Comments regarding Plant Delights Nursery

I have been pleased with everything I have purchased here. The quality of the plants, packaging, customer service are excellent. Great catalogue as well even if they are a little arrogant. Very, very pricy in my opinion which limits what I will buy to only a few items. For the mundane selections there are much cheaper alternatives.

Today I received my order and am shocked as why they charged me 20.00 for s&h. I have had MUCH BETTER packing at MUCH CHEAPER prices from other companies. I rec'd a small box with 3 small plants in it. Box label says it weighs 5 lbs- NO WAY!!
The plants were wrapped in saran wrap and that heavy tissue paper like you find in shoe boxes!!!! If it was hotter weather the hosta would have arrived dead b/c it was already wilting.
I expected much better packaging for my 20.00! My DH has worked in shipping and receiving for many years, so he knows a good packing job when he sees it. He was not impressed at all!!!
I will NOT be ordering from them again- no matter that they have plants that I can't find anywhere else or that they have cute catalog covers!!!!

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 (even a few carnivorous plants!) Yes, they are a bit on the pricey side but I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for". I have ordered from this company in the past and I was pleased with the size of the plants and packaging both times. Quite honestly, I am surprised to see so many negatives for this company since I do a lot of mail order and I rank them up at the top.

Pretty hit and miss with this company----My first order this year will definately be my last. Plants were inconsistent in quality, some containers actually containing no plants, others were nearly DOA. I'm looking at about 50% survival on some very expensive plants (my order was for over $350.00). Pretty pictures and clever marketing appear to be this company's primary skill set.If you are a risk taker, they do have a great plant list.

I rec'd 3 agaves today, very well rooted and in their pots from Plant Delights, and I could not be happier with them. They are good size for the price and rarity (I have already bought 8 of them elsewhere with different names that appear to be all the same)
I have received a lot of mail order plants that were well packed but these exceed superb! A combination of peanuts, shredded paper and newspaper in a strong box.
When I had not heard from P.D. for 2 wks since my conf. email, I inquired and received a quick answer and shipping date. My plants were here in 2 days. (standard UPS) Plant Delights is now at the top of my favorite list.

I was very satisfied with my order. Some of the plants were much larger than expected, and all appeared healthy. The prices aren't low, but I think I got my money's worth for hard to find plants.

Ordered 3 varieties of salvias that i hadn't seen elsewhere (not even at High Country Gardens). The plants arrived last week and they are HUGE! I totally was not expecting these perennials/subshrubs to be this big. My wife was also very impressed. They all had nice woody bases and very good leaf growth. If their other plants are as good as the salvias i will definitely deal with them again.

I have ordered from these folks several times. Their prices are a little high, and the plants are a bit small, but their selection is great, and I always get a plant in good shape.
For rare plants I'm willing to pay a bit more to get what I think will be the real thing and of quality that is good enough to survive.

Steve

I have ordered from quite a few online and mail order catalog companies, and give Plant Delights my best rating of all of them. Last year I ordered from them several times, mostly hostas, and was shocked at the wonderful size and good quality of all the plants. The expert packaging was worth the cost.

One thing to bear in mind when ordering from them, though, is that the larger plants will come bare root. You need to be sure you are ready to plant them when they arrive. If you have your beds prepared in advance, this should not be a problem.

Two things I particularly appreciate about Plants Delights are 1) the excellent suggestions as to the best growing conditions for each plant (as opposed to "hostas should be planted in the shade," the Plant Delights catalog gives individualized prescriptions for the amount and type of light for each plant) and 2) the photographs actually look like the plants look in my garden. Other catalogs have really disappointed me when the hosta that looked so blue in the photo was really green, or the daylily that photographed such a lovely lavendar was actually a rather sickly shade of pink. With Plant Delights, what you see is what you get.

The owner of this nursery writes for a major gardening magazine so I figured this was a top notch nursery. Wrong! After requesting their catalog, I placed an order late last winter. First of all, their prices are outrageous! Even plants that are easy to find elsewhere are $10 and up. The shipping is also astronomical. After placing an expensive order ($160 - ouch), my order arrived in early spring. I was a little taken back with the size and quality of the plants - very small sticks at best. I planted a total of 6 plants (yes, 6 plants for $160!!!) and only 2 made it until fall. When I called to complain, I was told that I could only recieve a credit on my next order. Well, I'm not ordering from this company again so I guess I'm on the loosing end!

i have ordered twice from plant delights and found their mail-order plants to be of the highest quality. i am surprised to hear negative comments here- although i suppose people with negative experiences would be more likely to voice their experience than satisfied customers... i just wanted to say that plant delights is one of my absolute favorite nurseries- they have such rare and interesting plants that no one else in the industry has.

i wonder, most of all, who would find the cover of their last catalog "racist"...? i really don't know, but it seems these days that people are urgently trying to prove that they aren't racist themselves. some do this by being oversensetive to race issues, by declaring racism at the slightest intended (or unintended) depiction of difference in skin color or nationality... and i just don't understand it. people can find racism anywhere when they are attuned in that specific direction, and many are quite adamant and vicarious about it.

We have ordered from Plant Delights for the past 3 years and have received huge, mature plants that have all done well. Being in the same zone as their nursery probably helps the viability of the plants in our gardens, but their careful packaging can't be overemphasized. All plants were perfectly packed in wet newspapers and then wrapped in paper--cushioned from each other and the sides of the box. Their prices are sometimes double what other mail order nurseries charge for the same varieties of plants, but that can be justified by the size and health of the plants shipped. We have been nothing but thrilled with Plant Delights! Thanks Tony & Gang...

I have not ordered mailorder plants because I live in Raleigh. I have visited this nursery twice and bought plants. Every plant I saw (and those I bought) were strong and healthy and excellent value for the money. Now that I'm moving out of state, I plan to purchase more plants for my new garden from them. They have the most wonderful and weird plants and the staff were friendly and helpful and I'm delighted to give them my business.

I would definitely advise anyone having a problem with plants to notify the company and ask for a replacement, especially for plants as expensive as the Hellebores an earlier person reported on. It would surprise me if Plant Delights did not attempt to satisfy the customer. Surely you would prefer your order replaced or credit on a future order. Contact Customer Service for Plant Delights if you have problems.

Several orders placed in the last six months. All beautiful plants delivered quickly.

I spent a lot of money for ten hellebores which arrived fine. Within a month, they started looking bad. I emailed and sent digital photos. The reply said it looked like I'd let the plants dry out (the plants never dried out) and they should be fine. A few days later with the plants continuing to fail, I dug up and took one plant to the county extension service - they told me to ask for my money back or for replacements, the plants were not healty (no specific diagnosis.) I emailed more photos, showing the plants all but dead, and asked for additional advice or a more educated guess on the problem. I haven't heard a word since - guess they were afraid I WOULD ask for satisfaction. I took myself off Plant Delights' mailing list.

We ordered several hard to find hardy palms from Plant Delights Nursery at the same time we were ordering from other companies. The plants that arrived from Plant delights were by far the nicest we received. I will order from them again and highly recommend this company.

Through no fault of their own, my order was delivered to an abandoned house around the block from me. The owner of the house found my package on the doorstep and delivered it to me himself. It had been sitting on the porch for at least 10 days. After unpacking, I took a picture and notified them of the problem. They sent an entire new order and let me keep the ones that sat in the box too long. It even looks like they will make it. Can't say enough good things about them.

I have just received my order from Plant Delights Nursery and couldn't be happier with the results. I received my order very promptly and I was thrilled to find it on my doorstep so soon! The packing was perfect and there was not one broken frond on the ferns. They were extremely healthy and obviously grown in a good environment.
The shipping charge seems a bit pricey, but the care which is used when packing is worth every penny.
Just when I had sworn off 'online' nurseries, I found Plant Delights..I will always order from Plant Delights in the future. I would give them a Positive+ rating!

I've ordered from them a couple of times and had no problems. Some of their prices are high, but they do have some hard to find plants. Their catalog is also fun to read.

***Please note that this feedback does not pertain to an actual purchase.***

Plant Delights Nursery recently sent me their latest plant catalog. The cover of their catalog is a cartoon depicting racial and cultural stereotypes interacting in various ways with "[plant] border" patrols and security personnel. In short, Plant Delights Nursery has decided that racism and offensive caricatures are funny and marketable to gardeners across the country.

You can see the cover at

//www.plantdelights.com/

My circles of gardening friends and I have agreed to not order anything else from this company unless a formal apology is issued.

Tristan

Last year I placed approximately a $300.00 order with Plant Delights; all arrived in good shape with the exception of one that arrived dead. Having read “How to be a Good Customer”, I was a little leery as to how they would respond to my email requesting replacement or refund. While there was not an immediate response, I finally received a pleasant reply with an apology that also noted I would receive a refund. Great! Nice plants and good customer service.

Unfortunately, this year’s experience was quite the opposite. Due to time constraints, I did not get my order in. However, my children found the Plant Delights Catalogue and picked out a plant for my birthday. Rather than pay the minimum $16 dollar shipping charge on a $32 plant, I asked my neighbor to place it with her order, agreeing to split the shipping cost.

My neighbor placed the order in early spring and received email confirmation. However, when the order had not arrived by the end of May, she called Plant Delights and was given a number of excuses for things that had gone wrong and informed her that her order had been lost. She was eventually told that her plant was no longer available, but mine was. It took some time before any plant arrived and when it did it was not the plant that I had ordered. While my neighbor kept the plant (a common one that we both have), I was still waiting for my 1 plant. When I finally told her to call and cancel it, she was informed that it had been shipped. I DID NOT RECEIVE MY PLANT UNTIL THE END OF JUNE.

My neighbor was willing to pay half the shipping, but I didn’t feel she should since she did not receive her plant. I called Plant Delights to ask if they would refund half the shipping, since they had made more than one error including losing the order. Bob (or as he later identified himself, Robert), said he would call me back the next day. He called me back 2 days later and told me they would not cut the shipping in half. I mentioned once more, that this had been their error; he seemed confused and told me he would check into it again and talk to his administrators and call me back. I never heard from him again.

Eight dollars seems a small price to pay to keep business and a customer's good will. Personally, I don’t care how many unusual plants they carry. If that’s how they handle customers, even if they come up with a ‘Great Expectations’ that matures in one season and sings and tap dances to boot, I‘ll never buy from them again.

I have only placed one order. I ordered Athyrium 'Ghost', Vinca 'Illumination', several hostas, 2 Pulmonaria, and 1 Carex, if I remember correctly. Prices were OK. Plants were healthy and mostly good sized. The vinca was small.

All plants have done well. Some find the tongue in cheek catalog annoying, but the fact is all catalogs hype their plants, so why not do it in a self-parodying or sarcastic way? I prefer that to the smarminess of some other catalogs.

This place is worth a try.

I purchased from this company twice. Both times I purchased different sedum. The first time I spent 9.00 for a stick that was 5 inches long. And two other sedum that were all dumped. I had to dig in the soil to find the plants. I e-mailed the company and basically asked why they would send me a dead stick and two piles of dirt for over fifty dollars.....NO REPLY. Later on in the season I came upon their company again. I decided to give them one more try thinking maybe it was PO fault. HAH! This time I did receive one really nice planted sedum (lucky me)but the other two I had to find in the dirt again. One sedum had a little stem, no roots, and a few broken leaves. The whole thing was maybe an inch tall. Guess who is out nine dollars for that one? You would find better plants in the fifty cent reduced section at a certain hardware store!

I have purchased plants from Plants Delights for the past few years and have great success. The shipping and packaging was well done. I have been very happy with the size of their Hosta's, although some of their other plants have been smaller

While I agree that this nursery is not cheap, I have received quality plants time and time again from them. The plants are strong and healthy. I think every plant I've ordered from them has thrived, I don't believe I've lost even one. This is my 'safe bet' nursery. So far I haven't been disappointed even once. Plus, the catalogue is great fun!

I really like this nursery, but you need to know that:
1. I live nearby, and so can pick up my plants without dealing with shipping issues. Open house days at his nursery, when the public is invited in to browse and buy, are something I look forward to.
2. I've met Tony Avent, and he is a character. (In a good sense, Tony!)

Tony is a bit of a FANATIC. He travels all over the world to find new plants, and tests them in his own trial gardens. (Juniper Level Botanical Garden, I think it is called.) He really knows his stuff, and may not have as much patience for us lesser mortals as we would like. But if you don't take his sarcastic wit personally, you really can learn a lot from this guy.

On the other hand ...... if you're the type person who decides to go on a 2 week vacation when you are expecting your plants to arrive, or stubbornly place a rare woodland orchid in the sunny gravel stip beside your driveway, you might want to order from another company.

5 of the six plants I ordered were in good shape. All were growing and packaged well.

One item, A Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit - Silver Center was $35 dollars, (seems high but I did see it in one other catalog for the same price) arrived in poor shape. Even the tuber looked rough. So I was very disappointed. I emailed customer service and received a phone call a day or two later saying they would send me a new one the next week. When it arrived I was very pleased. This one was in great condition. I planted it right away and it still looks very good.

One item was not available which I was a little disappointed about since I had to pay $16 shipping with or without it and will have to pay shipping again if I would decide to try and order it next year.

I admit, this company's selection is really good, their catalog and website are even better. I ordered three plants from them in April, and received them exactly on the date I requested. So why am I rating them 'neutral?' Because:

1. Their prices are quite high (for plants that are available from other nurseries)
2. The size of my plants were small. The reviewers here say that the plants they received were of 'good size.' Well, not mine.
3. Although I had no problems with my order, the company does seem a bit arrogant in their condescending sarcasm toward the customer. Just read their catalog/website and enclosed instructions. It's full of 'don'ts.' Come on, we ARE your customers, your source of income... give us some credit here!
4. Their shipping rates were above average, too.

Other than the above 4 criticisms, I received my plants promptly, but my expectations were a tad higher. So call me picky...

Plants arrived in very good condition, well packed and healthy. I wish the price were a little lower, but hey...it's mail order! I generally HATE to mail order plants, but when I can't find what I want locally, that's the only option. They have a great selection. They have plants that I don't see available at other garden stores or mail order businesses.

The only reason I ordered from this company was because of the high ratings it has received in the Garden Watchdog, but also because of the wonderful catalog they mailed me. Well, let me be one to rate NEGATIVE on customer service, because there is none. I placed my order for $117 on May 14th expecting immediate delivery. I received a confirmation via e-mail. The confirmation lists no delivery date. Since then? I've sent 4 e-mails requesting a delivery window. One 9 days after ordering, another 16 days after ordering, another 2 days after that and another one today, 3 days later. Am I not a GOOD CUSTOMER? All I asked was 'when can I expect delivery?' That's it! I want to make sure someone is here (since I travel frequently) to receive and take care of the plants! Have I received 1 answer to any of my e-mails? NO. No harassing e-mails on my part, just a request. What is up with this company? And of course,....my credit card has been charged. NO MORE!

FInding this place was one of the high points of my last 3 years. Awesome! Lots of hard to find stuff. Prices are high, and cultural info may be incomplete, but I think it's the customer's responsibility to research the plant first. I do think shipping is too high...FedEx seems to take longer than some competitors, or am I missing something? The how to be a good customer page is full of common sense that too often is forgotten, but presented in a humorous manner. Some plants ordered have died, but that was my fault. Some plants are actually too big...I would have preferred dormant material when possible. The hostas I mostly skip over...way too many...but I'm not running the business. I'm especially impressed that the Aroid Society's research division is now located at Plant Delights.

We have placed several orders with Plant Delights. All plants have arrived in excellent condition and all are thriving. Some selections that were planted this spring look as if they have been established in our garden for several years. Plant Delights is one of three nurseries that we order from consistently, the other two being High Country Gardens and Yucca Do.

I placed an order for 16 assorted perennials. One was unavailable, so I was given a Plant Delights credit but was informed that I could have a refund if I request it. All of the remaining 15 plants were carefully packaged and shipped in large (5 inch) pots. The plants had tremendous growth (one heuchera was two feet tall!) and the root systems seemed healthy. I planted them on Sunday, and they all seem to be acclimating well in my gardens. I am more than satisfied, and I intend to leave my refund in the form of a Plant Delights credit because I will be ordering from them again!

I ordered from Plant Delights late last fall, (way too late for normal planting in my zone 5 nw ohio garden. All my plants were in good condition, some were small (2 Tricyrtis), but in excellent condition. I also ordered Sedum Vera Jameson and a Zone 6 creeping Gypsophilia. All survived the winter and have come up already this spring with plenty of vigor. I love Plant Delights! No negative opinions here at all. I don't even mind their prices, because nobody else has their selection, humor, and great taste in plants!
I would like to add a note on hearing Tony Avent speak earlier this year in January at the Columbus CENTS show! He is amazingly inspiring and really nice. He patiently answered all my questions kindly after the seminar and even autographed a copy of the 2003 catalogue for me!
PLEASE DON'T RIP ON PLANT DELIGHTS! They are a great niche for plant nuts and I'd personally be lost without their wide selection.

I purchased plants I simply couldn't find anywhere else: an Aspidistra ('Asahi'), a Hippeastrum (a hardy one, forget the name), an Epimedium (one of the Probst hybrids) and a Colocasia (I have seen this one a couple of places). The plants were all in good condition, and of reasonable size. I didn't like picking the document-shred they used for packing out of my plants, but that's a rather minor complaint. Unless I could obtain the plants through Forestfarm (they would be less expensive) or Song Sparrow (they would be priced about the same, but larger), then I will continue to keep Plant Delights near the top of my plant-purchasing list.

I order from them regularly and have been very pleased. Plants have been large and healthy. They have a great selection of hostas, and a number of rather offbeat plants which you might have trouble finding elsewhere. The catalog is highly entertaining, and both phone and internet orders have worked well.

I have ordered once from Plant Delights, because they had a plant I needed (O.K., wanted) that was not available elsewhere: Lilium formosanum. I added a couple more items just round out the order. All arrived promptly and in good condition.

I have had a good experience with this company. The plants I ordered arrived quickly and have done very well. I recommend Plant Delight to other gardeners. I will buy from them again.

Nick