Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

I had a great experience with Spring Hill. The delivery date did not change for me and the plants arrived in perfect condition. Everything was labeled and packed well.

Springhill nursery may have cheap plants but then if they never ship them to anyone it is easy to sell something cheap. i ordered on april 27th 2009 and every day my shipping date changes sometimes it changes three or four times in a single day. they never reply to an email so forget about getting a response through that. and all they can tell you when you call them long distance is that your order is in the process of being picked and boxed and will be shipped as soon as they can. some of the plants i ordered started out being shipped in 1st week of may the next day it was the middle of june then the next day it says it will ship in mid may it is now may 13th and the order showed will ship in june 8 2009 in the morning now in the evening it says the order will ship may 20th. it is a constant shell game with these people and after spending almost 100 dollars on plants i am fed up with this company. i have contacted the BBB but still have not gotten a solution to the problem. even the BBB can not get these people to ship the plants they took my money for. I have talked to my credit card company and they said they will not allow the charge to stand so at least i will get my money back. bottom line avoid springhill gardens like the plague it is.

I placed an order with Spring Hill on 4/17/09. I ordered two of the Complete Never Ending Border Perennials and one Corner Garden. I noticed that the delivery date kept getting pushed out. I noticed a charge coming through for the total of the order last week from my bank account and thought maybe the website just isn't updated. I called and was informed the corner garden was being shipped, but thought it sounded like the whole order was being shipped. I gave up on the phone because it was hard to understand the person I was talking to as she had a thick accent. Well, I received the tracking information and received the Corner Garden with no problems with the plants, but the big order shows the estimated delivery being between 6/6 and 6/25. I called and requested to cancel that portion of the order as the end of June is just too late to me to be starting to plant these things. They canceled that portion of the order for me and verified (I verified on my bank account too) that I was only charged the for the Corner Garden. I do not understand why there website shows a shipping schedule for zone 5 not past 6/12 when my order shows estimated delivery through the end of June. I am pleased that they canceled the rest of the order for me without hesitation and that the person I spoke with waited on the line so I could verify what I was actually charged for through my bank account and that he actually verified the amount that they put through to be charged as well wasn't for the full order and only for the items I received. I'll keep an eye on my bank acct, but since the website now shows that portion of the order canceled I feel that I probably won't be charged.

As seems to be their standard they delayed ship date.
Plants were packed on a Friday got to UPS Monday night sent by dog sled arrived on Thursday I got email from UPS stating delivered.
I called UPS they told me plants were delivered to US Post office.
We finally received the plants Friday afternoon, They were in poor condition from being in a box for a week with no water. my wife asked if the provided a microscope to view plants.
We received a butterfly plant from another mail order nursery 2 weeks ago it took 2 days from packing until we received plants at our house they shipped via FedEx ground.
That butterfly plant is about 5 times the size of Spring hill plant
I did not see all the poor reviews posted on the web before ordering.
We will never use any company associated with Spring Hill in the future.

Guess I am one of the lucky ones concerning SpringHill. I placed an order 2 weeks ago for some ferns and got them today May 6. They are all healthy looking plants. Wish I could say the same for a few other nurseries I've done buisiness with this spring. There's got to be one good apple in the barrel.

Placed an order in March - unfortunately, before I read the reviews on this site. I can echo every comment - they keep switching the "delivery estimate", did not answer e-mails, promised "rush" delivery after I complained, but still no plants. I have begun checking the delivery estimates daily - and every day they move 1-2 days. Now my credit card has been charged even though the plants have not shipped.

Two issues that I have NOT seen listed in this forum:

1) Their telephone number is not listed anywhere on their website. I did not have a catalog handy, and could not find the number. I actually found the number on this forum!!

2) The number I called is answered in India. The representative, "Brandon", tried telling me that the company headquarters was in Indiana - but when I asked him where HE was actually located, he finally admitted India. (Like I couldn't tell from the heavy accent that I could barely understand...) I will not support any company that uses overseas call centers for their customer service - especially since I doubt if he can answer any questions I may have about gardening in the south during the summer.

Nevertheless - "Brandon" claims that my order is not "in the shipping process" - which apparently means that it will be shipped within 2-3 days. He claims that the website is not updated regularly, and that what he is telling me is the most current info.

We'll see - if no tracking number appears within the 2-3 days, I am cancelling the entire order.

So - what is a good company to order perennials from??? I may need to replace the order!
Thanks!

I placed a medium sized order with this company. This first shipment was a collection of 4 clematis. It arrived in excellent condition. Well-rooted, lots of leaves, moist soil. Couldn't have arrived in better shape. Hopefully the rest of my order will arrive in the same excellent condition.

I COULD JUST REPEAT EVERY NEGATIVE , IT SEEMS ALL OF US HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCES EXCEPT I DON'T KNOW THE CONDITION OF MY PLANTS- AS EVERY TIME I CHECK ON SHPIING DATE IT IS PUT OFF 2 WEEKS. A DIFFERENT THOUGHT IS - HOW CAN THEY BE A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING OF "MAILORDER GARDENING ASSOCIATION" I WOULD GUESS THIS ASSOCIATION IS NOT DOING THEIR HOMEWORK.

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY. Spring Hill is an abomination. And no that is not hyberbole.

How do I hate thee Spring Hill? Let me count the ways...

I cannot tell you how many plants I've ordered from this company to only receive wrong quantities, wrong plants, unfilled items, DOA (Dead on Arrival) or DAP (Dead After Planting) to coin a new acronym. Further they boast completely unreliable ship dates and never ending back orders. I find their customer service people unfriendly and the "Lifetime" warranty is completely bogus. What is the good of a warranty when they send you a laughably puny and pathetic version of the same plant?

About 90% of my plants from Spring Hill have FAILED. Replacing them does little when those replacements also DIE. I've received multiple DEAD versions of the same plant. You look at the rhizomes and you know that this plant is dead as a doornail. Call for a replacement and they either send you another dead one or tell you that it is on back order and they will ship in the fall (which means never unless you call them again) or give you a credit. Woo hoo! It's a trap to keep you hooked you see? You might call it "Spring Hell".

Ironically, it was the glorious photos in their catalog that really got me into gardening. I would stare at their catalog for hours enamored at the plant selections that I did not see at local nurseries and dreaming of what my garden would look like in a few patient years. Ha! Key word here is dream. After countless failures, needless to say I came to my senses.

I still have unclaimed credits which I can guarantee you will remain unclaimed at this point. Time to cut my losses and move on. I saw the bad reviews here on Dave's Garden and thought no need to post and add fuel to the fire because they were obviously a bad company. So why am I posting?

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was my primrose lilacs. Despite all the other plants that died I took small consolation that at least my primrose lilacs were doing well. They did not bloom yet but they were getting close and they seemed very healthy. For 3 years I've looked forward to being the only one in my area with yellow lilacs. Well guess what? This year they bloomed. And they're not yellow. Not even close. So are they going to send me more replacements in a 3 inch pot as per their lifetime warranty?

I'm beyond disillusioned. I'm thoroughly disgusted but my wife says I need to laugh about it. I'm not. Spring Hill should not be allowed to be in business. And I feel it my duty to try and protect others from their shoddy business practices.

You have been warned.

P.S. Please be advised that if you order from them you will get added to their telemarketing list. It's a machine that calls you periodically, not a human being and there does not seem to be a way to get off.

I ordered about $100 of plants for only $80 using a discount coupon I found online. I got some astilbes, geraniums, daisies, rudbeckia, verbascum, salvia, and vincas.
I received the package within a few weeks (these are living things so it's not as simple as pulling them off a shelf) and everything was packed carefully and looked as I expected. One of my two rudbeckia was missing, so I wrote a quick note to customer service and within two days I got an email saying they had put two more in the mail for me (which I've also received and looked great).
Most of the plants arrived with no leaves on them and no signs of life but I have been helping my mother with her gardens since I was a little girl, so I knew that this is what plants look like when they have been dug up from under the snow in April and then put in a box and sent across the country!
The geraniums showed up as little straggly roots but they are looking amazing now and some are even 6" tall! The vincas came with good leaves and are doing well. A couple are already starting to trail and root. One out of the six is not doing too great, the growth that was on it when it arrived has died, but it has a little shoot coming up so I think it'll be alright. The astilbes looked like dead pieces of driftwood but all are putting up little fuzzy shoots! The salvia are doing very well and growing so fast I'm going to have to stake them in a couple of days. As for the verbascum, daisies, and rudbeckia, they have been growing slowly and looking a tiny bit tired, but I just reread the Spring Hill website and realized I was giving them MORE water to try to perk them up... and those 3 plants do not like wet feet. So once I stop drowning them I think they will do great.
The beautiful plants you see in the catalog are about three years old, so I am expecting this first summer to be one of greenery and careful attention. I'll add to my post when they bloom.

Dear Springhill Nursery,

An estimated ship date means that you anticipate shipping on about that date. It does NOT mean that you put in an estimated ship date of 3/25 and then move the estimated ship date forward a few days each week for weeks on end until the recipient will find herself planting spring bulbs and spring-flowering shrubs in the middle of summer.

Sign me,
Disgruntled

Every year about this time, I am so tempted to order something from this company. Then, I remember the many times I opened the carton of plants to find them dead or dying or not even the plant I ordered but a substitute. After one spring of receiving bad plants TWICE, I gave up and vowed never to order from them again. Rule of thumb for me...buy locally.

The ordering process is fun. Ordered online, got confirmation that the order will be shipped in a week (that's good, I thought), but then the online tracking system showed that the order will not go out for another 3 months. Called Customer Service who promised to put a rush on the order. I called back a few days later to be told that the order was not going to be shipped for four months (that's our standard timeframe, said the supervisor)

Postives: nice friendly customer service, eager to help you cancel your order.

Negatives: curiously detached supervisors. Forget about getting any plants.

I decided to give this company a try since I know friends who have had great success with them. I used the $25 savings certificate for an order over $50. I received my entire order in a timely manner, that is not the issue. I found out about this site 'after' my order was placed, but decided for wishful thinking in the grand scheme of things, since I had no experience to write about. I ordered 3 blue fragrant lavender and we planted them in a timely manner according to the planting directions. I know a dead plant when I see one, (these were wilted when we received them and I had hoped they'd bounce out of it). Two out of the three are dead and the third one looks iffy. I called the Customer Service last weekend, and told the lady they'd been in the ground one week and two are dead. She said that perhaps they are in shock, give them another week and see if they bounce back. They have not and the third one is looking sickly now. They are dead or dying. I've read on here that the company can black ball you for too many dead plants. That scares me as I also ordered three snow in summer and they look sickly too. I emailed the company about this 2 for sure dead ones on 4/27/09 and haven't received a response yet. I doubt I'll be ordering from them as I'll just stick with my local nurseries. I wish I'd paid attention to the warnings. The pictures in the catalogs make everything look so good and it is our desire that we get that result too, but we've got to have good plants to work with from the get go....not wilted ones.

I ordered a large order of plants on july 17. I got a computer generated response after my order with order number etc. It said I could track the order using this info. I tried and the website did not work. I checked a few days later and again got nowhere. I then sent two e-mails to customer service- and again no response. So this morning I called and talked to Micky who told me (it is now July 29th) that the order had not yet been processed and that it would be shipped "in a few weeks." I live in Utah- In a few weeks it will be HOT here. I asked for a more specific time and she said she would not get me one. I canceled the order. I will check with my cc card company to ensure that the money has not been sent to them.
Now. My Dad managed one of the largest wholesale cactus growers in the world for about 25 years. Wholesalers sell their plants for pennies to distributors who then turn around and sell them to retailers who then sell them to us. Every time the plants change hands the costs goes up like sunflowers. The worst part is one of the largest distributors is in Canada. So it is likely that that cute little plant you are buying from HD was shipped from SOCAL to Canada then back to the US. Little wonder they don't grow so well sometimes by the time you get them home.
Buying direct makes sense. You are giving the money to the grower and they care about their plants. They are also getting A LOT more from you than they can get on the wholesale market- especially now with all the big box stores. So if you are dealing with a grower who also does retail YOU should be treated like Royalty. Buy a few things from Noursefarms.com and you will then know how you should be treated if you are really dealing with a good grower. It is pure speculation on my part but my instincts tell me SpringHill is a distributor or retailer pretending to be a grower. Their prices are in line with a grower but their lack of service to a retail consumer placing a large order is not. It's a busy time of year but Micky from Springhill should have known exactly how long it would take to ship my plants if they were in their greenhouse. Hope this helps. I should have checked here too before I placed my order. This forum is great!

In February 2009, I placed a order with Spring Hill Nursery. It was for a Spring delivery. I have already received that order minus my Lily Nego Monte. I have emailed Spring Hill Customer Service (Tracy) numerous times that I want my Lily right now. Other companies have already sent me similar Lily plants. Each time I see that particular Lily in other companies offered as buy one now and get the next Lily for one penny more. I finally told Tracy I want it now, I bought and paid for it with the rest of the order, that is here.Even Lowe's and Home Depot are selling those Lily's now, right now and I asked Tracy to speak to her supervisor. Ashton sent me the same email that Tracy uses, a form letter. I ordered this item in Feb. and I cannot even get it until after August 31 2009. I am the customer. It is paid for. What is going on here. How can Spring Hill get away with it? Eileen.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I've had the same experience with them not sending plants in a timely manner.

I ordered about $200 worth of plants in early March. To date, none have arrived. When I checked the shipping status some had been moved to June and some had been bumped to Fall! Since I'm in zone 7 this is simply too late for planting. I contacted customer service and was given a refund. Short but professional. I sense they do a lot of these.

Considering all the 50% or $25 off ads, they are not capable of shipping to meet the demand. I would have paid more just to have my plants on time and in good condition.

Have since reordered from another company.

I placed an order online to Spring Hill Nursery on 3/7/09. The expected ship date was around 3/28. As the date got closer I kept watching the order status. The anticipated ship date was continually being moved out from 3/28 to 4/1, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, and finally 4/20/09. I finally called on 4/10 to see what could be done to get my order here since I need it by April 17th. They put a “RUSH” on the order and said it should ship on 4/13 and get here by 4/17. I called back to verify on 4/13 and they told me there was a credit card issue (gotta love it when VISA gets their information stolen and you get replacement cards). I gave them new numbers and they said they would process the order ASAP. The next day I get an email and a voicemail from them saying there was a credit card issue, I called them and they said the order was being processed and was shipping and the issue was resolved. I again told them I needed this by 4/17. (I also informed them that their customer service email on their website kicks back as undeliverable). I checked the website today (4/16) and the order had still not shipped. I called them again and they said it hasn’t shipped but was “printed” at the warehouse. I finally asked to speak to a supervisor “Debbie” who was going to email the warehouse to get a status and email me back in a few hours as well as see if they could overnight them. I told her all of this needed to be shipped overnight because I needed it by 4/17, which is why I ordered early. So far customer service has been “mostly” pleasant (the supervisor was a bit short) but also mostly unhelpful and I keep getting the runaround. I called back 3 ½ hours later to check on status since I had not heard anything back and was told “Debbie” was in a different location but my order should ship and be here next week. I told them I needed it tomorrow which is why I have been calling. I ended up cancelling my order even though they offered free shipping and 10% off. I told them I needed the plants not a discount, get me those by tomorrow and I would be happy. So the cancellation went through. We’ll see if they credit my credit card back – if not I will have lots more comments to post. I will be getting some of my plants locally and for the one’s I can’t get here (about half of them) I will order from someone else OUTSIDE THE SCARLET TANAGER LLC umbrella of companies (Gardens Alive Inc., Audubon Workshop, Breck's Bulbs, Henry Fields, Gurney's Seed & Nursery Company, Henry Field's Seed & Nursery Company, Michigan Bulb Company, Rocky Meadow Orchard & Nursery, Scarlet Tanager LLC dba Michigan Bulb Company, Spring Hill Nurseries). I won’t ever order from these companies again and will make sure I spread the word to my friends and neighbors about my experience.

"On Jun 19, 2009 10:02 AM, Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com) responded with:

We contacted the customer 4/20 and offered a gift certificate for all the trouble they had with their order, they declined the offer 6/12."

First wanted to thank DG for enabling me to have a 'neutral' interaction with SpringHill, saving me from a frustrating negative. I placed a fairly large order with SpringHill on April 9,2009. The entire order was half-off so I spent over $200 (400 at their "regular" prices.) I ordered four planned gardens, as the varieties were ones I wanted multiples of, and this was a less costly alternative, plus some multiples of geraniums (12 of several varieties). I received the confirmation of order receipt. After reading the reviews on your web-site, I had an uh-oh reaction. I had not ordered from SpringHill in 20 years-after my last new home landscaping. Sure enough when I checked my order status the geraniums were to be shipped Aug-Sept!! Several of the garden plans were already sold out (I suppose subs would have been made). After researching, preparing new beds, which entailed removing very large shrubs, I would have been devastated to have received whatever was planned in substitute, and no geraniums until fall?? Customer service cancelled my order in a friendly manner-which is why this is a neutral and my card was not billed. Thank you SO MUCH for the heads up!

I live in Michigan (Zone 5). I contacted Springhill the summer of 2008 about some perennials that I purchased that did not survive the winter of 2007/2008. They sent me replacements that finally arrived this spring (2009), but way too early in the season. They were delivered March 23 when the temperatures were still dipping into the twenties at night. I have kept them refridgerated ever since waiting for warm weather. Now will I have to ask for replacements for my replacements??

I cut a coupon for "black elephant ears" out of March 1,2009 Sunday newspaper and sent it and the money for 6 elephant ears (roughly $39.00) to Spring Hill on March 3 through the regular postal service. My check was cashed on March 13, 2009. I never received the bulbs. I emailed the company to inquire about the status of my bulbs. Within several days, I received a generic email from their customer service department asking for my account number (didn't have one-I ordered thru the regular mail), my phone number, address, and a copy of my check that had been cashed (I sent it as an email attachment). Several days later, I again received a generic email from customer service department of SpringHill with exactly the same questions. I then called the customer service department in the last days of March to talk directly to a customer service rep. They cashed my check but did not have any ordering information for me. The person I talked to asked me to fax or mail a copy of the cancelled check.to an address in Lawrenceberg Indiana. Having no fax machine, I sent it through the postal service on April 4. I have a really bad feeling about this and know that I will never order from this company again

I ordered 2 "planned gardens", an assortment of bare root and potted plants. My order arrived yesterday. It was well packaged and everything looks good - the potted plants are very healthy, and the bare roots are well packaged and not dried out.

So, what is the problem, you ask? Well, this is Zone 5. Our last frost date is May 26th. We still have a foot of snow on our still-thoroughly-frozen ground. We are WEEKS away from being able to plant anything here. And yet, here is the accompanying planting information, telling me to get things planted asap, a day or two for the potted plants, up to 3 weeks for the bare roots. Not gonna happen!

I have contacted the company by e-mail and have received prompt responses, so possibly this should be a neutral rating - which I will change it to if the company follows through with replacing plants that don't survive to be planted.

Bottom line - no good nursery should be shipping to Zone 5 the first week of April!!

I had been a return customer of Springhill for many years going back before they seemed to have closed the business because the catalogs stopped coming and the phone number didn't work. They state a satisfaction guarantee which attracked me, but when I excercised the guarantee claim once too many times I got a letter saying they no longer wanted my business. Well, if they would send out quality plants with secure packing that can survive the shipping abuse and not die, I wouldn't have to call back for a replacement. And, I ordered the plants they taged as suitable for my zone 9, but they would die regardless of me building raised garden beds and trucking in special mix of garden soil.

I have to say that I was greatly impressed with the customer service at Springhill. I Received my plants as stated. When ordering by mail, I have learned not to expect what I would get at the store due to shipping constraints, so I consider how plants do when actually growing. I received defective plants and I emailed them one evening, not expecting a reply for several days. I was shocked to have received a response the next day with a shipping # and expected delivery date! The plants that made it are growing well, a white feather hosta beautifully filling out already.

I am having issues with a a Blue Sea Holly now that is dying and the other Black Barlow Columbine has rotted as well, but I anticipate smooth sailing when I call to report it.

I would recommend Springhill and am planning to do business with them again.

I ordered 3 Sensation Lilacs with a $25 discount and they arrived on time packed in plastic air pillows with no problem. The new top growth was a bit yellowed due to too much time in a box. The roots were thick and healthy. Upon being exposed to sunlight they greened right up and started growing quickly.

I received an order confirmation, a shipping confirmation, was billed correctly and have had no reason to call customer service.

These are easy plants, certainly not exotic, but nothing went wrong.

I received trees and a plant. Just planted the trees today, so can't say anything about the quality except they look good. My beef with this company is the fact that they packed a 4 foot box with packing peanuts! I guess I would expect a "green" company to use newspaper or something besides petroleum based packing peanuts. I did email the company with my concern, but haven't heard back yet.

I have about 10 Mock Orange shrubs that I ordered from Spring Hill two years ago. The shrubs are just beginning to leaf out this year and I am waiting to see if I get blooms this year. I am very impressed with the vigor of these plants, they grew to well over 8 feet in two years (with Bayer 3-1). I also have several roses from Spring Hill which have been very hardy and performed well (JFK, Audrey Hepburn and Royal Amethyst)... this is more than can be said for about a dozen J&P roses I lost to canker, poor grafting or just general unhealthiness.

I found a coupon in an online forum to get $20 of merchandise free from Spring Hill - just pay shipping. I therefore got a dwarf orange tree, including pot and soil, for only $7.95. Although I was a bit nervous given all the bad reviews here, I figured it was only eight bucks. It was shipped promptly (indeed, earlier than the estimate said, which I guess might be a problem for some folks but wasn't an issue for me) and arrived today in great shape. I'm looking forward to enjoying oranges!

I submitted my first online order with them on March 25th, the items were shipped on Sunday/Monday and I recieved today.

Privet Hedge, Freedom roses and a few other bare root items.
I was really nervous after reading some of the reviews, However the items were well packaged, moist and looked very good.

New to the forum. Discovered it while getting ready for Spring season. Great site!

Would rate this as a mild "negative."

I live in the upper Midwest. I spend a lot of time gardening, and keep track of each plant, where I got it, survival rate etc.

Spring Hill plants rate among the lowest survival rate of any nurseries I've ordered from via mail order. However, I will say that they did replace orders per their guarentee when I was a customer.

When I moved into a new home in 2004, I purchased a large quantity of plants from Spring Hill and others. Although several plants were not in good shape when received, they always lived up to their replacement guarentee.

We water our plants routinely, and mulch them during the winter to enhance the survival rate of our zone 4 plants.

As we expanded our gardens, we ordered more and more plants. Unfortunately, several orders were received in a row where the plants were basically DOA. No rhyme or reason, as sometimes there would be plants that were in good shape in the same box as brown, wilted plants. My guess is that they sat in their shipping or packing room too long, or it was too warm in the delivery truck.

We always gave it the old "college try" to resurect any plants. I made the comment to my wife that although I liked Spring Hill's replacement guarentee, a lot of their plants seemed to be either not surviving the winter here (compared to local nursery plants planted along side them) or not surviving transit.

In Dec 2007 I received the same note as Carmon (from SD below). It was short, sharp (from someone in customer service named James) and basically saying that they wouldn't be shipping any more plants due to the high replacement rate.

My take on them would be this: If you have a few items to order take a chance with them. If the product dies, you will probably get a replacement. However, if you live in a severe climate, realize that whether they ship you dead plants, or it doesn't survive the winter, they are tracking the # of replacements and will eventually tell you to buy elsewhere if you ask for replacements too often.

I just placed an order and it isn't starting out good. My order total was $109.00 and the online discount gave me $25.00 off in my shopping cart for orders over $50.00. When I submitted the order, it didn't give me the discount. After reading all of these reviews, I'm concerned! I have to question if I'll ever see this discount. I wish I would have checked this site first. I haven't heard back yet from Springhill about this. I'll update my feedback according to how this works out. I will also be keeping my fingers crossed on the condition of my plants when they arrive. The negative comments on this website have me concerned.

I read the mixed reviews and decided to take a chance on Spring Hill, as it is the only way I could afford to fill my garden areas. I ordered approx $95 of plants after $25 coupon. It was a mixture of plants and bulbs/roots/etc.

Customer service has been excellent for me - responses in no longer than 1 day and replies within an hour in some cases.

I asked a question about shipping and charges before I ordered and reply was very quick, detailed and answered all my questions.

I placed an order and it was shipped in 2 shipments -
1) Fern collection shipped a week early and incl. a Painted Fern shipped as small plant in good condition (packaged &received in good condition)
2) The rest of the order was shipped to reach by the first day in the estimated shipping range. The plants (8 total) were all in good condition, except 1 was a little yellowed. My poker primrose even had a little 1" poker already growing. Roots, bulbs etc were all packaged well.

Problems encountered:
1) Of 3 Dwarf Gaillardia ordered, 2 were the same, 1 looked totally different. No mention on packing list that one was substituted.
2) A couple of the Liatris bulbs felt a little soft.

So, I emailed cust service (directly from last correspondence I received) to ask if that was normal for the bulbs (I've never worked with bulbs) and to find out how I determine what the 3rd oddball plant was.

I got a response same day saying they were forwarding my questions to their master gardener and got a reply from Karen @ Gardens Alive (next day) apologizing for any inconvenience and informing me replacements are being sent for the above items and will reach within 1 week. (which I did not even ask for at this time)

I guess I must have been one of the lucky ones because I can't think of any company in the last couple years which has been as pleasant to deal with as Spring Hill.

As far as the plants go, I have no doubt that they will grow wonderfully. The rest of the roots, I will have to see. I'll update later when the plants have some time to settle in.

I have been using Spring Hill website as a reference for choosing the proper plants for my growing areas for a couple years. I saw several plants on the site that I couldn't find at the largest nursery in the area or some of the smaller ones we visit for that matter.

So I decided to place an order and figured a month ahead of Easter they would arrive in time for Easter (I know this was taking a little bit if a chance -but Spring is Spring). I spent about $150.00.

Anyway, I copied the invoice at the end of the ordering process along with my order number. A couple days later I hadn't gotten a confirmation email, so first I went to the site to check on my order. The order number I had been given was not recognized and I never got an account number or created a password....nothing that I had applied to getting in the system to check my order, so I emailed them.

I provided my order number and contact infomation and I attached the invoice that I had copied. I recieved an email (from James) that told me they couldn't find my order with the information provided could I provide my order number, address and name!?! Also they wanted the original email, which they did not 'reply' to mine, which would have included the original email -(they started a new email) . So I replied and provided the information again.

I get an email response the next day (another new email - not a running reply), that says my order has been recieved and processed, gives me a new order number, and an account number.(With an order date 3 days after I actually placed my order). (This email was not signed).

Then 15 minutes later I get an email that says my order can't be processed because of some technical error and I have to call with a check or credit card number, (invoice attached). This email was from Vincent and did not include any of the previous emails.

Well first of all -the total cost was different. The $25.00 off for an order $50 or more was not applied and 2nd the shipping was more. So I email them back and ask what is actually happening with my order?? I was given ship dates and was told all is in process less than 15 minutes ago!

3 days later I still have not recv'd an answer as to what is happening with my order........so I email again (in reply form to the confirmation I rcv'd) and imbed the email that told me I have to call to make payment.

That was yesterday and I got no response. I think I'm going to have to do without feather hostas and find bittersweet elsewhere.....wish I had checked them out and read this site first!

To the poster below regarding her strawberries: While I am no great fan of Springhill I can tell you that it is standard practice in the nursery trade to ship strawberries as dormant rooted plants, usually in bundles. I know of no nursery that sells strawberries in full leaf and actively growing. While it may appear that your strawberries are frozen and lifeless they are not-they're just dormant. Take Springhill's advice and plant them, you may have a few losses but I bet the majority of them will be perfectly fine. Strawberries like a lot of sun and a well drained soil. Best of luck.

On 3/12/09 UPS delivered my $165.92 order (minus 6 plants) and left them outside in the snow and sleet. When the frozen plants were found, I immediately called Spring Hill Nursery to request they send a call tag to pick up the frozen plants and told her I also was not pleased that roots had been substituted for some of the plants, and that I didn't order roots and didn't want roots. I told her that I specifically ordered only what I thought were plants...but apparently #1 field grown plants (strawberries) are just bare roots with a couple green frozen leaves attached. I was told to plant them, that I ordered them. Spring Hill also substituted roots for 14 plants that upon checking their website again, I could not find listed as #1 field grown plants. Because only one plant was marked as a sub on the invoice the rep. assumed the rest were roots that I ordered.

I fought to be able to speak with a supervisor, was placed on hold several times while the service rep. said she was trying to get a supervisor to take the call but that they were all unavailable. Short of her hanging up on me, I refused to end the call until I could speak with someone who could help me if she couldn't. Much later, when I finally did get to speak with someone who identified herself as a supervisor, this person was actually ruder than the service rep. The self proclaimed supervisor offered to reimburse me $18.95 if I shipped the plants back. Big deal. I wanted her to put the Spring Hill guarantee in action, reimburse me for the order, and take the dead plants and unwanted roots back. No such luck. I am very angry.

I called back again after totally unpacking the boxes in case I might be able to reach someone who could help me. I again requested Spring Hill send a call tag to have UPS pick up the entire shipment. Again I was told that they would only reimburse the shipping cost of $18.95 and that I would have to ship it back on my dime. I told this rep. that the plants were frozen and would be mush soon, that Spring Hill had enough of my money and I wasn't putting out any more as their promise to reimburse probably was about at good as their guarantee, that I was not pleased with the roots, that I did not want them and read the guarantee to her. Their No Risk Gardening Lifetime Guarantee prominently posted on their website states they will refund every cent you paid if you are not pleased with any plant upon receipt, after planting it, or once it grows. This service representative told me the plants arrived alive, so it didn't apply.

What kind of a company is this???? How can they get away with this?

I ordered plants from a recent promotion that including shipping the plants now and paying later.
I ordered a couple of weeks ago and just received my order. Here's how it looks:
Pink Coneflower-just roots in plastic bags with what looks like peat moss-we will see
Starburst Ice Plant-Nice sized plants-green and plump- packed in plastic air pillows
Crazy Daisy-Smallish plants but healthy and green packed in individual plastic cartons
Bear's Breech-Really nicely packed-larger plants than I expected and very healthy.

I'm pleased with this order and will definitely order perennials from Spring Hill again and will happily pay my bill immediately.

This company sucks! In August of 08 I placed an order online using a "free $25.00 worth of product" that popped up in a google ad while I was surfing the internet. All I had to pay was shipping. Total cost of my order was $8.41 cents and my items were to be shipped in spring of 09. Well here we are 6 months later and I get a little post card in the mail telling me my items are out of stock and for any inconvenience they were giving me five dollars off my next purchase!? My husband called the company asking if we could apply the coupon to items that may be in stock and we were told no. Then she tried telling him that when I used the coupon to begin with it was expired! BULL! So he wants to know why they are advertising expired coupons on google. No answer. I think it's ridiculous that it takes them six months to figure out they are out of stock of an item that doesn't ship until spring...and I think they are just plain stupid telling me my coupon code was expired. Expired coupon codes don't even work online when placing an order. They made no effort in trying to please me as a costumer. They were like...too bad soo sad for you!

I just found your site, but I have to tell you about my experience with Spring Hill Nursery. We saw the Sorbet Peony in their catalog 3 years ago and ordered it for a specific spot in our garden. The root arrive looking really nice so into the ground it went. It sprouted and the plant was green for the first two years. The third spring, we got our first flowers. Imagine our disappointment when what we thought was the Sorbet was, in fact, a standard red Chinese Peony. I called the company and explained what we had and offered to dig up the plant and mail it back to them. The customer service rep I spoke with said to wait on that and that she would see what they could do since it was 3 years from the date of the order. 10 days later, we received another peony root, clearly labeled "Sorbet" with a note attached that said we should enjoy the Chinese Peony and in a couple of years should really enjoy the Sorbet. These folks are tops in my book. That's customer service to the max.

i ordered tons of plants thru this company, my butterfly garden did fantastic, the astibles not so good. other stuff did okay and they did replace items that died. I stopped ordering from them for quite a while because of the ridiculous auto response online. and they would never answer them anyway. I finally wrote the customer service department thru snail mail and said i wouldn't be ordering from them anymore and all of a sudden i am getting answers and now the email i send is also getting responses. Maybe they finally woke up. Also-the phone customer service is fine now. I have placed two spring orders-so upon receipt of my order and future customer service experience, I may change my rating to positive.