Comments regarding Violet Barn (Rob's Min-O-Lets)

I ordered 7 begonias and 4 African violets. They arrived when promised and where packed with the utmost care. None of the plants where damaged and all look healthy. That is pretty incredible considering the how fragile those plants are. I would order from them again.

Received my first order today, Thursday, after placing my order on Sunday!!! These plants travelled from New York to Oregon and arrived in pristine condition. Not a hair was ruffled on their tiny heads due to meticulous packaging. I enjoyed exploring the user friendly website and finding so many wonderful varieties. I have passed this link on to other plant lovers and will be visiting them again soon.

My Father collects African Violets. He tries to get to The Violet barn at least once or twice a year. Since he is permanently disabled this can be difficult for him at times. He has always received polite courteous service whenever he visits, and he has found the violets to be of good quality. He would post this himself but his computer skills are very limited.

I have ordered alot of plants from rob, always happy with plants. REceived very well packaged plants, double wrapped, insulation around plants, plants are real green and healthy. Good customer service which I appreciate.
Will order again.

A first time buyer, plants arrived in excellent condition, well packaged, promptly shipped. Good instructions for after- care included with plants.

My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I decided that I wanted a gift certificate for African violets. I looked that the Watchdog and found the Violet Barn. (At that time it had 100% positive ratings.) I got the gift certificate and ordered 5 plants. All arrived fairly quickly and were good-looking plants (4 AVs, 1 streptocarpus). Two AVs were blooming. I've had them now for about a month and they still look good and are growing.

I ordered twice from the Violet Barn this month. The plants arrived quickly and were very well packed and healthy. One was on the small side, but since the on-line catalog said this plant was in "very limited quanity" I was just happy that I was stiil able to get it, and all the plants are growing well. I will order again.

I recently ordered several Hoyas from this company and was thrilled when I opened the box! From start to finish, the entire order process was fabulous. I ordered online on a Friday evening. I received order confirmation on Saturday. I had my plants by Wednesday! All the plants were very healthy and looked great. The packaging couldn't have been done better. I even saved the insulation they used for future trades! I would order from this vendor again.

I placed an order for African violets, streptocarpus, hoyas, and chiritas. One of the violet cultivars (Crismson Ice) showed the symptoms of a virus when it first bloomed (within a few weeks after I received it.) The blossom virus, not uncommon, manifested itself as lighter streaks of discoloration in the flower. One of the hoyas had a red mite infestation. I later discovered that two of the streptocarpus had root mealybugs. I put all of the plants under lights in a separate room away from my collection upon receipt, so that I wouldn't introduce any pathogens. I wasn't too bothered by the insects and mites. I know large growers often have small popultations of pests that they mostly keep under control, but the virus is more problematic. So I emailed the company just to let them know about the problem with the virus, not mentioning the other two pests. I wasn't asking for a refund or replacement, because I have so many plants that any one cultivar is not that important. I just wanted to let them know so that they would be aware of the problem and hopefully correct it for future customers. I received a reply (I think from Rob) asking "How did you determine this?" I think it was pretty obvious. Flower viruses are not uncommon in African violets and many other plants. I did not pursue it any further, but it does seem to me that three different pathogens in one plant order is a bit sloppy for any grower.

I have ordered several times from the Violet Barn. For the most part plants have been in beautiful condition, well packed and usually in bloom. They are reasonably priced and the website can tell you just about whatever you need to know.

I have had some disappointment where I was due bonus plants and did not receive them despite mail/emails to them. Just couldn't get my complaint across to them. It was just overlooked so I gave up.

I had a chimera violet bloom untrue and it was credited to charge card(they quarantee plants bloom true)., after I told them the plant was out of stock and couldn't be replaced.I also had an expensive leaf chimera violet arrived rotted and it was credited to charge account but what a disappointment.You want the plant not the refund.

Also some plants I repotted the next month showed they had been"around" for some time with necks to the bottom of the pot. Probably stock plants that had been leaf donors and then sent out as sales plants. Was very unhappy about that but reason that others probably do that also.

As per Rob's suggestion that everyone try a streptocarpus. I did order 5, two bloomed and the other 3 haven't done much of anything. But love them and now have about 70. The second order of streps were very tiny and not worth the price.I think from ordering too late in the season as most were out of stock.

Was able to find many of his hybrids available at "Out of Africa," the Portage, Indiana one with Gary Mikita. Here I got big, blooming plants for just a bit more money and meticulously packed, very prompt service.And Gary will answer questions promptly by email.

I would buy from Violet Barn again but early in the season and mainly to get new introductions not available elsewhere.My other comments would be about plant descriptions, just about everything is listed as a constant bloomer, easy to grow, etc.etc. gets tiring. In my experience nothing blooms constantly and the ones that are touted as doing well on window sills haven't for me. There is a big difference in greenhouse window sills and that in your own
home.

Great communication health plants packed well

I received my order of nine 2" plants (Nematanthus & Columnea) from The Violet Barn today and I am thrilled. The plants are very healthy and well rooted and the packing was absolutely superb. There was not so much as one broken leaf which is impressive for travel from NY to Louisiana. I will reorder in the future and would recommend them to anyone.

Simply the best.

Rob's communication was clear, the plants were packed well, and the plants were in a very healthy condition upon arrival. One was even in bloom! I would definitely buy from them again.

I ordered 5 violets on March 17. I received all 5 on March 24, 5 shipping days later. They were expertly packed, and in pristine condition. You don't have a category for Extremely Positive, but they would get a check for that one if it did exist.

I recently ordered from The Violet Barn and, as always, was very pleased with my order. I ordered nineteen plants, including gesneriads and hoyas, and all but 2 of the gesneriads were in bloom. It is so nice to receive blooming plants in winter! Packaging was great with no damage due to the cold weather. Only one leaf was broken off and it is happily growing at this time.

Just received an order of about 20 mixed plants. They were shipped in January to Pittsburgh and in very cold weather. The packaging was great, well insulated. The care taken to wrap each individual plant is unbelievable. The plants are lovely. Most have flowers or small buds developing. Only one, Episcia Strawberry Patch is failing. The trip may have been too much. I know they would have happily replaced if I had called within 72 hours of receipt. I wanted to give the plant a few days to recuperate, but it did not. I'll take the loss as I don't want them to have to ship just one little plant after I waited beyond their policy limit. I am very happy with my plants and would order from this company again.

This is a great company do do business with. Wonderful selection. Great prices. Plants are carefully packaged and promptly shipped. They have plants here that you can't find anywhere else. Plant descriptions are honest and accurate. The best place to buy Gesneriads.

Wonderful people to deal with. Fast shipping, beautiful plants, extremely well packaged. I would highly reccomend this company to anyone.

I have had the great fortune to deal with this company - in person! It's about 45 minutes from me. It's a great place, with friendly staff (I am sure I was dealing with Rob) and beautiful plants. I bought three violets and a streptocarpus. Everything is healthy and strong. I tell everyone I know about this place, and will be visiting again soon... this time for a hoya or two. Or more.

I have received 2 orders from them. Both times I paid by check and expected there to be a delay in shipping but the plants arrived within a week or two. All of the plants I recieved (hoyas,mini violets,mini holly)were beautiful and showed no signs of stress from being shipped. Also, the shipments were packed more carefully than any other shipments I recieved from anywhere else. I called them with questions a few times and spoke with Rob each time. He was friendly and patient in answering my questions. I would definitly recommend them and will be ordering from them again.

I have ordered violets and supplies from Rob's. They are very professional. The violets have always been high quality plants. I will order again and again from here.

I ordered some hoya plants - quite a selection to choose from! They arrived without so much as a bent leaf. The prices were extremely fair - better than eBay - and I like knowing that they are labelled correctly.

Have ordered from them twice now and get healthy, best packed plants ordered by mail. Prices are very moderate compared to their competition. Orders are delivered promptly (within a week) compared to weeks for other mail-order businesses.

Great website, everything you ever want or need to know about african violets and other plants. These people know their stuff, and clearly describe plant varieties and care so the novice isn't intimidated.
Easy online ordering, and they shipped quickly and exactly when they said they would. Beautiful plants arrived well packed and appear very healthy!

An amazing selection of violets and other exotics and miniatures, tons of info on the website, very well priced, plants arrived in excellent condition, and the most careful packaging I have ever seen