Comments regarding HostasDirect Inc.

Last year I stumbled upon this website quite by accident. Immediately I loved everything about it. The information was easy to locate, comprehensive, and concise. The prices are unbeatable, and although the plants are small, as was mentioned by another reviewer, in just one year they are much larger. Personally, I would much rather pay HostaDirect's lower prices and be able to afford more plants :) . If I remember correctly, there was a slight problem wth my order, but I contacted the company and Tom, himself, made sure the problem was corrected. The only downside is that the prices were so good that I bought so many hostas and now have no room for any more. Guess I'll just have to move! All in all, I have never had, nor could I imagine having, a better experience and would never hesitate to order from them again.

Hosta Direct is a great company to deal with. Prices are fair, especially for the quality of the plants. Now that they have worked on the website it is fairly easy to use, the pictures and descriptions are very helpful The plants have strong, healthy roots and are true to their description. Customer service is quick to respond and helpful. I highly reccommend them to everyone. My only problem is that I want every one I see and I am running out of planting space!!!

I am in my second year of doing business with HostasDirect and more so Tom Carlson... Mr. Carlson is very hands on with his business and is making sure he provides an excellent product. I continue to be impressed with the healthy plants and more importantly for me the roots of the plants that are substantial. The order I placed last month was going to be delayed and I was contacted promptly regarding the delay (bad MN weather). My order arrived today, couldn't wait to get it open, again was impressed with the care taken with the packaging and the the healthy plants.

I have got to stop magnifying advertised plant sizes in my head! I ordered Tissue Culture plug sized plants from this company, and I had a mental image of quart-sized plants in my head. That's not HostasDirect's fault at all--they state and show quite clearly what size hostas you get for what price. Still, I get surprised every time (and not just with this company) how little my plants are when they arrive. Ah, well--the prices are good, the plants are healthy, and I was planning to grow them up in containers until Fall anyways. Service was pretty good, too. It was a very cold, wet spring in the Midwest by all accounts, and I'd forgotten that, too.

"

Thanks for your order and your positive rating.

Please keep in mind it is only early May and most perennials are not very larger yet. I know in Nevada your climate is different. Your plants will grow well. We have had the worst spring in recorded history in Minnesota. Everything from the ice being out of the lakes to horticulture and agriculture are at least 3 weeks late. Our Tissue Culture plants are grown by some of top growers in the world located primarily in the north.

I looked up your order and know that Spilt Milk and Fantabulous are likely two year old plants.

We do go to great effort to provide pictures and information about our Best Value TC so that people can make informed decisions about what they purchase. We have no desire to mislead anyone. We believe, and thousands of others feel the same, that they would rather enjoy growing the Best Value TC plant and save money instead of purchasing large plants. Plus, TC are disease free - no foliar nematodes, viruses etc because they were checked for diseases before being mass produced. Most have never even touched the ground!

Many of our TC are 1.5 feet tall right now and have a great deal of growth. Our growers and us fertilize through the leaves twice a day.

Thanks again for your business. As always, if you have any questions please write or call me.

Tom Carlson
President - HostasDirect and IDeal Garden Markers

"

I doubt that I could say enough good things about this company.

I ordered a dozen or so hostas from them last summer, and they arrived quickly and were far larger than I had anticipated. Needless to say, I was suprised when I got an email from the President of the company saying that they were actually sending out my order again because the plants they sent were smaller than Hosta Direct standards!

Shortly after I planted, I worried a bit, because the weather turned HOT!! Some of the hostas withered away, but because of their strong root systems, every single one of them bounced back within just a few weeks.

What has impressed me the most about Hostas Direct though is the outstanding service. Every question I've had, has been addressed quickly and VERY courteously, and I've received friendly periodic emails to inform me about company events.

Even if you only place one order...you'll feel like part of the family!

I am a Landscape Designer, and I will definitely be ordering from Hostas Direct in the future!

I purchased a handful of hostas last spring online, based solely on the selection and price. They arrived quickly, intact, and with huge root systems for such tiny plants. (I ordered tissue culture sizes.) One of the types I had ordered was out of stock, which was disappointing, but they sent me a different variety, plus a free one to make up for it. All of the hostas grew well once planted. Later on in the summer, I visited the retail outlet, and met the owner, Tom Carlson, in person. Not only was he friendly, he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about all the varieties he sold. He also insisted we take a tour of his own personal garden at his home, and to let him know if there was any other variety we saw there that we would like.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this company to anyone interested in purchasing hostas: the selection of hostas is unrivaled anywhere, the prices are very reasonable, you can buy larger sizes if you prefer, the shipping is fast, and the service is personal and outstanding. I will definitely be buying more hostas from HostasDirect this spring!

I sincerely hope my experience was just a mistake as other reviews here are favorable and the plants were healthy and shipped rapidly...we'll see.

If you are looking for a company that makes order errors and then does not respond to your inquiries, then this may be the company for you.

As a new (to me) Hosta supplier, I placed a relatively small order for (4) Hosta's from HostasDirect Inc. on June the 19th and was surprised at the speed of packing and delivery as I received my order within four days...that is quick shipping by any standard.

So far, so good...the plants were packed well and healthy so I was quite pleased until I noticed that (1) plant was missing. There was no "backorder" or other notation on my packing slip so I assumed it was just a simple oversight.

I planted the Hosta's I had received and emailed the company on June 22nd requesting the missing plant be shipped.

On June the 28th, after a week with no reponse, I again emailed HostasDirect explaining the order error, that it was my second attempt and requesting that they (again) respond with a plan to address the issue.

Again, no response...

When a company shortchanges me on an order, makes no mention of it and won't reply to me I start thinking "fraud".

I don't have time to make long distance calls or send dozens of emails as some do. It's a simple problem that requires a simple solution. Send the plant (preferably) or send a refund.

My sincere hope is that they at least read this post and do the right thing soon. I also emailed them directly from this DG website to see if that helps. I'll gladly change my rating if someone can convince me that this was a mistake, but I do have to wonder why:

1. The missing Hosta was not noted on the packing slip.

2. No effort (yet) was made to reply to my first email on June 22nd.

3. No effort (yet) was made to reply to my second email on June 28th.

4. It is now July 5th and still no effort (yet) to reply.

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Again, I hope this was a "fluke" and I will post any and all information/emails/replies from HostasDirect if received.

Ray

If you are looking for hard to find hosta varieties at a fair price, then this company if for you. The owner has a large stock of tissue-cultured hostas. I was a bit concerned when I first placed my order since I had not grown hostas propagated by this technique. I was pleasantly surprised. The plants I received were small, but had excellent root systems. Once planted in the garden, they "jumped" out of the ground and developed several new leaves and at least one additional "eye" each. Each plant appears true to it's named variety in every way. This company also does an excellent job with packaging and shipping. One of the hostas I ordered, "Spilt Milk," did suffer a sudden, unexplained death about three weeks after planting. This was my favorite of the order but I did not seek a replacement since I had the plant for three weeks. As an experienced hosta collector, I was quite impressed with the growth rate of the tissue-cultured plants I received from this company.

I am pleased to report i have nothing but good things to say about this company. My plants were shipped promptly and the order was accurate. Tom the owner has been very nice even offering me some ideas on arranging my plants over the phone. After a month I had a couple plants that were not doing well, mind you this was probably more related to too much fertilizer I added to the soil, Tom sent me replacement plants without hesitation. How can you do any better then this? I would STRONGLY recommend purchasing your hostas from HostasDirect, the prices are reasonable, and you can't beat the selection of plants to choose from. Plus the selection of dwarf hostas something more difficult to find was impressive. Would do business again in the future without hesitation...
Bill

I placed a large order with this company this year. I was disapointed in the size of the plants. They were very small and have been very slow to get established. Their selection is great and Tom Carlson seems to be a really nice guy to work with, but they should offer bigger plants.

"

It is very important to note the following in response to a posting by gardenbrad:

1) This order was placed around April 15. Our tissue culture suppliers are located in the north. Some do not even start shipping certain plants that early. As with all plants coming out of the ground April and early Maym it is early in the season. We are careful with the amount of fertilizer we apply so our customers do not receive a stemmy or sick plant - just for the illusion of being big or mature.

2) Our web site has a 33 slide Power Point presentation on our home page that graphically and literally illustrates what we sell. Those maturities and sizes of hostas are:

Best Value TC - or tissue culture
3" pots
Divisions from mature hostas (that are not out of the ground in Minnesota in late April.

I wrote to gardenbrad via e mail many times to see if he had viewed our presentation and got no response.

3) Most perennials, such as hostas, take some time to get established. The rule of thumb is "the first year they sleep, the second year the creep, and the third year they leap." I feel his expectations are off base if he feels a hosta should get established and more in such a short time. In fact, I am not really sure what he means by "established." That means different things to different people.

4) A hosta's growth rate is only partly established by how fast it forms new leaves. The hosta registrar and hosta experts would rate growth rates on how many new shoots, eyes or divisions a hosta creates each year. Those are formed from "bud eyes" the previous year Some hostas may only create one shoot, no matter who grows it, others might create 10. It depends upon the genetics of the cultivar, and how the gardener has planted the hosta. I do not know where he planted these.

5) As far as offering bigger plants, we do offer bigger plants! And, we have made it very clear what maturities and sizes of hostas we offer on our web site. Many of the hosta varieties show tissue culture samples. Keep in mind plants are a moving target, they keep growing. We try to take representative pictures but ........... they look different in May then they do in August, etc.

I will say the positive of this posting is that we have added a check box at order check out making sure people view our presentation.

Tom Carlson is a nice guy and I have a life long reputation of integrity and fair dealings. At times we can make a mistake but we try to correct it immediately and make up for it. The hardest thing in business, in particular a plant business, is forecasting. It is hard to know what will sell, how much staff a company needs, etc. May and June nuts times for us.

Again, the time of year, where and how you plant your plants, care of your plants, the plant's growth rate in terms of shoots per year, and even where the hosta is in its individual growth cycle can all make a difference in plant size. I am not going to resort to what others might do - pour a bunch of extra fertilizer on to make a hosta stemmy. We try to provide detailed information so that prospects can learn about the cultivar before purchasing. I can't help it if people don't want to take time to read the detailed informatoin and photos we have painstakingly provided with hundreds of hours of labor.

If you have other questions, you can always e mail me or call me.

Sincerely,

Tom Carlson - President - Owner - HostasDirect"

Having seen an ad for HostasDirect end of season close-out sale, I had to go and check it out! I was very glad that I did. I had a my list in hand and got all but a few on it. All of the plants I purchased were the healthiest T.C.'s that I have seen. Some were 2 or more eyes. I also picked up a large order for a friend and mailed them out to PA. She was also excited about her plants.
I also met owner Tom Carlson while there. Very friendly and was nice to chat with. I hope to meet up with him again.
I hope that he keeps this business open for years to come!!!
chevy