Free Plants Website????

Has anyone run across this website? http://www.freetreesandplants.com/FreePerennialPlants.html
Just wondered if anyone had tried it . You get free plants for $6.95 for disabled people to dig, clean, pack and mail. It also include the shipping charge.

I think I saw a discussion on this on the frugal forum. But check out the Garden Watchdog for feedback as well.

Sheila

I'm just curious as to how it is free if it is $6.95. Just asking because I don't understand it.

JesseK

They said the plants were free but were asking for $6.95 for shipping, digging, cleaning and preparing for shipping. They hire disabled persons to work and that goes to help pay them also. I'm all for helping out people, but like JesseK, how is this free. To me free is not paying anything at all!

Deb

Well, you can't really expect them to bear the cost of S/H fees.

no, I don't expect them to ship them for free and wouldn't want them to.

Neither did I. I was just making the point that they were not free if any money was required.

JesseK

I have run across this site before and I just don't buy into it. First off the "free" label seems dishonest. They are selling plants for $7 each with shipping included; they are not giving out free plants. If they would send me 5 dormant bare root plants for $7 then I would call that close enough to free, but $35 is not free.

If they were selling plants to raise money to employee people with disabilities, then that would be one thing. The website just contains vague phrases like "I also strongly support the sheltered workshop movement" and "Hundreds-of-thousands of disabled persons find meaningful jobs in workshops all across the country." How about phrases like "last year we were able to employ 10 full time disabled workers", and "we pay our workers an average of $9.50/hr"?

Then there is that "Every year millions of healthy high-quality plants go unsold and are destroyed" claim. How do they know what plants will go unsold so they can take reservations now? Why is "digging" listed as one of their processing costs if these plants are unsold nursery plants?

If somebody has first hand knowledge of just how honest and helpful this company is, then post it and prove me wrong. Otherwise I would rather order my plants from a reputable nursery and donate money to a local charity.

- Brent

Brent has pointed out some very interesting things. And I am inclined to agree with him. It's one of those 'too good to be true' type things. Now if I should happen to 'find' a bunch of plants that have been discarded by a nursery, I will gladly rescue them! (and share them!)

What gets me about the whole thing is that if they are going to send me the plants for free, there is no way that it would take $6.95 per plant to ship it to me. I mean, if they wanted to send me 10 FREE plants and charge me $6.95 for shipping, that would be one thing. But $6.95 shipping per plant? That is totally ridiculous.

JesseK

Looks like they get the overstock stock from nursery businesses at a discount and ship them. Here's an article reprinted from a Chicago Tribune columnist last spring: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/8656785.htm

This message was edited Mar 1, 2005 4:37 AM

Well, that article put a good spin on the operation. Looking closer at the offerings, there are some bargains to be had. I don't plan on placing any orders, but if somebody does please post feedback in Garden Watchdog (http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/3403/). I see that RikerBear recently left some positive feedback.

- Brent