Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

i ordered some plants frome this company march 13,but i have receiced anything until now.

I have placed an order of over 1,050 plants spanning over 130 varieties with SpringHill Nursery, and will provide an update after each shipment arrives. I took full advantage of the half off sale, as you can imagine.

I received my first shipment - qty 2 of their Dianthus collection. I was notified of the shipment on April 5th, and received the plants on April 8th. All of the plants arrived in excellent condition, and as described in a 3" pot. The items were well packaged in moisture resistant bags, tightly packed in a cardboard carton with breathing holes. The plants were not dry, and the soil in the pots still looked like it had adequate moisture after I opened them the next day on April 9th. My credit card was charged once they shipped, and I was only charged for what shipped and the shipping charges. I have not yet been charged for any other plants.

The plants were scheduled to arrive between March 31st and April 9th - they were right on schedule. Although it is still too early for me to plant these in my zone 3 area, I will provide an update on this shipment as well as others as things progress.

Overall, I am quite happy with what I have seen so far but also recognize that this is only the first 24 plants of many more to come.

Back in the Fall of 2005, I ordered a planned perennial shade garden consisting of 20 plants from this company. I am an experienced gardener, and I prepared my new perennial bed with care (digging a deep, well drained bed and ameloriating my soil with organic matter and balancing the pH), while I waited for the plants to arrive. When the garden arrived, it was in the form of bare root crowns with a few growing tops. Even though I knew that the garden collection was a special deal, I was surprised at how small the plants were. Also, much of the order was dry, so I made sure to revive with a 12 hour root sooking before planting. Once planted, I protected the crowns with a thin layer of mulch for the winter (as I do with my other perennial beds). I probably should have questioned the order back in the fall, but I have had good luck with perennials from other sources and thought that this would be no different. Much to my dismay, only four of the twenty plants from the collection have come up this spring. After reviewing many of the other comments on this site, I would have to caution any prospective buyer to think twice about this company no matter how good the deal. I am planning to contact the company to invoke their guarantee, and if I have further problems I will post again in this forum.

I took full advantage of the "Half Price" and "One Cent" sales. I was updated regarding the status of my order, which I received today, on a Saturday. (Too bad it's pouring out!). The plants are all there, look healthy, and are very well-packaged. They came in a unique plastic "holder" where I can group them until getting them planted. My only gripe is the Knipholia I purchased was advertised as "#1 field-grown plants" but I received tubers/bulbs instead. I know how easy these are to grow, so wasn't that upset. Overall, I was very pleased.

this week we cleaned up our gardens to get ready for the season. it wasn't at all surprising that this company's plants have not come back.....not a single one. i had had many replaced, some even twice...rec'd credits...the whole story. i'm exhausted! i just don't want to tell anyone how much money i spent. i have purchased the past few years from them only to lose absolutely everything. they give you i think it is two years....well it just doesn't matter because even if they do replace them they die anyway.

it's just not worth it....they are not cheap plants....as a matter of fact i think they are somewhat pricey. but never ever again for me.....that's for sure.

My plants were shipped and received in a timely manner. Two of the Hostas were sprouting when I got them and are doing wonderfully once planted. The ferns are starting to make an appearance. I will do business here again.

I placed a first time order with this company in early March, as I was enticed by their prices & promises of quality. Unfortunately, I did not review the Dave's Garden feedback prior to placing my order. As of today's date, I have yet to receive any of my items (all common perennials & hydrangeas). In addition, my estimated delivery date has changed 5 times since March. In fact, several of my items are now projected to ship in late May, early June, during which time these plants will be out of bloom! I emailed client service 3 times & have yet to receive any acknowledgement. I also contacted client service via telephone. The person I spoke with very rudely told me that she couldn't explain the delay or otherwise help me. When I asked politely to speak with someone else, she told me she would have a supervisor contact me ASAP. This was over a week ago, & as you can imagine, I haven't heard a word from this company. I have ordered many times from numerous mail order nurseries over the years. Fortunately, my experiences with these companies & their client service representatives has always been positive . Spring Hill has provided the MOST NEGATIVE client service experience I have ever had! If they cannot fulfill their orders in a timely & satisfactory basis, they should notify clients immediately that the items are out of stock & offer an opportunity for cancellation rather than simply giving the runaround. And if they can't do that, they should at least hire client service representatives who are capable of being friendly and helpful. At this point, I wonder if I will EVER receive my order! My advice to future patrons of Spring Hill: Beware-you get what you pay for!

When I received the $25 off coupon I couldn't resist. The coupon stated that if your order was less than $25 your order would be free. So to see if the company had changed in anyway (since I bought plants from them last year) I ordered one plant. The total was $0.00. That order was placed 3/7 on 3/29 I felt kind of bad and decided to order a few plants. Then I got a letter (dated 3/31/06) in the mail from the controller (Jack Gregory) that stated the first order was ready to ship however it had been put on hold due to a problem with my credit card and that I needed to remit payment...Funny thing is that the amount I needed to remit was $0.00. I tired emailing the company I have yet to hear back from them. They also have charged more to my credit card which I will be disputing. At this point I have told them to cancel the order. Still haven't heard a word from them. I have noticed they will only email you back after weeks of emailing and sometimes they get nasty. Just to let everyone know out there...They have an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB. I should have gone to the BBB website to begin with. BEWARE of This COMPANY!!!!!!They will be charging things to your credit cards that they have no authorazation to do. Just makes life a little harder...BEWARE!!!!!

Plants were in great condition when they arrived. Instructions were good. The price was excellent. I asked them to ship early in the week so as to not be stuck in a wharehouse over the weekend and they did just that. I ordered perenials for the shade.

I placed my first order with this company on the 3rd of March. Ship date was on the 7th, but by the 28th, I still had not received my order. I called customer service, and was told that they were having a problem with their shipping company and wait until today (April 3, 2006), if the plant had not arrived they would send another. Wonder of Wonders.. it arrived today! I also was concerned about the length of time the plant was in route, but was told that it would be fine, and if not they would replace it. I will post again when my Gunnera starts to grow.

This is my first experience with this company. I was enticed to try them when I recieved the $25.00 off coupon. I recieved an e-mail saying my order shipped on 3/21/06 and I should recieve it by 3/27/06. When it did not arrive I called customer service and the representative said to give it until 4/3/06. I called again today and was told it should arrive by 4/5/06. Both time the representatives
were nice but did not seemed concerned that my plants have spent more that 2 weeks in a box with out water. I was reminded that they have a warranty. I will update if and when the box is received.

Spring Hill was the first catalog I ordered from about six years ago. I've ordered from them often, but I resolved to stop ordering from Spring Hill after a negative experience a few years ago during their bankruptcy. Since that first order, I've purchased from Bluestone, Fieldstone, Wayside, White Flower Farm, Ashdown Roses, David Austin, Countryside Roses, Jung, and Klehm's Song Sparrow, so I have a lot of room for comparison.

This year, I couldn't resist one of Spring Hill's $25 off coupons. I was EXTREMELY pleased with my order. It came before orders I'd placed earlier from other nurseries, and it came in great shape -- healthy and well-rooted. But more importantly, all the potted plants were in 3.5 X 5 inch pots -- much bigger than the 2.25" X 3" pots they used do send. The quality was better than Bluestone and Wayside for sure.

My order (6 Veronica 'Pink Spires,' 3 Campanula carpatica, 3 Tricyrtis 'Gilt Edge') was a great value and extremely vigorous. Spring Hill has really turned around their quality and value after the ownership change. I will continue to rely on more specialized nurseries (especially for roses), but they are a good source for beginners because of the helpful garden plans and presentations. My only caution is that their marketing copy often overexaggerates -- the plants all sound like three-season bloom machines hardy from Minnesota to South Florida.

i ordered 3 meyer lemons.
i was told they shipped 2 weeks ago, but i still don't have them.
customer service insists i should give it one more week.
how can a citrus plant survive 3+ weeks in a box without water and light?
i asked them to ship me new ones, but they said i need to wait . this is so ridiculous. i feel they should treat their customers better.

the package we received was in extremely bad shape torn, retaped and partly open, the plants inside were packed with newspaper type shreds which were dried out. customer service has told us to plant the roses and wait at least 14 days to see if they will leaf out, if they dont they have promised to replace them free, so we will see. living in ohio and ordering from a supposed ohio company we felt it was taking to long to ship, so found out they were shipped from Missouri, and must have had a rough time in shipping.
we have other items coming in April so will update this when they arrive.

I've only ordered from them twice but experience was good. A few years ago, as a novice garderner, I ordered a shade garden, planted it the morning before leaving for a month's vacation with a neighbor tending to the watering. When I returned the plants were huge but no flowers. A renovation was going on in the town house next door. While removing the plaster walls they got plaster dust all over my front yard. I was livid til one of the workmen pointed out that gypsum was good for our clay soil. Sure enough - a week later I had more flowers than I could count.

Last April, I ordered a number of annuals and perenniels. They did take awhile in coming and 2 plants had to be canceled because their scheduled delivery was too late. My rule of thumb in D.C. is in by Mother's Day. The annuals were spectacular and will order more this year. "Rose the Fairy," a bare root shrub was so dry and brittle I almost returned it. Took a chance and soaked it in warm water for a couple of days which made it pliable enough to fit in the pot. Come fall I meant to give it a protetive cover but forgot. It survived the winter fine and is already showing signs of new growth.

They will definitely stay on my list while trying some other suppliers.

I was very hesitant to order from Spring Hill due the all the negative feedback. I also ordered the mini rose collection at a great price. They all arrived in good shape, healthy, nice root systems and packaged well.

Re: Miniature roses, I had a mixed but generally good experience ordering from Spring Hill and the sister company Michigan Bulb. Most of the mini roses arrived very healthy and well packed, but some varieties were for all intents and purposes dead-on-arrival. I called the company to complain, and to their credit they sent off an immediate replacement shipment right away.

Over the course of the growing season, a couple of the varieties didn't perform well, bloom wise, compared to the others (Pink Cascade, Hearts Afire and Cherries Jubilee). I called the company to exercise my 'satisfied or your money back' guarantee, and they sent me a reimbursement for the varieties that didn't perform. The varieties that DID perform well were Judy Fischer, Beauty Secret, Green Ice, Lavender Lace, Sugar Plum, and Stars N Stripes.

Re: ordering other types of roses, I ordered 2 lots of 'Buy One, Get One Free' Red Grootendorst shrub roses. Well, NONE of these roses were Red Grootendorst! It was a waste of time and money to plant them. They did, however, reimburse cheerfully upon request.

I had more success with own root Red Fairy roses. Although the bare root bushes were kind of skimpy and dried out looking upon arrival, they responded well to being soaked overnight before planting, and came up to perform beautifully. (Note: I gave them every advantage: careful planting and soil prep, plus diligent mulching and watering trhroughout the season).

So all in all, my experience was positive, but with some negative thrown in--I guess that makes it a Neutral! The no-hassle refund and guarantee is definitely a good thing, though.

I've only placed one small order with them (using the 50% off), and so far have been satisfied. Small, but nicely packaged plants.

I got a Beauty of Moscow lilac (potted), 3 Butterfly Blue delphinium (bare root), and 3 Super Shasta daisies (potted). They were small plants but looked healthy upon arrival except one daisy. It died, along with one of the other daisies, while the third one's done fine, though still small and yet to bloom (I look forward to this growing season). Only one delphinium grew. When I called they happily promised to replace the 2 delphinium and 2 daisies this spirng.

It's tempting to place a big order with their 50% offer, but in the future I will probably get most of my plants locally rather than mail order (cheaper and bigger and healthier usually). Even though it is tempting when I look at the catalouges, I will only give in to mail order when I really really want something that I can't get locally.

I ordered from Spring Hill a couple of years ago, enticed by the great prices and that they offered some varieties I wanted. Of the many things I ordered, the only plants that arrived in good shape were the hellebores. The other plants were comparable in size to an order I received from Bluestone the same month, but most of the Spring Hill plants looked pretty bad and died soon after arrival. I resolved not to order from them again, but this past year broke that resolve to order the lilac collection that I wanted. Those plants cost quite a bit more, and arrived in great shape and did well. So I guess if you avoid their bargains and don't expect too much, you'll be okay. If you want small, cheap plants, order from Bluestone.

I have ordered from Spring Hill for several years, and not found their customer service people to be very helpful. I ordered the arctic hardy roses, that supposedly don't need to be covered in the winter. That sure didn't work, so I ordered more, because many told me that no hybrid tea can be that hardy. I have tried for several years covering them in different ways, sometimes with fair results and sometimes failure.
When I recieved a different rose than I wanted, and called about it, it was told that they were out of the one I ordered (Helen Hayes) and that they had substituted one of equal or greater value (Ramses). When I questioned the winter hardiness, stressing that this was the reason I had ordered it, the individual was unable to say if it was equal in hardiness, as it had been aquired from another nursery, since they were out of the Helen Hayes.
I left it at that, but lo and behold, it did not survive the winter, in fact two of my roses did not (Ramses and Maria Sterns). Since my original failure at wintering my roses I attributed to my ignorance, I had not called and complained to the company or contacted them in any way.
By now (seven years, working every year with the roses), I felt that I had learned something, and this time, it was not my fault. I received a 5.00 peace rose (from Walmart) as a gift and it did survive, and bloomed more than the year before. The Spring Hill Roses that did survive were not the same as they were before. The stems were much more frail, with the blooms came in a drooping fashion. I emailed the company this time, since I had found that the customer service department by phone a disappointment, and was told that I would have to provide all of my order information, including the order number. Of course, that was a year previous, and I didn't save it. I believe I will try different companies this year. I am just glad that I now know that it is not just me, that others have had bad experiences from this company, I will research where I get my plants from from now on.

I have ordered from this company on two different occasions. Both times my orders had problems with billing issues. I included my check with my orders and still received bills for partial amounts of the order. Also, my first order was for some roses that arrived bareroot and they were completely dried out and dead. I will say our local post office may be to blame on this as they did not notify me that I had a package to pick up for a few days. I called Spring Hill to let them know of the problem and they sent me my replacements right away and the CS rep I spoke with corrected my account to show I was paid in full and he gave me credit on my account. My replacement order was not bare root, but potted, and I am very pleased with them. All three roses looked great this past summer and were full of blooms. My next order was also billed incorrectly as I once again paid in full. I had used a 50% off coupon and they tried to bill me for the full amount. Again, I called customer service and they did correct this. Not all of my plants survived this time, however. I lost Zebra grass, they replaced it, and it died again. Same with weigela and chinese lanterns. I did have several plants that are thriving and look great, but I'm not sure it's worth having to call customer service multiple times to get my order corrected and fix billing errors every time I order just to get plants at discounted prices.

I ordered 3 blue hydrangeas, 3 lady's mantle, an old fashioned lilac and 3 butterfly bushes around March of 2005 and I am very pleased with their service. We received them quickly and I was very pleased by how good they looked. They did a very good job packing.
They were small but I consider that a good sign because larger plants never seem to really thrive. I planted these and they took off like rockets. The butterfly bushes are now 3 feet tall and had several blooms on them. The lady's mantle is looking beautiful and the hydrangeas are looking full and lush. My husband ran over the lilac with a lawn mower and I was never able to save it. I am planning on ordering another one this year. Hopefully all will go as well again.

I ordered early last spring, before I found this site, but was very pleased with the plants I received. I ordered 3 'William Guiniess' Columbine, 2 'Multiblue' Clematis and 1 order of 6 'Waterperry Blue' Veronica. They all arrived quickly and in good shape. Once planted they did very well. The columbine filled out very nicely, and though it did not bloom this year, it spent the year developing a good root systme which I am very pleased with. The Clematis took off and I got 4 blooms off of them! Anything I can find on clematis says not to expect blooms the first year. The Veronica also filled out nicely and seemed to be doing wonderful and it bloomed exceptionaly well. My former neighbors used to let their dog run lose however and he kept peeing in my garden. The Veronica seemed very sensetive to this and I lost 2 of them. When I contacted customer service they immediatly shipped me another package of 6. It arrive via the US postal service and despite good packaging and lables which said, this side up, it had been placed on my front walk, in full sun and upside down. Needless to say that was probably the best treatment the package had seen from the postal service. I can honestly say I think they kicked the box the whole way to my front walk! Customer service was again very pleasant to deal with and shipped me another order of Veronia. They arrived in perfect condition and transplanted very well. Everything I orderd has thrived while plants I order from more expensive companies has not done nearly half as well. I shall certainly order from them again!

I was surprised when a box of some plant related material arrived at my address over a month ago. It was addressed to my father who has been dead for around 10 years, and who lived in a home in a different city when he was alive. His widow, my mother, is 88 and in a nursing home about 80 miles away where she is barely able to function. Yesterday a payment Past Due Notice arrived, also addressed to my deceased father. Unless there is mail service between this world and heaven, my Dad did not order anything from Spring Hill Hursery. This prompted me to look at the Internet where I found this website with commentary about Spring Hill Nursery, with the many negative ratings... With this screwball or possibly deceptive shipment and billing to my dead father, I add my own negative rating.

Anyone who doesn't believe you get what you pay for should give up now. I order from Springhill when I want cheaper and common plant varieties. Everyonce in awhile they will have something unusual but usually they offer common garden plants for very reasonable prices. Although the plants are never large, I can honestly say that I got what I paid for. These plant are perfect for those gardeners who would like to try their hand at mail order for the first time but do not want to spend a whole lot of money. It is also good for those of us who want a lot of plant for next to nothing. The plants may arive small, but I honestly believe that this is an advantage when you consider that they are less likely to go through shock. I hat it when I order an expensive plant and I get a plant with little roots and a whole lot of leaves. They usually end up with fewer leaves within a short period of time. For all you out there that believe bigger is better, please reconsider. This company is given a bad rap by many garden snobs. To all of you willing to keep your mind open, try this company, you won't be disappointed. And I would remind many gardeners that one bad experience with one bad representative does not mean that the whole company is bad.

Okay, it's been some time since I have dealt with this company, but I just stumbled onto this website that allows me a chance to share my experience, so share I will...

About 6 years ago I purchased my first home. I was so excited to start a fabulous garden and was drawn in by
Spring Hill's beautiful catalog with those pre-planned gardens. I ordered about $300 + worth of pre planned gardens-- knowing that it was a lot of money if the plants didn't survive. However, I was not worried-- Spring Hill had a "life time money back guarantee" that the plants would grow.

I received the plants, and immediately planted them, carefully following the instructions and shade/sun advice, and following the planting plans very carefully because I wanted my garden to look like those lovely pictures!

Some of the plants did fine, but many did not grow, or if they did grow, did not survive the next year. I attempted to have the plants replaced, but apparently Spring Hill Nurseries had declared bankruptcy and was being taken over by another company (this is what I was told)-- causing my "life time guarantee" to be nullified. I was furious! I had several phone conversations with the company representatives, and basically, they told me that I could either file a lawsuit or accept a 50% off coupon for purchasing MORE plants with the new company. I accepted the coupon, not wanting to spend more energy on filing a lawsuit for $300 worth of plants. I never used the coupon and never did business with them again. I have to say that I was surprised the next time I received a Spring Hill catalog-- hadn't they gone bankrupt??? Seems a little suspicious to me... almost like they never really went bankrupt but simply wanted to get out of their obligation for guaranteeing their plants. I do not recommend this company.

Seeing others' feedback made me hesitant about dealing with this company, but Springhill had exactly the combination of plants I wanted, and it wasn't terribly expensive. So far, things have been arriving on schedule and in healthy condition. I am pleasantly surprised.

Overall, my experience with Spring Hill has been their plants are duds, but overall their customer service is great. Almost every plant I have ordered from them has been on the smaller size, and most have died. However, customer service is quick to issue refunds and resend out plants. Overall though, i would rather pay more for the initial plant, and know that I would have to plant it only once. I have switched 95%of my business to other companies, but occasionally with a sale spring hill draws me back for one or two plants. I just would caution anyone trying to make a large planting in their garden to perhaps look elsewhere- Song Sparrow, La Pivoinerie D'Aoust (peonies), Wayside, Dutch Garden, Garden Crossing, B&D lilies, Lazy S's Farm, or Edmunds Roses have provided me more reliable plant quality. Hope this helps.

I redeemed a coupon they sent me for $20 of free plants (not including shipping). I was able to get 50 muscari and 50 snow crocus mixture, with just a very small shipping fee. The bulbs arrived today and appear to be in healthy condition. Now all I can do is plant them and wait until Spring to see the results. This was a positive experience.

I have been dealing with Springhill for nearly 20 years, and I remain a loyal customer because of their customer service. Their packaging exceeds any other I have seen, but the shipping of plants is a risky business at best. Over the years I have on occasion received a product that was damaged or was disappointing, but it was always replaced promptly without a fuss. I will remain a loyal customer as long as that standard exists.

We have ordered from Springhill and some of the other companies affiliated with them. I use to work for their customer service dept. That having been said, Our experience with ordering from them was neutral at best. Having worked for a company that was hired to talk with their customers I thought I would be fine with them. We ordered roses and butterfly bushes Isaac house scabiosa collection and 50 oriental lilly bulbs and more from them last year. The isaac house scabiosas' were dead on arrival, the bulbs were moldy and the butterfly bush the wrong color. The bulbs were replaced promptly, the butterfly bush wrong color didn't matter to us and the isaac house wasn't a big deal compared to all of the things they got right. So, they aren't perfect but they aren't awful like some others we have tried. From now on I'll buy my roses from David Austin or jackson & perkins. THey have been good to us.

Spring Hill is one of those companies where if they're good, they're usually excellent, but when they're bad, they can be abyssmal. I've ordered several things from them including roses, lilies and bleeding hearts over the years. Some have flourished, others have died within days of being planted. I usually cut my losses at the end of the season and if I paid more than what the hassle will be to get a refund, I complain. If not, I chalk it up to experience and go elsewhere the next year. But, to date, I've had no trouble with their customer service. Knock on wood. :)

I ordered 6 pincushions and 3 hydangeas from this company. I didn't have a problem with the billing or the service, but the plants themselves were in horrible condition. I had to throw away 3 of the pincushions because they had rotted and all 6 were severly rootbound. So much so that I had to cut them out of the containers. The 3 that I still have seem to be doing ok, but time will tell. As far as the hydrangeas go, all 3 were very small. I've bought one from Lowe's earlier this Spring and it was about 5 times larger and already blooming. These are so small they don't even have buds yet. And all of this cost me right at $60. What a waste and an enormous dissapointment. I hope Spring Hill knows that advertising may work for people that have never bought from them, but ti won't work for repeat customers. Their catalog sure paints a rosier picture than reality.

I ordered the Foundation Shade Perennial Collection in February. Proposed ship date was scheduled for late June to my location in Zone 5. That seemed a bit late, but I figured that the company would know better than me.

They later rescheduled delivery until early August but didn't tell me. I sent them an email to cancel the order. Instead a few days later they emailed me that the flowers had already shipped and that I could refuse delivery and they would refund my money. I decided to accept the shipment as it was the second week of July.

The shipment was wrong. They shipped me 1 red hydrangea in place of 3 pink hydrangeas and one hosta was damaged The hydrangeas they did send were severely rootbound. I contacted them via email about the mistake. They shipped me the 3 pink hydrangeas originally planned and a replacement hosta. The pink hydrangeas were so young that their roots couldn't hold the soil in the pot together when I transplanted them.

None of the tubers that were shipped have sprouted yet. It may be too early to decide if the cyclamem and virginia bluebells will ever sprout. I will never do business with them again.

I placed my first order with this company approx. 3 years ago. I ordered 6 Royal Red Hydrangeas (flowering shrubs). I received my order, planted them and they grew well that first summer but didn't flower. The following summer again they grew fine but when they flowered to my complete and utter dismay they were pink. I waited a long time hoping against hope that they would turn red before contacting this company. We finally contacted customer service and were told that Spring Hill was all out of the Royal Red Hydrangeas for the season, that they would credit our account and that we should reorder them at the very beginning of the next season before they ran out again. Prior to this we had a lot of problems with other orders from them and had specifically requested and were told by a customer service rep that NO SUBSTITUTIONS was added to our customer profile. We placed our new order at the very beginning as instructed to do so and to my delight my 6 new Royal Red Hydrangeas arrived or so I thought. I checked, double checked and triple checked my order to make sure everything was marked as Royal Red Hydrangeas. Mind you that this year marks the beginning of the 3rd year that I have been trying to establish Royal Red Hydrangeas in my yard. Well I was just pleased as punch with my new plants until one of them flowered already this year and once again to my complete and utter dismay it is as pink as pink can get. (In addition, one of the plants is failing to thrive although I figure it is pointless to complain about since I'm now very certain that it isn't a Royal Red Hydrangea anyway.) We were so upset that an email was fired off to their customer service. Shortly thereafter we received an email back from "Tina" in Customer Service to which we responded to as well. Only our personal information and extra spacing/weird characters and symbols have been deleted. I also corrected some of the spelling, punctuation and such from the first email that was sent from my other half.
****
From: xxxxxx@xxxxx.com [xxxxxx@xxxxx.com]
Sent: 6/10/2005 9:26:58 AM
To: service@springhillnursery.com
Subject: Spring Hill Nursery Feedback: Account
6/9/2005 6:41:17 PM
Email: xxxxxx@xxxxx.com
First Name: Garry
Last Name: xxxxx
Zip Code: xxxxx
Category: Account
Message: Well this is it, I ordered royal red Hydrangeas and they're pink again. The first time it took 2 years to find out and we ordered early to make sure we got what we wanted, NO SUBS, and we still got pink. We ordered artic flame roses and we go yellow. We have never got anything from you that is what we ordered. How do you stay in business? Sure you send more of the wrong things but now I'm 3 years behind in what I'm trying to get done. What's that worth? I am ******* ****** off. I'm thinking attorney. Let me know what you think. I do not want a coupon for more of the wrong stuff either. I still have one for 54 dollars. lol.
Garry xxxxx
(Address deleted)
*****
From: Spring Hill
To: xxxxxx@xxxxx.com
Subject: RE: [] Spring Hill Nursery Feedback: Account
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 19:36:30 +0000
Dear Garry:
Thank you for your email. I'm enclosing an information sheet for your review.
Sincerely,
Tina
Customer Service

Growing Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are rather easy plants to grow. They prefer loamy, well drained, acidic soil (pH 6.5 to 4.5) enriched liberally with organic matter. Most hydrangeas prefer quite a bit of shade, although H. macrophylla will tolerate much more sun, but will still flourish in mottled sun for part of the day. It is important to keep the roots moist and well fed by covering with mulch; this is especially true with those planted near trees. They may also need protection from spring frosts, which can kill the buds. In some species, the flowers change color according to the amount of aluminum and level of acidity in the soil. H. macrophylla will produce blue flowers in acidic soil where more aluminum is present. The lower the pH, the bluer the flowers. In neutral soil, they take up less aluminum and the flowers are pink. On white flowers, only the eye color of the male flowers will change. To produce blue flowers even if your soil is neutral or alkaline, add aluminum sulfate or sulfur to increase acidity. Plants grown in soil with a pH level higher than 7 (alkaline) can also become chlorotic because of a lack of iron and must be treated accordingly. Pruning should be done in late winter or early spring. This consists of cutting off dead flower heads back to the first leaf node that has buds and dead, weak, or crowded stems back to the base.

Changing the color of Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are fascinating in that, unlike most other plants, the color of their flowers can change dramatically. It would be nice if one could change the color of hydrangeas easily, but it is not easy. The people who have the most control over the color of their hydrangeas are those who grow them in containers. It is much easier to control or alter the pH of the soil in a container than it is in the ground.

On the other hand, hydrangeas often change color on their own when they are planted or transplanted. They are adjusting to the new environment. It is not unusual to see several different colors on one shrub the next year after planting.

It is much easier to change a hydrangea from pink to blue than it is from blue to pink. Changing a hydrangea from pink to blue entails adding aluminum to the soil. Changing from blue to pink means subtracting aluminum from the soil or taking it out of reach of the hydrangea.

Limitations to hydrangea color change:

1. White hydrangeas can NOT be changed to pink or blue by the grower.

2. If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a true red hydrangea. No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red.

3. One can rarely change the intensity of a color ( how strong or pale the color is). The intensity develops for a number of reasons: the heredity of a particular hydrangea variety, weather conditions (hot or cold, humid or dry), health of the plant, and possibly other natural factors. Fertilizing hydrangeas once or twice a year may result in a little more saturated color simply because the health of the plant may be improved.

4. A few varieties of hydrangeas tend more toward the pink or the blue range of colors, but will not retain even this color if soil conditions are not right.

Changing the color of your hydrangea

For hydrangea blooms to be pink

1. Add dolomitic lime several times a year. This will help to raise the pH. Shoot for a pH of 6.0 to 6.2 (if it goes above 6.4 hydrangeas may experience an iron deficiency)

2. Use a fertilizer with high levels of phosphorus. Phosphorus helps to prevent aluminum from creeping into the system of they hydrangea. Choose a fertilizer close to the ratio 25/10/10 (Phosphorus is the middle number).

3. In areas that naturally produce blue hydrangeas (soils with aluminum), consider growing pink hydrangeas in big pots, it would be best to use a soil-less mix, since these mixes would probably not have aluminum in them. In a pot, it will be much easier to control the requirements for growing pink hydrangeas.

For hydrangea blooms to be blue

To obtain a blue hydrangea, aluminum must be present in the soil. To ensure this, aluminum sulfate may be added to the soil around the hydrangeas. It is recommended that a solution of ½ oz (1 Tbsp) aluminum sulfate per gallon of water be applies to plants (which are at least 2-3 years old) throughout the growing season. Important: Water plants well in advance of application and put solution on cautiously, as too much can burn the roots. If you are growing it in a pot, use ¼ oz aluminum sulfate per gallon of water. To make the aluminum available to the plant, the pH of the soil should be low (5.2-5.5). Adding aluminum sulfate will tend to lower the pH of the soil. Another method for lowering the pH is to add organic matter to the soil such as coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, grass clippings, etc. If the soil naturally contains aluminum and is acid (low pH) the color of the hydrangea will automatically tend toward shades of blue or purple. The choice of fertilizer will also affect the color change. A fertilizer will also affect the color change. A fertilizer low in phosphorus and high in potassium is helpful in producing a good blue color (25/5/30 is good. Potassium is the last number). Superphosphates and bone meal should be avoided when trying to produce blue.

One last suggestion is to test the pH of your water. It should be no higher than 5.6.

Planting hydrangeas near a concrete foundation or sidewalk will often affect the color since the pH of the soil my be raised considerably by lime leaching out of these structures, making it difficult to obtain blue.

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What? We immediately responded with this email, which to the best of my knowledge has not been responded to yet:
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RE: [] Spring Hill Nursery Feedback: Account

Dear Tina from Customer Service,

Thank you for your prompt response to our latest complaint, however, we did find the response itself to be completely unsatisfactory and it did not offer forth a remedy to this situation.

The fact remains that we ordered what your company advertised as beautiful "ROYAL RED Hydrangeas". The key words here are "ROYAL RED". We didn't order blue, white or pink Hydrangeas. We ordered Royal Red Hydrangeas. Had we wanted blue, white or pink we would've ordered one of those colors but we didn't. We ordered ROYAL RED.

In your response, in part, you state the following:

2. If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a true red hydrangea. No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red.

It appears that the majority of the rest of your email simply deals with turning blue to pink and pink to blue and the basic care of the plants.

Here are the facts:

1) Approximately 3 years ago we ordered your Royal Red Hydrangeas. They didn't bloom in that first year but grew well.

2) In the second year they did finally bloom and to our utter and complete dismay they were pink. We contacted Spring Hill regarding this and were essentially told that you were out of the Royal Red that year and we'd have to get our reorder in for the Royal Red again at the very beginning of the next season. We did as we were told. Amazingly enough we were not told then what you are trying to tell us now and it was the very same complaint. Why?

3) This is the third year now. We ordered the Royal Red yet again. They were delivered and we double and triple checked the order to make sure they were all labeled Royal Red Hydrangeas. One of them actually bloomed rather quickly and once again to our complete and utter dismay it is as pink as pink can be. So that basically means that we have wasted 3 years of time, work and money on pink hydrangeas that we never ordered or wanted. Key words again: royal red.

4) You are now trying to tell us that:

A) If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a true red hydrangea.

Considering the fact that we live in Iowa I do not believe that qualifies us as living in a hot climate.

B) No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red.

Now you are telling us that there is no such thing as red hydrangeas, only a very deep or dark pink. If that were the case then do pray tell, why in the world would your company advertise ROYAL RED HYDRANGEAS? Isn't that false advertising? I don't recall and can't find a disclaimer anywhere stating that the royal red ones are actually a very deep or dark pink. Had that been the case then why were we not told that in the very beginning or at the very least last year so we could have switched to a plant/flowering shrub that would be red?

5) The fact remains that we've basically have had nothing but problems with the majority of our orders from your company. In fact, in the first year we ordered from you we recommended your company to a relative of ours, xxxxxx xxxxxx. She ordered a garden set from your company for the SUNNY front of her house. Substitutions were made on her order with not sun loving plants, which would have been the logical thing for your company to do, but shade loving plants. She was very unhappy and when she called your company regarding this she didn't get anywhere with the person she talked to. I believe in the end she simply decided to forget about it and vowed never to buy anything from your company again. This situation with her and a situation with your company substituting yellow roses for the red roses we had ordered prompted us to later insist on having "NO SUBSTITUTIONS" put on our customer
profile.

6) We felt safe ordering from your company because of the guarantee that your company proudly displays. We are unhappy with our order(s). We do not want anymore "in store" credit and we want a refund for the current credit we are still carrying. Again, we want a refund for the royal red hydrangeas that you are now claiming doesn't exist and a refund for the other credit that we have not used from our other order(s) that were messed up. Perhaps then we could go to a local nursery and purchase the long awaited red plants/flowering shrubs that will compliment our red front door, red awning and the red brick around the bottom of our home. Pink clashes with this horrendously.

Thank you,
Garry & Brenda

P.S. We have attached a copy of Spring Hill's Lifetime Guarantee as well as the information from Spring Hill's Website regarding your Royal Red Hydrangeas. Please note that it clearly states the color is RED.

(I’ve deleted “Spring Hill's Lifetime Guarantee No-Risk Gardening for You” narrative and the information specifically regarding the information directly from Spring Hill's Website regarding their Royal Red Hydrangeas that we did included in this email to them but I encourage those who are interested to go to their Website and see for yourselves.)

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As of today’s date our last email has not been responded to. I figure we’ll wait another week or so and if we still haven’t had a reasonable response or at least a notice that our money is being refunded then I’ll go ahead and make a formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau. We will personally never order another thing from them in the future. In addition to these complaints, we had also previously ordered their Kaleidoscope Hydrangeas for both of our Mothers as Mother’s Day presents either last year or the year before. I can’t remember off-hand although I know I still have the packing slips around here somewhere. We have had nothing but problems with them as well and are not real sure the plants that are now growing are even the Kaleidoscope ones that we ordered since they are failing to thrive at our Mother’s homes and have never changed colors. Looking back on it now we should have demanded our cash back immediately instead of letting them continuously put their “in-store” credit on us. I wish I would’ve known about this site back then. I am personally highly recommending to anyone who does business with them to issue complaints via email so that you can save yourself the long distance charges that I have seen complained about here and you will be able to retain a “hard copy” of your correspondence with them as proof, if needed, to resolve the issues through outside sources.

My first order with Spring Hill was in April '05. Globe Thistles, Improzed Blaze Climbing rose, White Liatris bulbs and ?

I was told about weather delays and such but actually had my merchandise in a month. Thankfully, as I live in New Mexico heat. I was impressed with the packaging even though a root on my $16 rose was broken. Mind you I also received a shipment for Burpee the exact same day that was all tossed in a green bag.

I was delayed in planting so put it all in the fridge. Weeks after receiving my shipment the plants are in the ground. My Thistles came up in 2 DAYS!! I will keep you posted on the rest!

I did have a problem with the promotional keycode not working so couldn't order online.

I feel like the odd man here, but my experience was positive. I got timely delivery of healthy plants.

Spring Hill Nursery used to have a good reputation for healthy plants and good service. I wonder what has happened???

I placed an order in March that as of June 7th STILL hadn't shipped. To make matters worse when I called Customer Service (should be dis-service) 2 weeks ago to complain and cancell my order, the agent told me the order shipped the day before. But, when I called today thed agent did cancel my UNSHIPPED order.

When I asked to speak to the customer service manager I was told they were unavailable. Then I asked to speak to someone in the Marketing or Sales department. The CS agent told me they "weren't allows to transfer calls to those departments. GEESCH!

So not only was my order not fulfilled but, the first actually agent lied to me. There are plenty of other garden companies making this an easy choice in the future.

On March 18, I ordered from this company and sent a check for $69.82. The check was cashed March 25 and I waited for my plants. May 1, I called the company and they had no record of my order. After 9 phone calls (2 - 120 minute calling cards) 2 letters and a fax of my cancelled check I still have what I started out with, NOTHING. On call number 9 the person said I could have credit. I told them I wanted my money back which she said will take 2-3 more weeks.
PLEASE read these feed backs and STAY AWAY FROM THIS OUTFIT. I should have listened.