Comments regarding Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

Ordered a bulk cacti mix just for fun. Planted according to instructions. After 2 months of no germination contacted the company and received a replacement pack. Now again, no germination. I have germinated other seeds from other source with great success. Some planted weeks after the replacement pack. Not really excited to have wasted money on seeds and shipping.

Positive note: the company was very quick to respond.

"On Oct 8, 2018 2:39 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We're sorry to hear the seed did not do well for you! We always have a valid germ test before we offer any lot of seed for sale, but there are many things that can affect germination of the seeds after it leaves our warehouse, including irradiation of the package by a mail service. This is one of the reasons we offer a 2 year germination guarantee on our seeds. I have issued you a refund for the packet of seeds, and another refund for the shipping costs you paid."

I have no problems with the commerce part of this company. I think they have great photography, good prices, good shipping, and I have been at least somewhat successful with the seeds I have purchased. (Can't get the sweet peas to blossom . . .)

But I feel very, very uncomfortable with the bad science and fear-mongering they promote on their social media and I have noticed it cropping up in other inappropriate places as well, to the point where it appears that representatives of Baker Creek are actually promoting false scientific claims to their customer base.

By politicizing their company, Baker Creek is committing a cardinal sin in the business world- they are actively turning away customers who do not want to see a very complex topic turned into a selling tool used to pander to a group of under-informed consumers.

I cannot give my money to a company that attempts to grow its customer base by reeling in the gullible and ignorant. That does not sit right with my conscience.

So far everything seems just fine. Handling and shipping took 8 days which was expected so im happy with that.

Tons of seeds thats for sure pretty much every packet has a decent bit above the stated quantity so im happy about that especially the packets that were only supposed to contain a handful. Ill update my comment about germination success rate here before long.

Baker Creek has been my go-to for herb and veggie seeds for about two years. I've ordered dozens of varieties (if not hundreds) from them, and out of everything I've only had the following failures:

1) Ginger. They sent tiny little slips that were barely rooted and died immediately.
2) Rosemary. The seeds didn't grow. I know it's hard to germinate rosemary, but I can grow anything. Except these Baker Creek rosemary seeds.
3) PawPaw Trees. I ordered five seeds. They sent me seven. I followed the directions exactly. Not one of them sprouted.

Everything else - tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs, flowers - do lovely. I even bought passionflower vines that are all still alive, despite the abuse of children.

I will continue to use Baker Creek as my primary source for seeds for all time. :)

Five years ago I looked into heirloom seeds and this is one of the companies I tried out, for the most part I only grow vegetables and for the hard to grow plants I buy the plants directly to have better success.
I've been ordering every year from Baker Creek Seed Company and the dedication to the plants they grow and seeds they have available, is amazing. I get a FREE catalog in the mail every year, with all or most of the seeds/plants/trees they are selling, my family and I find the catalog a great aide and we all circle what we want and go order online.
We are also thankful for the free seed packet, the giant sunflowers are a hit with our family and neighbors, we get with every order.
And when I order live plants I know exactly how many I need and how many they will deliver to make sure I am successful even if one or a few don't make it, due to various reasons.
I do remember a few years ago, I ordered a specific variety of carrot seeds, turns out, they were the wrong seeds, Baker Creek took care of me ASAP with great customer service, I received a new carrot seed packet with the correct seeds and a card with a code for a free future purchase of seeds. Great customer service and they really go out of their way to help.
They have annual festivals to attend, and they are the BEST, definitely worth the drive.

Always a pleasure to deal with these people! Never a problem in probably a decade now of buying their seeds. You can tell when the people who are selling the seeds are actually growing them, too, or just selling someone else's seeds. They even provide wonderful proof with pictures of the whole family getting into the business. It's heartwarming and I feel like I know them from their wonderfully huge and colorful catalogs showing pictures of many of the plants they grow and showing them doing what they do best. Keep up the great work folks!! We love it all!

Posted on April 23, 2018, updated April 25, 2018
ordered 12 different seed varieties. More than half had extremely poor germination.(less than 50%) seeds were greenhouse planted with grow lights and bottom heat. seed packages contained very little germination/planting/growing/zone information.

"On Apr 24, 2018 2:19 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We are so sorry you had this experience. All of our seeds are guaranteed for two years after the date of purchase to germinate and grow true to type or we will replace them or refund.
We test all of our seeds to meet or exceed USDA germination requirements and we then grow out our varieties in our trial gardens in Mansfield , MO, to test drive the heirloom varieties prior to offering them for sale to the public.
Even with all of that, there are many things that can happen to the seeds once they leave our warehouse, including being irradiated by the postal service. We want to know when things go wrong so we can promptly correct the issue!

Please advise us as to how you would like us to handle that, would like replacement or refund. Please e-mail seeds@rareseeds.com ATTN: Customer Service or call 417-924-8917 M-F 9-4 CST or please let us know the best time to reach you via phone and best number to call, please reply in our FB message thread where we have been conversing. Thank you for your patience while we work to correct this issue!



"

Really dissapointed with the shipping speed.

"On Apr 16, 2018 3:25 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We're so sorry to hear you were disappointed in us! Was it the length of time until we shipped the order, or the length of time it took to arrive once it was shipped? We'd love to work with you on this so that you are satisfied in the future. Please email us at seeds@rareseeds.com with ATTN: Lisa O in the subject line."

I've been buying my seeds from Baker Creek for years! I love their selection and fast shipping. It's especially fun for me to grow some of their wide variety of tomato plants each year. Even with my brown thumbs, I get some edible food every year (knock on wood)! I've had great results saving seeds from plants grown with their seeds. Also, I got some of their seed garlic to plant in the fall of 2016, it did well, and I was able to plant its descendants in the fall of 2017. Hopefully it keeps self-perpetuating! The free seeds with every order are fun too.

Shipping was fast and I like their website. I like that I can find varieties there that are difficult to find elsewhere. Very delighted by the free seeds too!

Had a most pleasant experience ordering Abe Lincoln and Roma tomatoes along with bhut jolokia peppers. They also provided a sample that I have also started. Very well done and artsy website, their catalog is even better. Fast shipping and reasonable prices. Another new go to place for us.

baker creek has been my favorite company for years. this year I placed my order on feb 15and had it by feb 22 .great service!! and awesome products thanks baker creek!

I have ordered from and received what I ordered , over several years, from this company. One thing that just annoys me to no end it is the catalog. Amazing photography sells a lot of seeds and it is just too too bad that the focus of the description is on lore and stories that are interesting on one hand but useless in terms of understanding what specific zone a plant is suited for and what it’s cultural needs are

If you cannot provide both (cute ,interesting stories and useful,necessary cultural info) why not include the latter first? In this industry the huge majority of other companies are able to accomplish this.

This company has a great selection and a great opinion of itself. It is too bad that it has succumbed to some of advertising’s worst devices.

"On Feb 8, 2018 11:22 AM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

Customers often want to know days to maturity on a crop or what climate zone it's best suited for. We supply DTM information where it's available, but we don't place much stock in it. The reason is simply that there are too many variables for it to be reliable. A day's
growth can be very different from one climate to another and even from one season to another within a single garden. And the methods for calculating them are far from uniform. USDA climate
zones are no better: they only tell the average minimum winter temps. That's great for perennial plants, but most veggies are summer annuals! A better method is to try varieties that come from a climate whose summer weather is similar to your own. Folks in the northern states should first try varieties that come from there or from, say, northern Europe or Russia. Folks in the Southeast should pay special attention to Southern varieties or those from the tropics and so on. This might seem to be a bother, but, carefully done, this method will give better results than the standard ones, which, in our opinion, give a false sense of security. And besides, becoming a bit of an armchair traveler is just more fun!

As a general rule, nearly any seed in our catalog will grow in over 95% of the USA if cultivated properly."

Love Baker Creek!
Their catalog is beautiful with many unusual seeds.
Customer service is A+ & shipping is super fast!
One of the best seed companies I have used.

This is my favorite website to order seeds from. They have an amazing selection, their seeds almost always germinate, and their customer service (in my experience) is superb. I’ve only had one issue with their seeds before, when a packet got here empty. The seeds were tiny, so I figured they must’ve somehow fallen out or someone made a mistake while packing. Anyway, I contacted the company that evening and got an answer the very next day. The rep (Leah) apologized and shipped me a replacement right away.
I already loved this company, but that made me a loyal customer.

ORDER FROM THEM!!!! First time ordering through this company and it WILL NOT be my last. I actually went back online and ordered another batch of seeds. Not only to they promote the Heirloom seeds but buying rare and heirloom seeds are great for environmental purpose and seed banks worldwide. Just seeing the website http://www.rareseeds.com get me excited! ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!!

I am getting ready to place another order this year - I love the unique products and the catalog is a work of art! Excellent quality. Am looking forward to eating the blackberries, which were a real value.

Just received my order today ! Speedy delivery and well packaged . They have many fine cultivars which I can,t find anywhere else !!! This is my third yr shopping with this excellent company . Previous yrs germinated well ...

Ordered 7 packets of seeds and they shipped the very next day.

Great website, affordable shipping, decently priced seeds, great selection.

I had placed a large order (for me) last year with Baker Creek. The post office lost my package! I tried going through the post office to find my package, but you could predict the results.

Finally, I sent a message to Baker Creek asking if they had this happen often, and to see if they could help me track it down. The customer service person, Leah was amazing. Their response was, "it's gone" and "I'm sending you a replacement right now."

You can read other reviews about how their seeds are of the highest quality, but I'm here to tell you that they far surpass expectations of customer service. Thank you Leah! Your service made me feel very special.

I ordered garlic and some seeds from Baker Creek. The items were shipped within 48 hours (their site says 3-5 days). The garlic looked great is all planted and started sprouting. I can't wait until next year when I can harvest.
The seeds came as advertised, including a few free packets that they threw in. I think that is a nice touch. I will plant them and they are nothing I would ever have ordered, so we will see.

I have been buying seeds from Baker Creek for several years now. I like the fact that they have signed the Safe Seed Pledge and that I can find varieties here that are not available elsewhere. I have never had an order take more than a week to arrive. Germination rates on their seeds are usually close to 100%. The only exceptions to this seem to be the hottest of the peppers that I have purchased. Overall I am quite pleased with the service and the quality of the seeds that I have gotten.

I'm always pleased with my orders from Baker Creek. The seeds germinate well, the live plants always arrive healthy. Shipping is relatively quick, and I love the pre-order for certain plants/seeds. I also love the variety. I grow many vegetables/fruit that no one in my vicinity had ever heard of eating, and it's always exciting and delicious!

I ordered seeds from this company. Germination rates were nearly 100%. It honestly exceeded my expectations. I definitely plan to order all my seed from them in the future. Their seed shipping rate is the most favorable of all the mail order companies I was considering as well. Shipped promptly,. received quickly.

Posted on June 23, 2017, updated July 6, 2017
I purchased some heirloom squash seeds from Baker seeds in early Spring. They were quite expensive for a pack with only 10-12 seeds. Only 1 of the seeds germinated and that plant didn't really take off. This was under good growing conditions where other squash germinated strongly. I sent Baker an email using their own contact form to get a replacement pack since they have a 1 year guarantee on germination. They have not replied to the request I sent around a couple of months. Now it is early Summer and too late to plant and get a good crop. I'd still like another pack of seeds just so I don't feel ripped off. I will not buy from Baker anymore. Lesson is learned and a warning to others Baker doesn't stand by their seeds or guarantee. Go to Johnny's.

"On Jun 26, 2017 8:34 AM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We're so sorry to hear you had trouble with the seed germinating! We always have a passing germ test on any lot of seed before we offer it for sale, but there are many things that can happen to the seed once it leaves our warehouse that can affect germination. This is one of the reasons we offer a 2 year guarantee on germination. We would be happy to either send you more of that seed, a substitute of your choice, or a refund. We had some trouble with our contact us page a while back, so that's probably the reason you did not hear back from us, because we always respond to our emails, which is what we receive when someone uses the contact us page. Please email us directly at seeds@rareseeds.com so that we can take care of this for you."

This was my first year ordering from Baker Creek and I've order roughly 30 seed packs and strawberry starts. I wasn't too thrilled with the extended period of time for shipping of the items and lack of communication with customer service, BUT everything came in well packaged, and healthy, So healthy in fact that a new crop of squirrel babies ate my strawberry roots! I will try to replace them again next year. All in all it was a positive experience and I look forward to ordering again next year.

101120285

Two Goji Berry plants look great.

Molokai Sweet Potato, however, yellow-brown leaves... all of which rotted off the stems/vine stubs. Stems outer layer being slimy. Having healthy shoots makes for healthy gardening.

"On May 22, 2017 2:42 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We're sorry to hear your plants arrived in bad condition! Sometimes, the soft stemmed plants don't do as well shipping in our bags if they were still a little too wet when they were bagged, depending on how many days it took them to arrive. We have a set watering schedule to help prevent this, but now and then, we get a few that hold the water. We do carry a 30 day guarantee on our live plants. We do not have any more plants at this time, but if you will email and let us know you had this problem, we'd be happy to issue you a refund on them."

I've ordered seeds from a lot of different companies in my past.
Baker's Creek seems to be the most cynical and/or incompetent company I've ever had the displeasure of ordering from. Ordered seeds and several different live plants which included muscadine, 2 types of sweet potato slips, a collection of banana plants, and a mulberry plant.
1. I received 3 free seeds, and I had ordered extra stuff I probably would not have ordered to get 3 instead of 2. Two of the free seed varieties were the same tomato seeds. Incompetence.
2. In the website, they state that the live plants are shipped via zones starting first from Southern most zone. I live in Florida, placed my order in MARCH of 2017. But when I wrote them how my order was going in late April. They wrote me back that they will fulfill the olive plant orders in order of getting the order placement and orders will go through until end of May. I thought to myself, hmmm, a lot more people than I thought must order a year in advance or something.
3. Today, on May 19th, when my season is pretty much over, they write me that due to "crop failure" with their grower - they can not fulfill my live plant order and will refund my money ---- Ok..... Except think about it --- ALL 4 types of live plants I ordered had a CROP FAILURE??? Banana, Mulberry, Sweet potato slips, and Muscadine Grapes??? How does that make sense? It does not. This company is full of liars. Period. Do NOT trust. My opinion is that they make their money by appeasing to gardeners who want to support heirloom seeds, but the fact of the matter is the company is run incompetently and the staff apparently cares not at all about the intelligence of it's customers.

"On May 22, 2017 2:39 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We apologize for the misunderstanding! As we replied to the email you sent Friday night, the only item you were refunded for was the Okinawan Purple Sweet potato, as the greenhouse we contracted to grow the plants for us did not produce what we ordered. The rest of your plants were shipped to you, and tracking shows they arrived on the 16th. Our order picking operation is somewhat automated, and you should have gotten different varieties for your free seed. If you will email us and let us know which ones you received, we'd be happy to send you another packet. The live plants were shipped both in the order that the orders were received, and by zone. "

Posted on May 16, 2017, updated May 16, 2017
Posted on May 13, 2017, updated May 16, 2017
I have placed 5 orders with the company and had good results until my last order placed on the 30th of April. Website states the estimate for shipping orders is 3-5 days but they aim for 48 hours. The past 4 orders have always been in the 48 hour time frame.

This order hadn't shipped by the 4th day so i contacted the company via there webpage form. NO ANSWER. I did receive an email on the 5th that my items had shipped but no tracking number given. I again emailed the company on Wednesday, May 10th requesting tracking and telling them about my experience. 2 days later I receive a response from Lisa at Rare Seeds and it was the most pathetic response i have ever heard. She wrote and I quote "your order experienced a double whammy in delays" apparently the warehouse was waiting for packaged seeds and they were having their festival. Apparently this means they stop caring about the online orders! And I found out the email i received stating order shipped on the 5th was false. order didn't ship till the 10th!

I emailed back requesting my money back and telling them I want to return this order. Still waiting for a response from them. horrible customer service and i would not recommend.

"On May 15, 2017 9:28 AM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We apologize again for the delay in getting your order to you. We do state on our website Estimated time until shipping is usually 3 to 5 business days, though it is our goal to ship orders within 48 hours.
We say "usually" because there are delays from time to time, though we try our best to avoid them. When the email was sent to you on the 5th, it actually says " Thank you for your recent purchase from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. We are pleased to inform you that on 5/5/2017 the following items have been processed. Your order will be shipped within the next couple of days" We are not open on Saturday and there is no shipping on Sunday. We also apologize, but apparently the contact us form did not come through, as when I check our email system, the only past emails I find are a couple of emails from March and the one from the 10th. I have answered the email you sent after we closed on Friday this morning, as we are not open on Saturday, and the call center is not manned on Sunday, giving you instructions."

Great viable seeds, exciting and interesting selection. I appreciated the large selection of flower seeds. Looking forward to adding some more unusual selections to our plot in the community garden this year.

Great website, great customer service, always an interesting selection. Love Baker Creek!

Overall I've had a great experience with this company. Their seeds have an excellent germination rate and they carry varieties of things that can not be found in other places.

I have recently ordered some live plants from them so we'll see how that goes (I've yet to receive them). But if you're in the market for some quality seeds this is the place to buy them.

I love their shipping price it's just $3.50. Got to my house in four days. I will try to plant this year. I got 2 types of spinach, some sorghum and a free seed pack of black striped cherry tomatoes. I will try to grow in super hot Las Vegas climate. I made a review of the seeds on YouTube please copy link and paste in search browser. [HYPERLINK@www.youtube.com]

Posted on April 5, 2017, updated April 5, 2017
This company is the best! I love the online store, it is easy to navigate and place orders. The products are top notch and they spend the time to help in any way they can during your ordering process. That's right, it comes out every year with new pictures of the plants that you will be growing next year. No not some generic picture of the plant. These are very high quality pics of the plants in the field, the ones that you will be planting next year!

I love Baker Creek! Long live the seeds!

Ordered at least 4 different varieties of morning glory seeds which included a couple Japanese varieties. Price was decent and received the seed packets approximately 5-7 days after placing my order. I've always been a bit hesitant about buying seeds from on-line companies because of previous disappointments in seeds that refused to sprout. But I saw this company listed as one of the top 30 companies and decided to try them.
Now that it is the beginning of April here in South Carolina, I followed the directions that were sent with the seed packets when I started them indoors and over the last 4 days I have beautiful morning glory seedlings that are ALL sprouting! I'm looking forward to planting these seedlings by our backyard trellises and arbor in about a week after taking the time to "harden them off" to our weather this week. So far, so good!
Thank you Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company for offering such a wonderful variety of morning glories that will beautify our backyard and delight us, the hummingbirds and butterflies we have each year.

Baker Creek offers an excellent variety of heirloom seeds with a great range of traits. Many of their varieties come with a story on the varieties origin providing not only an interesting tale but insight on how it might perform in my area. Baker Creek seems to be a very responsible, eco-friendly company and communicates its sustainability effectively. The seed I received has germinated well so far and seed amounts matched what I ordered. Solid growth information is offered. The seeds are moderately expensive, but the quality seems very good and the variety offered is practically unmatched.

My review is based entirely on the customer service I received, and the fact that they have a major problem with their website design. Basically, despite the fact that I was a repeat customer, having received packages from them before, their website allowed my shipping address to be overridden with my billing address, which had been set to the default in Address 1 (seriously, what mail order company doesn't have a system check in place for this?).

They then sent two packages out to "address 1", which were obviously undeliverable (No basic sense QA on mailing addresses).

I sent an email regarding this, which was not answered promptly. When I called to ask about this, the rather defensive customer service rep (Dana) advised me that I would need to wait until my packages were returned to them, before they could reship. I told them if I had to wait weeks for my seeds, to please cancel the order and refund my money because I'd be beyond planting season (I live in Florida and spring is the only time to grow these veg). At this point Dana advised me that she'd speak to a manager about getting my stuff shipped out immediately instead of waiting for return package. She never called back, but I did eventually get an email from Lisa stating she was glad my issue had been "straightened out." Perhaps it was straightened out to Baker Creeks satisfaction, but certainly not to mine.

Would not order from them again.

"On Mar 20, 2017 12:38 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We apologize for the confusion on your orders. Our Customer Care manager reviewed this on Friday, and your orders were repicked and shipped back out on Friday. We normally wait until a package arrives back here to reship because we do not resell seed once it has left our warehouse. I just emailed you the tracking numbers of the new packages. We've had a few customers who have registered for accounts with our system, and using autofill seems to be what is causing the "address 1" to come up. Because our system is automated, and the address label is printed by the picking system and not an individual, it makes it harder for us to catch this. We are working to find a resolution to this issue."

Posted on March 13, 2017, updated March 15, 2017
Posted on March 5, 2017, updated March 13, 2017
Posted on March 31, 2013, updated March 5, 2017
Posted on February 18, 2011, updated March 31, 2013
I placed a personal order and one for a business and they both came quickly. I like that they carry such a big variety of heirlooms/open pollinated seeds. The prices are reasonable. I feel some of the seed counts are small; some did come with generous amounts, but I think it's best to order according to how much they actually say on the listing. I'll update if I note any extraordinary good/bad happenings with germination and growth.

"On Mar 13, 2017 5:46 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

We apologize for the delay in getting your seeds out to you! That error during checkout caused your order to get stuck in our system, and it didn't recognize it as needing to be picked :( We have fixed that issue, and gone through the system finding any orders that were stuck this way and getting them out as quickly as possible."

It was great to receive my seeds here in Argentina! Very recomendable company!