The scoop on 'Plant America (formerly Etera)'

I ordered several plants from Etera and everyone is doing very well, that was at least 3 or 4 years ago. My perennals have spread many times and I have transplanted them sorry to hear they are gone

I purchased 10 perenials from Plant America thinking they would show up as vibrant as 60 Etera plants I'd purchased in the past. Of the ten puny little plants that showed up, 2 were dead. It took a number of phone calls and e-mail messages to get my money back for those plants.

Two years later, only 6 of the remaining 8 plants are alive, and are struggling. They may have Etera's name, but they do NOT have the quality plants that I was expecting.

Last Spring ,2003 , I ordered 10 Astilbe Bressingham Beauty and 10 Astilbe Snowdrift .They were supplied by Ednie Flower Bulb with the order being processed by Plant America. They were Superb !!! Excellent size and quality .All of them grew beautifully and have survived my winter just fine. I was real pleased with the service I received and will definitely be ordering again .Excellent plants - A1 in my book.

Two (?) years ago, we placed a large order of perennials. Over half the plants arrived frozen solid in the planting containers, promptly rotting as soon as they thawed. After several phone calls, Etera replaced the plants - this time, four or five were frozen. We gave up. I still receive e-mails from PlantAmerica, but will not order from this company or its affiliates.

I understand Etera is now out of business, and Plantamerica doesn't have its plant sales website up at this late date. Still, should the old Etera be resurrected, I'll be happy to be a return customer.

Etera's plants do NOT hold up well in garden center conditions, but there are some plants that simply don't do well (Brunnera macrophylla to name just one). I worked in the garden center industry for several years, and have been an avid gardener for even longer. What does beautifully in your garden isn't always what looks good or does well in a nursery setting.

As a home gardener, I was very pleased with the price, quality and selection of the plants from this company. One other note--I find the fiber pots tend to wick moisture away from the plants and lead to root bound plants, so I always removed the fiber pots (instructions to the contrary notwithstanding) prior to planting.

I ordered twice from Etera.com and was very satisfied with both the speed in which I received my order as well as how well they grew. I ordered a mixed variety the first time and the hummingbird/butterfly garden package the second time and everything I received grew very well the first year and even more beautiful the second. I will certainly order from Plant America and hope to receive the same good service.

Our nickname for Etera perennials is "e-terrible". It seems that the plants & packaging do not hold up well at nurseries. I have no experience with Plant America however.

I have ordered from Etera for the past 3 years and have found their products to be excellent. If the plants did not survive, they replaced them. However, Etera has filed for Chapter 11. I do not know if they are taking any new orders, but they were unable to help me with the 12ice plants that died and I wanted to replace.

I was impressed with the photos and plant data at their site. The plants arrived when promised but were less than robust although they were well packed. Considering that they were a third of the cost of local nursery plants, I expected something more. Now, several weeks down the line, most are doing well but still very petite.

I purchased over $200 of Etera Perennials late last summer. My garden was beautiful! This spring all of my plants came back except half of the Etera plants. I have been gardening for 25 years and this is the first time I have had such a high % of failure. I contacted Etera and was told that I should contact their garden expert about how to overwinter perennials. I was also told that there was no replacement policy in effect. Thanks Etera for letting me help you fund your Christmas party. I am off to another garden center to fill in the holes that Etera left in my garden and pocketbook.

Took advantage of an on-line order - 5 plants for $5. Since I am just starting a very large area of perennial garden - I always have room. There was no shipping charge. I received small but healthy looking plugs of achillea (a yellow variety that is blooming gloriously), a sedum - Autumn Joy, a cone flower, a rudbeckia and a butterfly bush. Every one is thriving and growing. I was impressed and pleased. I would order from this company again, as well as purchase their products locally. In fact, I have found two local sources for their product so that I can do this.

Their customer service leaves something to be desired. When I asked about the policy on two plants which did not make it into winter and have not appeared this spring, they took two weeks to finally have someone tell me that they will not replace plants in my care. I will not use Etera again (and they have raised their prices), when there are many reputable companies that guarantee their plants.

Included in the flowers which I ordered from this wonderful company are: 5 perennial geraniums (sanguineum), 3 sunrose, 6 rose queen perennial salvia, and one Filagree upright Russian sage. I was amazed at the careful way they were packed, and all are flourishing. They were shipped from Washington State all the way to Connecticut, and arrived in great condition. They are indeed a nursery one can trust. They also have a wonderful catalog.

I was in a cost effectiveness test that etara did last summer, and I received 6 plants (for cost of shipping only) from them through the mail. I planted them, and 3 of them did not survive, they replaced the plants for free and there was no charge of any kind to include shipping and handling. The plants are now healthy and growing in my garden. I will purchase plants from them again.

This fall I ordered from Etera. The plants arrived well packed, healthy, and although the delphinium didn't grow very tall, being it was so late in the fall already, it bloomed for several weeks! I am looking forward to ordering from them this spring.

I ordered from several mail order companies just to compare this fall. At the top of my list was Etera. I had 2 blooms on my stella d'oro before I even got it into the ground. The coreopsis had buds on it when I rec'd it. All very healthy.

I purchased two Sedum Autumn Joy plants from a local garden center in May, for $4.95 each. So far they are doing fantastically, exactly as Etera advertises. They are both 18 - 24 inches tall and very healthy as of July 10th, the flowerheads are beginning to show signs of color. I recently ordered from Etera for mail order, and will update this post upon arrival.

I ordered 12 perennial plants from them in June 99. I received them in a timely fashion in good condition and nicely packaged. They are all doing very well so I definitely recommend Etera. Also, all their plants come in plantable pots so they are very easy.

I purchased a plant from Etera from my local nursery last month. So far, so good. The plant is doing very well in my garden. The nursery price was about the same as the catalog price, with tax and shipping taken into consideration. Looking forward to some beautiful bloom.

Approximately 7 days ago I received my first order from Etera. These plants are incredibly healthy and robust! They begin growing the minute they're unpacked. My gardening neighbors and friends have been amazed to see the size and quality of these mail-order plants! On the same day that the Etera plants arrived, I also received an order from Parks. There is absolutely no comparison between the two orders! The Parks plants are anemic, beat-up, weak, small-rooted, and sad looking. The Etera plants are packed well and are so astoundingly healthy that it is hard to believe that they have been shipped all the way across the country! I'm absolutely sold on Etera!