Comments regarding Spring Hill Nursery (aka SpringHillNursery.com)

My 3+ acre lawn is full of Springhill trees, shrubs, roses, bulbs & flowers. I've been a customer for more than 40 yrs. (they were locally owned back then). I can only recall one experience (at least 9yrs. ago) that wasn't the best...I'd received a couple iris that didn't look so hot. I went ahead & planted them anyway. However, I did call them & they made it right. I purchased more than $400 in trees again just last yr. & will be buying more this spring. My DIL purchased a couple perenniels & promptly planted them in subsoil around the mailbox of their new home..of course they didn't survive, but Springhill made it right with her. She has since learned much about gardening & plants.

I ordered from Spring Hill before I read their negative reviews on
this site. I had never ordered by mail before and I was sure I had made a mistake. I'm not ashamed to admit that I
was wrong. I did receive a lavendar Rose of Sharon instead
of a red one. I called their Customer Service and was amazed. Even though I didn't ask for it, they told me to
keep the lavendar one and they would credit my Visa. The
bulbs were great. The live, extremely healthy plants were
fantastic--I must say they are much better than one of your top 20 companies. The bare root plants have extensive roots and
look wonderful. I will definitely order from them again.

I ordered several different plant forms from Spring Hill recently (bare root, bulbs and live plants) and all of the them arrived promptly and in great shape. I love how they separately bag the bare roots, too...much preferred over Parks' "mummification" method. The live plants were well-protected and very perky upon arrival.

Time will tell how these do once they're in the ground...but I have to give Spring Hill a big thumbs up at this point.

I enjoy the catalogs, especially the garden designs. I keep the catalog garden designs for idea starters. I have not ordered from the company myself, probably because my mother had nothing but problems with the plant material she received in several orders.

I placed an order with Springhill in June, I even received an order confirmation. In August, my wallet was stolen and I cancelled my credit card. Today, I got a letter from Springhill stating that they could not verify my credit card. I thought this had already been done, but called the customer service # to get this cleared up and to get my order(I've only been waiting for it since June). The woman I spoke with was very flipant about the entire matter and told me that the order in question had been cancelled. A letter was sent out on Sept. 24th and they had not heard back. That was the date on the letter I was responding to. I just got the letter today! I never was emailed and told that they were having a problem or that my order was going to be cancelled. I had another order with them and cancelled it also. I WILL NOT ORDER FROM SPRINGHILL AGAIN!

I ordered twice in one year. This was 4 years ago. When I ordered in the late winter for early spring delivery, everything arrived alive. When I ordered again later that summer everything was dead upon arrival. I was given a refund but it was upsetting. Part of it was sheer heat and part of it was just poor packaging.

My first order should be commented on in full because even though everything was alive, it was not right. My butterfly bush was a twig in a cup. I recieved the wrong rose bush. There were things that were already on back order which I never recieved. I eventually got word that my order for those items were canceled.

I wish this site was around and well known 4 years ago.

For the time being, I will rate this company as generally positive, although i am in the process of getting some replacements and we shall see how that goes.

I have spent $26 on 1 order with spring hill, for 2 magic lilies, 3 liatris, and a collection of 4 astilbes.

I have had 66% success rate on my order although springhill has been accomodating on replacements.

2 astilbes and 1 magic lily failed to make it. astilbes were probably my fault, i didn't put them into the ground immediately and we had a cold winter. magic lily was probably due to poor packing or specimen from spring hill (it arrived damaged but i planted it anyway). the rest are doing splendid.

liatris (i got 4 instead of 3) flowered this year. the other magic lily did fine. the other two astilbes survived the harsh winter in their pot and have put out new growth since i planted them in the ground, no flowers this year.

my experience with their replacements/refunds dept: extremely responsive by email, and if you work with them enough you will eventually get what you want -- i originally got a refund for the magic lily instead of the replacement i requested, but complained because their price jumped this year and my refund wouldn't cover replacement & shipping. i spoke to customer service and they told me they would ship me a replacement in the fall. i haven't called them about the astilbes yet..

but overall, i would rate them a fair-priced nursery with decent customer service.

Ordered serveral items from this company and all are doing well, including the free gifts. The wisteria took a long time to be shipped, and was not in the best condition upon arrival, plant and soil were everywhere but in the pot, but it appears to be doing OK. The roses are fantastic! Have ordered plants for fall shipping as well, so hopefully will have the same good luck.

Ordered 6 Fairy Roses (pink) and 2 assorted Hellebores this spring. Plants arrived quickly and in great shape. (Roses were just breaking dormancy. Planted as instructed and have had excellent results. All are growing vigorously and the roses are blooming beautifully. Will be ordering again in spring of 2004.

Received 6 mini roses in March. 4 died. Replacements promised way back in April, but still have not been sent. Say they are backordered, but they are still selling the collection on website, so why can't they send my replacements. So much for guarantee.

When I was fairly new gardening two years ago, I bought from Spring Hill on two separate occaisions. At the time, I didn't know what to expect from a mail-order nursery, so I was only disappointed in the quality of the plants I received. Now that I have been gardening for a few years, I am apalled by what Spring Hill sent me.

For example, I bought 3 Miyazaki toadlillies for a not-so-insubstantial price, only to receive 3 plants that had only their seed leaves and a 1/4" root. Surprisingly, one actually still lives to this day but is dwarfed by the others I have bought at nurseries for the same price. Likewise, my BEST survival rate with plants from this company has been about 50%. Needless to say, I don't deal with them anymore . . . and I would recommend you stay away from them as well.

I ordered plants(about 120.00 worth) this Spring off their website.I received an email from them confirming my order and it would ship out by June 7th. I waited and waited without a word from them,the only thing about my order was that the site said it was in process.June 7th came and went without my order. I had to email them 7 times and call them twice only to find out that my order would not ship out this season. During the emails I checked their site to find that 2 of the items I ordered were no longer available and no one bothered to tell me in any of the communications, they simply removed it from my order.Customer Service was rude and flippant and could not or would not explain why my order never shipped. I have ordered from them in past years but will never again since they are not reliable and have poor communication.

I have ordered many things from Spring Hill over the last three years. Chinese Elm, Privet, Weigela Florida, Centranthus, Dragon's Blood Sedum, Daylilies, Rose Zephirin Drouhin, and many more...

Everything has always arrived in beautiful condition. One plant did not thrive (an azalea), and it was replaced. I have always been happy with the service and quality I've received. I was sorry when they went out of business, and started ordering elsewhere (Farmer's -- a big regret there!), but returned my business to Spring Hill when I saw they rallied and saved the business.

~Pat White
Merrillville, IN

I ordered a cascading rose package that included everything to make a hanging basket of the plants as a present for my sister. The plants arrived in reasonable time and are faring happily, even starting to bloom. No complaints!

I have been ordering product from Springhill for years and have never been disappointed in them. The plants have all been healthy and at their wonderful prices I do not expect HUGE plants ... being a patient gardener I know that I may have to wait a year or two for them to get up to blooming size. Everything I've received from them has been worth the wait. They ship plants that are well packed and garden worthy and they are prompt when it comes to taking care of problems ... Last year I had four of the 10 miniature roses that I purchased die due to the extreme winter we had here in Michigan and they replaced them without hesitation. I am very satisfied with this company. I will continue to order from Springhill.

I ordered five items this spring and one of them was damaged during shipment, the other two items (climbing roses) looked good when I received it, but failed to grow at all. I called them right after I received the initial shipment and they gladly refunded my money for the damaged plant. Today I called to get a refund on the climbing roses; the person on the phone was pleasant and wanted to know that if I ever have any problem with anything else I ordered that I should call back anytime.

I was wonderfully satisfied with your customer service replacing not only the five (5) that I requested, but sending a total of twelve (12) replacement Cascadia Petunias plants. The service was polite, generous and prompt. The replacements plants were sent UPS as opposed to USPS and were/are in good health. I THANK YOU whole heartedly.

Michelle D.
Isle of Palms, SC

This was my first time ordering from Spring Hill. I love roses and wanted to get started with some miniature roses. I had bought one for my mother for Mother's Day last year and it was so pretty, but cost $8.99 at the local supermarket. When I saw that Spring Hill had a variety package of miniature roses, 18 for $34.99 I decided to take a chance and order from this company. Better yet, I did a search on Spring Hill on google.com and found that they had a $20 online discount coupon- wow what an offer!!! The roses arrived in fine condition, very carefully packaged. They are doing great in my garden now all blooming.

Stay away from this one. Bad service. Crummy merchandise.

I HAVE BEEN ORDERING ROSES FOR 5 YEARS. THIS YEARS ARTIC ROSE COLLECTION WAS EXCELLANT. I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ROSES WITH SUCH LARGE CANES FROM A MAIL ORDER COMPANY BEFORE

My dad ordered one of the pre-planned gardens I believe in March. The website said they would be shipped for the appropriate frost date in our zone. Well, they came about a week later while it was still really cold and way before our frost date (zone 6). He called and they said if any died to call back and they would replace them. My dad ended up repotting them, putting them on his screen porch and they look pretty good at this point. I think there was only one that didn't make it but he didn't call about it. It would be nice if he got them in the ground, but that's not Spring Hill's fault!

I just ordered some plants from them through their $25 off coupon sale. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt seeing the condition of the plants he ordered. Of course that was early in the season so things could be a mess by now. We'll see!

I have ordered several times from them. They are obviously part of the axis of mediocrity as far as selection goes, but their plants have always arrived in excellent packaging, usually quite healthy. When I had a problem with 2 plants (one never came up, the other died) they ok'd replacements with no questions asked. One plant they couldn't send until a full year later, but it stayed "on order" and they sent it almost excalty a year later without even a reminder. They even tracked down something I ordered through one of their other conglomerate nurseries, and are going to send me that too. Great deals on certain things, like vinca, but details on the plants can be sketchy - such as the fact that alstroemeria "Sweet Laura" is only marginally hardy in zone 6... anyway, they can afford to give good support, and they do.

I have now ordered twice. My first order included minature roses,transcendia, butterfly bush and verbascum. The verbascum was wilted and I contacted the nursery. I had replacements in 5 days. The plants come with a lifetime guarantee! My second order was a climbing rose, lilly of the valley and a lilac bush. The rose already had buds and was in excellent condition. All the other plants were fabulous too. I highly recommend this nursery.

Ordered last year, plants were small, but what I thought I would get for the cheap price. A 1/3 didn't survive and spring hill sent a coupon to get replacements , which we recieved in spring, doing good so far. All in all a good experience.

Around 1994, I ordered verbena and dragon's blood sedum. The plants arrived looking healthy and they thrived. I ordered a large number of both plants. I should have counted them when they arrived, but didn't. After I started planting them, it seemed like I was short on plants. I didn't complain to the company.

I later ordered rosebushes, which lived. The bushes looked better in the catalog than in real life though. Mine didn't get as many blossoms or get as bushy.

I believe I ordered more plants from them with the plants living. I have ordered so many things from several different companies that I can't remember who I ordered some of the other plants from. I have maintained a good attitude toward Spring Hill, but not all of the other mail-order companies.

Yesterday, I ordered 3 red fairy roses over their website. Hopefully, all will go well. I planted pink fairy roses from another company a few years ago and I just love fairy roses! They bloom the first year and they bloom profusely and continuously from May until October. They don't need to be sprayed. They are about 3 feet by 3 feet.

I ordered twice from Spring Hill Nurseries a few years ago and the experience was so bad that I'll never trust another online nursery again.

We ordered an herb garden kit. First, they double billed us and refused to take it off our credit card; they said instead that they would just send a double order of the herb garden kit.

When the plants arrived, they arrived barely in season and were small and sickly. Several of them had broken stems and were already dying or dead. One was infested with aphids. I called Spring Hill and they said they would replace the order.

The second order was no better but I didn't want to risk another order so I tried to nurse the plants. Most of them died but the few that did not weren't even herbs. This was supposed to be a culinary herb garden but the plants all flowered like regular bedding plants. I'm not so certain taht they weren't weeds.

Because of Spring Hill I will never order from a nursery again.

What was I thinking?! I've had bad luck with Spring Hill over the last few years. I decided to give them another shot by ordering a collection of 6 daylilies. They arrived moldy. I removed as much as I could and planted them. They're showing no signs of life, while all of my other daylilies are sprouting like crazy. Note to self: if ever tempted again, walk, no run, the other way!!!

My shipment from Springhill this spring came in two parts: the first box was an extreme disappointment. The plants (lilacs, hedge roses, russian sage, etc.) were nicely packaged but were tiny seedlings. The second package was like night and day. Three substantial bare root plants, 2 to 3 foot apiece. These were two climbing roses and a double mock orange. So the picture is not all bad. Yes the catalog is very seductive and they are expensive, but they also have some nice items. Look for catalog entries that explicitly state the size of what you're getting or phone the 800 number to find out.

I was a little wary of Spring Hill after reading some comments on this site, but my experience was one of the best I've had. I ordered several hydrangeas, some daylilies and a few bulbs. I e-mailed customer service after I placed my order because I wanted to add one more plant. They changed my order and also gave me an unexpected $20.00 off. I was also pleased to see that when my order arrived, they gave me several free daylilies. It was an exceptional value and less than $50.00 for many plants. Everything I bought is growing well. Even if it wasn't, at these prices, it would be worth the risk for me.

We ordered a number of plants of different species last year, and most of them took without a problem. We had several plants of one species die, and after calling them they stated it was too late in the season, but would gladly replace them for spring planting. My wife called about these plants, and we received them in days. They have replaced and gauranteed their plants, and this is one of the few mail order nurseries we will do business with because we can deal with them. We are very weary of most mail order plants, and prefer to stay with local nurseries is possible.

My mother sent me an order of Spring Hill perennials as a gift last spring. The plants were TINY!! with weak root systems. The lily bulbs were flaccid and moldy. I would recommend finding another source.

I have ordered several items from Spring Hill and have only had one problem plant that is being replaced (they have a life time replacement policy - all you need to provide is your accout number).

My only concern is their shipping dates. When I ordered my Hydrangeas (Drawf Forever Pink) and my Rose of Sharon Collection, they were sent a little early. It was still cold in my zone and I was concerned that the new plants were going to have a hard time with the planting. I called Spring Hill and they reassured me that it would be ok. They also reenforced their replacement policy with me, which gave me piece of mind on my investment.

I've placed many orders with them over the past year, and I have been very happy with everything that I have received. The orders were correct and in good condition when they arrived. I thought that the prices weren't bad either. They always have coupons and special collections that are really nice. As for size, they tell you in the catalog the size that they will ship for most of the plants. When they haven't, I just called and they were more than happy to give me all of the information that they have. Maybe they are turning it around after their bankruptcy.

Ordered a number of things from the catalog; most have arrived (weigila alone, then a bunch of others). Interestingly, the box included one item listed on the order sheet as to-be-shipped-later.

Most looked reasonable to my not-so-experienced eye. Packing was good. Care/light instructions on the packages sometimes disagreed with the catalog. None appeared dead; some had some dead leaves. Unfortunately, 2 days after I planted them we had a late very hard frost here in the Philly area 2 nights in a row (circa 24 degrees), and most of them lost what leaves they had; we'll see if they grow back. A couple of buddlia and some fescue hadn't been planted and are in my sunroom; they're healthy and leafing out; after the possible frost next monday I'll plant them.

I'll mark this positive since they all seemed ok when they arrived.

I ordered 12 Lavender plants from Spring Hill Nurseries from an ad in the Sunday paper.

Within a week, ALL 12 were DEAD! NONE SURVIVED.

I will NEVER order from this firm again.

Plants too small and too expensive.

When I first began gardening four years ago, I ordered a lot of plants from SpringHill. The plants were small and expensive, but most survived. However, occasionally, the wrong plants were shipped or some of the shipment was in bad shape. SpringHill made good when I complained. We had one conflict over billing which was never resolved to my satisfaction.

I finally stopped ordering from them when I discovered I could buy bigger plants cheaper from local sources. For example, I paid about $25 for a Wine and Roses Weigla twig (about 6" tall) from SpringHill. That same season, I found it as a 1 1/2 foot shurb at Ace Hardware for $15. The twig is still spindly, but I keep it around to remind me why I don't buy mail order plants or shurbs anymore unless there is no way to obtain it locally and I absolutely have to have it.

Hope this helps.

In November 2002 we placed a $250 order for plants to be shipped "as appropriate for zone". We live in Los Angeles. Appropriate time for bareroot roses is December to early-March. Nurseries stop carrying bareroot in February in my neighborhood. For June bloom, other plants should be bedded in late-March, early April. As of mid-March, our roses have not arrived and there is no estimated date and our other plants are "back-ordered". I have requested cancellation of the order.

I have worked for Spring Hill (6/95-8/98), and I believe that most of their problems started with employing seasonal help that had no interest or lack of knowledge of packing the Spring Hill product with the proper care it takes to send their customers the plants that they had ordered. First, I worked around individuals that were employeed as Exotic dancers. These dancers were up to 2:30 AM in the morning, and they would be at Spring Hill by 7 AM in the morning o work the Spring Hill eight hour shift. Clearly, any worker that works late at night and early in the morning had no attention to do their packageing effectively and securly to get the Spring Hill clients their order here in a timely manner.

Another problem was that the former owners never enforced an effective drug policy, and majority of the workforce condoned the use of weed, and other illegal substances. Well this note is intended to give a short explaination to all that had problems with their orders and is intended to explain why your orders arrived in poor condition.

I wavered between neutral and negative. I did get some nice lilies and balloon flowers from Spring Hill. But most of the plants I've gotten were small and didn't really thrive. A couple of other problems. In the catalogs, they tend to show these beautiful collections that create lush gardens in and of themselves. They don't mention, however, that the plants in the collections may not have the same bloom season. In one collection I got, the plants that survived bloomed at such different times, the garden looked sad and sparse all year. Another problem I had...I rarely buy plants from T.V. shopping networks, but when they use to have a show on one, the rep had the most beautiful rose on. It had floribunda size cream blooms tinged with pink. A beautiful, antique-ivory rose with clusters of blooms. To get the rose, you had to order a collection of 5 plants, which I did. I planted them, and then when they started blooming, much to my chagrin, they were a variety of mediocre, hot-pink miniature roses. Not even a pretty or well-shaped rose. No resemblance to the rose that was promoted on the show, even though they were labeled as being the same. I do NOT believe this is the same rose that was promoted. I looked at a tape I made of the show and they look absolutely nothing like the roses I received. By then, it was too late to return and I was stuck with 5 shrubs of not-so-great, hot-pink mini roses. Major disappointment.