Comments regarding Michigan Bulb

In the past I found them to be a bit better than the others in the "Gardens Alive" group, but a recent order was 75% rotting or dead and some pots had no signs of plants ever having been in them - there was just dirt. I held off on rating them since they were very nice about sending replacements (although there is no toll-free number), but the replacements were no better than the order. Skip them - and Spring Hill and Gurney's. Just not worth it.

I ordered some hanging fushia plants that are doing very well and are growing quite nicely, however I ordered some gladiolus bulbs that were extremely subpar. The bulbs were incredibly small, they were about the size of the tip of my pinky finger, and there were a large amount of rotton bulbs.

I expected more from this company that had sold me such beautiful hanging fushia's. I will use MB for some things but not for ANY bulbs.

Our family has ordered from Michigan ever since I was a kid. And now I order from them too. If anything ever dies I write them a letter stating the order number and what items died and they would be replaced. If the particular item was ceased from inventory I've always gotten a gift cetificate that was also higher than the actual price I originally paid.

I ordered about $50 worth of daffodil and tulip bulbs from Michigan Bulb last fall, just enough to use the $25 off coupon. I knew about the negative feedback, but decided to give them a shot since I wouldn't be out all that much and the price were good (great after applying the coupon). All the bulbs arrived in great condition and were even a bit bigger than I expected but I decided to wait to leave feedback until I knew if they would bloom in the spring. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. All but maybe a couple out of several hundred bulbs grew, bloomed and were true to the type I ordered. For several weeks, my yard was full of gorgeous flowers. I can't speak to the quality of the plants they sell (that seems to be the major resaon for most of their negative feedback) but with all the negative feedback they receive, I felt compelled to relay my positive experience with this company. I wouldn't hesitate to order bulbs (only bulbs) from them again. Especially when I have a coupon!

I ordered some privet hedge from them they set a ship date of late july. Now I checked their site to find they cancelled my order with no explanation. I called their so called customer service. The lady told me that the reason she see's is that the planting season is over. I thought to myself if that is the case then there are a lot of farmers around here in trouble. I dont think i will ever deal with them again. They need to be reported to the B.B.B.

I ordered 3 purple hydrangeas & 4 astilbes from them in March; 3 miniscule hydrangea cuttings duly turned up - and all promptly died. No problem, they shipped me another 3 without question. These were stlightly larger, but thus far one of them has also died. I would have been better served purchasing healthy plants locally - at least i would have bought a proper plant, not a tiny specimen which needs examining under a microscope!

Hi, Just wanted to give some feedback about Michigan Bulb. I ordered over $120 worth of perennials from them. Firstly, the shipment came home almost 4 weeks after I was told it was shipped out. I kept calling them to find out what was happening and all I was told was that the order was in the mail. To their credit, they did separate out the tulips and the bulb lilies to ship in fall, the rest in spring. Secondly, their plants are so small that some of them are barely 1 or 2 inches tall. I have already lost half the plants that I have put in the ground (violas, tall phlox, dragonflowers, double clemetis etc). Thirdly, the bareroot plants they sent me (mostly lilies) were pathetic in size. They are mostly brown in color and very dry. I put them in anyway hoping that something will take and grow, as I have pretty good luck with everything else I grow. Anyway, overall very poor quality of plants. Won't want to order from them again.

I just received a box full of black rotten in identifiable plants. If it wasn't for the labels I would have never guessed what was in it. I called them and they are sending me a whole
new shipment. I hope the new shipment will be 100% better. I can't believe it...about 20 plants every one dead.

I placed a order with Michigan bulb via the internet on May 5, 2007. Part of my order was shipped on May 24. The plants arrived on Tuesday afternoon, the day after Memorial day. Every plant inside ( if you want to call it a plant) was black , rotted mush. Customer service was helpful, in that they said they would replace the order. I just recieved the replacement, half of the plants were dead and rotted. I am still waiting for the rest of my order to be shipped and am chalking this experience up to " live and learn". The plants are so tiny and fragile that they send that your money is better spent purchasing perrennials from a local nursery. Of course you will spend more but at least I can see what I am buying. I had purchased trees from another on line nursery and was very happy with that purchase, so I think I will just stick to that nursery for any future purchases.

though this had been years ago and haven't ordered from them in a while, i would say that the majority of the plants i received from them did well and some are still thriving to this day. i say some because the dogs decided to tear up the flower beds in the backyard and i managed to salvage some of them into a different bed out of their reach. but since i haven't ordered from them recently, i don't know how much they have changed. and anything i needed replaced they did so promptly or gave me credit.

I placed an order with Michigan Bulb on May 26th. This date was after the May 1st suggested shipping for my zone, so I expected to receive my plants within 7-10 days. When I received the email confirmation, it stated that the ship date would not be until a date range of June 12-24. This is deceptive in itself, but what's worse is today is June 4th, and I checked their site to see if anything had changed, the new expected ship date is now JULY 2nd-12th. This is so ridiculously unacceptable. They never even sent an email advising of the new dates. When I reached customer service, they told me that they "probably" ran out of plants and that they had to wait until some more had grown big enough to ship. Then the rep said that she saw that one part of my order was being pulled to ship, a set of hollyhocks. This is only one fourth of my order. She advised that I could wait until all the rest shipped, then refuse the order if I liked. This is NOT customer service, this is more like playing the Shell Game over the phone. I order over the net quite often, and I have never seen a company reach a customer service low like Michigan Bulb. By the time the plants reach me, the growing season will be halfway over. Sign me "Disgusted in Wisconsin".

My order was placed May 7, 2007, received May 17, 2007. Great turn around time. All items packaged above expectations. Everything was potted and looked alive. can't ask more from a mail order company. If you don't have the time or patience for small plants don't order from any mail order company unless it states specifically the size of planting. My experience from all mail order companies is small plants. most likely to keep up with supply and demand. I have had Althea's shipped several different times and those plants come in different sizes. These guys are no different then other mail order nursery. My experience is to wait a month after the rush of spring orders and then place my order. they tend to be better packaged and better looking plants.

Rose Miniature, trio with Urn the picture was so very,very beautiful full of red, yellow and pink flowers......... nothing to say it was not blooming and what did I know I'm not even a gardener but was just looking and saw this and thought of my dear friend who was about to have her 80th birthday......so I placed an order
WHAT SHE GOT WAS AN EMPTY URN WITH three 2 inch dead sticks ( I guess these were the rose bushes, who knows?) what a great birthday surprise for her and such good value for my $19:99......never never again..............and this company is still trading next time I want flowers I will go to my local super market.

I decided to give them another chance. Because they had some flowers I really wanted. The order came through, well packed and good plants, arrived when promised.

holly hocks
lavendar
rose of sharon
blue rose
mini roses
silver lace vine
lilacs
freesia bulbs

I have had one lavendar plant (of 3) die, but it was smaller and we had several snow storms and I think it just wasn't up for the challenge. The hollyhocks were iffy for a bit, but have taken hold. All the rest are thriving. So this year it looks like they gave me better stock.

I bought a considerable amount of plants from Michigan Bulb this year. This is my first year ordering through the mail. I knew to expect small plants, but felt kind of disheartened when I saw how little they looked in my garden. Then we got hit with that cold snap and I figured I'd lose everything, even though I tried to cover. Well, I have to say - after several warm weeks everything is starting to get nice and big. (relatively speaking) I had a few of the more tender plants surrender to the cold, but I called and got replacements within a few days. I definately feel that they ship too early. It seems like it would save them so much in replacements if they would just wait a couple of weeks. But, at least they replaced everything. I got great deals. In the future, I will most likely stick to ordering trees and shrubs through the mail. I can find much larger plants for not much more at my local nursery. However, the trees and shrubs are SO much less expensive that I feel it is worth it. I would use Michigan Bulb again.

I took a chance on some sale merchandise this spring, despite being aware of a large number of negatives for this company. I'm happy to report that I received healthy stock at an appropriate time for my zone. All is alive and thriving.

Very unhappy with quality of plants. Many bulbs were rotted! They are good about replacing the plants but they should be healthy the first time.

Not happy! I ordered $100 worth of flowers to do several gardens. I was very disappointed in the quality of the merchandise. Most plants were dry (the ones packed in plastic,or water-logged, the seedlings. Customer service indicated that I needed to wait another 3-4 weeks before I should complain. I indicated that I would not, that I had enough with their plants. They did issue me a credit for the full amount. Hopefully, I will see it in the next week. The rep did indicate that Michigan bulb was known for sending very small bulbs or seedlings. Never again will I order through the mail.

We sent our order to Michigan Bulb on March 21, 2007. I responded to an ad in Parade magazine in the Sunday newspaper. They cashed our check on April 2, 2007.
We have called them twice already, first time our order was almost ready to be shipped, 2nd time the items are backordered.
Order was to be shipped now on May 7, 2007 and we going to call again tomorrow.
I read on another site that the parent company is SCARLET TANEGER LLC owned by Niles Kinerk in Greendale IN.
This was our first experience with this Michigan Bulb and it will definitely be our last. I suppose we're just out the money.
I'm looking into complaints with Better Business Bureau and Attorney General.

I ordered some plants from this company 3 years ago and had poor result. I ordered 2 red hibiscus and they sent me pink (both of them) without notice even the package said red hibiscus. I was disappointed when the flowers came out pink.
3 Ligularia the Rocket died and didn't come back the next year.
The last 3 daylilies were so tiny and it cost $6 for 5 tiny bare root plants (smaller than a pencil) that I found out this daylily is the old fashioned one (orange flower) that grow wild. At least they can give bigger roots since it's wildflower.

I had enough with this company. Sooner or later this company will go out of business after everyone realize that there are alot of good internet companies out there.

I had ordereed a few years ago for my home outside of raleigh, NC (strwberries and Bluberries). the strawberries were plentiful the next year and we moved before I was able to see the bluberries. However some of the strawberry plants died the following year. When they say lifetime, they mean it (I hope). Because i called them about those couple plants and they sent then out QUICK. I am starting my first garden at our new home in Concord, NC and am axiously awaiting my MIBULB order. I cannot wait to get them (next week) and plant and watch them grow. I will always be a MIBULB customer.

i recieved a replacement certificate for 150.00 in march 2003 at the time the company told me it was honoring the old companies life time guarantee.now they tell me that was just a courtesy to get me to try their plants.i called the comp. in middle to late march2007 because all the plants but one died.they looked up my order and said they would issue a refund cert. i said i wanted a replacement cert. so i could order more plants they said i could do the same with the refund cert. i said o.k.i called again about 2 weeks later to be told i could`nt get a refund because the original order was on the replacement cert.and they recieved no actual money i understood this and asked if i could get a replacement cert. they said yes we will issue it .i called back 2 weeks later to see why i had`nt got it, they had no record of my last call and i had to go through the whole order again but was assured i would get a replacement cert.on may 10 i got a letter saying that i could not get reships,refunds,or replacement cert. for this order so i called and talked to ashley for at least an hour going through the order she said they could reship the items that were in stock.then i was put on the phone with lisa who told me i would not recieve anything from them because the original order was a replacement cert. they just honored to get me to try their plants.[150 dollars is a lot to get you to try something] i stayed on the phone with them at least 45 minutes each time.customer service was polite. basically you either have a lifetime guarantee or not ,they sent me plants that did`nt live and will not replace them.rebut this any way you want but the plants i recieved from you died and i got a runaround from you for about 2 months[wasted time ]i am not trying to get money i just want a replacement on the plants that died and a cert. for the ones that are out of stock.

Clearly, this is the worst online nursery I've ever dealt with. I attempted to cancel an order well in advance of the ship date by sending them a cordial e-mail. They ignored my e-mail. My order status did not change, and eventually one of the items shipped and my credit card was charged. At that point, I e-mailed them again threatening to have Visa investigate for credit fraud. I checked the order status and it was cancelled. They never took the time to send me an e-mail throughout this entire process! It was an awful, stressful experience.

I have to be fair, they wanted to keep up with their promise at first. Last year when I ordered from them I had about 30% plants that died on me and they replaced them OK.

Since I considered the outcome is fair for a discounted nursery, I went ahead order more late last year. I get bareroot and dried out plant ship to me in November, I knew it does not likely to establish in my zone but they will replace, right? So during our long boring winter I order more.

They shipped the plants in the early spring, we were hit by snow storm right after everything was planted. I am still at ease, it's OK, they will replace it, after all, they ship to early, right?

Right? Wrong! First replacement actully came for the items that I call in (there are more plants that I wasn't sure so I decided to wait for sure before I call), they are not replacing the extra 3 plant that come with their buy 3 get 3 deal. Called back in, the customer service said it's free so I don't entitle of replacement. That's educational. Yesterday I called in again for the other replacement came in with 1 plant instead of 3 that I initially ordered (not from buy 1 get 2 free), they flaged my account as BAD ACCOUNT and said I can no longer get replacement with them since I replaced too many items. Hello there, if the plant are in good condition, do I need to have them replaced? I am really tired of all those digging, watering and babying of all the sick plants over and over again, too. So I decide to call them BAD COMPANY, and call it a quit.

You can try your luck, too. But don't be a green horn like me believing what they use to hook you on.

I have been ordering from Michigan Bulb for years. I am SHOCKED that there are negative comments about them. I have NEVER had an issue at all. They replace everything that doesn't grow (for life) and you will never get that gaurantee from a nursery. I have replaced plants that I ordered 3 years ago and they send them with no problems.

I'm pretty surprised to read the comments here. I placed my first order with them this spring and had wonderful results!!! My plants came small and VERY well packaged. All the plants were no more than a few inches tall with 3-4 leaves, but 1 month after recieving the shippment my angel trumpets are already large bushes and my honeysuckle is almost 5 feet high! The bulbs I ordered also looked great and are coming up very nicely. As far as the comments posted about small plant size and slow shipping, their catalogue states VERY CLEARLY (in my opinion) about plant size and shipping dates. I thought they were providing very good service to hold shippments until proper planting time in all the different zones. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to do business with them in the future!

I ordered from Michigan Bulb many years ago and would never do so again. The pictures in the catalog are very much better than the plants.

I have never bought any plants from this MB. But I was going to place an order from them. Now that i have seen this site, i am wondering if any one bought their Flowering Maple which is "Buy one get another free" sale and if yes, what is your experience?

thanks

AE in MAssachusets

y order was placed on 2/25. No plants have been received yet, although three different shipping dates have been sent to me. Most recently, the promise that it was REALLY sent in beginning of this month. Obviously, that is also untrue as it is the 25th of the month and they would be here by now if they really had been sent. Customer Servce is terrible and useless. I will NEVER do business with them or any of their substandard affiliates again

I found this website before I ordered but went ahead anyway, and was glad I did. All my plants arrived in good condition, nicely packed in cells with protectors on top so nothing got broken. Only one arrived dormant in a plastic bag, but was a good 2' tall. I failed to write down my confirmation number when I ordered and e-mailed them asking for it, receiving a response the very same day. Very pleased and would try this company again. :)

I have read both the positive and negative comments left about this company, but decided to give them a try with a small order first. I placed an order for two butterfly/hummingbird gardens that they were offering for sale at an excellent price. I placed my order on 4/14 and it arrived on 4/23. Yes, the plants are tiny, they are seedlings. But that's what I expected them to be. I realize the illustrations depicted in their catalog are of mature plants. My only gripe so far is that I'm somewhat landscape-challenged and I thought there was going to be a planting diagram included, but there wasn't.
My planting area was ready ahead of time, and they are in the ground. We'll see how they do, and I'll keep you updated.

I placed a large order on March 26 to be shipped to AR. On 4/10 I paid $5 extra to upgrade the shipping to UPS for faster service. On 4/20, I received an email that the order has shipped. But, as of 4/24 no one is able to give me any shipping information. I don't think it has really shipped.

I ordered from Michigan Bulb in mid-April and it took about a week for my order to arrive. Everything was packaged in plastic cell packs and well protected. I had ordered short dianthus, hens & chicks, and low-growing sedum. The plants were tiny but healthy. I used a $20 off $40 coupon and had taken advantage of buy one get one free, so I feel that I got a very good deal. I am anxious to see how the plants grow now that they're in the garden.

When I bought my first house I ordered from them and did not have a good expierence and never ordered again. But I had just move to a new house and wanted to add tulips so I thought I would try them again and ordered quite a bit and planted as instructed. I was so excited when spring came, but my excitement soon became disapointment. I'll bet less than half of them came up and some of them weren't even the colors I ordered. I would never order from them again.

I was very upset about when I recieved my plants. There was still about a month of snow left and freezing cold nights. It was difficult to keep them alive until they could have a permanent home outside. Now they are not looking to healthy the toad lillies are looking pretty shriveled up and liriope isnt looking amy better I do live in zone 5 But it was a way longer cold winter than usual. and the date was exactly one day after they said was the earliest. Well Im going to give them a call my self.

I have ordered from this company before; in general my results had been positive, until this time.
I ordered three blueberry plants and three grapevines. Well, of the blueberries, one was in a protected cell, so I expect that it may live. The OTHER two, however, looked as if they'd been yanked from their containers and shipped, since they were not bareroot, nor were any packing cells floating around in the shipping box. Needless to say, their roots were bone dry.
The grapevines are nothing but brown, dry, dead twigs. I'm not talking just dormant here, I'm talking DEAD.
As I stated above, I have ordered here before, so I know their plants are never huge, but their prices, for the small plants, are reasonable. HOWEVER, for what I paid for these grapevines and blueberries (about $6.00 apiece) I could have ordered from another, more reputable company, or even purchased locally, and wound up with live plants.
I will never buy from this business again.

My order was placed in February. I receved an e-mail from the company stating that my (large) order would be delivered at the latest by late March. It was not. So I sent a message to Customer Service which promises a response within 48 hours. On 4/6/2007 they finally sent me a message saying part of my order was being shipped on the sixth of April. It is now more than two weeks later, and still no plants have arrived. If they really were shipped on the sixth and have been sitting in the back of a mail truck for over two weeks, they are surely dead. They have beautiful plants in their catalog, but my planting season will be over by the time the plants get here.

I placed my order to Michigan Bulb prior to reading their rating on the site. I received my order today - only 10 days after placing order. This is the first time I have ordered from a mail order supply so I was not sure what to expect. I was impressed with the packaging.Everything was clearly labeled and the plug pack tote is great. My obedient plant and yarrow, although small, had nice green foliage. My shrub rose was bare root but was 2x the size of another shrub rose I had just purchased at a local nursery- and cost less. The rose of sharon was also very nice sized. Prices are very reasonable and shipping was super fast. I would definitely use this company again!

I recently placed an order with Michigan Bulb and was very happy with my experience. I ordered 9 White Creeping Phlox, 9 Pink Creeping Phlox, and 6 Lilly of the Valley. All of them looked very good. The shipping was very quick. I am beginning to notice that all mail order gardening goods are being shipped dormant. I have planted them and will post another response when I see how they turn out.