Nursery Cheats

A person asked about the Richard Owens Nursery and I had a bad experience with them in that some of my plants were rotten, some of them were just dried up and dead, and others were broken up and some smelled like sewage.

Since I had had this problem with them, I thought it would be a good heads-up for the good people on this forum.

I was in touch with them for awhile but they never did make good on the plants. They are one of about a dozen nurseries that are under an "Umbrella Corporation" that supply plants to ship for sale and all of them are about as shoddy as the other one.

Please take care when ordering from these nurseries with prices too cheap to be true, because they are.

Here is a link to some of their customers' opinions: http://gardenwatchdog.com/comments.php?compid=237&offset=50

I hope this helps some of you keep from being hoodwinked.

Bob

yeah, once in awhile just for a laugh, I'll load one of those nurseries on garden watchdog, pop a bag of popcorn, and read all the replies.

I know, I know... I need a life.

It's just so hard to believe that these "businesses" (and I use that term VERY loosely) are out there rooking everyone they can and there isn't a law, or faction of law, that will stop them. Kelly is just as bad and so are the rest. Those are the two I had bad experiences with before I found out what was their "racket."

What a bunch of sleazebags! You can BET this is all on www.HomesteadingToday.com BBS, in Gardening and Plant Propagation under "Owen's, Richard Nursery," too!

Bob


This message was edited Feb 17, 2004 4:57 AM

Bob, thanks for plugging the Watchdog; one of the reasons we provide the directory is to help people sort the "wheat from the chaff" by reading others' opinions (and - as importantly - sharing their own experiences.)

Not only can you spot who to steer clear of, but hopefully gardeners can use the directory to discover some lesser-known companies and get a sense of whether they're any good before plunking down their hard-earned greenbacks ;o)

It's pretty funny that Owens has 64 negative and 7 positive evaluations. One of those people giving them a positive says he asked to not have his order delivered until Sept. 7 as he'd be out of town until then. It was delivered on Sept. 4, and the mailman said "something smelled rotten". The customer was hoping Owens would make it right. Now THERE'S somebody whose easily pleased; his wife is a lucky woman!
Don

Amen to that!, Don. He was happy about rotten plants delivered 3 days early to sit in their container and rot further. Believe you me, I can relate to the rotten plants and, my Lord, what a stinking smell. They smelled like dead animals rotting in a sewer. I am of the suspicion that they give their "guest workers" an order to fill... and they fill it, and probably don't even know a dead plant from a dead guest worker!

Terry, you're welcome. I was glad to do it. I have been flim-flammed a few times too many and it isn't a nice feeling. I'm just thankful that people like you and yours care enough to post the info on these crooked __________s! (you fill it in!). :o)

I got this from a friend in Maine, and am posting it verbatim, because I gave her a heads up on the Watchdog. She is already a "Dave's" member, by the way, but doesn't get on a lot because of her work and re-doing an old house they inherited. An old stagecoach depot/hotel.

[quote:]

HI,,Finally logging on to check my email. Well, did you know that Wayside Gardens is owned by Park Seed Co.???
I just found that out yesterday. They are more retail though. The only "GOOD QUALITY" plants you will get through the mail is through a good wholesale grower,,or broker, such as Germania, who goes through Walters gardens, Creek HIll, Grow-n-Sell, etc..
Also, Devroomen, and Van Bloem,,are great too. Jolly Farmer, as I said before, is a good one as well. These companies DO NOT sell to anyone except Business Owners. They are not for the Harry Homeowner. I refuse to order plants from a retail company. That is where you get bad stuff.
Okay, enough babbling. Talk to you later.
C. [end quote]

Maybe there is a tidbit or two in there, too. BTW, she has 2 greenhouses and is in the business and doing real good.

Bob

If you haven't checked out the "who owns whom" it can be quite enlightening: http://gardenwatchdog.com/whoownswhat.php

It was one of the nifty features Dave programmed into the Watchdog. Not only can you peruse this list, but if you click on Park Seed's entry (for example), you'll spot links to Wayside, The Cook's Garden and a couple other affiliates. (So if you don't see or want to go through the list I linked to above), you can get a "heads up" before you order from somebody, especially if you've dealt with one of their affiliates ;o)

"I refuse to order plants from a retail company. That is where you get bad stuff."

wow thanks... thats kind of an ignorant sweeping generalization.
Well, whatever works for you!

Drew

It would be nice if Harry Homeowners could avoid buying retail but since we can't it is great to have the GW to help us make informed choices on our retail purchases. Somehow I had missed the Who owns whom part though so thanke for mentioning it!

I think the "I refuse to order plants from a retail company.", statement means go to your local Garden Center for your plants. I like to be able to pick the nicest one. If a plant is marginal, you can leave it set there.
We sold lots of perennials last year & never had one person come back with a complaint. Heard lots of good coments from customers over the summer.
We buy our bare roots & such from a broker in Minneapolis.
We drive up & pick them up. They are in cold storage until we take them home. We pot them up & they are growing as soon as they warm up!
Remember the old slogan,"Shop Locally!"
Bernie

Ah, the two-edged sword of local vs. mailorder.

I do both - I buy locally (from the independents and even a few of the "big box" guys...) AND I buy seeds, bulbs and plants via mailorder.

Buying locally means I get to eyeball the plant, and pick out the one that "speaks" to me ;o), or at least looks the healthiest/biggest/most blooms, or whatever.

But I can't expect a retailer to carry every obscure variety of Hellebore, Lily, Iris or even Petunia that I might have my heart set on. So then I turn to the mailorder folks. Over the years I've found there are a lot of good 'uns...and a few bad 'uns. I hope the Watchdog helps "Harry Homeowner" (or "Harriet" as the case may be!) decide which is which, and lead us to the many fine, deserving companies that take excellent care of their plants and their customers!

Couple days ago I got a beautiful glossy catalog from Dutch Gardens. I look through it and get a couple possibles picked out. Then I go to Garden Watchdog and find dealing with this company is gonna be a crap shoot. Last week I got a catalog from another company that is an alias of the Richard Owens Nursery.

I havent solicited any of these companies to send me catalogs. How did they find me and why don't I get catalogs from the "good" companies?

Other than a bit pricey, I have NEVER had any problems with Park's Seed. I can buy from their wholesale section, which is not up on site yet, but there are some things they carry on the retail site you can't easily get anywhere else. Unless you're a grower, though, they won't even let you know WHERE the site is. It's an affiliation.

I had only 1 plant from them that damped off and didn't make it. A black elephant Ears, and they sent me a coupon for the full price and they will pay the shipping when I send the card in. They cane potted in 2½" pots.

Aaaaaargh! Is Spring REALLY the 20th of next month? Yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy. Hurry, hurry, hurry..............