Comments regarding Burgess Seed

After making a rather sizable order, I received my packages in mid-July (in Texas, thetemperature had already reached the high 100s). The plants and bulbs were ruined, all moldy and soft. I never received the replacements promised, and to be honest, I really found the customer service people quite rude. Big thumbs down. Same goes for their sister company, Farmer Seed and Nursery.

After ordering over $112 worth of items, I finally received 2 of 3 packages (according to labels) in late March. I never received the 3rd package and have e-mailed them twice in the last 3 weeks to inquire where the missing items are and if/when they will be shipped, and still have had NO REPLY from them at all. Most of the items ordered have subsequently died and I indicated such in both e-mails and that I want them replaced. The items NEVER RECEIVED were charged back in January and have been paid. I would encourage NO ONE order from this place, as I will never order from them again. It seems I'll be contacting the Better Business Bureau and the Federal agency governing this time of scam. As indicated in other experiences, their phone number (309-663-9551) is always busy.

I bought 160 assorted trees and bushes which all arrived looking like sticks, but truthfully that is what I expected, it's been 5 weeks and most all are budded out or in some cases leafed out and doing fine. I received all the freebees and planted everything and hope these too will do well. I've also just placed a new order for various berry vines I'm hoping they will all come looking as good as the kiwi, which is the most impressive thing from them yet. I've not planted them yet but repotted and maybe today shall carry off to my house in OK and if they grow as promised may cover several dead trees the winter ice storm got last year. I believe maybe over the next few years to have really changed the look of my little paradise. Just remember to keep planting this planet up.

Wish I had read this before I ordered. I ordered from this company in early February. In subsequent weeks I ordered from Park, Wayside, Jackson and Perkins; and in early March, Van Dyck's. All of these other orders have been received and have been planted. I am still waiting impatiently for my Burgess Stuff to arrive. Will let you know the quality when it gets here.

I just finished planting my apricot trees and cherry bushes from Burgess. I was very impressed at the quality. I was afraid that the plants had arrived too early for my region but the weather station said this was exactly the right time of year for fruit trees. The plants were all healthy and beginning to grow.

I have ordered a few times from this company, and have found that you have to know which items are good and which ones are bad. Bare-root trees and shrubs: O.K.; you have to baby them though. Bareroot perennials: most are bad; come to you rotton, some are good though. Seeds: good. Bulbs: good. Bare-root roses: O.K. Bare-root strawberries: good.

These guys give new meaning to the word "scheister". Be careful, there seems to be a ton of different names this company assumes. I'd beware of ANY catalog that has a Bloomington, IL address.
Quality is terrible, returns are like pulling teeth. Don't believe me, try calling their number. If you get anything but a busy signal, you've mis-dialed.
Will answer their e-mails, but be prepared to wait and follow EXACTLY whatever procedure they give you. I've read on other boards they use this is an excuse to further delay justice.

Possibly the worst catalog I have gotten so far.
They do NOT specify how many seeds per packet or
if by weight, no count is provided.
It is very difficult to plan a garden when you
are missing that vital quantity information.
I did NOT order from them.

I ordered a large order from Burgess in spring 2001. They arrived just when they said they would-April 1st. The plants seemed small and dead, but I planted them all right away. It is now July 2001 and I have beautiful gardens with huge plants. They are all blooming and blooming over and over. They are even surviving the nearly 100 degress temps we are having. One of my rose bushes is even blooming and I have tried at least 5 from others sources that didn't survive here. Maybe one or two of the more than 50 plants I bought didn't make it, but that is a much better rate than I would expect. I would have paid a lot more if I would have bought these plants from the nursery. In fact I have a nursery on my block, but I will buy again from Burgess, because I can get unusual plants that I have never heard of before

I ordered the spruce tree special. The trees were mildewed (dead) from heat and dampness in transit. I asked for replacements and they were sent, but arrived whitened from the same problem - poor parceling. I wonder how long the tree seedlings were in transit. too long, obviously!

I am a commercial grower with a retail greenhouse and a fresh market grower. I "just to see" ordered from them. Dormant = dead, seed potatoes = rot, replacement or refund = screwed. Line is always busy, if you do get in contact, only get a run around. They do not respond to mail.

I tried Burgess this year because they had some items that were cheaper and talk about a failure. We bought red Maples, lilacs, butterfly bushes, fruit trees, roses and peonies. The only thing that lived was the peonies. Their directions were not detailed and I got everything in one lump. With Michigan bulb you also get the plants when it's the best time to plant and it usually is staggered to make it easier to plant immediately. If Michigan Bulb does stay around it is the only mail order company I will be using after my other experiences.

Just logged on this site after seeing the bankruptcy notice, glad I did. Have ordered from Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill, and all the others. After one season everything from Michigan died, not a trace left. Spring Hills bulbs are an outstanding size but let me tell you that does not mean a thing. The bubs from Henry's did require a magnifying glass but lo and behold each one grew. My problem is the same, where is the rest of my order, been waiting six months. Burgess gets here fast but either dead or just a set of roots, can you believe it. What made me mad is the sticks have sprouted leaves, this is a privet hedge, that will be full grown in one year. Maybe if I am lucky I will have my hedge in a few. Such a drag to be so excited about landscaping your yard just to be disappointed. My local nurseryman has ordered from these people with exceptional results, guess we have to own a business. Guess have to pay the high price, and I live in southern California where just about anything can grow!

In February I ordered some plants and shrubs from Burgess Seeds and Plants. I received a card informing me that the plants would be shipped when it was time for planting. Well, here it is the last of June and I have not received a thing from Burgess. I have been trying to contact them but so far I have not had any luck. I hope others that have ordered from the have had better results than me.

Do not order any products from any of the companies (Burgess Seed and Plant Co., Four Seasons Nursery, Exciting Gardens or Richard Owen Nursery) all part of Plantron Inc out of Bloomington, IL. They count on the premise that you won't save the shipping label and thereby not be entitled to a refund or replacement. If you do send in the label, if and when you get replacements, they are worse than the originals. Seed packets are thrown in with nursery stock, become wet, unseal and spill their contents. Your phone calls won't be referred to anyone of management or responsibility…

Long story short, I live in FL; the plants are near dead, arrived May 22nd! I ordered them much earlier in the spring!! I wanted to complain to Burgess and can't find anything but a mailing address.

This scam must make lots of money. By canvassing the country with their catalogs, and mailing (yes, the US Postal Service) garbage, the income must be very large, and the overhead almost nil. The products sent were ridiculously funny. Perhaps the laughter from being taken by a seller of plants was worth the cost of admission.

I ordered 10 Hybrid Poplars and a rose bush, (which has really taken off thanks to some rose-grow on a weekly basis) from Burgess. They all finally arrived after about 6 weeks. My wife couldn't stop laughing when she saw the Poplars...well after 5 weeks five of them are flourishing, (my dog dug up three and ate them) of the two others one is trying to grow and I have given up on the other one. I doubt I will buy from them again, but will likely try out one of their competitors.

My mom is an avid gardener in Virginia and placed an order with Burgess on March 7, 2001. It was paid for by check and was for some early spring bushes; foresythia, pussy willows and the like. The catalog said the order would be shipped for planting in your area which, for mom would be mid to late March. When the plants didn't arrive by April 2, I (from Illinois) called the company myself and inquired about the order. Burgess assured me that the order was being shipped that week. I called again on the 16th after the plants had not arrived and was told they were being shipped on the 17th. Today is the 23rd and we're still waiting. I have never had such bad service from a catalog company before.

Ordered a Peony set and a set of three fruit trees. Appears that only two of the Peony plants will grow. I received only one of the fruit trees, which is not growing. I have not been able to contact them by phone, so I sent a letter. Received a polite letter not addressing any of my questions or problems. I have sent another letter and will threaten to go to the local TV stations, if necessary. I will never order from them again.

Burgess is a very poor company indeed. They care very little about their customer's satisfaction. Last February I ordered several items including 8 butterfly bushes and 1 pampas grass. The pampas grass was backordered with promises to be shipped this spring. The butterfly bushes were of varying sizes, with the smallest being about the size of a toothpick with roots. Three of those died. I wrote them a letter to tell them what happened and stapled the shipping label to the letter. About 4 weeks later they send me a reply telling me that they were sorry and returned my letter with the shipping label attached, and told me that I needed to submit a letter with the shipping label. What gives? This company sucks. I hope they get some kind of really bad fungus!

I just received an order for some cannas, a 50-piece bulb garden set, Dahlias, and torch lily. The problem I do not think is the company here. It is the post office. There was a label stuck on the top of the shipping label saying that it arrived at my local office in this condition. The bag was ripped in several spots and had grease on and in the bag like it got caught in a machine. A couple of the dahlia bulbs were crushed. The top of the torch lily got grease on it and turned to mush. The cannas bag is ripped and has grease on it. Once the bulbs have grease on them you know they are not going to grow. It might help to start sending in boxes even if you have to add a few cents to the products.I take it spring hill is part of burgess or vice versa since they are on the MySeasons site too. I have ordered from them and they send really nice plants in nice snap containers and they are well started. I was really happy with those plants last year and the carnations were coming back in Feb. already. The torch lilies made large clumps and I have had to divide them already. I will write the company and send my label and let everyone know what the outcome is regarding the damaged shipment. Sometimes you have to follow their procedure for returns no matter how silly it sounds. I will try.

Thank the Lord, my husband is not alive to see this website. David E. Burgess, former owner of Burgess Seed & Plant Co. in Galesburg, Michigan passed away April 1st of this year. His parents, Margaret and Harry, started the company in 1912. The company had the very best of reputation in the gardening industry and was world-renowned. When David sold the company in 1969, it was heart-breaking to watch the company leave Michigan and relocate in Bloomington. Then, to see the decline in catalog quality and lack of varieties in seeds, made him very sad. We still continued ordering from "our family" catalog until this year. I am so sad to see the nobility of the Burgess name go down the tubes because of tarnishing the history of Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

It's 2001 and I ordered from Burgess. I ordered from them in 2000 and everything was okay. This time I am $60.00 out and no plants, can't get any contact with the firm. They do not answer the phone. Sending an e-mail does no good. I will never order from them again. Learned my lesson the hard way...[One week later]: After sending several emails I finally received my plants. They were in good condition and I take back my remarks I made earlier. Anyone wanting to get in touch with the plant company about their order should send email to the shipping dept.

I placed a huge order last year from Burgess privet, lilacs, weeping willows, red buds, mock orange, fairy roses, boxwood, firethorn. The quality was definitely a mixed bag...redbuds were about the size of a 1/2 piece of dry spaghetti, lilac & mock oranges weren't much better. The real pleasant suprises were the two things I was most worried about...the boxwood and the fairy roses. Although still pretty small compared to some of the more expensive mail order varieties from Wayside or Jackson & Perkins, for the money I felt they were an excellent value. I planted everything carefully but a lot of the plants died.I wrote to Burgess about six weeks ago & to their credit, I just received my replacements today & everything looks darn good. For me personally, I have a lot more time & patience than I do money, so I don't mind saving a couple of bucks & buying smaller plants...I would buy again from Burgess since they did honor their guarantee.

I have very good luck with Burgess hedge plants - Honeysuckle, Rose of Sharon, privet. Of the few plants that did not survive I sent I returned my shipping label to Burgess and received new plants just as they said. I have had only fair luck with phlox and sedum from Burgess.

I ordered from Burgess early last spring and just recently from Four Seasons Nursery, which I didn't know until recently they are the same company. I had very good luck with my order from Burgess, I received my order in a timely manner and everything came in excellent shape (nothing dead and everything lived). I just hope the order I've placed with Four Seasons Nursery this spring is just as nice. After reading which are mostly complaints, I'm a little weary, as I have spent a great deal this year. I tried the number given in the catalog to check on the status of my order but it's ALWAYS busy!

I wanted to add my experience with Burgess to all of the other nightmares! I wish I had found this website before I made the mistake of ordering from them. In the spring of 2000, I ordered 5 Fairytale Pink daylilies, 5 Nearly Black daylilies and 1 Purple Smoke Tree. When I received my order, the pink daylilies looked marginally decent, but the others were very scrawny and almost dead. The tree was bareroot but appeared to be alive, so I planted it. When the tree started to sprout leaves, I knew immediately that it was not a smoke tree (I have had a purple smoke tree for four years and know what the leaves look like in all stages of development). I called to complain and was told to send them a leaf from the tree. I complied. I didn't hear a thing from them. A few weeks later, my "Fairytale Pink" daylilies started to bloom, and to my disgust, all were the common orange variety that can be found along roadsides anywhere in the country! By this time, most of the Nearly Black daylilies had died and I still hadn't heard anything about a replacement for my tree. I called again and was told to send the original shipping label - I no longer had this label as my husband had gotten tired of the box sitting the garage and had thrown it out. I was told that was o.k., just send a copy of my credit card bill showing where I had paid for the items as proof. After doing this, I FINALLYreceived a letter from them telling me they had identified my leaf as being from a chestnut tree - no mention of sending my what I had ordered! I fired off a scathing letter demanding credit for the tree, all five of the daylilies that were the wrong color and the other dead daylilies. Now, a year later, I have not yet heard a word from this company, and don't expect to. My advice would be, if you are going to order plants by mail, deal only with companies that you know to be reputable. If you've never used mail order nurseries, stick to the big boys like Parks, Burpee, etc. You might not always get what you expected, but your chances of getting replacements and refunds is much better.

I'm the tree hugger in the family so I've placed several orders with several companies over the years, including Burgess. I recall one day when my wife happened to be around while I eagerly opened up a package from Burgess. When she saw me pull out a few scrawny sticks from the bag she expressed horror and shock that we'd been gypped. I indicated that I saw nothing wrong with the order and proceeded to plant the stock. Now, several years later, those trees are taller than our house and my wife has come to appreciate, just as I once did, what can become of a scrawny bare stick from a mail order company.

[One of] the best places that I have had luck with is Henry Burgess. (They are100% guaranteed or your money back.)

I ordered strawberry and raspberry plants from Burgess, which were to be shipped, I ordered strawberry and raspberry plants from Burgess, which were to be shipped in time for planting (May 15th). I received them on June 1st and they were all mildewed and rotting. The instructions sent with them said before any refund could be made, they had to be planted and I had to wait 6 weeks to see if they would grow. I planted them and waited 6 weeks. Nothing happened. I then called the company and was told that I had to have returned them within 2 weeks of the date I received them to get a refund. I told the person that the instructions said they had to be planted for 6 weeks. He said he couldn't help me. I asked to speak with his supervisor and he said no one could help me. This company is a terrible fraud. I'm writing to the Better Business Bureau about them.

We ordered several flowers and trees from Burgess, and as with many other victims of these hucksters, were lured in by their competitive prices. We received a partial shipment of some plants that are doing well now, but the time forplanting most of the items has long since passed. We ordered March 3rd, and my credit card was billed immediately, but the foot-dragging on the part of Burgess is beginning to make me think the only way anyone receives satisfaction with this company would be in a court of law. I think, to sum it up, that theycouldn't be less concerned about the gardeners they seem so swift in taking advantage of.I called them, and they told me that the rest of our order would be shipped in time, but they gave no inkling as to what kind of time frame they were speaking of. I think they could do better without too much effort. I ordered about $146.00 worth of plants from Burgess in Feb 2000. It is now May 17th 2000 and the only things I have received are two dead Kiwi plants, which I returned about two weeks ago and still have not received a replacement for. Burgess has told me that they shipped my plants on April 26th and that the private firm they hired to package and send the mail was to blame for the delay. Burgess says they will not send me new plants or refund my money for several more weeks. I feel ripped off by this company and cheated. I will never order plants in the mail again.

I wish I had found this site before I ordered from Burgess instead of when I was trying to find a web site to contact them about the 12mouldy, dead, spruce trees I received in May 2000. I've ordered from several catalogs and couldn't remember if I paid by credit card or if they would bill me. From other comments I'm going to find my credit card bill and contest the fee for receiving "dead" product. It's fraud!!!! I'm also going to contact the consumer division of the State Attorney General to see if they can do anything about this. I'll do my part to hold them accountable for cheating me and so many other people. This is not just bad business practice.

We have had semi-good luck with catalogs in general, but decided to order from Burgess anyway. Our mistake was placing such a large order (over 300 dollars). They have had the order since Jan, 00, and are just now shipping some of the plants. Questioned recently about delay of such items as seed potatoes, which are planted in our area mid-March, their response: we are waiting for warmer weather to ship the greenhouse items. The order is supposed to be shipped in 5 parts, so why can't they ship early-planters now. "Oh, we'll be shipping those out tomorrow". That was 2 weeks ago. Now we receive a shipment of flowers and evergreens, no potatoes. Of the items received: lavender is half dead tiny things, evergreens actually look well-developed roots, and rhododendrons might be big enough to bloom in about 5 years, if they survive. Now, I can no longer get anything but a busy signal when I call their non-toll free #. I think we have been had.

MY ORDER SHOWED UP TODAY IN MID MARCH AND WAS DEAD. I have called the BBB and I'm starting a class action suit against them.

I recently purchased 3 blue spruce trees and 5 "burning bush" shrubs from Burgess. My spruces arrived but it's been a month since my order &I have yet to get delivery of my bushes. PLEASE, whoever has their phone number, be a dear person and post it in this FAQ column. I may not get an answer if I try to call them (as some folks have in their comments I've read), but you will save me time trying to find the number elsewhere. I'm disappointed in my spruces, but that could be par for the course according to others who've expressed their experiences in this column. Anyway, thank you (anyone!) for Burgess' telephone number.

I have mail ordered plants for many years and last year was the first time I received a Burgess catalog. As my gardens are pretty full already I half-heartedly thumbed through the catalog and placed an order for some of their ridiculously low priced plants not really caring if they made it or not. I received two rose of Sharon trees, two pink weigelas, three lavenders, a pink smoke tree, and a rhododendron. Amazingly all of the items arrived in extremely healthy. Many months have passed and my rose of sharons are nearly four foot tall and vibrant. Every item I purchased from Burgess is healthy and thriving. I am anxious for my next catalog to arrive so I can once again "clean up" on the bargains. This is also the fourth year I have purchased items from Stark - all with successful results.

According to the letters I have read on the web, I am relativity unscathed...but still unhappy with BURGESS. My order was small: 2 hazelnut, some roses, 25 strawberries and hibiscus. They replaced the black blobs of strawberries (late, and still dubious, 11/15/99) The roses faltered and failed but let me tell you about the hazelnuts. They sent me two English Walnut (sticks) in place of them! Imagine, where you wanted a bearing bush in 3 or 4 years replaced with huge, later bearing trees! I planted them anyway and carried water during a severe drought, but they never gave leaf one! Actually, one of the sticks BROKE OFF during a windstorm! Burgess Seed Co has to show me they mean to stay in business before I buy again.

I've been at this gardening thing for about 30 years now. I see a lot of the "cheap" nurseries getting regularly trashed in these postings. Every year I buy items from Burgess and the others of this genre who sell plants at very cheap prices. I've learned to ignore the glossy pictures, pay close attention to botanical names (and look the items up in my gardening reference books to be sure of what I'm getting) and above all keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If you order a $2.00 tree and are disappointed when you get a 12" stick then you need to adjust your expectations downward. If what I really want is an older, larger plant I go to my local garden center ready to pay the price or order from the wonderful but expensive places like White Flower Farms. Following this strategy I have been generally pleased with all of my mail order purchases.