The scoop on 'Fantastic Plants'

I spent several weeks searching for vendors of a specific plant. Most listed pot size, but I was more concerned about how tall the plants would be. The pot size wasn't giving me that and I didn't receive answers from several vendors I emailed inquiring about that. By the time I'd gotten to the 13th page of my search, I ran across Fantastic Plants that listed the actual height of the offered plant.

When I checked the reviews here, it pushed me over the edge. I ordered, and received my plants in excellent shape. The delivery was fast, packing was excellent, and the quality of the plants was even better. I wouldn't expect HUGE plants, but the plants I ordered were several inches taller than the advertised height. The shipping costs were very reasonable, especially considering the bulkiness and weight of the package.

When I got my plants and saw the rootballs, I was very glad I ordered from Fantastic Plants, rather than other vendors selling 1 gallon pots, I'll say that! Thanks so much for an excellent buying experience, FP. I'd definitely recommend these folks.

I recently moved to North Carolina after extensively landscaping my previous home in New York.Upon browsing the internet for the specific trees and shrubs that I was looking for, I came upon Fantastic Plants. I decided to entrust my first landscaping dollars to them and, boy, was I bowled over! The size, vigor, and overall healthy appearance certainly made me into a future customer. I had a few questions and was able to speak with the same gentleman twice and I was assured that they would " do right by me". Over the years I've had good experiences with mail-order nurseries and sometimes just chalked up less than good experiences to experience. Not this nursery. They supply you with what you pay for and then some. My husband was even impressed- and he's not usually too interested!
My advice is look to Fantastic Plants first!

They should get it over with and change the name to Huge-Plants.com.......
what else can I say,another happy,impressed customer..

Fantastic is right-
I recently went on a substantial plant buying tear to begin the landscaping work on our new house and Fantastic Plants won this first round hands down. The plants were all larger and more robust than I expected with great color and shape- not a dud among them. This order was primarily Japanses Maples and conifers- two catagories where teeny plants are the norm. Not here- I received huge healthy plants that are clearly ready for the big backyard. The JM's especially were a happy surprise- not stick plants at all and far larger than I paid for. They arrived exactly when I wanted, the packing was perfect and the shipping charges were far more reasonable than anywhere else.
My new best friends!

Back in February I placed a large order for liriope, ilex crenata, and ilex fosteri. I asked for the order to be shipped the second week of May. The plants arrived exactly when I requested, and Fantastic Plants sent me an email with the UPS tracking number. The plants were very well packed and everything arrived in good condition. The ilex crenata were especially big. One thing that you shouldn't overlook is how inexpensive Fantastic Plants' shipping is. I would recommend this company.

Tree was described as 2-3' and was actually 3.5'. Shipped quickly and looks to be in fine shape/healthy. So far so good; exceeded my expectations.

john

I ordered 2 yew from this company in early summer 2006, as a replacement for the ones I had gotten the previous year from Gurneys, some of which had died. They were honest, shipped to me on the week I requested, and the plants were HUGE. I think I ordered 18" plants, and they were closer to 30" and full, thick, green and healthy! I was so pleased I ordered a couple more later in the summer and received them in about 10 days. Again, pleasently surprised at the great plants I received. I can't say enough wonderful things about this company, I'm in ND and plants rarely reach me in good condition, but these orders were great! I'll be buying all trees and shrubs from them in the future.

I ordered twice and received items quickly. Couple conifers I ordered were rootbound and not exactly pretty, but I'm sure will grow

Ordered a laceleaf japanese maple (Red Dragon) this past spring. Very healthy specimen. Quick delivery. Tree is thriving even though 16 yr. old son backed over it in my car recently (tree wasn't broken, was just severely bent). Won't hesitate to buy from Fantastic Plants again!

On the evening of 04/28/06, I ordered a Juniperus communis 'Compressa', Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star', and Sagina subulata (Scotch Moss). Everything arrived in great condition 7 business days later. The plants were brilliantly packaged--they use a system of shrinkwrapped root balls and cardboard supports that "float" plants without packaging peanuts. The plants are vigorous and a good size: the 'Blue Star' has a diameter of 1 foot and the 'Compressa' is 13" tall. ('Compressa' is a slow-growing dwarf that peaks at 2-3 ft. so 13" to start with is excellent.) If the plants do well over our Zone 5a winter, I will happily order from Fantastic Plants again.

They answer my inquiry promptly, thus I decided to buy form them. Trust the plants will be also nice. Shipping charge is very fair.

Healthy plants, good prices and selection, and to top it off, they offer very good customer service. I would order from them again.

Although this nursery is only 20 miles from me, it is mail order only and not open to the public. I ordered a Bottlebrush Buckeye from them in Spring 2003 and received a large, healthy plant that is growing well today.

Last year I ordered a Japanese Umbrella Pine from this company. I had had one of these in my previous garden for quite a few years, so I was shocked at prices when I started searching for one for my new garden. Fantastic Plants had the best price I could find, but it turned out that the tree was very large and beautiful too. It has just come through its second winter and I am so happy with it. This year I am ordering a Japanese maple, which I am sure will be just as fine. Couldn't be nicer folks to deal with either.

Received my first order today- 9/22/05- certainly not my last order. The plants were in great shape and much larger than anything I have ever received from other online nurseries.
Thank you- look forward to many years of pleasant dealings.

Joan Reid

I have bought and planted two trees from Fantastic Plants : a 5' acer palmatum 'seiryu' and a 6' stewartia pseudocamellia. The former was the first tree I ever planted, and I did almost everything wrong, but it has been amazingly resilient and is now doing great. The second has had a tough time getting established because of the ridiculously dry summer, but it has recently set many new buds, which are just starting to pop, so I think it's going to be OK.

I also bought a small crypotmeria japonica but never planted it, and it did not survive the winter in my garage. However that certainly was not any fault of theirs.

I neglected to mention that I also bought a small pinus thunbergii 'oculus draconis' a few months ago. It is still in the pot and doing fine; I will have to pay more attention to keeping this one alive over the winter.

As a new gardener, I tried several mail order companies, and without any hesitation I would say that Fantastic Plants has sent the largest, healthiest plants I have ordered to date. I have ordered from them twice, and I plan to always check their catalogue first, and order primarily from them, based on my excellent experience.

Due to the overwhelming compliments, I ordered an American Fringe Tree this summer. It arrived in very good condition, and took to it's new home in my yard with tremendous ease! I am thrilled. I plan to order my redbud from this company as well, since the one I bought locally did not survive the summer for some reason. Can't wait!!

I have ordered through Fantastic Plants two times. Both times have been a 'fantastic' experience. The customer service, prices and plant material are top notch. My latest order was for 20 Green Giant Arborvitae. The plants arrived exactly when they were supposed to. They were packed extremely carefully and each plant was in the best of health. I will definitely be ordering from them again!

Top notch growers-and shippers!! I have ordered 4-5 times over the years and have always been very pleased. My most recent order-2 abelias and some groundcovers arrived in short order and excellent condition-good robust plants with the abelias blooming! If you're debating an order from this nursery-do not hesitate! My only disappointment, ever-with this nursery-has been when I wanted to order something late in season and they were (temp) sold out!!

In the summer of 2003, I fell in love with the variegated Japanese maple Oridono Nishiki at a local nursery. Their one plant was about 5 feet tall and reasonably well branched. The price, however, at more than 350.00 was out of the question. In spring of 2004, I ordered the same variety from Fantastic Plants. The tree I received was 6 feet+ and extremely well branched. The packing was impeccable with hardly a leaf so much as creased. The cost, including shipping, was less than half of the plant I had seen at the local nursery. Fantastic plants, indeed!

I recently purchased a magnolia from this company. Being from New Hampshire I was a little cautious in ordering from a Tennessee company because of the zone changes. After the order, I discovered this site and was relieved to see all the positive comments. I have to add my positive comments because "Fantastic Plants" was a pleasure to deal with. They called me personally to arrange the shipping and the plant arrived well packaged and in excellent condition. I will certainly order from this company again. A REAL find!

This is a great company. I ordered a Royal Star Magnolia and four Mahonias several weeks ago. My order was promptly acknowledged and arrived in about a week. The plants were absolutely beautiful and were much larger and fuller than expected. The packaging was excellent. They pack the plant with the root ball embedded in soil and wrapped firmly with plastic wrap. The plant itself is then wrapped in brown paper to protect the leaves and branches during shipping. This was my second order. The prices have gone up quite a bit since my first order several years ago. However, the plant quality simply cannot be beat. I will definitely order again.

Last year (2003) was the first time I ordered from Fantastic and based on my experience they are fairly named. I ordered in May via Internet, got an acknowledgement in two days and the shrubs arrived in 8 days. The plants were well packed, roots moist and good size. Overall, they were taller than specified in the catalog. They established well and produced some blooms. I recommend this grower...

I ordered a tree and three shrubs from “Fantastic Plants,” and am extremely happy with their merchandise. The tree was as large as was stated on their website, and the shrubs were much larger! They have a large variety of plants, shrubs, and trees - in fact, I couldn’t find the tree in my area at all. The prices are very reasonable, and their shipping charges are excellent! The plants came very well packaged, only seven days after I placed my order. I will definitely order from them again (I’m already browsing...)

I ordered from this company for the first time this spring using their web site. I was more than pleased with the plants I received. To cite one example, the aesculus pavia I received was at least twice the size indicated in the online catalog and was very reasonably priced to begin with. Packing was excellent and the service was incredible. My plants were delivered six days after placing my order and I was kept completely informed about shipping through email. Only a single experience to be sure, but a great combination of plants, price (including shipping costs) and service.

Today I had an excellent experience with Fantastic Plants' customer service with a problem that was not their fault. I would recommend them in a minute, and I plan to use them again.

I ordered a couple of Acer Palmatums from "Fantastic Plants", and was pleasantly surprised. They were of very good quality and survived the trip 'out West' admirably.

I would not hesitate to order again and would recommend this company to anyone...

Found this company by surfing for shrubs for shade. Just received the 2 "test" woody shrubs and was completely thrilled by the size (over 4'), lots of leaves / branches already and most of all by the excellent packing job. Good size root ball too, not bare roots. I will definitely order from them again.

I got the Fantastic Plants website link from plantsbymail.net. I liked what they offered on the site, but had quite a few questions. When I called, I spoke with Jack Pillsbury, the horiculturist. He was extremely helpful, went through my long list of questions without trying to rush, gave me lots of valuable information, and helped me decide on my order. I recieved my order within two days. The plants were well packed and very healthy! Great service, healthy products, and low prices - I could not be happier!

Excellent size, quality and packaging of the plants I ordered. Everything was as promised.

I loved doing business with this company. Nice sized plants, great prices, friendly telephone contact, speedy delivery...what more can you ask for?

This company is great! The plants are healthy of good size the prices are good the service by phone or internet is great and helpful. I will order again and again. The order came within a week. This is a good one. I have ordered from four online companies and this one by far is the best.
Debbie Andrews
Allentown,PA.

Nice selection with many unusual and hard to find cultivars.We have ordered twice. All plant healthy and well packed. Very helpful folks. We will certainly use them again.

I have just received my third order from Fantastic Plants and their name speaks for itself. Great trees, shrubs and perennials, great prices, great shipping. Fantastic Plants is great to deal with. Over the last few years I have been ordering a lot of mail order plants especially from some of the companies that receive good reviews on the PBM-FAQ. At the top is Fantastic Plants. Mark Pitts, the owner, often answers the phone and is very helpful in answering questions. They now have a web site but I recommend their paper catalog since it has very useful descriptions and cultural information. I have always been very satisfied with their packing and their shipping rates are at the low end of the scale for mail order nurseries. They carry great varieties of trees generally with concentrations in Japanese maples and conifers, shrubs, perennials, ground covers and vines. Also, they have many plants suitable for shadier gardens.