Comments regarding Brian's Botanicals

My experience was super-positive. I bought one Thaumatophyllum corcovadense and one Thaumatophyllum 'Evansii' x speciosum. Updates were timely, and tracking via UPS seamless. Both plants are much larger and healthier than I had expected. I'll get photos, but, damn, these are some nice plants! Thank you, Brian!

Unfortunately one of the plants I ordered from BB arrived looking sickly and I immediately contacted the company and sent photos. I asked for advice on the best steps to save the plant. No advice was given, and I sent another set of pictures 3 days later in which the plant looked even worse. I said I would seek reimbursement or a replacement if the plant didn't survive.
BB now tells me they only guarantee a plant five days after delivery. So if the plant dies six days later, you are out whatever money you spent. I feel I was sent a weakened plant that struggled despite my best efforts. I researched a great deal in an effort to help this plant live. My guess is that they grow some wonderful plants, but do not accept that not all plants will survive shipment, despite their best efforts.

I understand things have been quite chaotic for many mail orders since March and that many fellow gardeners have been receiving poorer than usual plants or lack of customer service for issues. I pray in time things will be resolved and that next year all of us will have much better, happier experiences to report. With that said, I would like to share my recent order experience with Brian's Botanicals. This is my second year ordering from Brian's, and as someone who has been gardening for over 40 years, I've been very impressed with the quality and selection of the plants I was sent. I was one of the lucky ones who did receive order confirmation and shipping email notifications on both my orders as well as tracking information. Last year I ordered a Lemon Punch and Flirtini canna. This year I ordered much later in the season than I usually would and purchased a Cleopatra canna. On both occasions, I received my orders in a timely manner with no shipping issues. Plants were packed perfectly. No damages, not even a bent leaf. Plants were well secured with tape inside the box along with wet newspaper on top of the soil to keep it moist while in transit. Soil was perfectly contained in its pot and still moist upon receiving. All plants have been extremely healthy, with heavy root formation and no signs of the dreaded canna virus nor pest issues. The Lemon Punch and Flirtini cannas were lovely specimens and once planted in my yard took off immediately. The Cleopatra canna Brian's sent me 3 weeks ago was a wonderful surprise: when I opened the box, I was greeted by a 3 foot tall plant with buds already starting (((thank you Brian's)))! Talk about hitting the jackpot if you're a canna aficionado like myself! The only other time I have ever received a "biggun" like that, was from Karchesky Canna (another excellent canna grower). At this writing, Cleopatra has already bloomed three times and I was blessed that the plant BB sent me has the coveted red and yellow bicolor blooms - but also has sent up 2 new canna sprouts which are each different from one another in their chimera variegation, making for quite the sight among all the rest of the tropicals planted in my front yard. Since I have only ordered cannas from BB's, I cannot comment about any of the other plants for sale on the site. My experiences thus far with Brian's Botanicals have been positive and I am looking forward to ordering from them next spring. Will update this review if necessary. In the meantime, If you are looking for cannas, I highly recommend Brian's.

I saw one of the plants I bought from another company that was from Brian's botanicals that he personally bred. I had a good experience with the actual plants from this other company so I figured I would just cut out the middle man and go straight to the plant creator himself. I bought another teacup colocasia (mine was the green form from the other site) that was a dark plum color and the tiny dancers. I like to look through the reviews and count on those 90% before a purchase esp when they're recent. I did email him twice and within 2 days I got an email back in 48 hrs when I asked about how big the plant itself would be as opposed to the pot it was grown in. I emailed again about shipping days later because it was radio silence...my money was taken immediately of course. I am big on customer service and how much a Company devotes to their online stores and social media when trying to advertise. The site is "meh" but they have a brick and mortar store that does a lot of business so I took that into account. I also always pay on line with pay pal so if something happens I have PayPal on my side. The plants just Suddenly showed up one day after about 2 weeks of me checking for shipping. I found the e-mail the same day the plants came. They were packaged great and the size of the tea party plant was enormous compared to what he originally told me it would be in the only E mail I received. The root systems were hardy, healthy, and very well established. Both plants have been growing beautifully. I'm just going to chalk up the lack of email response to the fact that running both the store, website, landscaping gigs, and breeding plants is a huge undertaking.

So, after this Long winded response which I am sorry about lol, I would definitely order again and actually and doing so today. The lack of customer service really does stink in addition to the shipping details taking forever, but I have had issues with very well known and reputable companies in this area the last month too.

I have the same bad experience as the previous buyers. I rarely write reviews and luckily I have had great experience with other plant online sellers but not with Brian's Botanicals. I ordered 2 alocacias ( a Frydek alocasia, a Stingray alocasia and a carnivorus plant). Pre-ordered when they just became available on his website but did not get what I ordered. Although he refunded one of the items prior to sending the remaining of the order (which he did not communicated prior to sending the order) and received a very common water plant weed instead of a Stingray alocasia. The carnivorous plant was in such bad condition that did not reflect what was described on the website. He mentioned that he sent the refund for the incorrect item but was never received through Paypal. There is no Customer Service and as the previous buyers described, don't expect to get quality plants, if at all what you ordered. Would not recommend them.

Posted on July 16, 2019, updated July 18, 2019
I purchased 3 Thai Giant Colocasia @12.99 ea.
They arrived some what parched. 2 began to show signs of new growth 1 didn’t. I removed it from the pot it arrived in to find a nugget between the size of a quarter and a nickel.
I was shocked anyone would sell that .. 1 root not established. I contacted the company twice sent pic’s and have not received anything from them. Very Dissatisfied with their Customer Service and plants and would not recommend.

I ordered a Philodendron Hammerhead Gold from this nursery. What came in the mail was a fresh cutting with long, broken aerial roots stuffed in a pot with soggy soil. It seems like someone was in a rush to get orders out and didn't take the time to carefully pack the aerial roots during the potting process. Two of the four leaves were half cut off and already browned. The cutting is now being propagated in a water. I would have been happier if this came as a cutting with all aerial roots remained intact for faster propagation. Won't order from them again.

Posted on June 12, 2017, updated June 22, 2017
I have ordered plants twice from Brain Williams. The first time (2015) the transaction went well. The plants shipped within one week and the plants were large for the price paid.

The second order occurred on April 17, 2017. Brian charged my account immediately even though the plants did not ship until May 9th. I also never received a emailed list of the plants that I ordered or a estimated time that the plants would ship. The plants finally arrived on May 11th. All of the plants looked good except the Tetrapanax Papyrifer steroidal giant. It only had one leaf that was wilted. I immediately planted it. The one leaf died and the plant began a slow death spiral. On June 5th the plant was officially dead.

I emailed Brian about the problem and never received a response. I guess this experience will end up costing me $27.99 plus shipping. It appears that service after the sale is nonexistent.

contacted brian via email to get a feel for him and his buisiness asking for pictures of his nursuery, plants ready for shipping and green houses. i got a responce in about 48 hrs with pictures i requested. i got a good feeling from his reply and pictures that he cares about what he does to share it with other people. i ordered 4 breeds of colocasia gigante through his website and silly me ordered on a tuesday and his site clearly states he ships on tuesday and if you order on a tuesday this time of year your order will ship the following tuesday. the following tuesday i recived a tracking number and it was shipped usps and took 2 days and came in good shape for being sent during the summer, all plants were wrapped in paperfrom pot to top to protect them along with the pot having paper taped over the tp to keep the roots moist as long as possable, only 1 plant was looking stressed on delivery. i planted every one of them the same day recived and all look good so far . all seem to be spot on for the breeds i ordered and i say thank you brian and your team for loving what you do and sharing it with us via the internet and usps :o)

I was sorry to see that others have not received good customer service from Brian as a result of his website's order system. This was my first time ordering from his website and I agree that he should update his website order system to let you know that your order was received and to send you a copy of what you ordered (I tend to forget what I've bought since I have multiple orders at a time on occasion). However, after emailing him on April 29th I got a response within 12 hours. I've ordered through his eBay shop a number of times, and his plants are top notch! With eBay, you get all of the order details of the sale. I think he's perhaps used to the eBay system more than his website order system (I'm guessing) because the only initial acknowledgement I received was from PayPal. Again, after I emailed him he did respond promptly. Please don't hesitate ordering from him, communication issues aside, the plants are incredible! Also, go check out his reviews on eBay, his positive ratings are 99.6% with 4,228 reviews. Ben

We have been in the USA for seven years, so ignore the Steve in France bit, it's from when I was growing exotic plants near Paris.
Now . I'm encountering the same problem as a 2014 review. Believed I'd ordered and payed , turns out I have payed and there is no record of what I ordered. I'm now supposed to send a list of what I ordered. This seems to happen so often that Brian's Botanicals has a form email to send out. I've ordered from Brian's botanicals for the last seven years , skipped the last two years. The process in the past was painless. Not anymore !
Paypal as always is the Comcast of internet payments. Amazon payments I never have a problem with.
I now have to spend time making sure I get my money back, 133 dollars . Must add up in lost sales over time.

I've ordered from Brian's a couple of times. The first thing that anyone should know when first ordering from them is they deliver a good product. I've ordered the same plant from another vendor and Brians is always a little better, most notably, better root development than the other vendor. The one thing Brian's is not good at is communication. When placing an order you might not get confirmation except from your PayPal receipt. It might also take them a week or more to ship out. That is not a problem with me as I already expect that with them and know they will send a very good plant at a reasonable price. In short, I would always recommend them, and will be going back for repeat business. Just know that communication will not be up to par, but the product they deliver will more than make up for it.

Posted on June 5, 2014, updated June 5, 2014
Posted on July 13, 2013, updated June 5, 2014
Posted on June 2, 2013, updated July 13, 2013
I just received my first order from Brian's and am very pleased. All of the cannas I received looked strong and healthy. They were wrapped and boxed very well All are leafed out and show absolutely no virus signs. I placed 2 more orders and wish I could buy more.

Posted on May 2, 2014, updated May 4, 2014
Posted on May 2, 2014, updated May 2, 2014
I'm going to start off with a neutral rating in the hopes of changing it to positive in the very near future.

I placed an order through Brian's web site last weekend. I got a paypal confirmation but it doesn't list the individual items that I bought, only the total. I never received any confirmation that showed what I ordered - a standard practice that people expect. I wrote to Brian to ask him about this; I needed a reminder of what I bought because I wanted to avoid duplicating one of the items I *think* I ordered when I go to a semi-local nursery this weekend. I never got any reply.

I also sent Brian a second email asking him a question unrelated to my order and I never got a reply to that.

This morning, about 5 days after I placed my order, I got a paypal refund of my entire order amount WITH NO COMMENTS from Brian to explain why he was making the refund. I sent him an email asking why I got a refund, were all the plants out of stock? No answer so far.

I sell plants through a web site and I personally confirm every order right after paypal alerts me to a payment, thank the customer for their order and tell them when I will ship. I answer all questions, even from people who haven't ordered from me. Communication is as important as quality plants.

This year I ordered a Thai Giant colocasia and Stuttgart canna.
Let me tell you that when I receive the canna I was amazed!! The tuber was so huge that barely fit on my garden spot!!! I am expecting to see a nice tropical corner on my backyard this year.
The Thai giant colocasia are vibrant fast growing plants...I received on Friday,both plants looks fine, after only four days,despite my concens, both plants made a brand new leaf, indicating a really vibrating growth considering that when I received no one plant shown the new leaf formation at day 1.If you grow colocasia before a new leave within a week is a really good sign of healthiness of the plant!!!
I have to say that the ONLY bad side to order on Brian`s Botanical is the late answer on your e-mail...I contacted him a couple of time during my order and before my order...you need to remind him to answer your e-mail otherwise you are going to receive a late answer or not answer...It is sometimes a bit disappointing but the quality of the plant, the time of delivery and quality of shipping is exceptional and counterbalance very well this little defect...

AAA+ rating. If I'm buying anything tropical and Brian has it, that's where I'm getting it from. Last year there was a screw up with an order and Brian had it corrected in a matter of days. Last year my Mekong Giants and Basjoo's arrived about 18" tall and by the end of the summer were anywhere from 10'-14' tall. Not bad for zone 6B. Hopefully I won't kill them over this monster winter. I have a dozen new plants I just order from him and one thing I know, if they die, I will be the murderer. Never got a bad one from him and he's great to deal with.
Tony S.

This was my first time ordering from Brian's and it won't be my last. I ordered 3 different types of elephant ears 6 plants total. They all arrived and were packaged very nice. The paper in the top of the pots was still moist. I unpacked everything and have them in the kitchen window because its supposed to get cold here tonight. These were by far the nicest looking plants I have ever received in the mail. The Thailand Giant's were over 18 inches tall. Everything looked extremely healthy. I have never been so pleased.

Dear Brian,
I placed this order almost a year ago. I have been a gardener for almost 50 years, so I don't tend to give up on plants. I can bring almost anything back to life, take cuttings, etc but I have to tell you that I have been really disappointed with the plants I ordered from you. I have several kinds of Musa in my yard before I ordered yours that do just fine. Yours, not so much. After a year, they are not even 18" tall. The gingers and cannas are the same, sad little things. Not sure what else to say except I will NEvER order from you again because I can't afford to make that expensive a mistake again.

Kathryn Hadley

I found Brain on eBay before reading any reviews on Dave's Garden.

I am really glad I took a chance and ordered from him, while I have bought and sold many items on eBay over the years, ordering plants was new territory.

The packaging was excellent, the shipping very prompt and the plants surpassed my expectations!!!

Shortly after they arrived we repotted them, put them outside and they took off with each new leaf bigger and more interesting!

I would definitely buy from him again. A+

Just received my order of aroids.They are large plants compared to others I purchased from other vendors.Look extremely healthy.Excellent packaging,very fast service.I'll be returning to this grower in the future.Great job Brian.

Saw Brian's Botanicals on EBay. Ordered online. Good size, healthy plants, packaged well. Will order again.

Called Brian and he answered in person! The philodendron he sent me is gorgeous and healthy and packed well in paper. He's rooting two more for me. The order came Fedex and fast, too. Great site and a nice guy. I'll order again.

Great experience with this company. Very professional and quick service. Plants arrive healthy.

Posted on March 10, 2011, updated June 25, 2011
Posted on January 24, 2011, updated March 10, 2011
My order arrived within 2 weeks from the time I ordered...He offered to use a heatpak (my choice) so I could receive my order quickly...The plants arrived JUST fine, as they had to travel from the East Coast to the West Coast...I WILL be ordering from them again...Communications was great...Letting me know when they were shipped would have made this purchase perfect!!

Posted on June 10, 2011, updated June 10, 2011
On May 16th, 2011, 'first-time buyer,' I ordered a Papaya from Brians Botanicals.

When it arrived, I was surprised by its size. It stood 18+" in height, the trunk approximately one-inch diameter..

Roots are full, white and healthy.

His prices are very reasonable, considering size.

Papaya was well-wrapped...Shipping prompt. I'm happy I found Brians' Botanicals. Thanks, Toni

I've made several purchases of colocasias and allocasias from Brian's Botanicals, and I've been extremely happy with all of them. They do a great job of packing plants for shipment, and all are healthy on arrival.

Posted on April 9, 2010, updated May 16, 2010
Posted on August 22, 2009, updated April 9, 2010
First of Im happy with my first order. I ordered a Ensete Maurellii red banana and a Canna Intrigue. I was very happy when I opened the box. Very nice plants. I ordered of of EBay after that I found out Brian is a member Of DG after reading the raitings I did another order before I received my first order. Im proud to say im a new Brians Botanical customer.Keep up the great work. My banana looks like its been there forever.
Thanks
Greg
Fresno,CA zone 9

I have ordered from Brian for a number of years. I find the quality, size and variety of plants available to be quite positive. Shipping has been prompt and the plants all looked great on arrival and have survived and are doing nicely. Brian has also always responded to questions about the plants with knowledgeable expertise. A big positive from me!

I have ordered from Brian for the past two years. His plants are very healthy and ship very fast. I have called him on the phone, and he takes the time to answer your questions. I have nothing but positive things to say about Brian.
Great Job!!!

I purchased the A. Borneo Giant from Brian. Came quick and was very healthy. The plant is doing well, putting out a new leaf about every week 2 times the size of the last one. Although he never did leave me feedback on ebay... When I contacted him on how to care for the Borneo Giant, he quickly responded with his advice. I admired that. Knowledgeable person, does great work for what little help he has.

i order giant strian colocasia, came in today very healthy and boy it came fast to me in the mail, luv prompt service, great selection of rare plants, will recommend, and will order agian soon thanks jimmy2

I started doing business with Brians Botanicals before I was a member of this site. For tropicals and aroids, Brians Botanicals is hands down my favorite online nursery.

Ordered and got a confirmation via PayPal. Sent email and a note in payment to ship to another address. This was confirmed in a return email from Brian.

Plants were shipped to wrong address. Plants were dead. I contacted Brian who acknowledged the mistake and said it must have been one of his "new employees." Brian said he would send replacement plants.

Never received plants, email or phone calls. Followed up via phone and email-nothing. Could not dispute via PayPal, as it was over 45 days. Buyer beware.

ALMOST NEUTRAL. THE THAILAND GIANT COLOCASIA WERE TOO SMALL TO SHIP. ONE ROTTED DURING SHIPMENT AND THE OTHER NINE SOON FOLLOWED. THEY WERE PACKAGED EXCELLENTLY. NO MORE TISSUE CULTURE PLUGS FOR ME.

I ordered 3 different items from BB. 'Siam Red' Musa, and 2 different Colocasia, pink stemmed variety and a variegated/splotched one (can't remember the cultivars at this time.) I placed the order and with in 1 week of placing the order had the three items. I could have ordered the 'Siam Red' Musa from several other sources but chose to order from a fellow DG'er; also BB had the cheapest price for 'Siam Red!'
I feel that DG'ers are a huge "family" and I would rather support/order from other DG'ers than other online nurseries when possible.
The products: GREAT!
The service: Great!
I will be a repeat customer in the future!

I received my banana plant in good condition and in good time.

I ordered some very rare peperomia plants from this company.

I have ordered these from two other companies and both experiences were horrible! One place sent me something else entirely and the other sent me mostly dead plants.

When I ordered from Brian's Botanicals, these peperomia rotundifolia all arrived VERY healthy, big and ready to pot! This was about eight months ago and they are THRIVING still!

Thank you for offering nice, healthy plants we can't find anywhere else!

I've bought several plants from Brian from his ebay auctions. He's always shipped large healthy plants and reasonable priced shippng . I've always been pleased. He's been helpful with all my questions as well.

I was happy with my purchase and will buy plants from Brian's Botanicals again. The plants I purchased were nicely packaged and quickly sent.