Comments regarding Sooner Plant Farm (Shop Smarter Shop Sooner)

I could not be happier with the quality of their plants (I ordered a Hibiscus "Lord Baltimore"), and their customer service department!

i thought i'd never get a crape myrtle for zone 5 - read that the variety "hopi" would survive here. next was to search for a company that would send me "hopi" and not just any old pink crape myrtle. i checked daves garden, of course, and found sooner plant farm. my "hopi" arrived today!! it was well packed, well rooted, and very bushy. i am so very, very pleased.

Found this company as I was researching why my Viburnum "Blue
Muffin" wouldn't set berries.
Not only did I find out that I needed 2 Viburnum...I was even told which ones to choose from for pollination.
On top of that..I received great, well priced plants and excellent,
reasonably priced shipping.
Score!

Received a Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood' for Chicago area. The tree was securely packaged, arriving quickly and in excellent condition without damage. Height of tree was at least as advertised. S&H charges, however, were almost 1/2 the cost of the tree ($15, which still seems competitive).

I stumbled upon Sooner Plant Farm last week by googling for a source for a particular plant I wanted. Because of a prior bad experience with another mail order plant company (who sent puny, wilted, dry plants), I was leery about ordering, especially so late in the season. With trepidation, I ordered three shrubs (virbunums) and a perennial (heuchera).

Wow! I am so impressed! The plants arrived quickly, and the packing was just terrific. The heuchera looked as fresh as - well, as fresh as a daisy, right out of the box. The virbunums perked up immediately after getting out of that stuffy box and having a nice long drink of water.

I have already placed another order with Sooner. They're tops in my book.

I ordered Coral Bells from Sooner and, because they were on special, I also ordered Coral Bells from Bluestone Perrenial, same variety. Sooner's were about $10. and Bluestone's were about $6. on sale. Sooner's were beautifully packed big healthy plants. Bluestones packing was just OK and the plants were tiny and weak at best. I'm thinking that Sooner's plants were at least two years old and Bluestone's were new seedlings. I would select Sooner for my next order if the variety I want is available. Good price, well tended.

Ordered 2 Little Henry's from them recently. Great shipping- plants arrived very well packaged. Highly recommend. I think may be a little $$ than some of the others but the quality appears quite good.

This feedback is long overdue, but I am posting it now anyway. I ordered from Sooner Plant Farm last year and received my order exactly when I wanted it. The trees were very well packaged, with the root balls potted and wrapped in plastic to keep the dirt in the pot and the moisture in the dirt. The trees are immobilized in the boxes, so broken branches are pretty much impossible. Most of the trees survived the winter; the ones that did not (the two Japanese maples, sadly) probably succumbed to high winds and a particularly harsh winter.

The trees were in excellent shape and all of my dealing with the personnel at Sooner Plant Farms was an absolute pleasure. I would not hesitate to give this company the highest rating and I definitely would purchase from this company again.

I purchased two Hibiscus from Sooner Plant Farm in April, 2009. I got Old Yella and Plum Crazy and they are growing very well. Looks like I will see blooms before the end of the season. I am very pleased with these plants. I found them to be a little pricey, but proves once again, you usually get what you pay for. I would buy again.

This is the second time that I have ordered from Sooner Plant Farm; the first shipment was of two twisted Japanese junipers. Both are thriving a year after planting. I recently ordered two "heuchera" plants, both arrived large and healthy. I am excited to plant them this weekend. I will continue to look, first, to Sooner Plant Farm for the perennials that I want. Thank you! I will refer!

I ordered two lilacs, both of which arrived promptly. I was very satisfied with their size and condition. Both plants were in pots, complete with moisture gel and were very nicely packed. I'll order from Sooner again.

A+. I ordered a 4' Autumn Blaze Maple, 4' variegated Japanese Maple, and a perennial. The packaging was exemplary, the plant health is exemplary.

I've found a new nursery to order from and have confidence that the service and plant quality is as the customer desires.

thank you very much.

Ordered several wisteria and honeysuckle. Plants were well packed and arrived safely, even with blooms, within a week of placing my order. Called with questions prior to my order and the individual was very helpful. My experience was very positive

This was my first time ordering from Sooner Plant Farm or any online nursery. They were very responsive to my questions, shipped quickly, the plants were really well packaged, and the plants were beautiful. Sooner Plant Farm gets a green thumb's up!

This was my first time ordering from Sooner Plant Farm. I was very impressed with how fast my order was shipped. I had looked all over for a Hummingbird Summersweet bush my husband wanted and found it at Sooner. The way the bush was packaged was superb. I would definitely order from them again. The bush was very healthy and true to the size stated on their website. The planting instructions gave step by step which made it very easy. I would rate them #1 in my book.

I ordered a large variety of plants and shrubs from Sooner this year. The plants and shrubs that I received were fabulous...very large, healthy plants. They were well packed and the service I received was superb. I joined the Garden Club earlier this year and saved a substantial amount of money on all my orders. I will definitely buy from them again next spring.

In Fall 2008 I placed and received an order for several grasses and Sedum. The Sedum are doing well but the majority of the grasses did not survive. When I contacted Sooner Plant Farms to discuss replacement, adjustment, I was told that they were not willing to do anything since they felt there was something with the conditions of my site. Since they were not even willing to provide some kind of an alternate solution, I will not be ordering from them in the future.

"On May 28, 2009 5:26 PM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

I reviewed this order carefully and came to the conclusion that nothing on our side could have caused all of 3 different varieties of grasses to die, other than being planted in late September in Iowa, at the shipping request of the customer as stated on their order. We do replace plants if there is any possibility that we could be responsible, and we are always fair and give the customer the benefit of doubt. In this case the customer never reported any problems with the plants until now 8 months later, in my opinion I believe the plants never had time to become establish before winter set in. Even though these plants are hardy in the customer’s zone, planting too late in the season can be a winter survival problem for any plants in any location.
We completely stand behind our products but cannot be responsible for every type of plant loss no matter what the cause.
Respectfully
Brian
"

I ordered a caryopteris "Petit Bleu" shrub. It was packed very well, in great condition, moist, and not root bound. They also sent me a free tree, a japanese maple, very small, so I potted it in a large pot and will keep it in my garden until it is a good size to put in ground. I am very satisfied. Will buy from them again!

This is hands down the best place I have ever ordered plants on line. I ordered on a Monday the plants were at my door on Friday. I was just amazed at the size of them --- they were regular sized plants just like I would buy at my local farmer's market. The care that they take shipping them was amazing too. I will order from Sooner from now on and recommend them to everyone.

Beautiful, healthy plants arrived quickly. The plants were very well protected and carefully packed for shipping. I was so impressed I purchased a membership the same day. This company will be my "go-to" choice.

I was so skittish about ever ordering online again for trees. I had just gotten completely and utterly ripped off by another online nursery. All of my trees that I had ordered from another nursery (5) either arrived with dead with no root system whatsoever (3 of them) or arrived not dormant and instead were fully budded (2). I had to replace all of these trees.

I can't get my hands on half the trees I want anywhere around here. I came to this davesgarden while looking up reviews on the company that just ripped me off. I signed up and learned about the watchdog group and found Sooner Plant Farm. I called Sooner Plant Farm this last Saturday afternoon, 7 days ago, and a man answered at like 5 minutes before he was they were closing, but what did he do? He took my order! And he couldn't have been nicer, and he said he was going to ship out my trees that Monday. I couldn't believe it. He said their policy when shipping across country to where I live on the east coast is they ship out on Mon or Tues so that UPS doesn't have shipments sitting around over the weekend. That was in complete contrast to the other nursery.

The other nursery I ordered from would do no such thing even after I BEGGED them to ship out on a Mon, consequently my order from them was shipped out on a THURSDAY and it took 6 days for a 3 day ground for me to get them. I was never so livid. I paid for 3 days and got 6 days.

But Sooner Plant Farm was different from the start. They shipped out my trees on Monday just like he said they would, and I received them on Thursday. The trees were potted (bareroot never again!) and packed exquisitely. No tape touched the trees in any way, no mess, no dirt anywhere but in the pots. And the trees were adorable, beautifully leafed and they were all marked. The other nursery shipped my trees UNMARKED. I had no idea at first what tree was what. It makes me angry all over again just thinking about it. And Sooner Plant Farm gave me an instruction booklet too!

They showed me the gold standard of customer service in how they treated me. I only ordered 2 trees that time as I was still scared of what I would experience, but I should have known that a company with no negatives and only one ridiculous neutral over a plant name on their website. No one should give a neutral rating on a company when they have never ordered from them! Shame on that reviewer! That reviewer should have contacted the company directly over a name error and not tarnished a company of such high standards with a neutral over a name mistake. I am appalled. That is not what I am looking for when I come on here looking for serious ratings on companies.

Sooner Plant Farm has renewed my faith in online nurseries and now I am headed back to their site to order the rest of my trees from them. From the way that man treated me on the phone; get this, he was just walking out the door when I called, but he kindly and generously offered to take my order, and as I gave him my order I had realized I had accidentally left my credit card with my husband who was at work.. So I had to hang up with him, call my husband at work, get the number and call this man back. Meanwhile the man at Sooner is probably wondering what he had gotten himself into. lol

So from the outstanding customer service, to the instantaneous email of my order confirmation and then my UPS tracking number email, to the perfectly packaging of the trees, to the beautiful trees themselves, I am just thrilled.

Basically, I am agog at how effortless and satisfying this transaction went. We have had neighbors walking by asking where we got our trees. While my husband and I were out planting one car actually stopped in the middle of the road holding up traffic asking what my trees were and complimenting them.

Sooner Plant Farm, you have just gotten yourselves a customer for a lifetime.

"On May 23, 2009 5:13 PM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

Hello,
Thank you so much for your business and positive comments. And a special hats off saying for thinking like I do about my 1 Neutral rating. "

I haven't purchased anything from this nursery, BUT, in my browsing and comparing prices and what not between nurseries, I have discovered that Sooner has wrong info on one of their plants. And I thought maybe I should warn anyone who may be buying something and not getting what the description says. Their Juniper Grey Owl, is described as growing 18 inches and spreading 3 to 6 feet. The spread is pretty accurate, but the height is way wrong. I have two Grey Owls in my yard, and they get up to 5 feet tall. 5 feet is a far cry from 18 inches.
I have discovered that when looking at different nurseries and comparing, that there are quite a few who will say one thing, and another say something else, especially growing zones......one may say a plant will not grow in your zone, whereas another one will say it will grow in your zone....so who do you believe?

"On May 23, 2009 5:05 PM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

Thank you so much for making me aware of our error regarding the plant height, I have corrected it on our site.
Brian"

I love the selection at Sooner Plant Farm. The items I ordered were received in a timely manner and in excellent condition. As a new gardener, I also appreciated the explicit instructions on planting or holding the items for later planting. I expect to be using this site regularly to order plants for my new home.

I ordered a 5-6' Sango Kaku Japanese Maple and I am very pleased with the quality and appearance. I also appreciated their quick response to some pruning and planting questions I had even though it was on a weekend. I would order from this grower again w/o question.

As of this year, I’m new to mail-order plants. My recent experiences include ordering ornamental grasses from an outfit from Florida, and ordering 10 bamboo plants (2 types, Fargesia Rufa, and Fargesia Dracocephala) from a place specializing in bamboo from Oregon. My bamboo plants from Oregon are thriving, so I wanted to try a different variety, Fargesia Robusta (Green Screen) for the reason the name implies – to create a tall privacy screen. I came across Sooner who would save me 33% (including shipping) on my 10 Green Screen plants compared to the place in Oregon - so I ordered from Sooner. The plants arrived fast, and in good condition. The only drawback was that they were very small young plants ranging in height from 4” to 8”. By contrast the bamboo from Oregon ranged from 18” to 24” for a 1 gallon container. Unfortunately, I believe that my cost savings was offset by the youth and size of the plants. I’m hoping that these plants start to thrive by growing and putting out new shoots like the other Fargesias. They’ve been planted only 1 week. I give Sooner a big positive on customer service, plant health, and shipping. I give MYSELF a “negative” for not researching the size ahead of time. As of this writing I am giving a “neutral” rating to Sooner in hopes that these plants start to thrive and grow as my other bamboo with height and guts seem to do. Time will tell and I’ll keep you posted.

"On Apr 26, 2009 2:10 PM, Sooner Plant Farm (home of Imagine Backyard Trees®) responded with:

Fair enough. I understand this customers questions and concerns regarding the size of the plants purchased. This is a new product for us and we have discovered the reason some Bamboo is quite expensive. The variety in question appears to be a slow grower in comparison to Green Panda, our other Bamboo. Although the plant is almost 12 months old it would not hurt for us to grow them longer, and raise the price accordingly. As I have expressed to the customer during our earlier phone conversation, please keep us informed should the plants not survive, and I would make it right. We do not offer a long term written guarantee, but we always do what is right and fair.
Thank you for your accurate feedback
Brian"

I just got my first order from soonerplantfarm and I was extremely impressed. Everything was packed very well and looked quite healthy. The one gallon plants were nice sized and two gallon even better. The plants I received were better than expected. They have packing down to an exact science and it shows. You will be amazed when you open the box how well they package. They delayed my shipment just as I had requested. When it shipped, I got a UPS tracking # and was able to track my packages for the entire journey. I joined the club and got 40% off items that I bought 3+ of. Soonerplantfarm is going be my #1 choice in the future. Their website is extremely good compared to others. I can't say enough about about useful and full of information their website is. I love the search function. Soonerplantfarm is the real deal in my book!

I am very pleased with the plants I ordered on the 19th and got today the 23rd! They look healthy and already growing in a pot! They are wrapped in plastic to keep all of it in place. I had looked at other places and all you would have gotten there is a root or seeds and they charged a lot more than I paid from sooner. I am very pleased with the packs they sent for putting in the bottom of the soil and the book of info! I will be ordering from them again and again!

I placed an order this spring for some new trees. I order from Sooner because I am interested in elm trees and they have a larger selection especially the Allee. I had placed an order for 2 of the Frontier Elms in the smaller size. The did not have the size I ordered. I contacted them and they quickly found a solution for my trees.

I had ordered one of the smaller sized Allee Elm 3 years ago. The first year the tree grew very little, but established a great root system and the second and third years it grew very quickly to over 10 feet. The tree developed a sturdy truck and nice classic vase shape.

I am very satified with the plant material and service from them

I just received my purchase (my first) from them. They were extremely well packed so the plants arrived in perfect condition. They were all very healthy plants and extremely well grown. I will look forward to ordering from them again.

I live in Tulsa, Ok and Sooner Plant Farm is about 45mins from Tulsa. I wanted to check out the nursery hopping to plan a Perennial Club Trip to the nursery. What a beautiful nursery and so very clean. The greenhouses were like a painted picture inside and out. The plants were just as pretty and clean also. They are not able to handle a large group as we have but I will be telling everyone in the club that Sooner Plant Farm is an excellent mail order site. They have the perennials you only see in catalogs in one gallon pots, not those little 2inch pot with half dead plants, the pots are full and clean. Sooner is a great mail order company. Sue Howard

Just received 2 Deutzia and a Clethra..........all arrived in great shape and well packaged. An A++++ company!!!!!!!

I'm a first time buyer of larger trees online. Usually the shipping is cost prohibitive. Well, I must say I'm a convert. Yes, I still had to pay for shipping, but the quality from Sooner Plant Farm made it all worth while. The large tree came very well packed with all the leaves intact. Within 5 days of planting, the new growth has been spectacular. The lavender twist redbud is a spectacular focal point of my garden. I have already placed my second order and can't wait for the arrival.

If only every online nursery was this excellent. The website isn't my favorite but this small critique is nothing other than some tweaking on navigation issues and maybe a little more information. The speed of this process with Sooner is phenomenal!!!

I ordered a blackberry online on 28MAR09 and LITERALLY 2 hours later I get an email that my order is preparing to ship. The email says my ship date is 01APR09 and my plant was delivered green and healthy on either the 2nd or the 3rd. It was packaged very, VERY well with lots of foliage that perked right up as soon as I unpacked it and watered it inside a window to ease its transition. I can already see growth and I even forgot to use the free starter fertilizer packet included in the packaging.

I wish I'd have found DG before I ordered from some other sites reviewed far less favorably than Sooner while looking for the blackberries those sites and Lowe's were sold out of.

If by chance, and each day it's looking more likely, that the lower-rated site where I've yet to receive my order (placed 5 days before the Sooner order) and have yet to get an email with a shipping estimate even after calling a week ago - having waited the 2 weeks it takes to "process" any order (listed on the FAQ page I didn't read but was informed of after I called with one week of having an "order received" email and nothing about shipment - tomorrow is 3 weeks - then I will request a refund by Friday if I have nothing in writing about shipment and I'm calling Sooner immediately.

This is a great company. Very helpful. They make sure you are pleased with your order. Will continue my business with them. A+++

I ordered a Wisteria tree from Sooner. When I first investigated the site, they were out of the tree form of Wisteria. I contacted Brian via e-mail, he responded the same day and was able to provide me with a very healthy specimen. The tree arrived when promised and undamaged. They do package their trees very securely even the soil was uninterrupted in a 5 gallon container. I will be ordering form them again. Thanks, Sooner.

I ordered a Shangtung Maple on a Sunday and within the hour I was called to clarify the delivery date. My email questions have also been very quickly responded to. My tree arrived extremely well pkg'd and was a healthy & good-looking tree. This is my first time ordering from Sooner and I have been impressed.

Always nervous to try plants through the mail with a new company but was pleasantly suprised by the quick service, great price, and large beautiful plants! I received a boston ivy and a vitex tree- both of which were selling for double to triple on other sites. Would definitely purchase from them again and would recommend them to anyone looking for nice sized plants at a reasonable price!

I ordered numerous shrubs from Sooner Plant Farm, and their customer service is A-1-I was just advised last week that part of my order is shipping today. I will report back when my shrubs arrive with further feedback. You have to try this company.

I discovered Azalea Autumn Sunset through Dave's Garden and ordered from Sooner's Nursery, who I also found out about through Dave's Garden.

This Azalea is beautiful. Sooners did a fantastic job in shipping safely and they also ship fast! The Azalea is bigger than I imagined and it is filled with blossoms, a nice surprise! It is now planted and has the first 2 blossoms opened.

Sooners has wonderful customer service as well. I just placed a second order from them, so you know I'm happy.

Thank you Sooners Nursery and thank you Dave's Garden.