Comments regarding Plant Delights Nursery

I have ordered from Plant Delights several times. I have always been pleased with the quality of the plants that I have received. The selection of plants is incredible, and I was also impressed with the knowledge of the staff and quick turnaround time in answering a question I had. Great company, excellent plants!

Received another order that was excellently packaged. Plants were healthy and a nice size, too. As usual, I am well pleased with Plant Delights.

I placed an online order for several varities of colocasias and alocasias. They emailed me promptly about the order and the shipping date. The plants arrived when promised, very well-packaged and in excellent condition. I will order from them again!

Catalog ordering is risky at best, but time and time again this retailer has come through with thriving, healthy specimens. I look forward to the catalog as a source of entertainment as well as education. Thanks for the weird and unusual that I can't get at my local Walmart!

The good:

Great website, quality, selection, delivery and packaging

The not-so-good:

Value. Plants are on the small side. Make sure to verify the size of the plants you are ordering, and weigh that against the price and shipping costs.

Bottom line:

Good if you can't find the item elsewhere.

Over the past several years, I probably have ordered over 500$ of their plants. They do seem to cater to the warmer (zone7+) zones, but gardeners in colder locations should look at their offerings of hostas, for example. As I live right on the line between zones 7 and 8 in central MS, their statements regarding hardiness are quite applicable to me. If plants survive their winters, likely they will likewise survive ours. Likewise, in the summer, they cope with heat and humidity like we do. For gardeners in the South, their catalog and plants are quite useful. They often offer plants that no one else has. Occasionally, they will offer a plant that often can be found locally here at a lower price, so certainly do your research. Their prices are not low, but I think their value is very good, especially for rhizomatous tender perennials such as cannas, gingers, etc. Several hedychiums arrived as large clumps of rhizomes that could be divided right out of the box. Tony Avent has respondeed personally by email in response to a question I had. I consider this nursery my favourite to order from online and will continue to do so in the future. The quality of the plants I have recieved has always been at least the equal, if not better, than that of any other.

I ordered three palms from Plant Delights. A Trachy Fortunei, Trachy Takil & Rhapid Hystrix.
Trees arrived, however one (Takil) had the soil fall out, I am thinking due to packaging. I wrote to the folks telling them about it not expecting to hear anything back.
Two days later an extremely nice woman called me telling me that they would replace the Takil free of charge.
I have yet to recieve the Takil because it was only a few days ago but fully expect to see it on my dorrstep any day now.
I was so impressed with the customer service from this place that I have since told over 10 people (3 nurseries) about my great experience with Plant Delights.
I will order again and again from this place.

I just received my order from Plants Delight Nursery and I am most pleased with the quality and size of the very unusual plants I ordered. They were expensive but I did want something different. The plants are Fatsia Japonica 'Spider's Web and 'Variegata'.

They look healthy and I did checked the for 'critters'; none.
Packing was superb! Confirmation and delivery emails were sent.

Ordered two buddelias from them via internet. The service was terrific, they sent emails confirming my order and to let me know the items had been shipped and when to expect delivery. They came on the scheduled date, well packaged, and in very good shape. They are good size. I would order from them again if unable to find the plant or shrub locally.

I have had great experience with this nursery. I've always had prompt service and the plants are usually nice sized. They have the best choice for unusual plants in the south. When I inherited some money this was the 1st place I headed.Just reading thier catalog every winter for many years has kept me in dreams.

About a month ago I ordered a hosta, canna , lenten rose and a fairywings plant. The plants arrived in a timely manner, were packaged well and disease free. The company sent me an order confirmation and a shipping confirmation which I aprreciated. Some places don't bother to do this. All the plants were larger than I had expected and have been growing well. The fairywing plant is blooming beautifully. PD is a little pricey but worth it to me b/c of the quality of the plants I received. I will order again and recommend this nursery to others.

waited over six months for two common trachy palms,they charged my card six moths ago and sent me a seedling with five leaves the other is sickly brown leaves and small as hell.they sell the same palms in hd for half the price and five times the size.over rated i will never buy from again.they did offer a full refund still lost my whole growing season. next time i will just use ebay and support the little guys and gals rob

"

We received “robs” email dated July 14th stating how disappointed he was with the two Trachycarpus wagnerianus he received. This is an excerpt from his complaint email “ …”one wagnerianus is as small as a tissue cultured plug and the other is not healthy at all.” Further he stated “I want to give you a chance to respond before I leave negative feedback on your company…..” Regardless of threats, we take every customer complaint seriously. We responded to his concerns on July 15th. Our email response to him reads as follows:

From: "Dianne Austin"
>Reply-To: "Dianne Austin"
>To: " Omitted " < Omitted >
>Subject: Re: not happy at all
>Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 11:27:20 -0400
>
>Good morning Mr. ,

“Thank you for your patience while I discussed your Trachycarpus wagneriaus purchase with our grower. Looking at our historical database regarding this plant as well as cultural information regarding the growth habit of T. wagnerianus. We have determined that first; the plants you received represent 2-year-old specimens. However, you are correct that they are very small. Unlike other palm such as Sabal or Nannorrhops, these are notoriously slow growers until they develop a trunk. Once they have developed a trunk their growth habit increases. This requires planting in the ground and giving ample amount of time to develop through these stages. Although this information may be interesting, we realize that you are unhappy with your purchase. We will be happy to send a call tag so you can return the plants for a full refund. Please let us know when a pick up date would be convenient and we will arrange for UPS to pick them up. We are very sorry you have had this negative experience. If there is any other service or promise we have not lived up to, please let us know so we can address that as well.” D. Austin, Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.

We responded in the most amicable manner possible yet this customer decided a negative post was appropriate. He did respond to our email that offered a refund with this comment … “You just bought yourself a lifetime of bad advertising…” We are of the opinion that this comment was totally unjustified and mean-spirited. We will let Garden Watchdog subscribers judge for themselves.

As for waiting six months, we advised the customer of the waiting period for this plant when he ordered. Waiting for the plant until it was ready to ship was his choice. Had he changed his mind at any point, we would have gladly refunded him. Our Ordering Policy clearly states that we do not reserve plants unless they are paid for. Because of the high demand of our hard to find plants and given our limited quantities, most customers expect to pay for a plant that is being held for them.

We are a bit puzzled that “rob” did not jump on an opportunity to purchase a T. wagnerianus that was five times the size of ours for half the price that he spotted at Home Depot. Perhaps the Trachycarpus he saw at Home Depot was not actually a T. wagnerianus at all? He did refer to the “common trachy palms” he waited six months for. I don’t believe Home Depot has ever offered this particular selection since it is far from common. He also accused us of just potting these up to “ look bigger right before it was sent…..the roots are still square from the 2.5-3 [sic] pot it was in before it was shipped…..it is not two years old and there was an attempt to decieve [sic] by potting it up before it was sent.” This is absolutely, unequivocally impossible since we grow these palms from seed in large community seed pots. These plants never see the inside of a cell pack or any other container as he describes. The seeds are sowed randomly throughout the pot and those that germinate are later transferred into a 1 qt. (4” x4”) container. These containers are where they grow until the customer receives it and plants it in their own garden. The date on the plant tag was 6/25/04. That was the date the plant came out of the seed pot where it had been growing for a year (or more) prior to being placed in its container.

It is never our preference to publicly bring these matters to an public forum. We prefer to work with our customer one on one to resolve disappointment or other plant related problems. However, we felt this was an unjustified attack on our company and that this was an appropriate time to defend ourselves. We realize that we will never please everyone and that we will continue to face challenges both with our plants and those customers we serve. We would like to go on record by saying that it is our desire and preference to always meet these challenges with professionalism and fairness whether over the phone, by email, in person or on these forums.

Respectfully yours,

Dianne Austin, Customer Service Manager
Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.
"

I say yes. Read on if you are bored.

Painful as shipping and all may be, where else does one find plants like these? Usually: Nowhere else but their native land or native petri dish.

Lovely lovely plants. I didn't anticipate pillbugs crawling into the pot of, and eating the roots off of my palm, (My fault, but man, did I enjoy the day it came -better than Christmas)

I ordered the Dicentra scandens. (Yellow vining Bleeding Heart) Oh, yes, the queen of novel plants. Even though I have not finished the garden that it will call home, it has spent the summer months blooming its silly head off in its little pot.

The only thing on which my Fall order relies is if I have enough money saved by then!

I like looking at their catalog...great for a winter day read...I placed my order after reading the watchdog and seeing the neg. comments. I found that my shipment was packaged well and the plants thriving. The plants are doing well and thriving. I will order from them again. I realize that the prices are steep and so is the shipping BUT if you can't find it locally or elsewhere then you pay the price and I am willing to do just that.

I have purchased hundreds of dollars of plants from this company over several years and never been disappointed. Some years I make the trek from McLean, VA to Raleigh and load up my van with rare, exotic wonderful plants.

Shop here for the unusual. Buy the ordinary plants somewhere else. They may be expensive but you get your money's worth. The shipping and packaging is perfect! Never an injury or fatality, unlike my other mail order experiences. This is a great place to become adventurous and try the unusual. My musa basjoo has absolutely thrived in McLean, VA and is the talk of the neighborhood.

I was rather surprised to see negative comments about Plant Delights Nursery. Guess online nurseries can't make everyone happy? I ordered three nerium oleander's from the company earlier this spring. They arrived in excellent condition! They were healthy and packaged well. As a matter of fact, they have grown an inch since I purchased them and my hardy white oleander even bloomed today (5-29-05). I purchased these three plants for a total of $36 which I thought was a very reasonable price. I received their catalog last week and couldn't see how their cartoon on the front cover pertained to anything racial. I plan to order from them again in the future and would recommend them to close friends and relatives. The owner of the nursery (Tony Avent) is a very knowledgable, and respected gardener who has developed a more than reputable company. Negative comments should be directed more towards Ty Ty nursery than wasting them on this legitimate company.

There was a mix-up with my order and I initially received the wrong plants. Customer serivce was easy to reach (first call). Becky was very nice and said they would ship my order out right away, and to also keep the plants that they had sent by mistake. These were nice plants, a bonus!
The plants I received in my order that I received a couple of days later, were well packed and in perfect condition. The size was generous. I found the prices to be extremely reasonable for the quality, size and selections that I received. I will definitely shop at Plant Delights again.

I have ordered from just about every catalogue around, both online and in print, and have found Plant Delights to be the very best there is not just for their huge variety of hard-to-find plants, or the excellent info they provide about plants, but also for their generous, expert assistance with plants I've not even purchased from them! I have a huge six year old brugmansia that would not be alive today had one of their good people not emailed me great advice about how to care for it properly. I love their humorous catalogues, I love their excellent packing, and I have never had an argument or quibble of any kind out of them if anything wasn't quite what I expected. They are good, knowledgable and reasonable plantspeople who cater to the same. Very much worth every penny of their prices.

Rec'd. my latest shipment today and as always so pleased. It's so good to be able to order 3 new-to-me plants just from catalog description/photo and be sure that they will not disappoint. I feel I can always trust PDN to find unusual plants and then test-grow them to be sure they do well in SE. One of my favorite nurseries and my very favorite catalog. josh z8a

Plant Delights seems to specialize in warmer zone plants (zone 7 and up) so I have not been able to order a lot from them (I'm a zone 5)

The plants I have ordered, however, are fantastic! I was especially impressed by the spineless prickly pear they sent. It was over a foot tall and had pads on it measuring up to eight inches. Not a scar to be found on it as is typical of so many cactus type plants. The other plants were equally large, even after having been trimmed back for shipping.

The plants were hand wrapped with shredded paper like hoagies (or submarine sandwiches depending on your part of the country). I think they would have withstood being thrown across the room. In the whole shipment there was only a single damaged leaf.

This company is definately worth spending your money on. My only wish would be that they had more low zone plants (besides hostas, of which they have more varieties than I could count.)

4/13/05 - Last year's order arrived today... BIG, BOUNTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL. Bought them during the discount period in fall and got this this year at proper time. Could not ask for more. Thanks Plant Delights.

Love to drool over the catalog and enjoy the humor. A friend and I placed a small order together for a few rare plants last spring and were very pleased with the size and quality. UPS left a note when they tried to deliver and no one was home, indicating they would attempt the next day(Friday). On the note we checked the box telling them to just leave it on the porch, but they did'nt attempt delivery again until Monday. Since the weather was quite warm a couple of the plants did fail due to spending 4 more days in the hot box. Customer service was kind and accomidating and replaced them immediatly. My Patrinia scabiosifolia is loaded with basal buds and looks like it will put on a great show this year. A big Thanks! to Tony Avent and the great staff.

thanks for continuing to offer cool plants !

After years of gardening, Plant Delights is now one of the few nurseries I will even consider buying from. The plant pricing is actually low, when you consider all the time, research, effort, love, etc. that is put into the selection of each plant. I had the opportunity to visit the nursery personally in October of 2004, and cannot stress enough the deep commitment to quality, uniqueness, hardiness, education, etc. that Tony and his entire staff exhibited to each and every visitor. The plants I have purchased over the years have not only been top quality, but exciting, interesting, and unusual ones that have given my family, neighbors and me many hours of enjoyment. BUY early and often--you'll be rewarded!

I have placed numerous orders with Plant Delights most of them over $300.00. While some people think they are pricey, I believe you get what you pay for. The staff has always been courteous and helpful. Their catalogue is wonderful and humorous and well worth the ten stamps or a box of chocolates. I am a hosta collector and their plants are definitely worth the money and I won't be old and gray when they mature! I've only lost one plant from them and it was due to my own neglect and poor placement which I believe happens to a lot of gardeners reguardless of how experienced they are. When paying shipping charges people forget about the time it takes to pull the order, take it out of the container wrap each plant, box and mail! plus no state sales tax which for me would be 16 dollars on a 300.00 purchase. Mail order from reputable companies is the only way to get the new and exotic plant material that I have in my garden and Plant Delights does a wonderful job of filling that need.

i went up to their nursery,boy i was so excited i couldnt wait to get there well it was fun until i was leaving and i picked up my plants to take home and i asked the ladys standing there if this one plant was sick or what she said it was fine. well i got it home and the next day a catapillar had eaten all the leaves off of it so i emailed them and they said i should have said something when i was up here and i said i did and they didnt believe me. so i won't be ordering from them any more as much as their plants are i think they need a better guarante on them. there is better and cheeper places to buy from.

On a nearly $200 order (before shipping cost), I listed acceptable subs and with one substitution they charged me for the original total although the sub was cheaper. They sent a FORM asking me how I wanted to handle a credit for the difference between the plant ordered and the substitute. Why did they not just charge the lower amount in the first place instead of wasting their time and mine on a futzy form (that even asked for my customer number which required more futzing around to find)? The sadder part is that they also made a very incompetent phone call two weeks earlier telling me that none of my 4 listed subs matched the exact price of the one plant out of eight that was not available! There's more but I'm tired. Their plant selection and quality are great (this is my second order) but it's a bit much to put up with their prices and shipping charges and their offensive catalog humor and their "How to be a good customer" nonsense just to be confronted with time wasting incompetence.

I discovered PD 4 years ago when I bought my first house. I absolutely love them and the plants I receive are healthy and ready to go. Before I discovered them, I vowed I would never order another plant through the mail and receive a bare root stick that had no hope of survival. Yes, some of their prices are high and those are usually for the more rare species they offer. I don't mind paying $9-12 for a specimen that I can't find at my local nurseries and that already has a head start in growth. When placing an order, I try to think in terms of which plants I can purchase in town and which plants I cannot. I would rather not pay that much for shipping, so I probably don't order as often as I would like, but then I think all the shipping charges out there are outrageous. I will continue to order from them. I just sent off my birthday order. PD could probably make a commercial in my garden! Remember, PD is not Lowe's or your local nursery.

I would never buy from this place again. Simply put, they are horrible. Here's one example. Two years ago I bought many (12-15?) 'Ann Folkard' geranium in the Spring. Almost immediately a few died. They sent one or two replacements. As soon as the weather heated up, they simply withered away. I had given the proper care, watering etc. I am not a novice gardener. When I emailed, a response was emailed which said that theirs too had kind of wasted away and if they did not return next Spring they would replace them or refund the money. Luckily, I printed and saved that email. When they did not return the next Spring, I emailed. After a few attempts I finally called. I was told that the person that promised me the refund no longer worked there (of course). They resisted and said they could not find their own emails but I faxed them the saved email. They grudgingly decided to refund the money but (get this!) told me that they looked at my order history and noticed that out of five orders I had placed with them over the previous few years, a replacement was requested in three of them, implying (practically stating outright) that I was to blame. The woman telling me this was unbelievably arrogant and obnoxious. When I pointed out that those orders involved dozens of plants costing hundreds of dollars, and that as a percentage of the total number of plants ordered, the replacements (before the geranium order) represented a small percentage, she would not hear it. Then came the kicker. She told me that I should 'consider not ordering from them anymore'! Did I have to bite my tongue! - since the refund was still pending. Needless to say, I did not need that encouragement. Additionally, their plants are not very big - nothing special and their shipping is expensive. Save your money and avoid aggravation - go elsewhere.

Like many other reviewers, I think the prices at Plant Delights are a little steep for my budget. However, that hasn't stopped me from ordering once a season or so. The selection of plants is interesting and kept fresh and the quality of the plants sent has been very good. The only problems I've had were once with a gift certificate (which was cleared up after a few calls and e-mails and only mildly frustrating) and problems caused by myself due to wishful Zone thinking. Spend a little more to get a plant that is healthy , large, and hardy, it's worth it.

Ok, so some of their prices are a bit high. It's the kind of place you go to find something unusual. I don't mind paying more for an unusual item as long as it arrives in good shape. All of the plants that I ordered from them arrived when I wanted them and looked healthy. Their catalog is very interesting and their website is easy to use. I went back and ordered a few more items.

After enjoying this company's catalogue for several years, I finally took the plunge and ordered three Apple Blossom Bergenia plants during their recent shipping sale. (Guess I'm not much of a risk-taker!)
The plants were packed beautifully and looked good enough to eat. I got them in the ground right away and they have sprouted new leaves already. Can't wait till spring to see the blooms!

I have ordered many things from Plants Delight. All have come in perfect. I have hoped to find a eucalyptus tree that would survive our 7b location. I found one in their catalog. So far it has grown twice its size since I got it last in May. Plants Delight is a great place to find unusual plants. I will order from them again.

Ordered 6 plants for, about, $80.00 .. 3 were 75% dead
when they arrived; the other 3 (asters) are growing well but I believe asters are hardy?? Would not order from them again.

Ordered Pee Dee Gold Ingot liriope. Very hard to come by. They know this and charged an outrageous price for these plants. They arrived healthy, 3 plants per pot. (sort of made up for the price) But the 20 dollar shipping charge was way OVERcharged... Total order $95.00...

Enjoy looking at their catalog, and often think of ordering from them again, but won't pay those high prices + shipping charge...

DECOBUG

I found Plant Delights Nursery by chance, on line. Noticing the expense, I restrained myself and ordered only 4 plants; these arrived in good health and when I requested them to be delivered. And, so far, they are thriving.

I just got my 3 plants in the mail. A red banana, canna,
and a hardy oleander.I am very pleased with the condition
and the large size of the plants. Lots of very hard to find plants at their site. I am very happy with this
company and recommend them highly. Thank You.

I bought two plants at PDN during their May open house, one was unique and well worth every dollar paid, the other was more mundane, and I should have bought it elsewhere. It was my choice, though. Both plants were excellent quality, and seeing the botanical garden there helps me appreciate the fact that they actually do have trial runs of their plants in a real garden setting.

Overall, a good source for plants. The majority of my purchases through them (and I've bought from them about 10 times) have produced really large specimens with excellent root systems. This has applied to their yuccas and crinums.

Occasionally, I have received a plant that is 'dormant' and never sprouts...so maybe 20% disappointment, but the rest have been great.