Comments regarding Goodwin Creek Gardens

My wife and I were looking for lavender plants to spruce up our zero- scape garden at our San Diego home. Not knowing much about varietals we contacted Goodwin Creek after hearing about it from a holiday wreath maker in Monterey, CA. The business is under new ownership which made us hesitant at first, but after talking to the new owner personally, we felt confident ordering from them. We received our order of lavender, and other plants that were recommended including lemongrass, echinacea, and rosemary in a timely manner, and received a follow up email from the owner to make sure we were happy with our order. We will recommend Goodwin Creek to any of our neighbors who are looking for lavender products as well as other plants.

Posted on November 14, 2017, updated November 15, 2017
I am not one to rate companies negatively, but this has been such a negative experience for so long, I feel I must.

Before I get into this particular experience, it should be noted that I have had other negative experiences with this company: communication is almost nonexistent, for example, and plants that were poorly packed and mangled upon delivery. They didn't seem to care when called about it and didn't apologize, but they did send replacements. And, yes, the plants are tiny.

Last summer I ordered two types of roses. I was sent all of one type and was told the rest would arrive in fall. They didn't get here before the cold set in, so I asked for a refund. It was never received.

This year, I ordered roses in March. I made several calls to the company in summer about the non-receipt of the roses and was told each time that they had had a bad year with rooting roses and there was a delay. Keep in mind that any communication about the order was initiated by me.I decided this fall that I probably would not be receiving the roses (I had received no communication from them in months) so cancelled the order and asked for a refund for these and reminded them that I still had not received last year's refund. I waited for the refund, and since it was not received, I called again, and received the old "The check's in the mail" routine. I have notified them, yet again, that a refund check has not been received. I have not called because when I do, there is a shuffling of phones to the person whose fault they think it was. There is no communication, no refund, no apologies, no nothing with this company. I ordered in March and have yet to receive plants or a refund. It has been a year since the first refund was promised.

I would definitely say buyer beware, and I plan to write the BBB in Oregon and also see if the bank can help recoup my losses. I will not deal with this company again.

Was a little worried reading the comments, but I called and they seemed very friendly. Ordered 6 lavender plants and they had them cross-country in about 3 days. The plants were a tad small but they looked as if they had just been packed. They were fresh and packed well. The shipping was a bit expensive to the East Coast, but the total price was competitive. Will order from them again.

I ordered 6 plants early in March, and got a notice that my card would be charged when things were ready to be shipped. A few days later, the charge went through and I never got any notice that they'd been shipped. I never received an order number, so I had no reference information to ask about (which made this whole ordeal even more time-consuming and complicated).
A couple months later, I called to ask when they were supposed to arrive. It took several calls to actually connect with a human, who said someone would call me back with information in a day or so.
No one called.
I called several more times, and spoke to the same woman and again she said someone would call me that afternoon.
No one called.
I tried emailing, I received no response.
I tried contacting them by posting on through their Facebook page, and after several days they finally responded with an email address to contact.
I'd already initiated the charge-dispute process through my bank the day before, so I didn't email this new address. Unbeknownst to me, they'd already put a refund through to my card at the same time. So, not only did I have to spend hours disputing the charge, I had to spend even more time figuring out why on earth the bank suddenly reversed the refund. They made this process more difficult than it needed to be at absolutely every step of the way.

Posted on May 26, 2017, updated June 24, 2017
I emailed the company in advance of ordering plants to inquire about the size of the plants, since there was no indication in the description. After two weeks, I assumed they were not planning to email me an answer (and so far they have not - it has been three months now). I went ahead and ordered the plants anyway. There is a six-plant minimum, so I ordered six. However, my shipment arrived with only 5 plants. Also, it's clear why they did not respond to my email about the plant size: they are tiny. $6 each for plants that are so small I will be surprised if they make it. More like twigs with a few leaves. I emailed the company regarding the missing plant and have not yet heard anything.

Posted on April 26, 2017, updated June 2, 2017
I'm really sad to say this has not been a good experience for me. We have an organic farm, and are trying to expand operations in a few ways. So, we placed an order which, for us, was sizable.

Our experience goes like this: I placed the order in January, and my card was charged right away, and was told in my confirmation emails that it would probably ship in late March. I immediately responded with a question about shipping, and received no response. Early March I emailed again to let them know I would be out of town that week, just in case they were about to ship, and got no response. Late March I emailed again to check on shipment, and messaged them on facebook, received no response. Early April I called, spoke to a lady on the phone who said she would call me back after looking up my order asap, but I got no callback. I called again a few days later, and she said "Oh yes that will ship out this Monday." A week went by, no shipment or communication from them. I called again, spoke to the same lady, she said she would call me back in an hour from the office. No callback.

A few days later, maybe a week later, I called again and left a voicemail saying that I would cancel my order with my credit card company, if I didn't receive a callback within a day or two -- a man called back within the hour with apologies, insisting my order would ship out "Monday." I explained that I was happy to be understanding and accommodating, but that I need them to communicate with me if there are delays, and he assured me he would communicate with me. That was 2 weeks ago, and I have received no shipment, or communication. I called this monday again, spoke to the woman, 'I'll call you back first thing in the morning with an update.' No callback.

It is now late April, a full 4 months after I placed my order.

I am sad because this seems like a pattern, given the other reviews here and elsewhere, and it seems that something bad must be happening in their lives. They don't seem like a fraudulent operation, given what I have seen online, and my experiences talking on the phone with them once or twice. Rather they seem overwhelmed. But I don't know how to continue to do business with someone so uncommunicative and unreliable. I cannot afford to spend that kind of money on an investment that just never shows up.

Since negative reviews here have triggered responses from them in the past, and since I'm out of other ideas (short of using certified mail), I thought of posting my own review. Maybe they will respond? Gosh I sure have given this a good effort. I wish them well in any case.

In the future I will spend as much time checking reviews as I do researching the items I want to order.

Posted on May 13, 2017, updated May 20, 2017
I placed an order with this company and have emailed them twice as to the shipping status of my order and to date I have not been given the courtesy of a simple explanation and notification. It appears that their customer service is lacking in responding on a timely basis to customer inquiries. Their website lists a contact provision but this seems to be useless. This is my first order placed with this company and it appears that it may be my last if things do not improve.

I have ordered several times from Goodwin Creek and have always received nice products and I'm sure I would have had nice plants this year had I actually received them. I placed an order in June and after not hearing from them for a couple weeks I emailed them asking for a status. After three unanswered emails I finally called. I was told they were very busy but she would check on my order and give me a call back. I never received a call back. I emailed again asking about my order. I got an email back five days later saying my order should be shipping out soon. I waited a few weeks but never got anything. I emailed again, never got an answer. So after several unanswered emails, not getting phoned back, and being told my order should ship out but didn't, I would say my experience was very negative. The only reason I didn't give a negative rating is that I was never charged and I have received good plants before.

I couldn't find Buddlieja Globosa ( Orange Ball Tree) Anywhere else but here! I was happy to find it here, and ordered some other plants to,Everything arrived in great shape ,All the plants were healthy and good sized ,The prices are great on their plants and shipping was very reasonable too.I was thrilled with my plants and those looking for hummingbird and butterfly plants will be happy with this nursery..They have lots to offer that I couldn't find locally, It would order again in a heartbeat..

It has been sort of a rough mail-order season for me this year, and I am tickled to report I had a wonderful experience with Goodwin Creek. Even though the plants had to travel from OR to NC, they all arrived in excellent condition. One of the plants I had ordered was out of stock, so they sent me a substitution free of charge, and refunded the cost of the originally ordered plant plus a fraction of the shipping. Good plants, reasonable shipping charges, and great customer service.

I recently rec'd a large order from Goodwin Creek and must say it was all that I could ask for and more. I am new to gardening and their website and phone advice was extremely helpful with my decisions. I talked to both Jim and Dottie and they are very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. They advised me on selections for my area. I wanted them asap but was told it was too early for my area to plant & ship and they advised me to wait a few weeks, which I did. The plants arrived in beautiful condition with easy instructions on when & how to plant. I ordered a multitude of different varieties from lavenders to sage to salvia and lots more. I would highly recommend Goodwin Creek plants.

I've ordered from Goodwin creek a number of times and have always had a good experience. They can't be held accountable for bad weather nor for running out of stock - with all nurseries you have to order "quickly" if you want a particularly desirable plant.

My lavenders are beautiful, the hardy fuchsia's are thriving and the monarda's are literal show stoppers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend ordering from this nursery.
FR in Pt Bob

Posted on May 20, 2011, updated June 6, 2011
Wanting to plant a lavender garden, on April 8 I ordered 18 lavender plants. I received a confirmation of the order by email, but all it stated was an order number-no specifics like other companies do. In early May I emailed asking where are my plants. A few days later, on May 9, I received a reply stating that some plants were "ready" late and that they would send it that week, It is now Friday May 20 and still no plants and no further message from them. I am leaving on Tuesday for a ten-day trip, so I emailed them VERY early today telling them that unless they overnight the plants to me the plants will die on the doorstep while I am away-that is if they finally do arrive. The email was there hours before they opened (there is a 3 hour time-zone difference ). They had all day to email or call-but they didn't. I will call my credit card company for a refund. And to boot I have lost one year for this garden-everyone is out of various varieties now. Plus you cannot plant lavender successfully in the fall in zone 5. I guess they simply don't care.

"On Jun 6, 2011 8:43 AM, Goodwin Creek Gardens responded with:

the customer is correct in that we missed her desired shipping date. we had some confusion on which day she left for vacation, so we thought it safest to wait until she returned home. I wish all plants could be ready at the same time, but there are always exceptions. in this case a new lavender variety was way behind the others. as she clearly states above, she did not want smalll plants. I guess we were getting a little gun-shy at this point, and at the last minute I pulled out the small lavenders and replaced them with a similar, but more mature lavender variety (6 plants) and sent them free of charge as an apology that the other variety was not yet ready. she is correct in stating that we made some errors. I can only say that we tried to correct our mistakes and did not charge for anything not ordered. we do guarantee satisfaction and try to find a solution that the customer appreciates. "

The plants were small but very healthy looking. They sent along a refund check for one item that was not available.

The order that I received this week was again very well packaged, the plants (all kinds of stoechas lavender) looked freshly picked and the soil was moist, and they arrived the exact week I had requested them to be shipped. Communication is good and I enjoy doing business with Goodwin Creek Gardens. I have been a repeat customer of theirs for the past few years and always come back when I need something they grow.

Posted on February 28, 2011, updated March 1, 2011
I placed two separate orders with this company within a two day window and contacted them to combine the order. I received a voice mail message from the company indicating they received my email and that there was a problem shipping to Florida, that it had to go air but that they could do it for the same price. When I got the package, the invoice inside the box had a revised shipping charge on it that was several dollars higher than what the order form indicated it would be. If that had been clear at the time of the order, I would have cancelled the order because the shipping was as much as the tiny plants I received. I was surprised at how small the plants were, but I went back to the website and it did say 3 inch pot and they came in a pot 3 inches high... I just expected more of a plant, not a twig with a couple of leaves on it. I sent an email asking for a refund on the additional money charged for shipping. The invoice in the box contradicts what was left on the voice mail message about the shipping charge being the same cost. Also-- this is not the fault of the company, but UPS screwed up and there was a delay getting my plants. The plants were packed okay for shipment and one was bent up to fit in the box but sprung back okay. I am happy with the turn around time and was pleasantly surprised to get a phone message from them, but now I haven't heard back about the over-charge for the shipping. I did not agree to any additional fee for shipping and I don't think it is right to just charge the customer more when the order form already quoted a rate. If they cannot honor the price on their order form the customer should have the opportunity to cancel the order. I did not agree to pay anything extra and I was informed it would not cost extra. I would have found another source if I knew the cost for shipping was going to be several dollars over the quoted amount.

"On Feb 28, 2011 9:43 PM, Goodwin Creek Gardens responded with:

Unfortunately, there were 2 points that we thought were explained clearly during the ordering process, both verbally and in a written note, but were evidently misunderstood by the customer. We take full responsibility for not making this clearer to her (see last sentence of rebuttal).

1. Plants shipped in midwinter from our nursery in Oregon are usually dormant and often pruned well back before new growth appears in spring. In her case (2 kinds of Asclepias/milkweed), 1 Asclepias had above ground woody growth that was dormant and nearly leafless and the other type was dormant with no above ground growth at all. This is normal and healthy for both types to apear this way. Both were guaranteed to begin growing in warmer weather.

2. She chose UPS Ground as a shipping method. We cannot ship plants safely, even when dormant, to Florida by UPS Ground. This is stated on our shopping cart. We recommend UPS 3 Day or Priority Mail. We said on the phone that we could ship her order Priority Mail for the same price as UPS Ground. She said she still wanted UPS as it was more convenient, so we shiped UPS 3 Day and added on the difference. Apparently she thought we meant we would not charge extra (we actually charged her less than the real difference). However, due to the misunderstanding, we have refunded her the additional shipping charges."

I was very happy with my purchase of two of their collection specials - a Lavender collection of 6 plants and a rosemary collection of 6, selected for my area. The conformation e-mail, and notification of shipment, with tracking info, was was timely. The plants were well packed and arrived in good shape, except for one lavender -( Peter Pan cult.) that has dry, brittle leaves. There is some new growth evident so, time will tell if it survives well. Over all, I am very pleased and will definitely order again.

I placed an online order with GCG the second week of March, yet after the order was placed I heard nothing from the company until I was fed up and forced to cancel my order 3 weeks later.

No where on their website or during checkout does it provide ship dates for their plants. I understand that the weather may not permit shipping just yet ( I live in zone 8) and I would have been glad to wait, had the company simply advised of an ETA.

Moreover, do not charge let me repeat DO NOT CHARGE a customers credit card in full when you know that the plants will not ship for weeks. It is unfair to the customer, now top that off with ZERO communication, and you have an angry customer.

11 days after my card was charged and I had not received an email with an ETA I sent an email to GCG politely stating that I had not received an order number and would like to know when to expect my plants. I even included a back up email address just in case.

I received no reply at either address.

The first week of April I realized that GCG was not going to send me an email letting me know when to expect the plants and as such I would likely not know when the plants are delivered and they would die on my front porch. I refuse to pay for dead plants and poor customer service.

I phoned but had to leave a voice mail on April 3rd and asked that my order be canceled.

I received an email response from GCG THE SAME DAY acknowledging my voice mail request to cancel my order.

Unfortunately, the response was curt and defensively worded email that began with “ we sent an email but you clearly did not receive it.”


Let me be very clear, I check my email including junk mail numerous times a day. I can most assuredly state that I did not receive an email after the order was placed nor did I receive a response to the email that I sent a few weeks later.

Moreover, instead sending a curt defensive email this would have been an opportunity to save the sale, by simply saying " sorry that we did not get back to you, we value your business and would like to try again."

I am serious, I love lavender and would have probably said, OK.

Instead they let a customer walk away, clearly my business was not needed or wanted. Odd, in this economy.


All in all, this was an unpleasant experience and I have taken my business elsewhere.

GCG, communication is vital, especially for an online retailer. It is unfair for customers to wait and wonder what in the hell is going on with their order all the while having to pay interest on product they may not receive for weeks.

If GCG does reply to this complaint, I expect that they will state that this was the customers fault.

"On Apr 8, 2009 11:03 PM, Goodwin Creek Gardens responded with:

1.We did send an email soon after the order was received, on March 19, stating that the order would be shipped in about 3 weeks. We did not receive a reply requesting another date. The customer cancelled the order before the shipping date arrived.
2. We do have a place on our website order form for customers to request a shipping date. Otherwise, it says clearly, that we will choose a date depending on destination zone, type of plants, and when plants would be ready.
3. We do value our orders and customers and in no way tried to be curt or rude. The words quoted above are not the words we used in our email. The customer wanted to cancel and we did so as quickly as possible for her convenience. We did not "let her walk away". We are sorry that there was a misunderstanding about shipping.
4. Our policy is to put through debit/credit cards at least a couple of weeks before shipping. A surprising number of cards are lost, stolen, or declined and it sometimes takes several days of phone calls or emails to finally get the problem resolved so we can ship on time. Sometimes cards expire between the time orders are received (winter) and shipped (spring), so these must be processed as well. If a customer requests, however, that we delay processing until shipping, we honor that request.
5. Above all else, we do guarantee customer satisfaction.
"

I have had several experiences with GCG and whenever plants were not ready or sold out or whatever, they have always made it right. But that has been the exception rather than the rule. I have always been pleases with their customer service and with the plants I purchased from them. I keep coming back to them year after year because they offer what I am looking for when nothing around here does. other places I worked with have done good work usually but GCG has always been great to work with.

Dissappointing: I ordered 4 Pelargonium varieties and 6 Rosemary varieties. I recieved no Pelargoniums; they said on the delivery slip that they were sold out. I recieved just 4 of the Rosemary varieties. I told them if one was not available to double up, which they did not do. One variety was clearly not the right variety. I did not bother to advise Goodwin Creek Nursery, and will not. I dont have enough confidence in them at this point to correct the order. I will not purchase from them again.

"

Firstly, we guarantee complete customer satisfaction, but can't help if the customer doesn't bother to contact us with the problem. Secondly, looking back at the records of this particular order, it still appears we did everything the customer requested. Apparently we did not fully understand his instructions for substitutions, something that could have easily been corrected had he contacted us."

I ordered three Kniphofia 'Primrose Beauty' on July 28, 2007 for Fall 2007 shipping. The plants never arrived. I sent several emails and finally called to inquire about the missing plants that were charged to my credit card. It was explained that they were back ordered until Spring. This was not a problem. It is now May 2008, that is a problem. The last time two times I called I was told that they would ship in a couple of weeks. Still have no plants and no money has been refunded.

I guess I will never get either.

I ordered lavendars, scented geraniums and many other plants from GCG. I also ordered salvias and mints. This is the first time I ordered from them and I must say all the plants arrived in time and in perfect health. And I was amazed at how quickly they grew. Definitely a sign of a healthy plant. I can't wait to order from they again for the new growing season. I also spoke to the staff as I had a few questions and they were extremely helpful , friendly and gave me excellent advice.

I ordered several gift items for Christmas- Lavender wreaths, gift cards, Lavender Dollies, etc. My package arrived in less than a week and I was very pleased with everything I ordered.

The friends and family members who received the gifts were also very pleased!

I will certainly do business with the Beckers at Goodwin Creek Gardens again.

Jane B.

I ordered 3 Phygelius and an Epilobium on Saturday 8/5. On Sunday, Jim called from the nursery to let me know they were out of the Epilobium and to see if I wanted a substitute or not. (I did not, but it was very nice of him to call, especially on a Sunday evening) The plants arrived on 8/10 from Oregon to Georgia in the heat of August like they had never even been in the box. Nice sized plants, no wilt whatsoever. I'll be doing more business with them in the future.

I have been a customer of Goodwin Creek Gardens for more than 10 years and I have never had anything but positive experiences with them. In fact they are one of my favorite sources for hummingbirtd and butterfly plants. My GCG plants always arrive in excellent condition, well-labeled and at the best planting time. The staff has been helpful whenever I've had questions, and now that they know my plant preferences, particularly for salvias, they have often made suggestions for plants I might like to grow.

Ordered a dozen fancy geraniums (all shown in lovely colors in the catalog) and received barely rooted twiglets. Despite having two decades of experience with Geraniums, I've lost 9 of the 12 so far. Frankly, they never had a chance. The little things had no business being subjected to the rigors of mailorder with so little shoot and root tissue to sustain them. By comparison, 42 of 43 Geraniums ordered from Hobbs Farm and Papa Genos (at the same time) are alive and thriving. Both sent generous plants for the same price.

One Goodwin "plantlet" had 3 leaves on a 1.5 inch long stem with roots barely filling ONE THIRD OF A TWO INCH POT. Every other Pelargonium dealer that uses two inch pots has sent me stock with 8-25 leaves and stems of 2-5 inches long, occasionally with flowers beginning.

$4.50 a plant ($5.50 with delivery) is not what you charge for Premature PTO (Propagate-To-Order) junk that's a least a month from being saleable and mailable.

"

Firstly, the customer was told the plants were not ready, but were several weeks away from our usual shipping size. He insisted that it was OK and that he had a greenhouse to nurse them along. Apparently they did not do well in transit. We guarantee complete satisfaction and gave the customer a complete refund."

Recently purchased several plants from Goodwin Creek Gardens. They arrived as scheduled and look excellent! Excellent communications and I'm very pleased with my purchase! Thank You Goodwin Creek Gardens!

I placed an internet order for 4 plants. All 4 plants arrived healthy and happy 1 week later. Doesn't get better than that...

Catalog is very good, but they ignored my order completely! I placed it on May 1, 2004. Got an acknowledgement but no plants. I emailed them on June 1 asking what was happening. No response. Finally on June 10 I called and they said that end May was their "busy season." (Remember I ordered on May 1, weeks before the busy season.) The nice lady promised that someone would call me in "a day or two" to advise me of shipping date. This offer was unacceptable, as it's already too hot now to succeed with the little plants they send out (service was ok last year when I ordered in January), so all I could do was to cancel the order.

I've lost an entire growing season because of their incredible indifference to my order. I certainly don't intend to give them another chance, and I recommend that everybody be extremely careful when placing orders. Call on the phone and get a commitment for shipping date. Even then, be skeptical!

I am very pleased. They called to suggest substitutions for the out of stock items and then shipped immediately. The plants arrived in perfect condition (I am within 100 miles). The plants are small but then so is the price. Very healthy plants with good root systems.

Based on my initial order, I'm giving Goodwin Creek Gardens a positive rating, but with a caveat regarding communication issues. On the positive side, they're within 200 miles of me and have a wonderful selection of plants in their informative catalog. They did notify me of an approximate ship date when I placed my order (actual ship date was probably a week later). When I was able to catch them on the phone, they were pleasant and helpful. When two of the plants I ordered arrived in bad shape, they did eventually replace them. On the other hand, a little timely communication from them at various points in the transaction would have gone a long way. I wish they would have notified me before shipping my order that they were only able to ship one of two sweet woodruff plants and given me a chance to substitute another plant at that time to fill out the order. When there was a problem with my order, it took nearly two weeks to resolve. The owners did not reply to emails or return phone messages; and I had to keep calling until I got a live person on the other end of the line. I hate feeling like I'm having to nag in order to get a problem resolved! All it would take is a phone call or email letting me know what's going on.
To give them the benefit of the doubt--maybe I just caught them at a bad time--I'll probably place another order and see how it goes the second time around . . . hopefully more smoothly, as based on their inventory and proximity, I would like to be a repeat customer.

Extremely good customer service ... 2 plants I got didnt live and they replaced them and sent them today.. excellent condition ..
I'd order from these folks anytime...

Alexis Michels

Well, the plants I received were nice, good size, and mostly in great condition (the Gingko was a little wilty, but it perked back up after a few days). The only problem is that it took 2 months! I ordered from them in February, and didn't receive anything but an invoice in my e-mail, and they didn't get here until a few days ago. And they didn't have a couple of the things I wanted in stock. I thought it odd that they didn't e-mail me mentioning this, but oh well. What I did get was good quality, and I'd use them again for some things if I ordered a little earlier in the year.

This was my first experience with this company as well as my first experience ordering a live plant rather than just seeds. Very few other places had the particular salvia I was looking for on hand, and no one had such great prices. The plants arrived quickly and in excellent condition. I am looking forward to working with this company again.

I placed an order at the worst time (mid-July) for a couple of things I'd been unable to find elsewhere. The owner called to let me know that they were in the middle of a heatwave, and would ship when the temperatures cooled a bit - what great service! When the plants arrived, the soil was still damp and the plants were in perfect condition.

You could say that Goodwin Creek Gardens is a good'un (pun intended).

I am very pleased with my recent order. The owner called me to inform me that one of my choices was out of stock, but they did have a substitute. Even better, that substitute was entirely acceptable. When the order arrived, the plants were in excellent condition, and adequately packed to prevent damage. My plants were of the size I expected for the price, and far healthier and stockier than I would have expected for that price. A $5 gift certificate was attached to the packing slip, virtually ensuring I'll be a repeat customer. I'm hopeless....

I was very pleased last summer with my buddleia. The little shrubs were perky and took off quickly in my garden. They had many cultivars to choose from rather than one or two. I plan on ordering other things this year.

I ordered mostly seeds. Very high percentage of germination and right on schedule. So far so good.

very friendly, accomodating...I received a gift certificate when plants were slow in arriving. Very well packaged; good quality....I bought Northern Sea Oats and many herbs on 3 separate occasions!!