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I ordered two Anna Louise clematis on April 18. They were shipped on May 1 and arrived on May 6 -- in transit 5 days. They were supposed to be shipped in 3 1/2" pots, but the pots were 2 1/2", with a note explaining that their supplier had shipped them that way. They sent a $5 coupon for my inconvenience. But they were poorly packaged, with very little bone-dry soil in them; one was completely dead and withered, the other was about 75% dead and withered. Did I mention that they cost $9 EACH? That's $18 worth of dead or mostly dead clematis.
I have just completed an email to them requesting a refund for the clematis and also canceling the rest of my order. I am hoping it hasn't shipped yet.
At this stage, I am waiting to see what their customer service is like. Will I receive a refund relatively quickly and without fuss, or will I have to get on the phone to move things along?
I will report back on my customer service experience. I wish I had read the reviews sooner!
On May 9th, 2009, Marya_K added the following:
Two days later: I did receive an email from them confirming my order cancellation and promising a full refund to my charge card in the next billing cycle. I will post again to confirm that this happened.
Ordered a perennial. When I opened the box, there was an inner container that contained the pot and the plant. There was no attempt in packing to keep the plant and planting mix in the pot. The plant was laying without any soil around it and the very little of the planting mix was still in the pot. I have put the plant and planting mix back into the pot and am keeping it moist. We will see what happens, but I don't have a lot of confidence that it will survive. Clearly, no more live plant orders form Dutch Gardens.
We are sorry that your plant arrived in such poor condition. All of the plants we sell are guaranteed 100%, and we are happy to stand behind that promise. We can either issue a credit to your account that can be used toward your next Dutch Garden's order, issue a refund to your credit card, or we can send you a replacement plants if available.
Please, contact us by sending an email to info-dg@dutchgardens.com or call us at toll free at 1-800-876-5520 so we can take care of this problem right away.
In years past I have been very happy with this company and always look forward to each new catalog when it arrives. Imagine my surprise when I found that prices in the new 2009 catalog where 3 times what they had been last year @ this time. I had saved my old catalog so I was able to compare prices. I will not be ordering from them this year......there are too many good companies listed on this website to pay these high prices. I compared $ with other companies & did not find these kind of price increases if any @ all.
On Jul 14, 2008, wendyelsey Portland, OR (Zone 7b) wrote:
I tried to buy a plant (Bonfire Euphorbia) from them. I got a "we have in stock" go ahead and was excited!! My mother had looked at their SDAME site (I have copies of the : sold out sign),.... So Iookede them up, and it was al of a suden.. in stock. I worked at a nursery, so I know it can change fast,...
They stated after the fact of having it "in stock"
Your words:
# Flower supports
ship separately from bulbs and plants. You can efxpect delivery in 6-12 business days
If it is not accurate, contact me... dont tell me later that I will get it in late fall?????????
Fall... is not in 6 to 12 days..............
I am trying to cancel with them.. but we will see. I am notiying my bank. I have print outs o\f everything.. from sold out.. to in stock/.to 6-12 days.. not October?
wow
I would NOT recommend them at all........ I was told my credit card would be charged multiple times too.. that equal the total??? I dont think that is w=right at all.......... something seems not right here
I tried to cancel today, I will let you k now if there os a big issue......... Un truthful things has been all that I have gotten....
Beware................ if you want now, big issue......!!!!!! Bad time. I will tell you too of they charge my credit card after today. This would be WAY after I told them to stop and cancel due to contract voilation/..........
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Never had such an issue with ANY!!!!!!!!!!!! vendor but them.... here is some of what I received in emIL..after they had my credit card info........
> Total
> $23.90
> When you receive your credit card statement, you'll see multiple charges adding up to the total on this confirmation.
--
# Flower supports
ship separately from bulbs and plants. You can expect delivery in 6-12 business days.
What I wrote:
I am surprised it takes 6-12 days, wouldn't that not be good for a plant with it being the summer? Being held in shipping for that long?
Do you guarantee the plants health in shipping?
And the multiple charges on the credit card. Will it be 2 seperate for the plant and another for shipping? I am just curious so I can keep track in my checking account.
They wrote back....... not happy..................
We ship plants in the spring and we ship plants in the fall. I checked your order and we plan to send your Bonfire Euphorbia mid to late October 2008. When we are shipping, we quote 6-12 business days from the time you order. The plants come directly from the grower and it takes time for us to process the order paperwork and the grower to prepare the plant to ship. The plant will not be in transit for 6-12 business days. We have a 100% guarantee on all of our plants.
The Bonfire Euphorbia will be shipped in a 4 inch pot as advertised in our catalog and web site. You will most likely only see one charge on your credit card for this order. There are times when items ship from different locations or at different times or the shipping shows up as a separate charge. We mention this up front so customers know there is a possibility it may happen on their order. All of the charges will add up to the original price quoted at the time of purchase.
4 inch pot for $30 bucks??? are3 you kidding?
owch............... Nothing about a 4 inch for that much....
Just warning people. this is bad bad! I will never ;look twice here............
On July 14th, 2008, wendyelsey added the following:
I called like they encouraged me to.. after receiving an email from them saying they wanted my experience to be "positive" with their company. I was checking to make sure it was canceled. The customer service was less than nice. The lady on the phone talked over me.. didnt hardly listen to anything I said. If they were trying to make it a positive experience? they did 100% the opposite with her attitude and not caring at all about their customer. Instead of trying to make it right, she was very rude... Even if they did have nice stuff (which looks like they dont from previous DG members) the customer service just blew me away. Rude.. period point blank. I would advise anyone else.. find another vendor, that treats you with respect........
I bought from Dutch gardens for two years and early enough, i realized that this is to much of hit and miss. I ordered Casa blanca lily, 1/3 grew, 25 queen faviola= none grew, peony (festiva maxima) = grew diseased leaves, rose (stainless steel)= grew diseased leaves, perennials: butter fly bush, blue star sea holly, fire work begonia, emereld-blue phlox = all died soon after (and I am accomplished gardener that have 98% success with plants, even rare exotics), dahlias (mixture and dutch infusion) = Yes, grew and bloomed for one season but never came back (my understanding that these were perennial in zone 9). So, i have one diseased rose + one dying peony to remind me of the performance of this company. i will take my loss and go elsewhere. Keep the catalog if you want to look at nice pictures but RUN with your wallet.
On Jun 8, 2008, Michele58 Louisville, KY (Zone 6a) wrote:
I ordered an Etain Viola that arrived looking like it had the top eaten by something. It had to have gone into the shipping box looking like that. Unbelievalbe. I sent a photo to them and they offered to refund my money or since they no longer had the item they would send a replacement next year.
This is the 2nd year I've ordered from this company. The first year I received 4 barerooted peonies, one which came out this year with completely withered leaves, and another that looks like it is ailing. I feel I was given duds. Prior to these plants actually appearing from the ground, I mistakenly ordered an additional $150 worth of plants this year. The plants that I really wanted, 2 Japanese maples, weren't delivered. I wasn't charged but that didn't mean the rest of my order was correct. The Monarda came completely wilted and died even though I tried to revive it, and 3 rose plants were missing, although I was charged. Three calls to the company not withstanding, I am not happy with the products or the service. This is no way to run an mail order business.
I've been ordering large quantities of Spring flowering bulbs from Dutch Gardens for years. For the last three years I've said to myself I needed to find a new supplier. This year, I will. The problem seems to be quality control, sorta like the way McDonald's apple pies eventually were just compote and no apple. I'll open a bag of tulips and two or three out of six will be rotten, moldy or dessicated. If all the bulbs in the bulb bag were of the same quality... that is, the healthy bulbs are great, but too many years now in a row I've gotten rejects mixed in with premium bulbs. and this, I feel, is the company's attempts to pass their losses off on the consumer. Though their replacement policy is acceptable, I don't really want replacements, I want my order filled with plump, quality bulbs. As a professional gardener with plenty of mail order experience, I recommend finding another dutch bulb distributor, these guys have gotten too big to provide quality plants, which is what you want, not replacements a year later.
A few months ago this review would have been neutral or positive. I have ordered daffodils, tulips, and perennials from dutch gardens. Every perennial I received (3 - 4) was thrown in the trash or given away because it was such a puny bare root, my bulbs for daffodils and hyacinths were always perfect, tulips were a toss, some good some bad. My tulips always split after one year, not really sure it its their fault.
I'm upset because I ordered 3 Mariposa Skies Fragrant German iris, I received 3 huge irises, one arrived filled with fruit flys/borers, with just a shell (no inside, eaten by bugs) The other two looked healthy and I received a replacement for that one, coming this summer I go out and they all have produced offsets during the winter, but two of the three have borers, I believe they were shipped with them. I have never had borers in my iris beds. I will be getting rid of them all and ordering Mariposa Skies from Schreiners instead.
On Mar 17, 2008, littlebrook15 Rock Tavern, NY wrote:
I'm not sure what happened to this company. I was a customer for years and I was always thrilled with the plants I received. However, the Iast two years I placed orders I have recieved the wrong plants. I ordered an Ebb Tide rose that bloomed light lavender, a Double Decker Echinacea that is only a single (two years later--so plenty of time for it to double), a Purple Emporer Sedum that was green, and a full batch of Iris Crysographes that were white, or did not come up. It has been very disappointing.
I do have to say that once they are contacted, they do rectify the situation quickly. I received credits for all the plants that were incorrect, and I appreciate that. However, I used the credits and got more incorrect plants. I've just given up. I used all my credit with them and whatever I got from them I'm just letting grow. I feel it's useless to write to them again and tell them that I've gotten the wrong plants for the third time.
I will not order again from Dutch Gardens.
I've never ordered from the company before and was initially impressed when they called and said one of the things I'd ordered was not up to their standards so they would credit me or substitute something. My impression was much less positive when the other things I ordered arrived. In the packages that were supposed to contain 3 healthy roots/rhizomes/tubers there would be 1 good sized and healthy looking, 1 small shriveled root (or whatever I'd ordered) and something that may have been grass but sure wasn't a root. NOTHING came up. the live plants I recieved died shortly after planting. I called about the problems with size in the first order I recieved (they came in 3 different deliveries) and was told it would be taken care of with the next delivery. it wasn't. after the 3rd call I quit trying and chalked it up to a bad investment. In all fairness, I expected some negative outcome as we had record heat and a drought and even though I watered religiously I assumed I'd lose some plants. None of my established plants died though. I spent over $100.00 with this company but figured they would just blame it on the drought anyway so I quit trying to get satisfaction.
When I first saw the catalog for Dutch Garden's dahlias I was impressed. I decided to do a Red & Orange color scheme along my walk way. I ordered the tubers early but still didn't get them until the end of April. I planted them immeadiately and now it is July 13th, and guess what, they are THE WRONG COLORS> Thats right. Instead of Red and Orange both sets of Dahlias (I ordered the Mrs Eileen and the Zorro) are a deep (almost black) purple. They look really ugly. I sent an email to Dutch Gardens a email just before this message telling them what they did, and not to send me a catalog anymore (they just keep sending them with those same photos). I guess I should have read t his message board first).
Jason in the Bronx.
I have ordered from this company at least three or four times and have had several problems with my order each time. The latest problem I just discovered with the dwarf canna bulbs that I last ordered, which are supposed to be pink, are YELLOW. I had placed this order much earlier in the year and when the package arrived, the pink cannas weren't even in it. I had called and complained and they sent me REPLACEMENT pink cannas (I waited quite a long time for them to arrive, by the way) and now I have discovered, several months later, that my REPLACEMENT pink cannas are YELLOW. Of course, you don't know these types of things until they have been planted for weeks and finally come up.
I have had problems with daylilies too, that aren't the right type. A couple of years ago, I was involved in the "Blueberry Sunday" dayliliy fiasco, in which I got a "blue daylily that wasn't". Apparently I wasn't the only one because the company sent out a "oops" letter to everyone and gave them a coupon. That, at least, was a mark in their favor.
However, I have had problems with another order this year with some dahlias that didn't resemble the picture in the catalog. I have also had to call and complain when I got a bag of expensive bulbs, which was supposed to have had three bulbs, only had two. I also, have gotten bags of bulbs that didn't look too fresh.
I expect a company that deals with thousands of bulbs to make some mistakes.......and of course, some of the bulbs aren't going to make it. Personally, the mislabled bulbs are the most irritating to me because you don't know there is something wrong with them for quite a considerable amount of time, plus it messes up your planting scheme.
I've just been burned too many times now and I won't order from them again. The stuff that is good is good but the company is just too "hit or miss" and you can't trust that the bulbs you order are the ones you will actually be planting. Imagine if you ordered 200 red tulips and after planting them, you discovered that they were white!
This was my first time to order from Dutch Gardens and I am not a happy camper by any means.
I ordered two Vavoom floribunda roses from them. I recieved the roses in a decent time span, but the roses were well past their prime and were packed terribly which resulted in broken roots and the roses were completely dried out. They packed the plants in a plastic bag with just a few pathetic small dry newspaper strips to supposedly keep the roots moist, but everything in the box was dry including the roses. I immediately put the roses to soak, submersing them completely for two days. I cut as much of the dead cane off as possible and planted them but it looks like they are not going to make it even with my best efforts.
When I received the plants I e-mailed them immediately to advise them of the condition of the roses and I have e-mailed them three more times and have yet to receive any reply from them.
I am very disappointed and will not order from them in the future unless they get on the stick and get back in touch with me to resolve this problem very soon.
After placing my order but prior to receiving it, I got several notices and e-mails from them, but now that there is a problem they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
How typical.......
On May 11, 2007, wingedgodd3ss Maysville, GA wrote:
I placed an online order for roses and a perennial and had considered ordering some bulbs but removed them. For the record, I test internet sites, specifically ecommerce and have for 10 years so I know how websites work. I know what I ordered and wrote down my total and when I received my confirmation, the items I removed were included and my total was much larger. I called immediately to ask them to remove those items and refund my money and they told me they couldn't do that because the items had already been shipped. When I pressed her on that--I was surprised something would be shipped so soon she said it hadn't been shipped but that it was too difficult for them to cancel. So first she lied to me and then told me that basically they don't want the hassle--they would prefer their customers deal with the headache. I was angry but got off of the phone. I did further checking against this company and found several situations reported that were similar to mine. Then I checked my order status and it also read not shipped so I called back thinking that since the item had not been shipped they would be able to correct their mistake. The second No-customer-service lady I spoke with told me I must have done something wrong and that it was too hard for them to remove the item from a shipping box so I would have to do the work of having them ship me a return label AFTER I received the item. I asked her to send it immediately so that I could return the item as soon as it arrived and get reimbursed. She was rude and completely unhelpful. She basically said it was my fault and that she couldn't do anything to resolve this situation. I guess they hope that you are just worn down and decide to keep whatever they send you. I am so angry I am filing a complaint with my bank so that they can refund my money and then I'm changing my card # so that DG cannot charge me in the future. They charged my card BEFORE they shipped the item. That is not what their policy says and I don't shop with companies that do that because I think it's a bit shady. Save yourself serious grief and find a different garden supply company.
On Mar 23, 2007, afinenettle Sebastopol, CA wrote:
Two years or so ago I placed a large order with Dutch gardens. My complaint was that 30% of the items (there were perhaps 20) did not come up as the stated item. Not even close. This year I saw some Dutch garden items at the hardware store and - well - just loved the pictures - what can I say. I bought 5 different packages of tulips. Three of them were not the kind on the pictures. That makes me a fool for being fooled twice. Somehow this company does not think its cost effective or all that important to be true to advertising.
I wont use them again.
On Mar 23, 2007, Dutch Gardens responded with:
"
On May 24, 2007 5:32 PM, Dutch Gardens added:
We were sorry to read of this experience with bulbs purchased at a local store. Dutch Gardens does not sell on the retail market. Our bulbs are only available through our mail order catalog and web site and are shipped directly from Holland to you. We extend 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and are always happy to replace unsatisfactory items or offer complete refunds. Please contact us to ensure that any problems related to your earlier Dutch Gardens order have been resolved. We look forward to serving you.
"
On Mar 8, 2007, dellphi Southwest Harbor, ME wrote:
it is stated clearly in their catalogue that payment will not be taken from your credit card/debit card till the merchandise is shipped. i placed an order in march for delivery in may. they put a hold on my bank account - i used a debit card- for the amount of my order-they called it a preauthorization. what it meant to me was that my money was not available to me for 72 hours! i called them-told the lady right up front that i was angry, but would make every effort to be calm and polite. i told her the situation including the fact that when i saw the money on my account i called them and they assured me that the money would not come out of my balance, it was just a preauthorization. well, the money did come out of my balance, so i guess they didn't understand their own system. anyway, the second person i spoke with told me that the bank was the one who held the money, not dutch gardens. i called the bank and they assured me that the hold was indeed from the company and could last 72 hours, and could not be removed without permission from the merchant. i cancelled my order, and dutch gardens told me that my money would then be immediately available-wrong again! the bank told me once again that they needed something in writing from the merchant. so, right now i'm waiting to see whether my money will be available after 72 hours-if not, i have to call the company again! this has never happened to me with any other catalogue. on top of that, the people i talked to got testy with me, even as they spouted misinformation. they have all these cutesy little messages on their telephone answering system about how much their customers are valued, but that is obviously not true. to me, they have an obligation to inform their customer that their money will be held, despite the written statement in the catalogue to the contrary. thank god i had enough additional money in my account to cover my checks-that isn't always the case. so-dutch gardens is stunningly ignorant of their own policies, with each person saying a different thing and none of them being correct-and this ignorance can do real financial damage to their customers-if items are presented for payment while the money in our accounts is on hold, they will be returned, causing overdraft charges, embarassment, and damage to credit. they should inform their customers that the amount of their order will not be available to them right away, even though the catalogue clearly says it won't be taken out till time of shipment. one of the people i spoke to there had the nerve to tell me that probably all companies did this, i just didn't notice-in other words, i'm stupid! i can unequivocally say that this has never happened before with any other company, and i have used many gardening catalogues. needless to say, i will never do business with them again. i can only hope that my money gets released sometime in the next day or two, or i'll have to deal with them again!
I've been suckered in by their beautiful catalog several times, but I've been consistently disappointed with the merchandise.
The dahlias I ordered from them last year were diseased. The begonias only vaguely resembled the gorgeous photograph. The toad lilies I put in this spring failed to come up. The gloriosas never bloomed.
The more common items in their catalog can be gotten cheaper elsewhere. The more exotic things have failed to live up to my expectations.
I ordered 5 sets of plants. One was substituted with a plant which I hate and I am still waiting for another set after 2 months. So I am not happy about that at all.
However, the correct plants which i did receive are doing really well. I am very surprised that they grew from the tiny ballroot plants. They are astilbe's, bleeding hearts and ballon flowers.
So the plants are good especially for the price but you'll probably get subsitutes especially if you order late (like May).
On May 16, 2006, Falconet New York, NY (Zone 7a) wrote:
Although I normally order bulbs and lilies from smaller specialist nurseries, in 2004 I decided to give Dutch Gardens a try because they had one particular variety of Dutch iris ('Delft Blue') that I was looking for. In the same order I included Crocus 'Bluebird' and several varieties of tulips (separate, not a collection).
The following spring I found that 2/3 of the 'Delft Blue' were something else entirely; some of the crocus were instead a mixture of white, lavender and a screaming schoolbus-yellow varieties; and two of the tulips were not as labeled/ordered.
I would not order from them again, as their quality control in the picking/packing department clearly isn't what it should be.
I have had fairly good luck with Dutch Gardens bulbs in the past. This springs order was no exception. The bulbs look good and are already starting to grow in my garden, even tho our weather has been unseasonly cold and WET!!!
My problem is this:
I had ordered a dinnerplate dahlia collection and recieved two bags of red and none of the purple. Disappointment.
Next, I had ordered a new salmon colored oriental lily. They sent a substitution of a Muscadet oriental lily, I already have the Muscadet lily. I think I should have been notified about the new lily not being available and given the chance to cancel. Disappointment again.
I have tried to contact Dutch gardens three times! I haven't even heard one peep. Disappointment x3.
Third times a charm- I won't order again!!
In 2004 I ordered a number of bulbs from this company on Nov 8th. They didn't arrive til a few days before Christmas. Since the ground was not frozen I took a chance and planted them. Not one came up. In April 2005 I ordered some day lillies and perennials. One Stella d'Ora appeared for a few days; the others disappeared into the ground. The Apricot Mallows were not apricot as in the picture but a dirty white. The other plants didn't even survive the summer. Again this order was so long in arriving. When I complained I was told that bulbs had to be ordered from Europe. I would never use this supplier again.
In the fall of 2004 I ordered 350 " Pastel Tulip Bulbs" for a mass planting. I dutifully dug out the area, planted the nice size solid bubs I received from Dutch Gardens. Low and behold. the spring brought me 350 predominatley red and yellow tulips with a few pastels thrown in. I emailed them digital pictures of the results and an automated reply said they would be in contact with me. I waited six days and finally called them. They could not locate my email but did issue a refund.This seems to be a recurring theme from the messages above. I have ordered from them in the past and the product (tulips and Daffodils) are always high quality but you may not get what you ordered!
Recieved DG's beautiful catalog early this spring and was very impressed with their variety and competitive prices. I was reworking my "red/white" area and found several roses that I was charmed by. I purchased 5 spending approx. $80, 1/12/04. They were 6 weeks getting here and when I got into my order I was terribly disappointed. The "Queen O' The Lakes" had a split crown. All only had paper tags and I expected that as most premium roses I had ordered over the years, they came with durable metal tags. The other 4 were not impressive but I planted them. Called DG's, nice lady, could not replace for 6 weeks!, offered credit to Visa and I took it. Mentioned to her the disappointment of quality and paper tags. To date, the roses I purchased that same day and immediately received from Perkins are thriving as their stock always does. The DG roses are growing very slowily and are very unimpressive to say the least. Friend & I had compiled an order of $150 plus of bulbs we were going to place with them. Was glad I hadn't done so for needless to say it was placed with others.
On Jun 27, 2004, mnorberry Arcata, CA (Zone 9b) wrote:
I purchased two daylilies of Blueberry Sundae from this company. They finally bloomed today 6/27/04 and they must have substituted without my permission. The color was not even close. It was pink instead of white with a dark eye and trim. I waited a year for them to bloom and what a disappointment. I would never trust this company again.
I recently received 3 of the 4 plants I ordered from this company. First of all, I only ordered from them because I really wanted 2 particular plants even though I knew better after reading the ratings other have given to this company. My order consisted of three separate and different bare root plants packaged in plastic packages with their names and growing instuctions on the outside of the packages. The one variety I really wanted, Monarda Fantasy, when the package was opened had this little folded piece of paper tucked inside with the large root...stating that due to a high demand they were substituting another plant and sorry! Sorry indeed, I knew that monarda didn't have a root that looked like a carrot but how many wouldn't have found the little folded piece of paper to know it was a substitution? The plant I most wanted was backordered and is suppose to be shipped soon. I do not have a complaint about how my bare root plants actually looked, just the sneaking a substitute in a package that carries another name. I won't order from them again, there are too many reputable companies out there.
Overall it was pretty good. My Blueberry Sundae daylily arrived dead so I called and it is going to take about three weeks before I'll get another one. There wasn't a hassel about anything and I didn't even have my account number with me. Everything else seems to be doing great.
On August 3rd, 2004, lbell changed the rating from positive to negative and added the following:
I received my "blueberry Sundae" daylily only to find now that it has bloomed that is something else! There were several other items wrong (wrong color) etc. While I can call them and be assured a refund, I feel bad because this will be the third complaint in one order! I shouldn't have to worry if what I order will be what I get.
I have placed several orders with Dutch Gardens with mixed results. Several of the items (specifically Turks cap lillies) I received in the last order were moldy and rotted. One of the items I ordered last year was out of stock and were replaced with "items of equal value" even though I had requested this not be done. The replacement items in their opinion may have been of equal value (Pervuian daffodils?) but they did not perform as promised. Buyer beware.
Ordered about $80 worth of daylilies ... THEY SENT ME THE WRONG VARIETY!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were labeled incorectly and I only realized after they had gone to bloom.
Of the $70 worth of plants - I have one sickly grass and a small hydrangea. The roses never too root and when I received the replacement roses they went right into the garbage - they were black and completely, branch-snapping dry and dead. These roses didn't just die in transit, they had clearly been dead for quite some time. I couldn't believe they wasted postage sending something so appauling. I will NEVER, NEVER buy anything from this company again. I had better luck with Direct Gardening's products which is saying alot.
On May 25, 2003, Illinigardener Port Byron, IL (Zone 5a) wrote:
The quality of bulbs and plants received this year was very poor. Their prices are very reasonable but the quality/size you get is poor. For example, the false sunflower cuttings I received were so small I could barely find them when I opened the bag. They didn't come up. Neither did 6 lily bulbs. And I was shorted one astilbe.
I've crossed them off my list.
I ordered almost $200 worth of bulbs from them and it took a long time for their products to arrive. Two orders of the Gloxinia collection arrived dried out and moldy,the butterfly bush was tiny, had diseased foliage, and is refusing to grow in good soil with organic fertilizer.
We've been having nice, sunny weather this spring, and I insulate with row covers when the nights get chilly.
The ornamental grasses collection came as tiny, half dead plants that are also refusing to grow. The only exception are the blue fescue, which are doing o.k. The lemon queen helianthus package had only wood shavings in it, no bulbs, and I looked thru every shaving.
The ranunculus bulbs came with misleading planting instructions that had me planting them upside down, resulting in a loss of most of the plants. The last time I unpotted many of my plants to check for growth on the bulbs, I felt deeply disappointed with my Dutch Gardens products and vowed never to order from them again.
Did I receive lower quality bulbs because of the $20 per order discounts that they were offering on their website?
I emailed them with some my complaints and, to their credit, they responded quickly, but I guess my replacements are coming from Holland because they're taking forever to arrive and have been coming piecemeal.
I am very frustrated with Dutch Gardens. When they changed computer systems in 2001, they got my 2000 payment information completely messed up. This resulted in bills appearing out of nowhere over a year after I received their merchandise. Also, some of the perennials I ordered in 2001 did not grow. I agree their catalog is luscious and prices are low, but merchandise I ordered from White Flower Farm grew much more reliably!
Our state-wide association has ordered bulbs from this company for years. Since the change in company personnel and policy we have had a terrible time dealing with them. It took their accounting department over 6 months to straighten our bill out. What a mess! I am afraid they have taken a turn for the worse.
I think Dutch Gardens has gone way downhill. Our garden club has ordered from them for many years and the last two orders (and my last) were poor quality. One box even had some insects I could not identify and I sent them an email - no response whatsoever. I was disappointed with the last two orders and I'll not order from them again. Their catalog, however, is a great reference tool.
I was very disappointed with the perennials I received. One out of six Siberian Iris grew, the Solomon's Seal was a bust, so was the hosta. White Bleeding Heart was blooming within two weeks. I think the biggest problem was the amount of time it took for my order to get to me, by the time it arrived the plants were mostly moldy. And the Siberians were the smallest things I have ever planted. I currently have a credit and I am going to purchase bulbs ONLY. I was very disappointed as their catalog is great.
Guess I'm the only one with bad luck from Dutch Gardens. Ordered large amount of bulbs approx 5 years ago - was almost a complete failure, whileTulips, daffodils, and crocuses bought locally were a spectacular sight.Company was excellent on giving complete refund. Two years ago sent in another large order along with a friend (who can resist the pictures in a beautifully illustrated catalog?), some tulip bulbs showed signs of mold but were firm and planted anyway. A friend received two bags of mush, which were replaced so late in the season our ground had already frozen. Next spring had 5 out of 30 fringed tulips bloom, only half of mywhite and pink tulips came up and bloomed and not one of 60 yellow tulips showed an appearance. And yet again the locally bought tulips which were planted in nearby beds of the exact same composition and relative location were beautiful. Other bulbs were again a disaster and my friend fared worse than I with hers. Yes we live in a high mountain valley, but when cheap local varieties outdo dutch gardens we won't be ordering from them again soon. Still love looking through their catalog if only…
As for Dutch Gardens, I've been disappointed (mismarked merchandise, poor performance) and If I'm going to dig hundreds of holes each fall, I certainly will stick with the company that gives me a beautiful plant in each spot.
