The scoop on 'Tripple Brook Farm'

A positive experience, with one caveat: they really need to be more upfront about their potential for late shipping. I'd like to see big flashing letters on their homepage saying "YOU MIGHT NOT GET YOUR ORDER TILL JULY, and we won't notify you of your ship date ahead of time."

Had I known I was going to have to be establishing these plants during the hot, dry part of the summer, I wouldn't have ordered plants intended for the far-flung corners of my property. As it is, I think I'll plant these guys close to the house this year so I can keep them watered, then transplant them out there in a year or two.

Other than that, though, the plants are a decent size and arrived in good shape, and Tripple Brook offers some things that you just won't find anywhere else.

(I wonder, if I call them during the winter, might they be able to estimate which plants will be ready to ship earlier in the year and which ones will cause delays? That would make me much more enthusiastic about ordering from them again -- I just don't like uncertainty!)

I ordered a number of edible landscape plants here that I couldn't find any where else. Hardy Kiwi, blueberry, Jerusalem artichoke, groundnut.
I ordered in the fall, and the items were delivered in the spring. The order was delayed a bit due to the kiwis not being quite ready, and they wanted to ship everything together. They couldn't have been nicer about it, though, and we chatted on the phone for a long time. Nice people, good quality plants ! Will definitely shop there again.

I ordered three Kiwi vines of a particular type from Tripple Brook Farm. They were the only vendor I could find who had them available. I was very pleased with the health of the plants I received, they were in better condition than a lot of the plants at my local nurseries! I would buy again from this company.

We took a day-trip out to the Farm mid-season after it was recommended to me via one of the garden related forums. We spent a good number of hours being shown around the property and given detailed explanations about the plants and their habits / needs. Steve (if I remember his name correctly) is EXTREMELY knowledgable and is more than happy to share his passion with others. I came away with just four plants (but a HUGE "wish list" for next year!), three Clethera & a Highbush Cranberry. All have faired very well and I have high hopes for visible above ground growth come the spring

I can certainly understand some peoples frustration with the mail order side of the business having visited the farm. People wise it is a very small operation on a vast amount of land, it must be a HUGE amount of work. If you are close enough to visit the farm I HIGHLY recommend the trip, you will definitely feel rewarded

Since the farm is so close to our weekend house I probably won't use the mail order option, but I will be making the trip back out there in the mid-spring to fill my ever expanding "wish list"!

June-16.2005
I just left tripple brook farm in mass 2 days ago for my trip back to TN . I am totaly happy with the 12 bamboo plants i got. They should me how they dig them up and i volentered to help for thats how one learns IMHO they went way over and above to please me and did..They gave me a few things they could as most places charge for plus alot of great tips on bamboo and other plants and there years of knowledge that i know . I am very impressed.. They even help pack my plants in a over packed SUV for my trip home.They supplied me survice you seldom if ever find these days.They have my bussiness from now on..I did bring up a few points i read about in this group and i understand there view as plants and mother nature don't always work with a plant order....
steve the owner and his helper john are great..few if any carry the rare plants or real cold hardy temperate bamboo along with great prices or service

Chele/ groups.yahoo.com/group/eastcoastbamboogroup

Received healthy bambusa 'alphonse karr' specimen. Plant developed quite a curve from being bent in box, but, hopefully, it will straighten. Plant was not wilted and was nice size.

I wish I could give a positive rating, if only because the woman I talked to was so nice everytime I called. But I placed an order for two bamboos in January, and the first time I called (April) they said one of them wasn't ready to ship yet, and they couldn't tell me when it would be. The second time (early May) I was told that they were holding the order because they weren't sure if they had enough of it to ship, and they still couldn't tell me when (if?) it might be shipped. Finally (late May) I was told that they didn't have any left, but that they would have it sometime later this year. She did offer to substitute another bamboo, but I really wanted the one I had ordered and it's not like I had placed my order at the last minute! (I note that this particular bamboo is still being listed in their online catalog.) After 4 months I finally got frustrated and cancelled my order.

ordered 2 single flower kerria japonica plants on May 19th.

card was charged on May 25th and plants shipped that day.

arrived via UPS Ground on May 28th. plants were in good shape and looked healthy. they were well packed in plastic wrapped pots and newspaper.

will plant them this weekend, and will report if they don't grow well!!

Michael in Hampstead, NC

I ordered 7 rare native plant varieties on 10/14/1993. I followed up by email on 11/17 and requested to buy an 8th rare native. Ruth McCormick responded that day by email that the full order would be shipped that week. Plants were invoiced on 11/19 and I received them on 11/20. I ordered and was charged for 15 individual plants, and received 4 extra free plants of various varieties I had ordered. I just added these to my Dave's Garden journal, so I thought it was about time I posted this.

I received two plants of Muhlenbergia capillaris from Tripple Brook—the only source I could find for this grass—in early April, 2003. The plants arrived as scheduled, well packed and dormant (or so I thought; M. c. is a warm season grower). With no change in their condition, I contacted Tripple Brook within 10 days of planting them and explained why I hadn’t called right away (presumed dormancy). About a week later, two new plants of M. c. arrived, with fresh green growth. They have done very well. I’m happy. Tripple Brook is a good resource for other hard-to-find plants, too.

I received very nice plants of very hard to find varieties. They arrived well packed and in good shape. I look forward to ordering more next year.

I ordered some Indian Pink plants from them in the summer of 2002 because I couldn't find them in stock anywhere else. They were expensive and shipping was not immediate; however, they did explain this on the front end. When they arrived, an extra plant was included in the well-packed box. The plants are doing fine and are flowering right now. Beautiful blossoms. I will order from them again. Their catalog is a favorite to read.

I ordered my plants on March 23. My credit card was charged on April 9. I received my plants on May 6.

There are good things and bad things that I can say about my experience.

The positive:

The plants that I ordered were very hard to find any place else. They were shipped via UPS and arrived alive. They were larger than I had expected them to be. The plants were shipped in burlap and were healthy.

The negative:

My credit card was charged a full month before my plants were even shipped. I had to call twice to check the status of my order. The roots are not very well formed yet, as these are rooted cuttings.

I think if you can not find what you are looking for from another company and you are NOT in a hurry to receive your plants then this could be the place for you. But, if you are anxious to get digging then you might want to shop around.

Tripple Brook shipped my plants in July, which being the hottest month of the year is not so good for transplanting. (Their catalog mentions that they ship "later" than other companies but I certainly wasn't expecting things THAT late.)

Also the wintergreen plants were flowering on arrival, it is my understanding that it is extremely hard on a plant to be transplanted while in bloom!

Since I was unemployed when the plants arrived, I was able to devote the next month to keeping them from dying. Now that I am back to work, I would not consider ordering from Tripple Brook again since I won't have time to spend all day every day preventing the plants from becoming too hot or dry in July and August.

I ordered three witchhazel plants, which arrived just recently. They were shipped very well via UPS. The plants are a decent size, and hopefully they are aclimating to their new garden. This nursery was the only source of witchazel that I could find, and their catalog does have a lot of interesting New England native plants. I have used the plant drawings and descriptions to identify some of my local (SE MAss) native plants.

The catalog is a joy to read; very informative, with many items I haven't seen anywhere else. But the service was questionable.
I ordered in...May I think. When items didn't show up right away, I assumed I'd just ordered them too late for this season. But the items showed up mid-July (in Wisconsin, as elsewhere, this is a bad time to plant).
The hardy arctic kiwis and maypop came in peat pots inside plastic pots inside plastic bags and looked green and healthy. The wintergreen was just a section (about the size of an open hand) dug up an dropped into a plastic bag; it was a bit brown. Some newspaper and a decent-sized box.
The kiwis seem to be coming along nicely. The maypop is not, but I think something's eating it so I won't blame the company. The wintergreen is still alive.
I have yet to call/write Tripplebrook to see what they have to say. I might order from them again, but I'll probably call and check on delivery, and be after them as soon as things seem late.

I work at a large native plant garden and we depend on this nursery for many native plants. They often carry things we can't find elsewhere and they are always healthy and well-grown plants. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. With some nurseries you can just feel the love. This is one of those.

I think you should consider adding this native (and non-native) plant supplier. They offer lots of mosses, and other plants which I've never seen anywhere else. I ordered a pomegranate for my son for Christmas and they shipped it in December. Come spring it leafed out in perfect health, even though it was in a container. They are organic which is nice. Surprisingly, they do not charge more than non-organic sources.