to buyer beware - but they are not cheap. I ordered from Lindenbergs this year and just received my order. The canna tubers are large, firm and healthy - and 3 for $3.79. I have learned my lesson!

Veseys seeds are great, true. But their service with regards to their plants is abysmal. When the plants I ordered arrived, they were decomposing and unhappy; the order was much later arriving than I had expected it to be, which may be why the plants were so unhappy. I find that they're going on their reputation and not necessarily listening to customer dissatisfaction, or doing very little to improve a situation. I was supposed to receive credit for the plants that expired, but never did. Hence I'll not be ordering from them again, and will think long and hard before recommending them--except for their seeds.

Ordered about 8-10 seed packets from this company and not a grower in the bunch. Really. They germinated okay but none survived and not by my hands. Very weak seed quality.

Although I love looking at the catalouge when it comes, I must say I have been quite disappointed with the live plants I've ordered. They were very small and in dismal shape when they arrived and most of them did not make it, and here in Victoria BC Canada it is so temperate that we often joke that it's hard to kill plants. The Dahlia that did live (1 out of 4) was not true to name, instead of being a pink ball type, turned into a giant red dinner plate (pretty though it was...)
That said, the customer service representation was excellent and the gal I spoke to was very friendly and said that I would be credited for the lost plants, however when I placed my next order and asked to have my credit applied to that order, it was not done and I was charged full price for my bulbs.
I may try again with seeds but I think that would be it...

We've ordered from Veseys about 8-10 times over the past four seasons. Ordered everything from seed starting equipment, to organic bug removal products, to seeds, bulbs, roots and shrubs.

We are very pleased with the handling of the seeds and garden supplies. All of these have always arrived quickly and in good condition.

However, the live shrubs we are not generally pleased with. They arrive rather small, and take quite a while to grow. Once, we ordered four lilacs because they were on sale, and two of them died. But we promptly received refunds for these and the next season we re-ordered the same lilacs at regular price and those came in much better condition.

The bulbs I haven't had any trouble with thus far, including the free ones. Some roots we ordered like daylilies are very small, and this is the third season since they've been planted and hopefully we will see them bloom finally this season. The other roots were not that healthy and died.

But this year, we put in an order for a bunch of lily bulbs back on March 3rd, expecting arrival before now, and they still have not arrived. The existing lilies in my garden are already up 5 inches and we are experiencing 80 F temps during the day. I fear receiving these bulbs too late will result in them not blooming this year. Or worse, spoilage from shipping in warm weather.

Have contacted them on the matter of the bulbs this year and was assured they would be shipping out soon, but this is the reply I received on May 3, 2006:

"The oriental lily order will be leaving soon and the larger spring bulb order will be a couple of weeks before it leaves."

As of May 15th, they still have not arrived. Will wait and see what happens. This is why I vote Neutral. Good customer service and nice packaging, but live plants aren't always 100% and a little on the small side. I wish the bulb shipping would be a lot faster.

I ordered some pansy seeds I was hoping to wintersow and was dismayed to get an email receipt saying I could expect the seeds (in stock, not backordered) in 3-4 weeks!

That's just too long. First class US mail can travel cross-country in 4-5 days, I've received Canadian cross country mail in not much longer, and I can't remember a company I've dealt with that had more than a 48-72 day turnaround on orders.

A good reliable company for seeds. I would not order any more blubs or rhizomes from them since the prices are very high and on the one occasion that I did purchase rhizomes, they were rotted and the situation was not able to be resolved.

I have only ordered seeds from Vesey's, not bulbs or plants.

I have had consistently good service & the seeds always germinate well.

Caveats: Keep an eye on prices here - some are a bit high in comparison to other sources. A number of times a few items have been back ordered (in a largish order) & have shown up much too late for planting the season ordered.

Overall a reliable seed source. Lots of sunflower varieties & the vegetable selection for short season climates is quite good.