Comments regarding Gilbert H. Wild and Son

I ordered 7 peonies from GH Wild last fall and when they arrived, I was VERY happy! The peony tubers were HUGE with 4-5 eyes on each one. One of the plants I ordered, peony 'Early Scout' has over 10 buds and its only a first year plant! This was my first time ordering from them and I was so happy, that I ordered some daylilies. These arrived and were also in great condition. I am very happy with this company and would definitely re-order from them, and recommend them to anyone.

Today I recieved my order from Gilberth Wild. I ordered the 25 Hosta Handful for $35 plus shipping. I'm pleased with the hostas, I was scared after getting a horrible order from Michigan Bulb this week..that all mail order companies would be the same. The Hostas are large, they are shipped bare root, and the roots must be 6 or more inches long. Some had a couple shoots coming out of the crown, but I also had some large ones with 5 or more. Also was sent over 25 (maybe because a few were really small) They are packaged in a large plastic bag with saw dust, and were dry...but I have them soaking in water now. I'm sure they ware going to be healthy plants! They also included a few free bareroot daylilys with my order :-)

I took advantage of the very low prices for special large bags of unmarked hostas and daylilies. I certainly didn't expect the large size and outstanding quality at these bargain prices. Delivered securely and on time, I planted them after a few days - there were so many I needed to block out a lot of time. The daylilies greened up and the hostas sprouted within two days. A week later and the hostas are already unfolding. Results are as good as or better than any I've planted before - and there have been many. (I always water in with Maxicrop Soluble Seaweed Powder 1-0-4, and that might have something to do with how quickly they develop.) These are not cheap or undesirable varieties that I can see. This is a terrific company, and if they keep their prices low they should have many more loyal customers like me.

I've ordered 50 daylily "bulbs" on three occasions from this company and was very pleased. The daylilies arrived promptly, packed in shredded newspaper. The last order, received in hot weather, was dried out somewhat, but I immersed the plants in water and they perked right up. The plants were big enough that they could actually be divided into 3 plants and surprised me by blooming the first season. I have been pleased with the low prices and as I go through other company's catalogs and see prices many times those of GHW, I wonder why anyone would pay such high prices. I will definitely do business with them again.

I have ordered a couple of times and report satisfaction in regards to shipping, quality, and service. The last time I placed an order I errored and emailed them, they responded quickly and rectified the problem.

Once again a wonderful experience with this company. I received my order on the date it was expected, they were packed very well, I received everything I ordered and the bulbs were in great shape and a good size. I love this company.
Thanks!

I have been ordering from them for MANY years--the plants that I recieved from them were always nice and always thrived. The only problem I've had with them was that the daylilys were not always true to name and until last year, I always had friendly service when I called. Last year however the person on the phone was pretty "snippy" but they did give me credit on my account, but as others have said--then this causes you to have to spend again on shipping for something that wasn't your fault. I don't feel it's fair for me to have to pay shipping again either for their mistakes...for the 8 or more years I've ordered from them, I've gotten about 4 plants not true to name and have had to pay shipping for replacements on all of them. It would be nice if they could resolve this problem. Otherwise, as far as my plants go, I've always recieved very nice daylily plants and all of them thrived nicely. Mine were always well marked and well packaged.

I just placed my second big order from Gilbert H WIld, like many of the folks here I am also a huge fan of the Oakes company but I cannot afford to use them for all of my orders!!

I bought the big collection from Wilds last year and all of them have come back up this year 2 or 3 times as big as last year. They didn't all bloom last year but when you plant in the summer in Texas you can't expect too much especially when buying the dormant varieties!!! However, all of the daylilies are up in mounds this year! I am purchasing all evergreen or semi-evergreen this year.

Also I am purchasing irises for a second time, the irises I bought last year are also doing well this year. I am buying the rebloom collection this year.

Lilies are also up from last years purchase, asiatic, hybrids and oriental. I am also very happy with those purchases.

For right at $200 I am putting plants in my gardens that would have cost me $1000 elsewhere. I haven't dealt with their controversial customer service yet but I will recommend their company based on the product offered!

For three years I have purchased peonies from this company and have been more than satisfied. Everything arrived packed well with labels attached. The results have also surprised me. I really didn't expect anything the first year but all had at least one bloom. Last year...more blooms. This year should be fantastic. A friend sent me the catalog - he has an entire bed full of Wild peonies and in May it is absolutely spectacular.

I just received my first order from Gilbert H. Wild & Son. I was delighted to see double and triple fans on the daylillies, suitable for splitting when I plant. The company also honored sale prices that I was unaware of, reducing my estimated bill by several dollars. My order was complete, timely and the quality of the plants surpassed my expectations. The only remaining question will be to see in a few months if the plants produce the blossoms as advertised and I have received what I purchased. If so, I will certainly order from them again.

I have ordered over a hundred daylilies from Wildes during the past five years. Upon receiving the roots, I unpack immediately and soak over night in a miracle grow solution. Then plant in well draining,enriched soil. They usually bloom the first year . I am very satisfied and their prices are unbeatable!

I ordered some Peonies from this company this fall. They were packaged well, and all were decent sized root divisions that looked very healthy. They were shipped very promptly and I was quite pleased with my order. However, I would not order daylilies from them. I received one as a bonus plant, and I would have to agree 100% with the negative comments on the daylily plants, it was the most pathetic plant I've ever received and I promptly dumped it. It might have made it since daylilies are so tough, but it looked bad enough that I didn't even want to try. I think this is a excellent company to purchase peonies from, but I will definately stay far away from their daylilies regardless of how cheap they are.

I received my order of eight different peonies last week, about a week after they sent an e-mail saying they were shipping. The crowns were very healthy looking and the smallest (still a good size) had four or five eyes. They were packed in damp sawdust. I'm pleased with the order.

I can honestly say this is the absolute worse customer service dept. I have ever dealt with in my entire life
{58 yrs}. After having read the reviews on Daves, I attempted to cancel my order-it wasn't scheduled to ship for at least 2 weeks. My e-mail wasn't returned until after they decided to ship early and charge my account. Surprise,surprise! Okay, I had to give them a try-after all, the prices were great and there is a 20% restocking fee. When I got my order, I was happy it wasn't as bad as I had perceived it to be. Sure the daylilies were small, but it's what I paid for. The problem was with 2 of the plants--out of a total of 34. I promptly called and asked to have replacements sent. I was told I had to again pay postage.I felt this wasn't fair since I didn't ship plants without roots--they did.Besides, the postage was almost the cost of the plants.At this point I was told that they couldn't be sure the plants wouldn't grow, or were as bad as I claimed. I proceeded to explain that daylilies with nothing but shells of previous roots [hollow tubes] wouldn't grow from my experience. At this point, I was again accused of trying to get free merchandise. Besides, they said, they have to pay to dig and send-so I should at least cover the shipping. At this point I was starting to get upset. They sent the bad plants-it became a matter of principle. I said I may not buy again and she said they didn't care nor want my business. I told them that I was going to post this and was told they were sick of hearing about this site. Most of their customers are very happy apparently and just a few of us at Dave's want to make trouble. I will never place an order or recommend this site on the customer service dept. alone.P.S. I spoke to 2 different people. I now have credit on an account that will never be used[they won't refund my charge].

I placed a wholesale order withis company last year. What I recieved were very small plants, but really what did I expect for such good prices. My problem started when Love Those Eyes bloomed last year, it was orange [supposed to be yellow with a garnet eyezone]. After two emails they sent me replacements. No problem, everyone makes mistakes. Last year none of the other plants bloomed, like I said they were small, no problem.
I own a daylily business, and I do my best to keep plants well labeled so that everyone gets what they want without needing to see them bloom. So needless to say I was quite upset when one of my customers came back to me and said that the two previously unbloomed Always Afternoons that she purchased from me were yellow [supposed to be lavender with a darker eyezone]. So then obviously I had to replace the plants with others.
Lo and behold the Love Those Eyes that was sent to me as a replacement was that same darned orange that they sent me last year!
The Chorus Lines were a mix of two different plants.
I have emailed customer service 3 times, without any satisfaction, twice I got no response. Finally I called and a not so friendly "customer service person" informed me that they had credited me 13.00 [where they got this number, I have no clue since the plants that were mislabeld cost far more thann that] for all of the above plants to my Wilds account. I had thought that it was going to be taken off my credit card, wrong! If you want your money back, you need to return the plants, and given the cost of shipping for plants that have recovered and have been in the ground for a year! Lord knows what that would come to.
I was informed by the customer service rep. that they send out 1000's of orders and could not see how it was possible that I had so many problems, especially, getting the same wrong plant twice. I think reading the above letters indicates that I am not alone. I have asked them to remove me from their mailing list. Kathy Truong

Summer has arrived, but I cannot say the same for all of the plants I ordered last fall from Gilbert H. Wild & Sons! Last year, we received a mailing circular from this company advertising a sale on hostas and peonies for fall shipping. At that time, extensive exterior work was being done on our home and we would not have anywhere to plant anything until the project was completed in early or mid-October. Then, we would be in need of extensive landscaping. So, this was a perfect situation - "gardening marriage made in heaven." A subsequent mailing circular offered a sale on daylilies We then contacted the company and asked if we could add this order to our previous purchase and save on the shipping charges. We were advised that this could be done, so we sent a second check to cover the price of the plants.
Thus, we were amazed when the daylilies arrived early and under separate mailing. They were poorly packadge and were piled one on top of the other. Even some of the labels had fallen off. Most were small and dry. The "bonus plant" was found at the very bottom of the box and in even worse condition than the others.
When we contacted the company and brought the premature mailing to their attention, we were informed that they "were not aware of our request." Furthermore, when we reminded them that we had nowhere to plant them until the contractors were finished with their work, we were told to "plant them in pots until we were able to put them in the ground." We checked ALL of the local garden centers for the proper pots. But we found, much to our dismay, that it was too late in the season, so the only pots available were those for indoor plants - without bottom drainage.
The remainder of the order arrived for planting in the newly-available perennial border. But once again, we felt that the packaging left a great deal to be desired. The hostas were mushy and some of the peonies moldy. The results this spring were predictable. None of the daylilies survived and
several of the hostas and four of peonies. To add insult to injury, when the second order arrived we were informed that we still owed for the second shipping charges! We sent this communique to the company and were told that we had not notified them within the prescribed time period and shipped back the plants in question for reembirsement - something that would have been hard to do when the ground freezes over in late November or early December in New England. We came across their advertisement in 'Horticulture' magazine and these were our first online purchases, so we had no way of knowing what to expect.
Then we came across "Dave's Watchdog" and found, much to our dismay, that a number of other customers had similar, unpleasant experiences after ordering from this company. Some of the negative/neutral comments certainly struck a familiar cord. We are sending this transmission despite a not-so-surprising e-mail from "Customer Service" which stated that "we cannot please every customer. Anytime a customer is unahppy they must feel better by bad mouthing us on Garden Watch Dog":
"Customer service does not come across as very friendly" [We concur]
"The plants were all very dry and in some cases moldy. I asked for a refund, but was told to plant them and contact them [the company] in the spring."
"The prices were very good [almost too cheap], but considering the extremely high mortality rate, it was a waste of money."
"Every single one [plant] looked terrible!"
"The rep was defensive and unapologetic. She convinced me to plant them first, and pursue a refund only if they don't do well. Of the 18 I ordered, I received only 17, 9 rotted in the ground almost immediately, 2 more over time, and the rest have survived, but are weak. I cannot help but suspect that these were end of the season carry over and were sitting in a warehouse wasting time."
""All 80 [daylilies] arrived packed on top of each other (no separations of any kind, leaf against leaf) in a single box. All had some degree of mold on the root system, many severe. A few were hopelessly mush. Few survived."
"My order arrived today and was packed poorly. The daylilies were almost smashed and the hosta looked like a chopped string mop. Having shipped hostas myself, I find the one I received unacceptable."
"The woman I spoke to in customer service was a bit snippy, as if I was out-of-line for inquirying" [Sounds like she is the same one who replied to our e-mail!]
"The daylililies I eventually received were dry, compared to those I've gotten from other mail-order sources. A few fans were average-sized, but many were quite small."
"Ordering from this company rests with the discretion of the buyer."
I read with interest a comment by Mr. Jones from Gilbert W. Wild & Sons posted on "Dave's Watchdog," nevertheless, it was surprising to see a representative trying to justify a 78% rating [Did he mean he was satisfied with a 22% negative rating?]. Wouldn't it have been better if he accepted this imput as constructive criticism and indicated that there is always room for self-evaluation. Shouldn't a reputable company attempt to address complaints they have received, not turn a deaf ear and ignore them? If we had not read the accounts on this website, we would have probably blamed ourselves for the failure of the plants and never questioned the company's responsibility. I wonder how many other inexperienced gardeners had losses through no fault of their own that they never reported?
We have moved on and simply decided to take the advice of one of the negative responders who stated, "Ordering from this company rests with the discretion." So we have chalked this up to experience and vowed to be more careful in entering into any future transactions. It took a while before we ventured into a mail-order purchase of plants. We are pleased to report that we had no such problems with our plant purchase from Bluestone Perennials, another listing on your site. Finally, we noticed that there have not been as many negative/neutral comments on George W. Wild & Sons, so maybe they are trying to address some of these problems.

Les & Jill Taylor

After reading some of the postings for Wild's, I ordered day lilies for my mother from another company (Oakes) with a better customer rating. The prices at Wilds were so good, though, that I ordered plants for myself from them. My order from Wild arrived with ok size and mostly ok condition (and with a bonus plant). Two of the plants had rotting crowns. I called and a very pleasant customer service rep offered me my choice of money back or replacement plants. I received large and healthy replacement plants within a couple of weeks - with another bonus plant. All in all, a pleasant and positive experience. Yes, the plants from Oakes were larger and fresher, but considering how CHEAP Wild's plants were, I'm more than satisfied with them. I just got another sale catalog and think I'll try a couple of peonies.

I came across this website after ordering G.H. Wild and wasn't sure what to expect after reading some of the posted comments. My order arrived without any problems and all plants are doing well. I would order from them again.

This Spring I ordered 28 daylilies from their sale flyer. The prices were too good to resist. The plants arrived layered in a cardboard box with wet shredded paper. All of the plants were labeled. As their permanent home is not ready yet, all were put into pots. Three of them (the costliest) were very tiny but all of the rest were really large with multiple fans. I expect that all will do well - even the tiny ones. I will order from them again.

We placed 2 orders with them this spring, over a hundred daylilies. You won't get the largest fans from them, but for what they charge, you can't beat them. Most places get you in the end with extreme shipping charges or "extra" charges per fan... Wild has the best shipping cost I've found so far. One order was for 52 daylilies and the shipping was only $5.95.

I just received my order of 8 daylilies yesterday and planted them all. They look large and healthy. I’m very happy with my order. The prices can't be beaten. Will definitely order from them again.

I have a second order that is coming in a couple days.
There are a coupld daylilies and the rest perennials. I’m a bit concerned because of some of the neg. posts regarding perennials.

Cross my fingers.

I ordered peonies and various perennials from them fall of 2004. My experience was very mixed and difficult to give a positive or negative rating for that reason.

Customer service does not come accross as very friendly. I asked several times about when my order would ship only to be told a new date which came and went every time. Finally my order arrived very late in the fall, later than I would usually plant perennials in my area.

The peonies were very large and healthy, budding nicely and very fresh. I planted them and they have all grown well this spring. Most are already flowering first year. Very happy.

The perennials were all very dry and in some cases moldy. I asked for a refund for the moldy perennial but was told to plant it and contact them in spring. Out of several perennials, two have survived. This is very disappointing to say the least, but I suspected as much due to late shipping date (establishment) and the very poor quality of the perennials.

The prices for the perennials (shasta daisy, black eyed susan, tick seed, etc) were very good (almost too cheap) but considering the extremely high motality rate, it was really a waste of money. Look elsewhere for this stuff.

Do buy your peonies at Gilbert Wild. You will be happy with those.

This is my second season ordering daylilies from Gilbert H. Wild. Last year's daylilies are already growing like mad, and I've just planted 35 new ones. I'll have to wait and see what happens with the 2005 crop before commenting on their health/viability. (In 2004, one was D.O.A.).

The *slight* problem I had with WILD this year is that I had paid by check over 5 weeks earlier and I'd received nothing. I sent an email about my check being cashed 5 weeks earlier yet no daylilies being sent. My email was answered promptly and the daylilies were shipped pronto.

I'll definitely be back to comment on my 2005 daylilies if there is anything negative to report. Right now, I'm giving a "Thumbs Up".

I give them an A+ I got big beautiful fans some where over three fans per daylily and I would recommend this company to anybody.
They even sent a bonus eventhough I did not make the minimum requierement to recieve one. I ordered on 4/2/2005 and recieved order on 4/14/2005. I plan to order more from them in the future.

I have purchased Peonies from Wild for 20 years (they were my first experience with mail order). In '96 I moved to a new home with about an acre of land and began ordering day lilies & iris. I have never had a problem with any order. After I relocated, I was able to return to my old house and divide some of the Peonies and transplant to the new house. It was late in the season and the beds were not fully prepared, so I planted everything in large pots, buried the pots and in the Spring transplanted everything to the new beds. I didn't lose one.

I continue to divide the day lilies & irises to plant in new beds or to share with other "gardeners" and all plants in my own garden continue to thrive. I recommend Gilbert Wild & Son to anyone interested in Peonies, etc.

I am satisfied with the order of Asiatic & Oriental lilies I received today. The size is as stated (12-14cm) and except for 1 bulb which had a couple of rotten scales, the remainder seem to be fine. They bulbs averaged out to be $1.45 each, including shipping. Much to my surprise, they included a double fan of daylily Cold Harbor as a bonus, my order was only $26.10 with shipping. They also shipped my order during the time that I asked for it to be shipped, did not charge my credit card until the date of shipment and emailed me with the UPS tracking number.

I have ordered daylilies and iris many times from this company. Most have been from the sales catalog for $2-3 each. All of my orders have been accurately filled, shipped at the correct time, and the tubers were plump and fresh for the most part, but a few looked a bit dry and some had a little mold. Well, you put them in a bowl of water for a couple of hours and slam them into the ground. I have paid other companies $15 for a single tuber in the past, and it didn't look any better!

I have noticed on some posts that people put tubers in the ground that "died immediately." Well, I don't usually see any signs of life until the following spring. And if they don't put on a big show the first year, they will the second year.

I probably have 50 different daylilies and 2 dozen iris varieties in my yard. My sister has lots of their hostas and daylilies as well. All are extremely vigorous. I recommend Wild and Son all the time!

I ordered the handful of hostas from them last year and was very pleased.
I just recieved a flier about the 120th Anniversary sale on day lilies.The prices are fantastic but I did not want to order until I read the feedback posted on Garden Watchdog.Now I will place a large order.

I'm surprised at the negative feedback posted. I've only ordered once from GH Wild and had a good result. Their Hosta by the handfuls was an excellent price and I actually received more plants than were advertised. All 29 of them did great their first season. No complaints here.

Over the past 25 years, I have purchased a total of 102 varities of daylilies from Gilbert H.Wild and Son and have been extremely pleased with each order. My first order was a retail order and the rest were wholesale and I started my own small nursery (North Hills Nursery) with these daylilies. I no longer operate the nursery as started but now because of my age I specialize in only one plant category (Sempervivums-aka, hens and chicks). I spotted their nursery here on Dave's and wanted to tell of the outstanding service I had received from them over the years. Daylilies are the supreme perennial because they are so easy to grow. Place an order with them and you will be completly satisfied.

Although my experience with GHW & Son occurred over a year ago, I feel compelled to write comments in the hope that others may be saved from the same experience. Here's my story:

I received a GHW & Son special catalog in the mail, listing daylilies at bargain prices (most varieties under $3.00). I live in So. Cal, so although peak season for planting daylilies had passed, it wasn't a concern. I spent about $60.00 for plants/shipping. I received the plants quickly but to my dismay, every single one looked terrible! They were small and shriveled and all but two (out of about 17) had mold and/or rot. They also sent me one less plant than I ordered.

I called GHW & Son immediately. The rep. was defensive and unapologetic. She tried to convince me that plants often times look shriveled and moldy because of shipping, and that I should simply wash off the mold and plant them. "They should do fine" she said. Although the rep offered me a full refund, she encouraged me to plant them first and pursue a refund only if they don't do well. Against my better judgement (and only because I have two small children and a trip to the post office is difficult) I decided to plant them first.

Of the 18 plants I ordered, I received 17, planted 17, 9 rotted in the ground almost immediately, 2 more rotted over time, and the rest have survived but are weak. I cannot help but suspect that these plants were end of season carry overs and were sitting in a warehouse wasting away...prompting a bargain price catalog to be mailed out to "saps" like myself. Lesson learned!

have bought day lilies from them for last years never got any misnamed or have any problems with them A+

I ordered about 80 daylilies from a pre-season sales flyer. The prices were incredible, but all 80 daylilies arrived packed on top of each other (no seperators of any kind, leaf against leaf) in a single box. All had some degree of mold on the root system, many severe. A few were hopelessly mushy. I did not contact the company, just didn't have the time to deal with returns. Few survived.

I gave them a 2nd chance and placed another order in late summer. I added a comment to the order indicating my experience with the 1st order and requesting more careful packing of my next order. The 2nd order did arrive in much better condition, but (with 1 noteable exception) was still a poor comparison to similiar items ordered elsewhere.
Most of the asiatic and oriental lilies had significant mold and rot, such that I had to cut away infected parts of bulbs some of which will likely die.

Now for the exception. Imagine my surprise when the peonies arrived! Peonies appear to be the one thing they do VERY well. The peonies were robust and healthy and HUGE. They were easily the most impressive peonies that I have ever received from any of the numerous vendors with which I do business.

In the future I will likely get my lilies elsewhere, but Wild WILL be my 1st stop for peonies!

I received a beautiful catalog from this company and thought their prices were great. Then I checked the Watchdog and was so disappointed to see that they had a poor rating. I wrote the company just to let them know of my disappointment. Here is the response I received from the owner:
"It is quite surprising to me that 5-6 people from the last 3 years can work so hard to destroy the reputation of a Company who has been growing quality plants for 120 years. We offer a complete money back guarantee, what's to lose? If you get the plant and don't like them just send them back! You money will be refunded. What you are not seeing is the 38000+ customers who were completely satisfied and order year after year. Greg Jones Owner."

I ordered three peonies from Wild this fall. They were carefully shipped and arrived in wonderful shape. All three peonies had at least 6 eyes. Their prices and shipping cost were very reasonable. I have ordered peonies from this company for many years and have never been disappointed.

Took advantage of their hobbist sale this year and got very nice plants. They have been in the ground about a month and already look like some of the other plants that are about 3-4 months old. I plan to shop with this company again. The prices were excellent, we ordered lots and lotes of dayliles and paid half price that is great.

this was the first time i dealt with this company, I ordered 100 hostas for $100.00, I ended up with 127 and they are doing quite well, i will probably do it again next year.

This was my second order from Wilds. Last year I ordered my first daylilies from them. This year I ordered from other places as well, so I now have a basis for comparison.

My credit card was charged a full two weeks before my order was shipped (this was NOT pre-season; order was placed in mid-May). When I saw the charge on my statement I called to find out if the order had been shipped yet (it hadn't - hadn't even been dug yet). The woman I spoke to in customer service was a bit snippy as if I was out-of-line for inquiring.

The daylily fans I eventually received were dry compared to those I've gotten from other mail-order sources. A few fans were average-sized, but many were quite small. However, they were cheap because I was purchasing from the half-price hobbyist sale, and daylilies have a strong will to live, so I think most of the plants will make it.

In short, I would not pay full price for Wild's daylilies. If I needed quite a few older varieties I might be willing to purchase again from their half-price hobbyist sale (which requires a $50 minimum purchase) or from their end-of-season sale, but not from their pre-season sale.

I ordered from this company 3 times. The first order was daylilies, and they were smaller than other companies that I ordered from. The second order was for iris and peonies, and they were very nice, although shipped in late September (ordered in July), which was late for many of the iris to get established in my zone, and many of them didn't make it through the winter. I would order iris from them again, but only on the condition that they ship in August. My last order was for daylilies again. I couldn't pass up the price on a particular variety that is about 3 times as expensive elsewhere. I ordered 9 of them, expecting them to be tiny, but to my surprise they were quadruple the size of the daylilies that I had ordered before! I was very, very pleased, and expect that I will have many blooms from them this summer. Overall, I would recommend them, but I would request early ship dates.