The scoop on 'A&A Cycads'

I have had nothing but wonderful experiences when dealing with A&A Cycads. They have to be the most helpful of any mailorder nursery I have ever purchased from and no matter how relentless I am with the questions about a particular cycad they always answer all my emails and/or phone questions I may ask and send me pics of the plant to boot! I live in south Mississippi (8b) where it occassionally gets below freezing, therefore, I have to make sure a particular cycad is cold hardy before I make a purchase. Maurice has been more than helpful when it comes to suggesting many wonderful cycads for my zone 8 climate. I've ordered a Encephalartos Lehmanii and a large Macrozamia Moorei from them and was more than pleased with the size, health and packaging they arrived in (helps that I was shown a pic of the plant before I bought it). Both plants are doing great and putting out new leaves on a steady basis. I would not hesitate for a minute to order from them again, in fact I'm going to their website after I finish this review. Thank you Maurice, Ameni, Karista and everyone at A&A cycads for you untiring help and service!

I recently purchased four wonderful cycad specimens (Cycas taitungensis, Dioon edule, Encephalartos altensteinii, and Macrozamia communis) from A&A Cycads. The plants were great value for these rare cold-hardy cycads, and Maurice is very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful !

This is an excellent place for buying cycads- not only does Maurice have an excellent selection of plants, but his prices are reasonable, and he really seems to care about both the plants and the people. I have never ordered a plant to be mailed as i live pretty close to this nursery (lucky me) and it is a terrible tempation. If you like cycads and are ever in the Los Angeles area, you really have to make this a stop before you buy cycads anywhere else (though there are other good places for these plants... but not with this selection AND these prices... at least not in Los Angeles County).

I've purchased both seeds and plants, and the quality is undeniable. Maurice and his staff also provide excellent customer service and I'm sure I'll be buying from them again!

I ordered 3 seedlings of rare Encephalartos this Winter (Dec. 04) from A&A Cycads. They arrived at my door surprisingly within days, and in beautiful condition. As of now (July 05), they have all put up 2-3 new leaves. Excellent service and quality. These are very rare plants we're talking about here, but ordering was almost as simple and automatic as ordering pizza!

Last year I ordered several seeds from them and had a terrible time with the postal money order being late,lost or something.All conversations with the staff were great,they were very helpful and in spite of the payment snafu,which probably wasn't their fault,I'd buy from them again.The selection and quality was exceptional.

I found about A & A Cycads from gardenwatchdog.com, but there were no reviews so I was a bit concerned. I wrote Maurice an email telling him I wanted to "feel out" his company before I went ahead and made an order. Not 10 minutes later, I get a phone call at work from Maurice answering my questions. This is a first class operation folks. Customer service is amazing. Trust me, I've tried to annoy Maurice with all my questions (and there have been a lot), and it just hasn't happened. His cycad selection is the best I have found yet on the internet and his prices are competitive. Maurice is the treasurer of the international cycad society and he has a lot at stake in his business so he can't afford but to have satisfied customers. I am certainly one of them. Don't be fooled by the lone review (apparently there's a lot more on yahoo's rating page but I didn't look them up) This is a top notch business that's been around for a long time. If you like cycads, especially rare ones, you should at least give A & A a chance before you spend money somewhere else.