Comments regarding Michigan Bulb

I have ordered several times from this company and about 25% of anything I ordered has thrived. Several things happened to me:
1. I ordered hydrangea plants that died shortly after planting them. I contacted the company for replacements and they sent half of them claming the other half was out of stock and they would be shipped the following year. The half that was shipped only one survived (out of 6) the other half were never shipped the following year.
2. I ordered a tomato plant that became out of stock and I was issued a merchandise credit.
3. I ordered several bulbs and only a handful have bloomed.
4. I ordered a blueberry bush and it seems to be still alive but after 3 years it has produced only 2 blueberries and has not grown at all.
Meanwhile all the plants I have purchased from Burpee are thriving well so I know it has nothing to do with how I am caring for the plants.
I want to contact the company to ask for a refund but they do not show details from past orders so I do not even remember everything I ordered. I am very disapointed. Especially because I contacted the company about the hydrangeas and was told they would be shipped the following year but they never were and I was never issued a refund.

"On Jul 18, 2012 11:31 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We apologize for the problems you have had with your orders. We would be happy to check this out for you. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information."

After taking advantage of their sales special, I received part one of my order from Michigan Bulb today. I have never ordered from an internet or catalog company before and after reading some of the negative remarks made here, and due to the late in the season ordering, I was afraid of what I would find. However, the plants were shipped quickly, were well packed, moist and in overall good shape. I am sure it helped that the weather was cool and accommodating. Some of the plants were small, like the pomegranate kiss carnation, and one of the hollyhocks was a bit pale, but I am sure it will green up now that it is planted and the other will grow bigger. Overall, I was well pleased with my plants and I will order from Michigan Bulb again.

"On Jun 11, 2012 12:06 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for posting your feedback. We appreciate you letting us know how we are doing. Happy Gardening."

I ordered the following this spring and all the plants came in healthy and have taken, many have new growth already. I have a bulb order in with them for the fall and am looking forward to it; the prices are great.

MIXED GLADS
EMPIRE BLUE BUTTERFLY BUSH
SWEET PEA
CLIMBING JOSEPH'S COAT ROSE
PRIMROSE LILAC
RED HYDRANGEA
RAINBOW LEWISIA MIX
EENIE ALLEGRO MINI DAYLILY
PURPLE PASSION ASPARAGUS

"On Jun 4, 2012 1:08 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you so much, we appreciate you letting us know. Happy Gardening!"

I really wish this was a rave review of a product but it is not. Heres my story last year I purchased a,
Shade Garden, includeing 25 plant at $39.99
Of which only the lilies and trumpet vine are the only things that have come up, total of 11 out of 31 plants.
The Butterfly & Humming Garden, 31 plants $39.99
Again only the lilies and one lily of the valley have grown. Again only 11 plants out of 31 planted.
3-Season Cutting garden, 50 plants $69.99
Is the saddest garden of them all. Here only 10 lilies have come up. 10 out of 50.
The Red-hot Light post garden, 11 plants $39.99
Has done better then the rest. All but the painted daises have come up. 10 of 11.
After planting them and following the directions explicitly. I have a total of 42 plants out of 123 planted. Not a good ratio. I do not want to think about the money wasted. It is too sad. I can’t believe someone would sell such poor products. I will have learned my lesson and will be buying my flowers from the local garden center from now on.

DONT waste your money!!!!

"On Jun 1, 2012 2:01 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate your post and apologize for the problems with your plants. We do offer a lifetime guarantee One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and get this taken care of for you.
"

I ordered 2 3-in-1angel trumpet items which were actually 3 angel trumpet plants planted together in one pot. When the items arrived, all 3 plants in one pot were dead; within days, 2 of the 3 plants in the other pot died. To date, only 1 out of 6 angel trumpet plants is still alive. I have emailed the company twice but have received no response.

"On Jun 1, 2012 1:59 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate your post and apologize for the problems with your plants. One of our customer service representatives will be happy to help and will contact you for your account information."

Sometime in March or early April of this year I placed and paid for an order. Didn't arrive, waited , called, some story about UPS delivering to my post office. Waited, negotiated a re-ship, waited. didn't come, same story. Negotiated a refund in early May. Didn't come. Now just about June. Called today and they agreed to put it back on my credit card. We will see, but either way it's been either a bad experience or a date with crooks.
My Name (because This site says a copy goes to the company) is Vincent S. Ajello.

"On May 29, 2012 4:13 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We apologize for all the problems.One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and make sure this has been taken care of for you."

I was skeptical about ordering from these folks. But, I saw an internet ad featuring plants for very low prices. So, I ordered some Honeyberries and a couple of Goji berries since they both are usually fairly pricey, I noticed a box that said I got $20 off a $40 order so I ordered some blueberries to get it just above $40. My total dropped to just over $20. I had some difficulty getting the order finished because the website had some kind of issues with my credit card. I tried again a couple of hours later and was successful. I received an order confirmation email and later another with a shipping window of May 28 to June 28. A couple of days later, I got an email saying part of my order had shipped. A day later, I got an email saying that the rest had shipped. Three days later, I checked the UPS tracking number and saw that both packages had been delivered to the Post Office. I entered a different ship to address so I don't understand why they shipped to my bill to address. I went to the P.O., got the plants and they look very nice. I don't remember a size being specified. The Gojis were pretty small and a little wilted, the Honeygerries were maybe 5" high and healthy looking. The Blueberries were maybe 14" tall and nice and green. The small "Biopots" made planting easy. As of May 26, all have been planted. Since the plants were healthy looking upon arrival, I wouldn't try to get them replaced if they should happen to die later. About all I can say is that so far, Michigan Bulb has provided satisfactory service and , on sale items, very good pricing. Where else can you get Honeyberries for $3.99?

"On May 30, 2012 12:57 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate you sharing your experience with our company. Enjoy your plants and Happy Gardening!"

I have been a customer of theirs for years. They have always replaced any item that didn't live. They are awesome!! Quick to get to the bottom of the matter to. LOVE THEIR PLANTS!!!

"On May 30, 2012 12:46 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you, Happy Gardening!"

Posted on May 16, 2012, updated May 18, 2012
Posted on May 14, 2012, updated May 16, 2012
I have ordered many times from Michigan Bulb Company and usually have mixed results. The time I am commenting about is from a purchase made last spring, 2011. I ordered 72 Blue Moon Hydrangeas, the were all wilted and looked like they had had a hard journey. I went ahead and planted them when they arrived in the fall and prepped them for the winter. This spring only 2 of the 72 have sprouted. The rest are dead. I have contacted MBC many times and have yet to hear anything from them. I have continued to order from them because I enjoy their prices and when their plants arrive healthy they do very well. The only problem I have had is with the hydrangeas from last year and am very disappointed that after all of my purchases they chose not to return my emails.

"On May 16, 2012 12:06 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for the post. We apologize you have not heard back concerning your hydrangeas. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and get this taken care of."

Posted on May 8, 2012, updated May 16, 2012
Posted on April 30, 2012, updated May 8, 2012
Posted on April 26, 2012, updated April 30, 2012
Well... I have to admit all of these negative reviews have me worried. I made my first order to Michigan Bulb on Apr. 17. I received an order number email, but nothing more. With each day that passes, the "estimated delivery date" gets pushed back a day. (When I log into their website to check my order status that is.) I can only assume the push back is automated for each day the order isn't shipped.

I understand that I could be waiting for some time for my plants, and I'm ok with that as their prices were fantastic. What I don't like is that I have emailed them twice now requesting information about my order with absolutely no reply. I'll keep this updated when I receive a reply from them or when I get my plants in the mail. :3 I'm hoping for the best!

"On May 1, 2012 8:54 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Our site is having problems receiving emails and we are working very hard on fixing this and hope to have it rectified soon. We apologize for the inconvenience.

"

I had placed my order and then looked into Michigan Bulb after hearing several not-so-great comments about them. I was nervous after seeing some of the negative comments. I'm happy to say that out of the 15 plants ordered, there's only one or two that look like they're in iffy condition. Overall I'm happy with my order and would most likely order from them again.

"On May 16, 2012 11:58 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for sharing. Happy Gardening!"

My husband and I decided to redo both or our whole yards this year on a limited budget. So seeing the michigan bulb web site we sent for a catalog. We loved the prices and for the money, we could do everything that we dreamed of. We have never ordered from a mail order site before, but gave it a shot. I made several orders of many hundreds of dollars. And we waited. In the mean time we got our yard ready for our new plants. It took about 5 weeks and our first order arrived. Yes, the plants are small, but so healthy and beautiful. We are very pleased and look forward to watching our little babies grow. We have many more orders to go still and I am expecting nothing less than great. This company helped us get the great garden we always deamed of, for the price our wallets could afford. If your expecting large, full plants and trees this is not the site for you. You will have to work for your beauty here. But it will be worth it. thank you.

"On May 16, 2012 11:56 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We really appreciate you sharing your experience with our company. Enjoy your garden!"

My caregiver/fiance' looked every where for clematis, I have wanted to plant in my AZ garden since moving here in 2000. He found Michigan Bulb Company on line and ordered two blue "Tidal Wave" clematis for me. Immediately, he got the order confirmation via email, which was dated May 7th, the same day he ordered.

Then he received an email saying the plants will be shipped at a later date than first thought, May 25th. But, on May 12th, 5 days later, he received a shipping confirmation that the plants were shipped.

We are impressed! We weren't surprised that the shipping date was moved to the 25th, as most on line companies don't always ship when they first say so. But to get a confirmation that our plants were shipped, only five days after ordering them! Wow!

After reading some of the "Positive" comments here, I am excited and think my clematis will arrive in good condition. So, for now, I am making my comment "Positive." Especially because it seems their service is excellent.

When my plants arrive, if not in good condition, I might change my rating, but I am very hopeful my plants will come healthy and I'll finally have a clematis, I've always wanted.

As a side note:
I think I used to order from Michigan Bulb, in the 90's, while living in IL and I found all my orders were in great condition and grew well. I was very happy with my orders, I don't remember any negatives from ordering by mail.

Unlike Burgess, last year, who, after sending replacements that weren't the ones I initially ordered, (and came dead), they wanted me to again send in a shipping label, more stamps, stationery & envelopes! I finally gave up on them.

I don't see the use of wasting good money on a bad company. Even stamps, stationery, etc. in this economy is still money lost, in my books.

"On May 16, 2012 11:55 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for your post. Enjoy the clematis, they are beautiful."

Posted on April 26, 2012, updated May 13, 2012
I ordered 3 blue moon hydrangeas, blazing star liatris bulbs, and a rainbow butterfly bush. The hydrangeas came and were wilted and all yellow. Most of their leaves had fallen off inside the box. The top was broken off the rainbow butterfly bush and it was yellow.

I have contacted the company 5 different times and received no response from them. Today I contacted them again and got an automated email response.

I recently ordered plants from Gurney's and they shipped a clematis and some daisy "roots" to me that were in bad shape. Along with an orange butterfly plant. I contacted them and they immediatly sent me out replacements and I got them within a week's time. They plants this time arrived healthy.

Not sure why Michigan bulb does not stand behind their gurantee or even contact you back once an issue is raised about a plant. This is my first time ordering from a mail order company and will be my last with Michigan bulb. Gurney's however has had excellant customer service and shipped me new plants right away! I have already gotten those and planted them all the while still waiting to hear back from Michigan bulb. I agree with all the others I wouldn't order from this company again.

"On Apr 30, 2012 3:50 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for your posting. A customer service representative will be contacting you for a reship. Our site is having problems receiving emails and we are working very hard on this and hope to have it rectified soon.

"

I am not entirely sure what to think just yet. Ordered A LOT of plants from them in several shipments.
Some plants (roses) came in looking great. They are also starting to show some growth. I am very pleased.
I was not so lucky with hydrangeas. I ordered 3 blue, 2 or 3 purple, 1 pink and 1 red. One pink, two purple and one blue died. Michigan Bulb replaced them (pink one will arrive in fall). I just received them and planted. They arrived in a better shape than those that died so I think they will do well. Many other plants I ordered also look great.
However, in my recent order they FORGOT my dwarf glads. The list of items in the order included these glads but they were not "checked off" and so were missing from the package!
I am in a bit of shock. I just emailed them and I HOPE they will believe that these bulbs are missing. I already planted lilies, both clematis, both roses and dwarf azalea. The other two items are coming in a back order. I just do not know what happened to glads. Mistakes happen so I hope to change my feedback to positive soon.

I have ordered from Michigan Bulb many times in the past. Never really had a problem. A few things died but I called and they were replaced or I received a credit. Their customer service is always good. Very pleasant to deal with the couple times I had to call. Prices are good and plants are decent. I just ordered climbing roses from them after Jackson and Perkins decided not to ship the ones I ordered from them. I am sure they will be fine too. I look forward to watching them grow!

"On May 12, 2012 8:32 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate your post. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Happy Gardening!"

Posted on May 9, 2012, updated May 10, 2012
okay I tried to post this comment yesterday but it never posted. I must have done something wrong. I will try again.

I have placed 4 or 5 orders with Michigan bulb this year. I have received all but one of the orders so far. Here are my comments:

"Expected Ship Date" -- With all of the orders I have had the same issue of Michigan bulb constantly pushing the estimated ship date back by a day or two (every day). So, if initially your item is expected to ship in 2 weeks - expect to wait 4. They say that they ship at the appropriate time for your area - apparently that allows them the wiggle room to constantly "update" your expected ship date.

Packaging - a lot of my potted plants were poorly packaged and/or damaged. This isn't a huge deal (I guess) if the roots are strong and the plant survives. So far most of mine seem to have recovered. -- The bare root plants and bulbs were packaged fine.

Price - Awesome! who can complain about their prices???

How the plants are doing: For the most part everything that I have ordered is planted and seems to be thriving. Which is great! I ordered five knockout rose bushes and 3 of the five arrived out of the packaging and damaged. I planted all five anyway. All five are now doing great. I ordered a lot of bare root hostas. They are poking through the ground and looking great already. My gladiola bulbs and daylillies are also starting to come up - so far so good.

Two of the plants I ordered are not doing so good. I ordered 6 bare root blue moon hydrangea plants. 4 of the 6 appear to be dead or dying. I ordered three blue hardy geraniums but they don't seem to be doing anything :(

Other than the geraniums and hydrangeas everything seems to be doing well and for a great price.

I'm leaving my rating as neutral and not positive only because of the two plants not doing well, the packaging, and the long shipment times.

But for the price - and considering most of my plants are doing great - I would order from Michigan Bulb again. you just need to know what you are getting.

"On May 10, 2012 10:44 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know about the problems with your plants. A customer service representative will contact you for your account infomation and we can reship the plants to you."

I ordered two hydrangea bushes, lavender, and a butterfly garden from Michigan Bulb. Shortly after recieving the hydrangeas, they died and I notified the company three times now about both bushes. I followed their return policy which was notify within 30 days of recieving the item and I have not gotten a response back yet. I will never order from this company again since they do not stand by their return policy. Also the lavender I purchased has died as well so it seems the bare root plants they sell do not survive and it is a waste of money.

"On May 10, 2012 10:26 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know about the problems with your plants. A customer service representative will contact you for your account infomation and we apologize for the inconvenience.

"

Posted on March 13, 2012, updated May 9, 2012
I have been ordering from Michigan Bulb for years. I have never had a problem with any of their plants or getting a replacement on any plants that did not grow. I have and will order from them every year!!

"On May 10, 2012 10:14 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you so much for your understanding and for your post. Happy Gardening and enjoy your plants."

Posted on May 1, 2012, updated May 7, 2012
This is the very first company, I have tried and most of my order was ok. My dwarf banana tree looks bad not sure it is going to make it, the top leaf was broke when it arrived and the few bottom leaves were all dead.. and my 3-1 butterfly bush was all shriveled up, not sure it is going to live. I emailed then the day i got them to let them know i wasnt happy with a couple of the plants and still havent heard from them..i still have a few that havent come in yet, so i guess i will have to wait and see how they are..

As far as my other plants they were small, but seem to be doing good.. and it does take awhile to recieve them, but i think i would order from them again..

"On May 1, 2012 10:47 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for posting. One of our customer representatives will contact you for your account information and take care of anything you need to have reshipped. We apologize for the inconvenience."

I've often bought from Michigan Bulb. Yes, the plants are small, but that's why they're so inexpensive. I'm an experienced gardener, I don't know how a newbie would do with some of the bare root plants, although they do send a booklet with planting instructions. I have one hosta (bare root) that I purchased this year that's yet to spring, but I'm not too worried.

I think it's important to remember you get what you pay for.

Posted on April 9, 2012, updated May 3, 2012
Posted on December 30, 2011, updated April 9, 2012
Posted on June 16, 2011, updated December 30, 2011
Posted on April 8, 2011, updated June 16, 2011
Posted on April 8, 2011, updated April 8, 2011
Posted on April 6, 2009, updated April 8, 2011
2- Shade Gardens $14.99 each
1- Tiger Lily Collection $14.99

I ordered from Michigan Bulb this year but my order has not been shipped. I was very disappointed when I went to track my shipping dates and realized that a "change" had occurred from the last time I had checked (I check weekly).

The two shade gardens are scheduled to ship any day now (we'll see if that happens or if there is a delay) but my tiger lily collection is now pushed back to AFTER May second for shipping, which is irritating, because, for where I want to plant these bulbs (because of their height, I will now either have to delay planting the hundreds of dollars worth of new (shorter) plants I've purchased or save spaces for the taller lilies and attempt to plant them without smashing or damaging my other plants while doing so.

I will be back to update my comment with details and a positive or negative rating as the items are received in April and (because of some bizarre reason) May.

"On Jun 17, 2011 8:56 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate all of your feedback and we use it to provide better service to our customers. Thank you for sharing. Happy Gardening and we hope you enjoy the grab bag.

I ordered a number of plants from Michigan Bulb on April 8. I emailed the company to ask about my order a week or two later as I hadn't been notified of shipment and didn't get any response. I explained that the weather in Houston has been very warm and I was concerned that if they waited much longer to send them it would be too hot to get them started.

I received my order today, May 2. I was very disappointed as I expected plants, not tiny plastic bags of dried-out roots and bulbs. The rose I ordered came in a 2 inch pot, but at least it had a few green leaves on it. I've never seen a rose that small. The bulbs are dry and tiny and the roots look like something I threw away after the plant died.

The descriptions on the Website are not at all indicative of the quality of the plant materials I received. I doubt that any of these things will survive.

I've had great luck with other mail-order nurseries. I will never order from Michigan Bulb or any of their sister companies; Spring Hill Nurseries, Breck's Bulbs, Audubon Workshop, Flower of the Month Club, Gurney's, Henry Field's or Gardens Alive.

"On May 4, 2012 9:05 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know about the problems with your plants. A customer service representative will contact you for your account infomation and we apologize for the inconvenience."

Posted on March 2, 2012, updated May 2, 2012
I didn't read the reviews for Michigan Bulb until after I placed my order so I was a little nervous that my shipment wouldn't arrive on time since I had read so many negative reviews. I placed my order in late January and my eta was March 3. I received my order on February 28 and was very happy. The plants looked good and arrived in good shape. I have no complaints and will definitely order again.

"On Mar 5, 2012 5:25 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Wonderful to hear, thank you so much for letting us know. If you have any problems please let us know. Happpy Gardening!"

First and foremost I should jump right in to the fact that the majority (not all... majority) of negative reviews I've seen for Michigan Bulb personally are due to complaints of shipping taking too long. I'm sure there are exceptions (as there always is) but the whole point of Michigan Bulb is that they won't ship you a plant unless it is ready to be planted in your particular zone. So you can go ahead and order in December but if the plant isn't ready it's still not going to get shipped until it's ready. I read somewhere that if you order too late in the season you'll receive your plants the NEXT planting season. I understand being excited/impatient, but it's unfair to rate poorly just because you didn't get your plants in a few days after your order. I'd rather wait and get them at their precise 'ready' time than get them too early and have them be too fragile or have a frost come along and kill them. Moving on... my shipment came yesterday with all but one plant in it, (that one has been shipped and will be arriving in a couple days) and everything was perfect. Anything potted was lush, green and larger than I had expected based on other reviews. All the bulbs were neatly packaged and the bareroots were already growing with leaves bright and green and healthy. The roots that were visable are not dry at all and look very healthy. The box was tidy and packaged in a way that nothing was shaken up or sliding around. I couldn't have been happier with what I got. I received prompt confirmation of order placement and shipping, was able to easily track the order on its way thereby knowing exactly when to expect it to be delivered. Now wether or not everything grows nicely over the next few years is yet to be seen but I will try to remember to update my review in the future.
Fantastic review from me so far!!

"On May 4, 2012 9:31 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Wonderful to hear and thank you for your posting and understanding. Enjoy your garden!"

I'm going to join the negative reviews, and consider it a lesson learned and a company to avoid. Same scenario of moving the shipping date, and I've finally cancelled the remainder of my order made on March 29 that is now scheduled to ship in "late May". I did receive one part of my shipment within 2 weeks; the second part took 5 days to arrive from MI to KY; and when informed of the third part not being shipped until the end of May, had no choice but to cancel. I agree to call, as emails aren't answered. It appears your call will go to a call center somewhere and not to the company. Overall, it's just been a pretty shady deal; however, I did receive an elephant ear and 3 caladiums (not sure if they'll come up or not) in that 5 week period. You might get your shipment timely like some posters have, and you might not, but I don't like to have to guess when my card has been charged and having to contact any company more than once over any order is unacceptable.

"On May 1, 2012 10:45 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. As a result we were able to uncover a programming issue that is being resolved. We apologize for the delay in shipping, it may have been that some of the items you ordered were not ready to be shipped and we want to make sure our customers receive quality plants. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information."

I never write reviews but felt it was necessary to do for this company after reading so many negative comments!

I was very concerned after I placed my order with this company after reading SO many bad comments. Little did I know how great my experience would be. I placed my order, within 5 minutes received my email stating my order was placed. Within another minute received another email with the same statement about my order so I felt a little better about that. I logged in and my status ship date was scheduled. The next few days I logged in and checked the shipping date and it did change a little but still no worries since the weather in my zone wasn't ready to plant anyway. A week or so went by and then I got another email saying my order has shipped and it should be there soon! Logged in and sure enough it was shipped. Got my tracking number followed it till it showed up in only 3 days! The packaging was perfect, no issues at all, my plants looked great, YES they are small but seriously can you expect huge plants for what you paid for them? They all looked healthy and in good shape to plant. The weather has been a little chilly up here in PA and I haven't planted them yet, but have them all outside during the day and watering them. I also ordered the same from burpee and paid twice the amount for the same plants, burpees was a little bigger but these will catch right up I am sure. Burpee was out of stock for these and I needed 10 more to finish my project so I found this company and so glad I did. Saved so much money buy using them. So I am very pleased with this company and will order from them again in the near future. What great prices and coupons to help you save and yes they are smaller but give the some time and care and they will catch right up. Also for everyone that says they are dead little roots and they don't grow, they have a lifetime guarantee, so I would recommend using it and their phone number is right on the website! Great job Michigan Bulb Co.

"On May 1, 2012 9:30 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you very much for your wonderful posting. Happy Gardening!
"

Posted on April 3, 2012, updated April 29, 2012
We got our first batch of plants today. Josee lilacs are beautiful little cuties with healthy leaves and roots. Snow-in-summer plants look fine too except for one but hopefully it will make it - guess, they just need sunlight after being packed carefully. In general, we are happy with the packaging, plants and delivery, although the delivery dates on the website kept changing, we got the plants exactly in the timeframe provided in the original order confirmation email. We are looking forward to receiving other plants we ordered and believe that they will be just as good.

"On Apr 3, 2012 1:58 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for sharing your experience with our company. If you have any problems just let us know and we will make it right."

DON'T DO IT! Please pay attention to all of the negative reviews on this company. I though that I'd give them a try because the catalog stated that the plants are potted. Well I live in zone 5 and I received 1/2 of my order 3 weeks ago. Yes, early April and they are all terrible bare root plants. I tried potting them in doors, but none of them lived.

The rest of my order came early this week. Still pretty early for Michigan, and 1/2 of that shipment were puny and I mean puny bare root plants. I don't expect any of them to make it. the rest were ok, but not great potted in very small paper pots. This was my first and LAST time ordering from MI Bulb co. I will go back to Bluestone and pay the extra money for quality plants or get them from my local nusery

"On Apr 30, 2012 4:32 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for your posting.We apologize for the problems with your order. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information for a reship.
Our value sized plants are grown under carefully controlled conditons do not suffer transplant shock, are easy to plant and will reward you with amazing growth."

Posted on April 28, 2012, updated April 28, 2012
Four years ago I ordered 3 cottage Inn Irises from Michigan Bulb company. All white. They finally flowered this year and one is brown, one is yellow, and one is blue. It really stinks when I was planting for a color scheme. I'm gonna do a good search for the receipt and then I will send a copy and pic of what they sent me. I won't order from them again. Item took long to grow and bloom and they could of cared less what color they sent me.

"On May 1, 2012 9:07 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for letting us know, we appreciate your updated posting."

Posted on May 16, 2009, updated April 27, 2012
I've ordered several times from them in the past two years because - with the special offers that always seem to be available factored in - you can get a lot of plants for little money. I've had many more hits than misses, and they have willingly replaced plants that failed. It's true that their system for projecting shipping times can be frustrating, but when I've ordered by early March the plants have arrived by early April, which is as early as I want them in Zone 5.

Of course, if money grew on trees I'd always shop somewhere like Bluestone Perennials, but with a largish garden to populate and limited funds, Michigan Bulb has been a useful resource.

"On May 1, 2012 10:40 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Great to hear, we do our best to offer nice plants at an affordable price. Happy Gardening!"

this is the 1st year and the 1st company that i have placed an order with online & have not recieved my plants/flowers by my correct zoning time 6a :( i placed my order on april 7th and have just recieved an email that only 1/2 of my order is just now being shipped and the other half is pending.my fiance and I just moved into our first house last year and decided to wait until this spring to fix the landscaping in the front yard,and unfortunetly i placed my entire order through this company and now embarrasing enough"we are the last and only yard in our entire subdivision without anything planted and blooming:(
this will be my 1st time starting a real landscaping project,so when i placed my springtime planting order i assumed i would recieve everything accordingly within my proper zone time..but unfortunetly with michigan bulb it is different.This is my order,and the amail i just recieved with dates changed again..hopefully i wont be dissapointed when they arrive"im crossing my fingers :) &will change my rating depending on actuall product.the 1st half of my order should be arriving soon hopefully
PINK SPLASH VARIEGATED WEIGELA
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
TIDAL WAVE CLEMATIS
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
MIXED DWARF ASTERS
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
BLUE FUSION EVERBLOOMING HARDY GERANIUM
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
KOREAN FIR
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
NELLY MOSER CLEMATIS
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12
HARDY CAROLINA JASMINE
Delivery Estimate: 04/28/12 - 04/28/12

ITEMS NOT YET SHIPPED

SNOW IN SUMMER
Delivery Estimate: 05/11/12 - 05/11/12
PASSION FLOWER VINE
Delivery Estimate: 05/18/12 - 05/18/12
CLIMBING HYDRANGEA VINE
Delivery Estimate: 05/11/12 - 05/11/12
TRAILING BELLFLOWERS
Delivery Estimate: 05/11/12 - 05/11/12
STRAWBERRY ICE PETUNIA
Delivery Estimate: 05/11/12 - 05/11/12
SILVER FALLS DICHONDRA
Delivery

"On May 1, 2012 9:11 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for posting. We would be happy to check on your order for you. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on the delivery time for the rest of your order."

Absolutely pathetic! I should have known when the fourteen plants I ordered arrived in a box the size of a throw pillow. The echinacea and daisies' root balls were scarcely bigger than a champagne cork. The 'bare root' geraniums and vinca looked like someone had gone out in the woods, ripped them out of the ground, and stuffed them in a baggie. (The vinca leaves were black and rotted.) All were wilted. I'm such a fanatic for green things, I transplant the sod when I dig a new flower-bed, but I'm seriously debating whether to plant most of these rejects. The worst thing is the wasted time; for a little more money, I could have gotten healthy plants much quicker from a company like Great Garden Plants, whose plants arrive looking like they just came from a nursery showroom. I will never buy from Michigan Bulb again.

"On Apr 30, 2012 3:52 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you for posting. We apologize for the problems with your order. A customer service representative will contact you for a reship.
"

I purchased the following from this company:

1) Dick Clark rose
2) Legends rose
3) Ketchup and Mustard rose

I bought these back in early March and just received them yesterday. The arrival date was updated twice but I didn't really have an issue with it as they did eventually make good on the order.

The plugs I got yes were rather small (about 3-4 inches tall not counting the soil part) but I have good soil at home and they were surprisingly strong and healthy! They had nice leaves and none yellow or dry. I used a nice coupon and got these for a descent price so I'm pleased. I have yet to receive the K&M rose but I'm totally looking forward to it!

If you want a giant 5 gallon rose plant, this is not for you. If you don't want to wait an extra few weeks and/or in a rush to receive the roses, this probably also isn't the place for you. But for my purposes, I think Michigan Bulb suits me just fine. Can't wait to buy more next season!! Take care guys!

Casey C

"On May 1, 2012 10:16 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thanks Casey, we appreciate your posting."

E-mailed the company twice - no response.
Called them, and was told they will be shipping my order in a middle of May. I asked to ship immediately, but they refused.
This is a first and a last time I am ordering from them.
Hope the plants they ship are good - have to wait and see. At this point I am not happy with their customer "service".

"On Apr 30, 2012 3:47 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We apologize for the problems with your order. A customer service representative will contact your account information and check on your order for you. Our site is having problems receiving emails and we are working on having this fixed soon.

"

I have Bought from this company for years. But in the last couple of years I have got nothing but Lousy Plants. Ihave several plants & Bulbs That did not make the winter. Ihave yet to send them a list. But Last year order rasberry Plants all died. They sent New Ones Early This Year One so far have Died. Sent them Three Emails They Will Not Answer.I have Also have a[ 3 in 1 Angel Trumpet] Not really a 3 in 1 Actually 3 plants in one container. Advertizing ?. They Replaced This Year , So Far One Of The Angel trumpet has Died. Email is Ineedtocelit@frontier.com GOD BLESS Joe

"On Apr 30, 2012 3:29 PM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We apologize for the problems with your order. A customer service representative will contact you for a reship. Our site is having problems receiving emails and we are working on having this fixed soon."

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!! Contrary to comments made in other posts, I buy online often. I actually ordered some hibiscus from Carol Wright Gifts a few years ago. I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised. Also, I had ordered once before from Michigan Bulb, but my order was only one bush, and came right away. (They must of had it in stock.) On April 2, I ordered some lily bulbs and hollyhocks, which should have gone into the ground already. I haven't received them, but they took my money within a few minutes. When I order something, I expect it to be in stock, and ship immediately. If it is not in stock, the seller should let me know during the purchase, and let me decide if I want to wait or not. Who are they to tell me when to plant? If they had a legitimate reason for not shipping (some companies don't ship when it is very hot), that would be acceptable. I have tried to contact them, with no response. There are many other companies, select one of them.

"On Apr 21, 2012 11:02 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We apologize for any confusion with your order. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on the shipping of your order."

I have had nothing but positive experiences with Michigan Bulb. Please recognize that many of the negative reviews posted are clearly purchasers that have never made a catalog plant purchase before - it is DIFFERENT from walking down to your local garden center!

Understand a few things before you buy, and you won't be disappointed: 1) items will ship during what are considered appropriate planting times for your zone. Don't place an order and expect it in a few weeks. 2) Many items will arrive as bareroots or what look like "twigs" - they will grow if you plant them appropriately! 3) Michigan offers one of the best guarantees in the business - it is a lifetime guarantee and they will send you replacements on anything that doesn't grow!

I have found their customer service very responsive.

The best way to order from any online catalog is to sit down WELL BEFORE planting season, place an order, then just relax. If you're dealing with Michigan, they will ship your order, it will arrive in time for planting. This has been my experience in the past 5 years of working with them. I now have beautiful plantings all over my yard that I never could have afforded purchasing from my local garden center, and the plants thrive because they don't suffer the same transplantation shock as garden center plants.

"On Apr 21, 2012 11:07 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

Thank you so much for your posting about our company. We appreciate you taking the time to outline how you feel things work and sharing with other members. What you have posted is pretty accurate, thank you for understanding."

I should have done more research into this company before I ordered. I am so not happy with Michigan Bulb or the partial order that I have received at this point. I was already wondering about MB when I sent an email a few days after my initial order wanting some info on plants that I had ordered and to this day have never gotten a response.
I placed an order on 18 March 2012 and I originally ordered 2 Golden Lights Hardy Azaleas; 1 set of Dichondra 'Silver Falls'; 1 set of Picotee Begonia bulbs; 1 Dolphin plant (aka Goldfish Plant) and 1 Valentine Bleeding Heart bare-root. So far all I have received were 2 dead Azalea twigs (which they're supposedly going to replace...next month!), the Dolphin vine/plant (which surprisingly seems to be OK thus far) and one Valentine Bleeding Heart whose root was dry and had broken pieces in the bag.
I called after waiting a little over a week and getting no response to an email I sent letting them know the condition of my order. The CS woman on the phone assured me that the Bleeding Heart would take 4-6 weeks to 'wake' up but that it would be OK and that replacement azaleas would be quickly sent out (if you count next month as quick I guess). She also informed me that the rest of my order would be sent out within the next few days. That was last week and still nothing.
I sent MB another email after receiving a notice telling me that the Dichondra had shipped on the 14th but the tracking number wouldn't pull up anything/there was nothing to track. I called and was reassured that the plants were in the mail and that I should receive them shortly even though the guy on the phone couldn't explain to me the whole tracking number not working thing. The Order Status page at MB showed that I should have received the Dichondra on 17 April. As of today, 20 April, they had still not arrived so I called again and this time was told that they would send out a replacement order for the Dichondra (supposedly rush ordered) and that my Begonia bulbs were were shipping out tomorrow.
My Acct Status page does show a tracking number for the bulbs but, again, when I try to pull it up, UPS Mail Innovations says tracking info unavailable. I just noticed something weird too, the tracking numbers for the missing order of Dichondra and the Begonia bulbs have the same numbers! Only difference is that the Dichondra ends with 102 and the Begonia ends with 201. All other numbers are the same. That's weird. Here's the full numbers for both:

Track: 2078050600102
85322 SILVER FALLS DICHONDRA
Delivery Estimate: 04/17/12 - 04/17/12 1
Track: 2078050600201
76788 PICOTEE BEGONIA MIX
Delivery Estimate: 04/22/12 - 04/22/12 1

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting too suspicious?

I'm not hopeful about any of it at this point. I'm so mad at myself for falling prey to the 1/2 off initial order scam! Why should it take repeated phone calls and unanswered emails to partially receive an order of dead/missing plants? This is absolutely ridiculous customer service! I don't see myself ever ordering from them again and just want my plants so that I can get on with Spring. This company is far too difficult to work with to make it worth my while-even if I do save a few bucks by shopping there. It just isn't worth the stress. Hopefully, if and when I do receive the rest of my order, it will all be in good shape so that I can move on.

"On Apr 21, 2012 11:16 AM, Michigan Bulb responded with:

We apologize for any confusion with your order. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and we can reship any item that did not do well in shipping. I tracked your orders and it shows the begonia just shipped on 4/19 and the Dichondra was delivered on 4/20. The tracking numbers are the same but end differently as this is the same order. When items ship at different times the ending number will be different. I hope this helps."