butterfly bushes from spring hill

after checking the garden watchdog and reading about spring hill it looks like a 50 50 propositionthat you will get good plants and service. i just received a promotion in the mail saying that for $29.99 dthey will send me the following butterfly bushes.
ink delight, harlequin, lochinch. royal red and potter's urple. as an extra bonus if i order soon they will add a honeycomb butterfly bush.
springhill claims that they will eventually grow to 5 - 6 feet tall and just as wide in "no time".

i like the idea of butterfly bushes and i have a nice place for them. are butterflies as good as they loook in the mailing i received? do you think it would be worth my while to get them?

thanks

Hi Herbie, did you get the seeds OK?

Here's my advice on Spring Hill. Would you be upset if you were out 30.00? If not, and as long as you don't have high expectations for large plants, go for it. Small plants do eventually grow. You do have a 50/50 chance the plants will be healthy.

I don't have a Butterfly Bush as there's not one hardy for my zone, but I do know that people like them. Have you thought about maybe doing a trade for a cutting?

There is a recent thread in the Upper Midwest forum that you might want to read through that I started. If I knew how to do the hyperlink, I'd attach it for you, but it should be pretty easy to find. Spring Hill is mentioned in the topic name.

Hey HERBIE, I don't know if you were ordering the Butterfly Bushes for a Butterfly Garden but if you were, you might want to check out Asclepias. Here's a few sources for them-
http://205.214.84.228/envirotech/searchresults.asp
http://www.ohioprairienursery.com/products/individualspecies/asclepiastuberosa.html
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/splants/namesearch_frameset.html
And this nursery has lots of butterfly plants- http://www.prairiemoon.com/

I personally wouldn't buy from SpringHill.

Hey beaker, all you need to do for a hyperlink is cut and paste the url and Dave's programming automatically hyperlinks it for us.

Herbie,

I wouldn't. Not just because of the rating (although that should be considered), but Lochinch, and Honeycomb are not reliably hardy here. In fact if you check Lochinch some rate it as Z7. (Of course if our winters keep up as good as the last two that may not be a problem).

The others cultivars listed would all be good for you. And yes, they will grow tall and wide quickly. Definitely worth your while to get them.

Beaker, I am hearing good things about Adonis Blue in Z4. I have sold some to customers in 4B, and they are doing well, however we have had great winters for the last couple of years. If you want a Buddleia, I would give it a try, and mulch well for the winter. I see some places it says Z5, but Spring Meadows, which introduced it, and where I purchase from rates it as Z4.

Polly

thanks for the advice and the websites. will skip spring hill for sure.

beaker - have not received the seeds yet.

Snail mail? I mailed first thing on Tuesday morning from work. Maybe Monday. Hope they didn't get lost. I have a few more of some of the seeds left, but I sent you the last of the Alyssum, Marigold Gem Mix, Marigold Jaguar, Tidal Wave Petuna Mix and Petunia Royalty Mix. Sure hope they get there. I've heard it's getting hard to find the tidal wave mix locally.

since i work for the postal service i have to take exception to your term "snail mail" LOL. i'm sure i will be getting tyhem on monday. will let ou know when i get them.

Spring Hill? I've had my last tiny dying plant from them. I grow Nanho Blue because it only gets 5' tall and wide. I had Royal Red and loved it. I lost it after a couple of years. I cut them back to 6'' in the fall or spring and they grow fast. I've got my eye on bicolor now.

I think I used a free coupon for $25 that came from them this spring. Otherwise - they always seem way overpriced for what you actually get. I'm giving them one more chance this year! Really, there is supposed to be a new butterfly bush that's hardy in Z4? Anyone else had success with this one?
Sharon

Sharon, Do you order from Ion Exchange? They're in Harpers Ferry. They sell a lot of wildflowers. I usually get native cardinal flowers. It's the only place that sells monkey flower. Mimulus ringens. The plants are small but healthy and around $2.00 per. Now they will total your bill and send it to you. (Yaaay, I'm terrible at sales tax.)

My mom ordered that collection of butterfly bushes as well. She gave me one (Royal Red), and by a few months after planting, it was 5ft tall and covered in flowers. Hers didn't do so hot--I thought mine just liked its spot, but maybe I got the only good one. You might just get lucky with your order, but I don't know about the zones.

I have to take back my Springhill comment. They sent a $10.00 coupon saying their greenhouse collapsed under snow last year. So, I ordered Moonbeam Coreopsis. It was fairly large with pretty good roots. I'll give it a couple of weeks before I report to Garden Watchdog.

HERBIE, I ordered from Spring Hill this year, about 45 plants, they all arrived packed nicely, only one was damaged. Put them out last Friday, and they are looking good.

The coreopsis are perkier and looking good, so I gave Springhill a positive.

I got their mini rose collection..8 plants..All looked pretty good except for 1..I called them about replacing it and they are just sending me a whole new collection.. I told them that was not necessary, but they insisted..So I'm looking forward to 8 more miniature rose bushes this week.

Larkie

Funny how some of us have had good plants yet others haven't.

HERBIE43, I have planted butterfly bushes from Spring Hill before and about half of them did not make it to their second year. Its now been 5 years and I only have one left. I planted six more last fall and four out of the six made it through the winter. It is a different location so we'll see how it goes.

i have decided to hold off on spring hill for a while.