The scoop on 'Willow Creek Gardens'

Willow Creek Gardens totally impressed me last spring with the begonia tubers I ordered. Although I've been gardening for a long time, I've never realized the begonia tubers came as plump and big as these were. And although it's close to the end of the growing season here in Zone 5, the huge healthy plants are blooming on and on in their vivid and unusual color combinations. Considering the fact that Willow Creek sends very nicely packed lots of three tubers per order, I couldn't be more pleased--especially since the single nearly $30 tuber I ordered from a famous Northeast company never has bloomed. I'm expecting a shipment of iris and peonies from Willow Creek this week and I can hardly wait!

We ordered cannas ( tropicanna and tropicanna gold ) from them and they were in absolutely beautiful condition. The canna are now five feet tall and striking. They were also great help in finding others that they did not carry.

In April of this year (2008) I happened to come across Willow Creek Gardens while searching for begonia and achimenes bulb. The pictures on their site were beautiful. I ordered the "Picotee Sunburst" begonias, and several varieties of achimenes. The "Picotee Sunburst", and Achimenes bulbs were packed very well. Very healthy bulbs. I planted them indoors right away and when the begonia's began to bloom I didn't think they were the right color and seemed to different than the description on site. I sent an email informing them that the bulbs must have been mis-labeled and that I was just letting them know for their info. I did not expect such positive attention, and was surprised to get an apology via email within hours saying replacements were on the way. 2 days later I received double the orig. order. Now, after returning from vacation I was shocked to see that the orig. plants had 2nd flush of the most beautiful begonia blooms I have ever seen. So I emailed Kathleen for an invoice so I could pay them,and apologized for the trouble. She emailed me and said " I'm happy for you, and Thank you for being our customer. Have a beautiful summer. I will be ordering from them again, happily. Tookiebird

This was my first use of Willow Creek Gardens.I could
not be more pleased!!! Kathleen is a treasure! I hope
they realize that.Easy to work with.My order was filled
& shipped promptly...Plan to use them again in the
future. Only POSITIVE rating coming from me.Thanks
W.C.!!

My bulbs got here in a timely manner, they were nice and moist, packed well and most of them are really big.
Will recommend this company.
One funny side note; if you order from their sister company you get free bulbs if you order for a certain amount.
Had I known that, I would have ordered from them. The website shows the same products and who doesn't like gifts? :-)
Christie

I ordered 3 Alstroemeria and they arrived in beautiful condition in a very timely matter. I had been looking for the purple color for a while and voila.....Willow Creek had it!

Shipping was prompt and the shipping confirmation email was very friendly. I'll definately order from these folks again. I have them saved to my favorites!

I ordered 8 "Sparkling Burgundy" heuchera from this company. Although Willow Creek is in California (and I in Tennessee) I still ordered because they had the best price and the variety that I wanted. When the plants arrived, they were absolutely beautiful! The burgundy leaves were brilliant and in great shape. Also, the customer service for this company is EXCELLENT. Before the huechera arrived, there was a slight mix-up with my order. Willow Creek fixed the problem immediately and to my satisfaction. It's hard to find this kind of quality service and product anymore.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION! I ordered on Thursday, received Monday at 8:30 a.m., and had planted by 9:45 a.m.. HUGE Eucharis Grandiflora and Tuberose bulbs. Blazing communication in all respects by great people. Look forward to doing business again and again.

Cathleen Larson Buschman

I purchased freesia, ranunculus, rain lilies.Achimenes from Willowcreekgardens. Such wonderful customer service, my emails were prompt answered, Nicely packaged & shipped with bonus bulbs too!!. I will order again. I am very pleased with my order.
Thanks Jon.

I don't think I've ever received such large dahlia clumps before. The order was packed carefully and arrived quickly.

I like the good prices for packs of 3 (on large tubers like dahlias, and plants) and I like that shipping is calculated by the weight of my purchase -- what a novel concept, shipping that actually costs what it costs!

I wish they had a bigger dahlia selection.

I started ordering from Willow Creek Gardens last fall. My amaryllis bulbs, that I forced inside, produced awesome flowers in December. I have purchased other flower bulbs just recently, and their service and packaging is exceptional. Willow Creek Gardens is on top of my list for online purchasing!

Just recieved 20 handsome crocosmia bulbs.Well packed,clean and dry.
Will definatly do business with them again.DG hasn't let me down in my first year of ordering on-line.

Ordered bulbs and they were delivered quickly.One bulb was damaged in shipment and one email had a replacement at my door within three days.Service just doesn't get any better than this.Thank you Willow Creek,I will be ordering again.

Fast shipping /nice products !!!!

before willow creek gardens say they haven't heard from me my order number is 5964..I have called, e-mail (which was answered once and never again) and still have not been advised on what to do about the peonys I planted in Oct of last year that has tryed to mush (the root that is) the e-mail I got back from them told me that was not good..ha don't I know it! They asked how many I ordered I replyed and nothing! So willow creek gardens I can't wait to hear you say you didn't know about this one!

I recently ordered some carpet roses and several varieties of hostas from Willow Creek Gardens. They were at my door within 72 hours, beautifully packaged, and I was quite pleasantly surprised at the size of all the plants, particularly for bareroot. I emailed Willow Creek with a question about another order I wanted to place and received a reply within 24 hours. The quality of both the service and the products has been delightful. Thanks, Willow Creek!!

Received my bulbs and daylilies in good time and excellent condition. Looking forward to lots of pretties soon.

I have placed several orders this month, having been impressed with the speed of delivery, prices, and the condition of the items ordered on arrival. Although I haven't planted any of them yet, the dicentras and gingers I ordered have been large and well packaged. I'm waiting to receive some oxalis and geraniums and will report later on the growth after planting.

For Christmas I ordered three amaryllis bulbs from Willow Creek Gardens. Every year I’ve purchased amaryllis bulbs from the local grocery store for some winter blooms and have always been happy enough with them, but this was the first year I’d looked for a higher quality amaryllis. Those bulbs that I’ve gotten from the grocery store and those that Willow Creek sent might as well be two different plant species.

Willow Creek’s amaryllis bulbs are very affordable (not any more than those grocery store ones for the bulbs alone), of an excellent size and they have an amazing selection. The one that I did purchase potted came in a beautiful basket style pot and was packaged well enough that none of the soil or moss came out of the pot in shipping. They were very quick getting the order out even during the busy Christmas season.

The last of the bulbs started opening up its bloom today and the other two are still going. I’ve never seen such large and numerous blooms on such vigorous and utterly gorgeous amaryllis plants. I couldn’t be happier with them and look forward to ordering more bulbs from Willow Creek.

Best Begonias I have grown in years. I ordered -

Begonia Picotee Lace Salmon

Begonia Hanging Basket Salmon Serenade

Getting decent begonias in the midwest without a greenhouse is a long shot but these preformed perfectly.

Plus their Caladiums have done very well too. They started in mid June and are still going strong

An amazing company--tubers became huge healthy lush begonias, the size of peonies. Customer service also extremely responsive, polite and prompt. In form, color and size of bloom, these begonias are far superior to those of high- end Northeast nursery which markets expensive Blackmore and Langdon varieties. Even though the Willow Creek begonias come from California, they are thriving in my New York City garden. In the future, I will purchase my begonias only from this superb California nursery. Don't waste your money elsewhere: I highly recommend Willow Creek Gardens!

When I told people I was ordering plants from California off the web and having them ship to Florida - they told me I was crazy! I was very pleased when I received my two Tropicanna Gold plants.They arrived in excellent condition and I immediately unpacked watered and stuck them in the sun. My two are now in the ground and are truly growing. The service at Willow Creek Gardens was truly wonderful!

--deerinfield
Boynton Beach, FL

I forgot to provide feedback immediately after receiving my order earlier this year. Watsonias were healthy, properly packed and shipped promptly. Communications were efficient. Highly recommend.

Ordered 3 black canna And only 1 rizome had a eye and its doing good.Tried and left message and got no response.I will not buy again.The other 2 have not gotten an eye I think now thier dead

We're sorry to hear that this customer has had a problem with a recent order. We were not notified of the issue when the order was received, nor have we received an email or phone communication to that effect. If this customer will call (760) 877-5926 or email us [e-mail:customerservice@willowcreekgardens.com], we'd be happy to try to resolve the situation.

Willow Creek Gardens is excellent!!!! I have ordered from them several times and have yet to be disappointed. The costumer service is exceptional. Every bulb I received was healthy, huge and most importantly bloomed the first year. I have never received anything from this company that was a “dud”. Plus every order arrived very quickly. I would highly recommend ordering from this company, you will not be disappointed. I know that I will keep ordering from this company time and time again. This company is a godsend amongst the sea of online nurseries and Bulb Company’s.

I had an excellent experience with this company. I ordered six Lily of the Valley pips from them several weeks ago and received them very fast. About a week or so ago I received another package from Willow Creek with six more HUGE Lily of the Valley pips! Apparently they thought the pips they had sent previously were not top quality and sent me the replacements for free. I was so impressed with their honesty and integrity; so few companies would do something like that. The Lilies are beautiful and have started to blossom already.

Willow Creek also has an wonderfully helpful planting guide section on their website. It has been extremely useful to me. And the customer service is excellent- Kathleen is so friendly and helpful! I will definitely order more from them in the future.

I don't even know where to begin! I am so completely impressed with Willow Creek and Kathleen that I'd hug her if she wasn't so far away. She started working with me in December as I was trying to put together a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I wanted more than anything to gift my SIL with Lily Of the Valley pips for her to use in a remembrance garden she was making in honor of her mom who crossed over last summer. I must have checked 100 different online and local sources and none could send me pips in December, but I was so impressed with the care and the promptness that Kathleen extended to me that I did place an order to be delivered as soon as they were available to ship. (and a 'wee' order for myself, hey, I deserve nice things too!)

Kathleen helped me chose the right plants for my zone, color preferences and light requirements, always patient and knowledgeable. When my order arrived I was 'doing the happy dance' at the size of the Astilbe, the bulbs were fat and healthy, and the roots on the Agapanthus were tree like, seriously I had intended to pot it up in a 1 gallon until the weather warmed, and it just laughed at that itty bitty container.

I worked customer service for many years, and it can be a trying and frustrating task if you don't believe in the products you're selling and love the people you're working with. Willow Creek and Kathleen have nothing to worry about on that account, their plants are top rate as is their service.

This week I've placed a second order (had to have the white Agapanthus and a few other things for my moon garden), and I'm sure to place a third order and a fourth!
jeannie/kini

Basically I have ordered my entire garden using on-line services. I recently ordered Crocosmia bulbs from Willow Creek. When I first called, I connected with an answering machine. Within minutes they returned my called, very prompt and extremely nice. I felt like I was the only customer that she was concerned about! One of the bulbs I wanted was not listed in her stock but she knew of some inventory that had not been added. She took the time to move plants and bulbs around on her inventory stock in order to complete my wants list. And instead of the 2-3 week delivery time, my order was here within 5 days! I will definitely be ordering from Willow Creek again and soon, I'm working on my "list" already!!!

I ordered 3 Flower Carpet roses. They arrived very quickly, well packaged and in beautiful condition. And when I managed to not treat the beautiful plants well and nearly kill them (my fault, not Willow Creek's), Willow Creek Gardens was very helpful in telling me how to resusitate the plants.

Placed an order on Mar 26, received the order on Mar 29th. Everything was well packaged, clearly labeled with planting instructions. I received big, fat, healthy bulbs and all bulbs are in stages of fresh growth. I will order again from this company, probably very soon.

I recently ordered some Cannas for a friend who had lost her husband. The company had a bit of trouble with the order (it was supposed to be potted Cannas, but they received corms instead). They e-mailed me right away with the most sincere concern for my satisfaction that I have ever experienced.

I wrote back and told them I wanted to go ahead and explained the circumstances. They again wrote back, responding to the agony they knew my friend would be going through. They got the corms in the mail right away. It was very personal and caring.

Very impressive - I'll definitely order again.

I just received my order today and am so excited to plant tomorrow! Every looks so healthy and came so well packed and the customer service was "Excellent". Was really pleased!

I ordered several odd little bulbs last fall (2006) and though it's too soon to tell how they'll do this season, I want to say now that I was very pleased with the customer service last fall when I ordered. My email questions were answered immediately, thoroughly, and thoughtfully and when there was a wee little technical glitch in one order it was addressed and remedied promptly.

i am going to write more when i get my order but kathleen at the gardens is super. they had a collection of watsonia and she worked with me for 2 wks as i bought and selected. she answered every email..............PROMPTLY!

Excellent variety of bulbs, good price for the quality, no problem with packing or shipping.