Comments regarding Bluestone Perennials

I've been purchasing perennials from Bluestone for over 15 years and have been very happy with their plants. The plants arrive small, but by the end of the growing season have grown tremendously. I recommend Bluestone to anyone interested in mail-order gardening! They stand behind their plants 100 percent. I've gotten quite a few replacements over the last 15+ years and will keep ordering from them. Their plants are FAR better than the stuff you get at the home improvement stores. I've tried some of those "big" plants and am usually sorry I wasted my money. They can be in big pots and have a poor root system. Don't let the size of the plant fool you. Bluestone has a lifetime customer in this gardener!

I've placed 3 orders with Bluestone so far (1 just recently so haven't received the plants yet). Overall I've been very happy with the quality of the plants, but I will not be shopping the 50% off sale in late spring/early summer again--several plants arrived looking sort of ratty and a few ended up dying on me (although at 50% off, I wasn't expecting them to be as nice as the plants I paid full price for earlier and I ended up with at least one survivor out of each 3-pack of plants).

I ordered several perennial plants (helianthus, clematis, tamarix, salvia). All arrived small but in excellent shape. Most of these, including clematis have bloomed their first year.

Company demonstrates commitment to renewable resources by allowing you to ship back packing materials to them. They send a coupon to you for free shipping on future orders for doing so. A win-win for them (you order again); you (shipping coupon worth more than what it cost to mail stuff back); and the environment.

I will order from Bluestone again.

I ordered a whole bunch of perennials from Bluestone back one fall after drooling over the catalog all summer [nobody else in the house was a gardener then]. Then that winter, I was hospitalized for five weeks, half-dead one week, ICU the next, 24 hours to live, blood transfusion, the whole nine terrifying yards. When I made it back home in April, weak as the famous kitten, I found my order from Bluestone had arrived. My horrified family had stored the box upside down; the stuff inside was for the most part withered and useless.

I e-mailed them my situation, or maybe I called, and was told something along the lines of don't you see the this-end-up signs? don't place an order when you're planning a medical emergency! and so on. It can't really have been that insensitive, but if they had said 'oh you poor dear, are you better now? We can't refund your whole order but we CAN send you X, Y and Z instead,' they would have had a customer for life. As it is, now that I have learned how to treat new plants, and my garden is nearly full of lovely plants, I'm ready to look at their catalog again.

At the risk of sounding like a company represenative I have to give Bluestone a glowing report. I have been buying from them from a few years now. I've also bought from local nurseries and other mail order companies. They do not compare well with the plants from Bluestone. I usually have to baby them along or they just up and die. The Bluestone plants, although small, just take off and flourish. I don't know what Bluestone does to make their plants so much better than anybody elses, but they've definetly got the magic! I'm not going to bother buying from other sources anymore...it's a waste of my time and money.

I found this to be one of the best mail order sites. All the plants I ordered and planted this spring lived and prospered, even considering the hot dry summer! I found their prices reasonable and the plants healthy. Their small size did not deter their vigor. I'm ordering from them again this fall.

1 in 3: that's about how many of the plants from this company survived. I don't know if that's to be expected; the prices were relatively low...but I'd rather pay a little more and not be sad when I see what my money went for.

I ordered plants this spring and when they arrived they were one leaf and very fragile. They did not survive. Bluestone was very nice about it and will replace them with what, I hope, are viable plants but why send them in the first place. When I spoke with them they stated they had problems this spring. No one wants to go to the trouble of nursing plants, planting them and then having them not survive but at least they will replace them free of charge.

Ordered from this nursery and the plants arrived in when they were expected. Unfortunately, my mother went into the hospitial the day before they arrived, and I did not have time to plant anything.

The plants sat in the box for almost 2 weeks before I even got to open it. The plants were yellowed and stretching for the sun, a few were dead. I put the living ones in the sun and watered.

My mother's illness presisted so I still had no time to plant. To bluestone's credit, most of the plants survived and are growing, even with all that neglect!

I am truly impressed with the vitality of the plants I ordered considering the circumstances. The plants were small, but obviously very good. I will use bluestone in the future.

I have purchased from Bluestone for a while, and my experience has always been positive, but this year I was really compelled to post a review. This year, my husband accidentally mowed over one of the golden lights azaleas I purchased from Bluestone. Bluestone's plants are small, as many have commented, and we had let the lawn weeds grow too high, so he didn't see it -- so that's the downside of small plants. However...I didn't get around to taking out what was left of it (essentially a stick) right away, and by the time I did revisit it, I was AMAZED to see that it had sprouted leaves again. So yes, the plants are small, "infant" shrubs, and you have to watch out for them at first --but boy are they healthy and strong!

We have also purchased perennials and bulbs from this company for the last three years, with great results.

I've been ordering from Bluestone so long that I just found in a drawer one of their order forms that said "ANNOUNCING a New Way to Buy Perennials". I keep coming back, almost every year, (I guess I'm a perennial customer, lol) because they not only have a wonderful selection, their customer service is unparalleled -- they schedule a shipment for the proper time for your area, but are willing to adjust that schedule at your request. Last year, my order had already been in for weeks, but when I fell in love with another plant, they were happy to add it. On the rare occasion that I've lost a plant, or one arrived in poor condition, they've replaced it cheerfully. They even respond to requests for them to carry a new plant. And there are always nice coupons to use on the next order.

They pack well, too -- using peanuts that dissolve, or will take back the packing material!

We have purchased from Bluestone in the past and again this year. Every single plant has always lived and thrived. Yes, the plants are small when they get here -- the catalogue says so very clearly.

This is a great way to create a new bed at a minimum expense, as long as you have patience to wait for the plants to grow to size. This year, many of mine are blooming already. I figure at Bluestone's prices, I can afford to wait a year if necessary. If someone wants mature plants, they should go to a local retailer and pay the higher prices there.

I ordered perennials and shrubs for the first time. I am very happy with the shipping and quality of the plants. They were exactly as advertised and all are doing very well despite our drought situation this year. Will definitely order from them again. Good job!

I placed my order in late May, taking advantage of their 50% off all plants through Memorial Day sale. I ordered around 130 plants in total. They arrived June 3rd (Sadly at 6:30 pm, after I blocked off the whole day so that I could plant them since I knew their arrival date-no fault of Bluestone, but a bummer no less).

All but one plant arrived looking healthy. One was DOA, and around 5 others died soon after planting. I am sure that I will have no trouble getting replacement plants, I've just been waiting to request them to make sure that all of the others will be alive and kicking throughout the season. The plants were well packaged, and I have no complaints about the condition of the plants or quality of packing materials.

I was a bit dismayed that several verieties of plants had different sun/shade requirements on their planting "tags" than had been indicated on Bluestone's website. I was planting in a pretty sunny area with some partial shade and LOBELIA Vedrariensis, for instance was stated on their website as being good for "Mostly Sunny -> Full Shade", but it's planting tag said, "Loves deep shade". I'm sure it will be fine where it is, but I was taken a bit aback by this inconsistency. As it was, this was only the case for a fraction of the plants I ordered, but I'm noting all of my thoughts.

In the weeks since planting, the plants have grown (many have grown quite a lot) and several have begun to flower. I am VERY pleased with my overall experience, and look forward to ordering frm Bluestone again (I hope that they run another 50% off sale for fall planting). I wish that they carried all of the varieties I ever wished to order, because their prices, product, and CS seem to be top notch amongst the mailorder options.

Been buying from Bluestone for over 5 years and have never had a problem. I just rec'd my second order of the season two days ago and all the plants are fresh and healthy. Yes, the plants are small, but they have always been upfront that they sell "liner" plants. However, they are comparable in size to the plants I ordered from Wayside this spring - and paid 3 times as much! I re-use the peanuts as filler in my outdoor container plantings; weighs much less than gravel.

I have ordered twice from Bluestone and was happy with both transactions. The first was just bulbs and everything came up this spring, looking great.

In January I ordered quite a few perennials, getting a great deal through my early order and some coupons. My plants arrived in mid-April, but I wanted to see how everything did before I posted a comment.

The plants were small, of course, but everything was healthy and still moist (it helps I live in the same state). The plumbago was the smallest and the one I had a few concerns about as they just looked like little sticks. Well, two months later and everything is thriving, the goldenrod, achillea and Russian sage in particular. The sad-looking plumbago is now fully leafed out and looks great. A @#$%& squirell ate one of the Russian sages down to the ground, but it has grown back since it had such a healthy root system.

I definitely will order from Bluestone again.

A great source for affordable, harder to find items. My plants arrived a little dry (it was quite hot and UPS had not been kind to the box) and a tiny bit battered but obviously healthy. They were small but not tiny. The shrubs were small but had lots of leaves. I think they do a good job accurately describing their merchandise. For the most part everthing seems to be growing and doing well. The root systems for the plants were very well developed.
The customer service is exceptional. The one plant that died is being replaced without question and I am sure that if any other issues arise I will have no problem. In fact because a couple of items were back ordered and not being delivered until later they let me "add on" to my order and I got some great deals from the specials page that are being sent without having to pay additional shipping.
Fair prices, good selection, great plants and great service. I wouldn't order a plant that I could get at my local big box for a bargain price but I certianly will be ordering from Bluestone again.

Plants were shipped on time and packaged well. I would definately buy from again.

ordered, confirmed, and shipped on time. While the plants may be small, all were in good shape and packed well.

I received nice plants that were packed well and reasonably priced. I would buy from this company again.

The plants are small but that is explained in the catalogue. My advice is to buy specialty varieties that you can not locate at your local nurseries from the mailorder catalogues. I could not find my beloved Pineapple sage anywhere and there are many varieties of dianthus that I can only find at Bluestone. Sadly I did receive two empty cells, the plants died before it ever got here & the plants beside it grew larger & covered this fact up.

We ordered 9 shrubs from them and from the reports knew to expect small ones. All arrived healthy and in great shape.

I ordered nine different plants in their 50% off sale. One went out of stock (darn :) but the others arrived quickly, well packed, and were in great shape! I'm very impressed with the quality, especially since I have experienced mixed results with so many other companies. I'll definitely be ordering from Bluestone again!

Thanks to this site I did not order from the company I intended to order and Ordered from Bluestone. The lady that answered the phone was very nice and helpful. I was going up north where I wanted to plant the plants. She made sure that the order was sent there. The order was waiting for me when I got there. I ordered on monday and the Plants arrived that Thursday.
All the plants are in the ground and doing fine. I was impressed with the information they sent with the plants. I would order from them again.

I would like to thank this site for saving me from a bad experence with another company.

What can I say, Bluestone is great! I have been getting shrubs and perennials from them for close to 3 years now their selection of plants is excellent since I am always looking for something (different) to add to my garden. They offer Fed Ex delivery which generally gets to my home in a day. Thanks Bluestone

I just got my plants today - everything was on sale and came one week from ordering. The shurbs were all good sized and the prenns well most had three really good plants. The Baptista was the exception I will wait and see if they live or go. Really sad to seeing they are what I wanted that made me shop for the rest! LOL Oh well they are good sized to me compared to the other plants I have been receving this year so I am happy. I will change if due to planting this late they do not make it seeing they told me they would for sure make it - Mitch

Bluestone is great. Excellent prices. True, the plants are small when deliverd, but they are hearty...I ordered the perennial starter garden, planted about 5 weeks ago in VA and the plants are huge and blooming!

I chose Bluestone after checking out the review on this site last year. I got the "Butterfly Garden" which had a basic collection of perennials and felt like a good start for the spot I was working with. I didn't receive my order at first ... so I called and told them. They asked no questions and promptly reshipped. The plants were very small, but this year they have tripled in size. I just placed an order from their 50% off sale. I'd order again too.

I have purchased perennials from this company for several years and have always found their plants to be in good shape when they arrived at my home. I bought several plants from them during their half-price sale recently and received them within three days which amazed me. The plants were all in exceptionally fine condition. On the rare occasion, when a plant does not live up to the company's claims, it is quickly replaced without any delay or question on the part of the service department. This company truly wants to please its customers and is always willing to do whatever it takes to acheive that end.

I am not impressed with Bluestone. I do not live in Ohio, but I placed my first order a few weeks ago and received it on 5/24/2005. I concur with Janiejoy's post. The plants are extremely small. They do not look like the pictures at Bluestone website at all. The hydrangea is in a 4x4 pot alright as advertised, but the plant has 3 stems. Each steam is about 3" tall with one or 2 leaves. Had I know about the quality of the plants, I would go to my local nurseries, Home Depot or Lowes and pay a few more bucks, but definitely get a better plant. The PHLOX comes in a pack of three. Each unit has a thin stick (like a toothpick) about 3" tall and without a leaf. I wish I had a digital camera so that I could take the pictures of the plants I recieved and post with this post. Four other packs were completely dry when I opened the package. I water them as instructed. Two survive, the others died. I spent almost $90. I am shocked when looking at the plants. Of the 18 plants I received, 3 are small but gorgeous; 3 are smashed a little but healthy. The rest is just a nightmare like the ones from Richard Owens companies (eBurgess/Royal Dutch/Direct Gardening/House of Wesley...etc). At least, the plants from Richard Owens companies are cheap. I feel being ripped off.

After I placed my first order, Bluestone had 50% off sales. I was thinking of placing another order. Then I decided to wait until I received my plants to see how the plants looked like first. I am glad that I waited. I will definitely not order from Bluestone again even if they have 75% off or free shipping (Yeah right!!).

Also today, I receive my order from Flower Scent Gardens--a nusery from Ohio. The plants from Flower Scent Garden are cheaper and way way bigger. All the plants have flowers and/or buds. I check my credit card online and Flower Scent Gardens has not charged my credit card yet.

So, all I can say to Bluestone is phewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Terrific company to do business with! My faith in mail order nurseries is restored. After my previous nightmares, I was very scared about placing another order via mail. Bluestone Perennials has saved my image of internet shopping. I placed my oder and recieved quick notifications as to the status and terrific plants deleiverd to me.

Not one was harmed and they look as if they should do well, very well packed and don't look sickly at all.

Thank you Bluestone!

This is my second season of ordering from Bluestone and I have only had positive experiences. To address the complaint a recent poster had about e-mailing additional items for his order : I had a replacement order called into them (yes, some of their plants didn't make it, but the percentage is so much lower than other mail order companies that there really is no comparison) and decided to add some new items, and was able to call them on two different occasions before it shipped and had no problems getting them in the same shipment. They did not charge any shipping due to the original call being for replacements. Very friendly and courteous staff. I would suggest you give them another chance, but order by phone this time. Yes, some of their plants from last year and this year were shipped small, but they are still head and shoulders above the rest with their average arrival size, the health of the plants and their packing is top notch. Actually the packing is so good, it takes forever to get your order carefully unpacked! This is not a complaint, rather an endorsement. I am ashamed to say, I have not taken them up on their free shipping incentives of returning my shipping box and packing materials (always seem to be planting, never time to go to the post office…). Their selection of plants is great and their website search tools are very helpful. They received the bulk of my mail order business the spring, and I don’t see that changing next season. Definitely give this company a try.

We went to their outlet store in Madison, Ohio. I was shocked to see how few plants were available, considering how many plants are offered in the catalog.

We purchased quite a few plants of various types but were shocked that less than a whole flat of mixed plants came to over $65. We thought it was quite pricey and there were no prices posted anywhere so you could figure out how much everything would be.

So we are neutral about this company. If you are in Madison Ohio there is a nursery every mile or two, and this one I would bet is the most pricey with the smallest selection of all of them.

After reading so many positive comments about Bluestone, I placed my first order on May 10, 2005. On May, 11, I received an email informing my order would be shipping in the week of May 16. Since my order would not be shipped until the week of May 16, I sent them an email on May 13, asking if I could add a few more items to the order. Bluestone did not respond to my email until May 17. Bluestone representative--Pat--informed me that my order had been posted to ship; therefore, I could not add additional items. That was understandable. But, on May 20, 2005, I received an automated email from Bluestone informing me my order was shipped on May 20, 2005. According to the UPS tracking, I will receive my order on May, 25. I wish I could have positive experience with Bluestone like many of you have had. Bluestone did not respond to the customer's email in a timely manner. When they finally did, they did not tell the truth. From the company's website, they say if the orders have not been shipped, the customers can modify the orders anytime. I tried, but could not find the option allowing the customers to modify the orders. Suck!

I have ordered 3 times from Bluestone and have received healthy, thriving plants. Their prices are great and the plants are carefully and thoughtfully packaged. Plants were received in a timely fashion as well. I would definitely reorder from them again.

After dealing with Springhill, it was a PLEASURE to do business with a stellar company such as Bluestone. My order was delivered promptly, the plants healthy and vigorous, and customer service was friendly and attentive. No complaints at all -- only the highest praise!

I am so impressed with this company! I put in an order with them after gambling with some other companies earlier this spring, just hoping for a little better results. I can tell you that Bluestone will be the first company that I go to in the future. The packaging was great, the committment to recycling the packing materials unique, the plants in excellent excellent condition and of good size. The shipment came to me quickly and was complete with coupons for future orders. I look forward to submitting a large order for fall bulbs, and have already recommended them to several other gardeners in my area.

Great prices and healthy stock. Very friendly customer service. I ordered from several companies and Bluestone was the quickest to respond and first to deliver. They even sent me a pre-shipping notification . I'm not too crazy about the plastic peanuts used in packaging but they have a deal whereby you can send the peanuts back to them, they'll recycle and send your next order freight free. Nice people, nice plants, great prices. What more do you need?

Healthy, affordable plants. Wish the Web site was a little more user-friendly, though. (Kind of clunky, but worth the effort.) Would definitely order again.