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On Aug 10, 2008, curlyjoe1967 Marshfield, WI wrote:
I have ordered dahlias, daylilies, and tulips. After they have bloomed, I see they aren't the kind I had ordered. I'm very disappointed, especially about the daylily. I was really looking forward to that one. I won't order from them again.
On December 5th, 2008, curlyjoe1967 changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:
I was contacted by this company with an offer to send a replacement for the daylily. I really have to say that I was surprised. Most companies don't seem to care about customer service anymore. Thankyou Van Bourgondien.
On May 4th when I received the 6 plants I had ordered from this company they arrived looking quite dead. I emailed them explaining the problem and was given the same run-around that everyone else has gotten. Store credit only. I notified my credit card company of a dispute. Sure enough..they have
rebilled my account. I had taken pictures of these plants and
I can prove my claim. With all of the negative comments they get you would think they would try to change their ways.
On Jul 22, 2008, morgen San Luis Obispo, CA wrote:
I ordered about $75.00 of clearance items from them June 16th. Today I checked the status of the order online because I hadn't heard anything at all since the order confirmation.
They said my credit card was declined and they cancelled the order. I just took that credit card on vacation for two weeks and used it every day-I find it hard to believe. And even if there was an error with the card, wouldn't they have let me know?
I asked if I could re-order and they said they stopped shipping the day after my card was declined.
From reading the reviews, it's probably for the best anyway.
On Jul 18, 2008, jadestone29205 Columbia, SC (Zone 8a) wrote:
Last year I placed two large orders for bulbs and plants which were on Clearance. I have been very disappointed with the company response regarding bulbs/plants which did not perform. They are not willing to replace them. Their policy is not to give a refund, but to give the customer a credit to be used only at Van Bourgondien.
I do not want a credit, I want the bulbs/plants which did not perform replaced!
Because the items were on Clearance, when I order again (as I must if I want to recoup anything) it will be at full price. I am on a fixed income and would not have ordered these items at full price. I love to garden, but I must shop sales.
If Van Bourgondien had replaced the faulty items I ordered I would have been pleased that they stood behind their products. They would have gained a long term customer. As it is, I do not plan to do business with them again after I use my "credit."
Two years ago I ordered a number of various bulbs from here. Packages were marked with right names, when they flowered, they were anything BUT what I had chosen! Ordered early to INSURE getting a certain variety of tuberous begonia, recieved a bag of mixed gladiola bulbs instead, and the dahlia tubers proved to be types not even listed in their choices! I wrote them a letter of complaint, NEVER heard a word back! Now when their catalogues come in, they go right in the scrap pile for recycling.
On January 7th, 2009, olesagegrouse changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
After almost 3 years, I have been contacted by the company and they are going to stand behind the original order, REPLACE, free of charge what was sent erronously, when proper shipping time occurs for this zone. I think, that after all that time, it's mighty BIG of them: time will tell when I see results, til then I'd like to remain neutral in opinion.
Did not send all of my plants but would not refund my money, instead gave a credit and argued with me about it. I planted the bulbs and the other plants last Fall. Maybe 10 of the 50 bulbs came up. 2 of the 8 plants came up and they are tiny and struggling, not blooming. Very poor quality plants. Very poor service too because now I have to buy from them again the get my money back becasue of the credit which means I have to pay shipping again too. Terrible company wish I'd read the reviews first.
On Jul 15, 2008, allyphant San Francisco, CA wrote:
I'm not a gardener but I just decided to plant for fun. My mother loves dahlia's so one day I came by the Van Bourgondien's website and was aww-ed by the varieties of bulbs they carried and was delighted by the clearance sales. I ordered a few varieties of dahlias .. and ordered strawberry plant, toadlily and a hot flash calla lily.
I found the company's shipping a bit hard to deal with because they only ship during season but never have an expected arrival date, so you basically sit and wait until it ships.
It finally came and the dahlias and strawberries are beginning to grow leaves. The calla lily and the toad lily bulbs came and were a bit dry, so I'm not sure if they will grow. There is one dahlia bulb that might be mislabelled because the leaves are coming out different from the rest of them. We'll just have to see later. I noticed a lot of people have problems with their mislabelling.. hopefully these ones are the ones I ordered.
On Jul 13, 2008, LndscpDsgnr Stevens Point, WI wrote:
I ordered three tree peonies, (Yoshinogawa) in a soft pink color to frame my light yellow home. The three peonies were all tagged as the variety I ordered. After waiting two seasons for the plants to establish, this spring I was delighted to see flower buds growing on the peonies. Much to my horror, I arrived home from work to see that Van Bourgandien had mislabeled my peonies. Instead of a soft pink the blossoms were a harsh red that made the house look tired and the rest of the landscape washed out. It completely clashed with the hues I had carefully selected for the front garden. If they make good on their mistake, then I will change my rating and update this post, if not, it stays negative and I would recommend you steer clear of a nursery that cannot properly track and label the varieties it sells.
On Jul 8, 2008, kays_camelot Port Sanilac, MI wrote:
I have ordered from this company for several years and, overall, have been satisfied. I had a bad experience with 3 of the 4 plants I ordered this spring. Two were DOA and one is sickly. When I called, they cheerfully gave me a credit against my fall order Two years ago, I ordered 20 iris and are very happy with them. There was only one that wasn't as marked and I have no problem with that. However, last fall I ordered 4 more. Three bloomed and all of them were mis-marked! I am disappointed, but they were healthy or they wouldn't have bloomed and I am not going to complain to them.
I have gotten a large number of daffidills from them over the last several years; can't find a better price and they are beautiful. I take advantage of the $25 off offer and have gotten a lot of different plants that I wouldn't buy otherwise. Some don't grow but I expect that. I ordered a collection of 20 lilies for $5 that I have really enjoyed. No, they didn't all grow but I didn't expect they would.
Yes, I have received larger, healthier plants from Bluestone but they cost more. For the price, I think Van Bourgondien is a good deal and I have never had a problem with their customer service.
On October 1st, 2008, kays_camelot added the following:
I just received my fall order. I almost didn't even place it because of all the negative comments on DG. I was extremely nervous when opening it but the bulbs are excellent! Large and healthy as they have been every other time I dealt with them. In fact, I had purchased a few daffodils from Bluestone that I wanted to make sure were OK, and there was absolutely no difference in the quality. I will definitely continue to buy bulbs from them.
I placed an order with this company in early Spring (March) this year. Order arrived fine and timely but the 2 Brunnera Looking Glass plants never did come up.
I wrote to the company and even though they did not have any available for replacement they did send me a credit by e mail as well as snail mail for the cost of the 2 plants. I placed another order and the credit was applied with no problem at all. I will do business with this fine and reliable company again.
I recently ordered some daylilies and lilies on clearance. After placing the orders, I read the reviews here and my expectations were thus set very low. To make matters worse, the floods in the midwest played havoc with the UPS schedules, and the first order spent 12 days in transit with often hot summer weather.
Having now received the orders and potted everything up, I am quite pleasantly surprised by the plants I received. No, it was not perfect, but assuming the plants turn out to be as labeled (it will be quite a long time before I will be certain), overall I received healthy plants which I already can see will grow well.
A couple of the daylilies did perish in transit and replacements will be on their way, but out of quite a large order which endured an unfortunately protracted journey west, I felt the packaging was quite good overall and the health of the plants was fine. So far so good, and much better than expected.
This Spring I ordered some Birch's Double Hardy Geraniums. These plants were kind of expensive for their promised size, but I felt that it could be worth it for the beautiful double pink blooms all summer long. When they came, all were rotted and mushy. I called right away to let them know and was instructed to give them a chance, I explained that I had been gardening for many years and could tell a poor quality plant when I see one! Some of these plants did struggle and make it. I called and asked for replacements for the dead ones and was told to give them a little more time. After arguing and finally speaking with a supervisor, I was sent replacements. (By the way, I was also charged more for shipping than I had originally agreed to and the customer service rep I spoke with was extremely rude.) This evening I noticed that two of the buds had actually opened on two different plants. Much to my surprise and chagrin, neither is a double pink flower. One is a common single purple and the other is a single white. I could have gotten either of these for free from fellow gardeners. I can't wait to hear what they have to say when I call tomorrow. I checked online tonight and, of course, the Birch's Double Hardy is sold out for the season. I will never buy from them again. I wish that I had seen the reviews on Daves Garden BEFORE I dealt with them.
I placed an order in early February for some hardy fushias, soapworts, crocosomia and tree peonies. I spent $70.00. I waited for eight weeks without recieving a thing. I live in Ca and everything in my garden was already pushing out new growth and coming out of dormancy by then. I called and the lady advised me my order had been delayed due to my tree peonies not being in stock. Another month went by, and I received my package. I opened it excitedly, hoping to plant my costly new plants. One fushia was bone dry and clearly dead. The root was limp and soggy. The other had come out of dormancy during its month long shipping ordeal, was sallow white from lack of light, but alas alive. The soapworts were all mush. The crocosomia were moldy and smelly. Both tree peopnies were out of dormancy and pushing leaves out through the bag. One obviously stayed in the box for over a month; the leaves were twisted indicating the cramped quarters of the shipping box. I planted everything anyway, doubtfully. One tree peony grew (unfortunately the one w/ gnarled growth) and one fushia grew but is weakly(4 inches high, no flowers...all my other fushias are flowering). Nothing else grew. I waited a month, nothing changed, so I called and complained asking for an exchange. Well my exhange (minus the peony, which I have to wait 'til fall for) arrived today.....soapworts again are mush, definately dead. The fushia roots are mushy, with the main roots having been busted during shipping somehow. Not that it matters, there are no dormant buds on the dead moldy twig anyhow. Needless to say I am frazzled! Not to mention, the lady replaced a duplicate fushia (I ordered two varieties) AND she sent out only 5 crocosomia to replace the 10, furthermore I was billed for rising gas prices for an order that is the replacement order for very low quality items fo which I already paid shipping. The plants shipped to replace have likely been in the warehouse box since early spring, it is now summer. The customer service lady was totally lame, she was not apoligetic or sympathetic to me as a paying customer. She even said "everyone has their day to complain" when confronted with the question of why poor quality items were shipped! Unbelievable. Save your money and throw away these catalogs. DO NOT BUY!
Two years ago I received a $10 coupon for this company and ordered 3 Christmas ferns. They arrived healthy but small, but they were after all, a bargain -- only $10 for 3 with the discount and shipping.
Last year 2 of the ferns were still healthy, one was marginal and after the winter snow melted, all I could find of these 3 evergreen ferns was 2 of them. The 2 are still small but they live. For $5 each for the 2 that live, I could have done just as well locally, so be advised that you get what you pay for!
Items arrived in very poor condition. I ordered quite a bit from this company. Some things where very dry and brittle and still haven't come up. Some items where mushy. The size of every item is rediculously small. I ordered a Hosta and it was less then a quarter of an inch big. I had a hard time finding it in the huge bag it came in. It still hasn't come up yet. I ordered twice in the winter. When my first order came it was still freezing outside. The next order came in early spring and more then half of the items have still not come up. The company keeps telling me to give it more time. On some of the items I am suppose to wait until August.
They said they will replace the items but each time the waiting time is extended. I won't be ordering from them ever again.
In late March I ordered 5 Picasso Calla Lilly bulbs and Green Envy Echinaceas from VB. The order was received promptly and safely, the Picassos have been planted in a pot but have yet to grow, but since I dont exactly live in zone 10 I expect it might take sometime. However the green envys (bareroot) never grew at all and ended up dead. Upon calling them, I was informed they were now out of stock and was given 2 other types of echinacea as replacements without any trouble and they were received promptly. They also sent 7 of one type of echinacea instead if the 3 that they were supposed to send so I was pleased with that, but as of now nothing has shown any signs of growth. Overall I can't complain about customer service and shipping but the quality of plants remains to be seen, I will adjust my feedback according when I see what becomes of my bulbs/bareroot plants.
On June 23rd, 2008, WinterStinks added the following:
Just as an update all 5 Picasso bulbs are coming up nicely so they are doing nicely however everything else is DOA, everything they have sent bareroot has never shown any signs of life. I have also since found out (according to American Meadows) that many of their bareroots are wholesaled off to other places and "quite often they are bad" from being transported multiple times, as this was one of American Meadows excuses for some dead items. So i would say order bulbs or even plants but anything bareroot should be avoided.
I can only give a partial review since I just got my order from them last week (and not the crocus bulbs I orderred since they don't ship those until fall), but from what I can see I have no problems with them.
Shipping was reasonably fast, everything was packaged well (a nikko blue, bleeding heart and a doz everbearing strawberries). It's too early to tell about the nikko blue and the bleeding hearts, but the strawberries!
The strawberries were just a crown with roots. I planted them Sunday afternoon and when I went outside yesterday evening at least a handful of them had sprouted leaves!!!
Very impressive.
On June 5th, 2008, donicaben changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
Now that it's been a few weeks and I've had a few orders with other nurseries I'm a bit wiser.
Though the strawberries are still EXTREMELY healthy (the only thing saving this from being a negative review) my hydragea hasn't grown, and my bleeding heart not only didn't grow, but the inch of grow it had on it when I bought it is totally brown.
At the time when I first reviewed I didn't know that most other nurseries send you plants with gobs of green leaves and about a foot of real growth. Silly me.
Yea, I'm not orderring here again.On June 6th, 2008, donicaben added the following:
I'm still on the neutral, but leaning toward positive.
I just got off the phone with their customer service. They are replacing the hydrangea and substituting the bleeding heart with a hollyhock (they're out of the bleeding heart). If these replacements work out I will be changing my rating back to positive.
This is the 2nd year our Church has ordered bulbs for a fund raiser from Van Bourgondien. Both times the company has been professional on the phone and with the order. The bulbs have arrived in a timely matter and in great conditon. Everyone who ordered last year were very happy with their flowers, and have reordered again for this year. Our Church made 50% profit and received free lily bulbs for our garden.
On May 11, 2008, gavinsmom Lakewood, OH (Zone 6a) wrote:
I ordered from this company in spite of hit or miss results in the past because it was the only place I could find the "Orion" begonia that I like so much. I have moved and wanted to replace the ones in my old yard. Since everything was 1/2 off, I ordered a few things. The butterfly bush was dry and poorly packed. We'll see how it does. I had to soak the begonia roots, as they were dry as a bone. They are coming up okay. The lily bulbs were okay, sprouting in the packages, but neither rotting nor too dry. Order from this company knowing that there is a risk that you will not be entirely pleased, and only order when there's a big sale.
2 years ago I ordered a mass (100s) of two kinds of tulips in their catalong--one pale pink and the other purple. The bulbs looked fine when they arrived.
But when they bloomed the following spring, the "pink" tulips were not anything like their picture. They were not pink at all, they were a bright orange-red. The purple ones were similiar to the pic in the catalog. I phoned Van Bourgondian and told them that either they sent me the wrong tulips, or their catalog pic and description were grossly mistated. The lady in customer service was nice enough and offered me a credit.
So the following fall, I used my credit to purchase additional purple tulips (not trusting them to try to order the pink ones again).
This spring it is even worse. All the "purple" tulips they sent me turned out to be yellow and orange. So what started out as a particular color scheme I was trying for in my garden (pink and purple) is now a mishmash of a lot of glaring color. To dig up 100s of bulbs and transplant somewhere where their colors are more compatible is not a job I have the time for. Van Bourgondian will probably give me another credit when I call them to say they sent me the wrong bulbs again, but this does not cover the time and aggravation it will cost me to redo the garden. Besides, if I order anything else it will likely be mislabeled anyways.
What do they do, just throw all their tulips in one big bin and mix them up? The first "pink" ones I ordered I could sort of write off as a bad color description in their catalog, but to send me yellow & orange when I ordered purple is too much.
On May 19th, 2008, veilchen added the following:
I just got off the phone with their customer service reps, and this time they refused to even give me a credit, stating that I ordered the yellow and orange tulips vs. the purple. They insisted that the rep. who took my order over the phone would not have made a mistake, even after I told the lady that I never would have ordered orange/yellow tulips for anywhere in my gardens.
On Apr 29, 2008, CaTransplant Greenville, SC wrote:
I will never order from this company again. I had a credit for an item that was dried up when sent and when I tried to re-order was told that I again would be charged the shipping fee. I recently used the credit to order something else and received a notice that one item was out of stock, but call to order another item to replace it. When I called I was told that shipping charges had gone up and that there was no longer any "credit" amount available. So again I paid for something I will not get. I have not yet received the remainder of my order but am not expecting much.
CaTransplant
last summer i had seen an ad in a magazine for van bourgondien.. for their tango lillies.. well i had never seen a tango lily before and i thought they looked really interesting AND they showed the bulbs to be huge.. actually only 2 could fit in a hand.. that's what the pic showed anyway. well i ordered them and received them shortly after.. and i was shocked!!! the bulbs were about the size of a quarter and really dry!! not huge to where only 2 could fit in your hand. i i planted them in pots and only a few had come up. last year was a really hot and dry year, but bulbs really don't need that much water.. so i called and 1st complained about how small the bulbs were, and how i felt they were misrepresented in the ad.. and then i told them about 35 of the bulbs did not grow.. they said they would issue me a credit.. well today i called and said that the rest of the bulbs did not make it through the winter.. the guy was nice and everything.. but now i have a $45 credit which i really think i spent more than that... that i don't know what to do with. all these reviews say the same thing... and i have to agree. the bulbs i got were small and very dry! and most did not grow! and now all of them are dead! i of course spent my good money there and now i have 45 bucks trapped there! and i refuse to just forget about it.. i will keep ordering and keep getting refunds until i get what i feel is satisfactory
I ONLY order bulbs from this company using the wholesale catalog and I understand that a small percentage of the bulbs will be rotted or damaged and that sometimes they are mislabelled. I've ordered from them for over a decade and this is how I get 1,000's of crocus lining my driveway in a cost-effective manner. The prices are incentive for me to continue ordering from them knowing the negatives.
On Mar 21, 2008, nckvilledude2 Kernersville, NC (Zone 7a) wrote:
This company is a joke, sending half alive or dead so called bareroot plants out that should be thrown in the trash when you receive them. I can't for the life of me figure out how they stay in business other than the fact that there is a sucker born every day. Their slick catalog shows color enhanced photos that are unrealistic in color and that you will never be able to grow from the pathetic plants they send. A plant that has roots that snap like dried out twigs on arrival is never going to amount to much. Run Run Run Away from this company as fast as you can! Let any buyers be aware!
On March 31st, 2008, nckvilledude2 added the following:
Well I contacted Van Bourgondien about the pathetic dried out clematis plants I received and did hear back from Delia in Customer Service. She said she would send out replacement plants and was sorry about the horrible condition the original plants arrived in. The replacements they sent were worse than the original plants they sent. The roots are so dry they snap like dry twigs. I will never order anything from this company again since their replacements are no better than the original plants. Burnt twice and lesson learned. This is one totally unreliable company to deal with. The replacements are going into the trash bin.
On Mar 16, 2008, fragrance1st Marietta, NY (Zone 5a) wrote:
I got about $100 worth of bulbs last year. Most were moldy and rotten. The few that did come up were not what I ordered. ( got tiger lilies instead of Oriental lillies) Most of the glads I planted never came up. Won't buy from them again.
I've had similar experience as mjzajic. The bulbs I ordered from them were fine if a bit small, but perennials--specifically daylillies--were not. Several years ago I ordered what I thought were 3 blue daylillies (Prairie Blue Eyes) at what seemed to be a great price. They were in ok condition, but just tiny shoots and took 3 years to finally bloom. When they did finally bloom, they were not blue at all, but salmon w/ red in the center. They are not bad-looking but not even close to what I ordered. I have moved them several times because their odd color does not really go with anything else I have. Maybe this is "just me" but I have never really enjoyed them because every time I see them I am reminded of the fact they weren't what I thought I was getting.
On Feb 6, 2008, EugeniaBostwick Pinckney, MI wrote:
Von bourgondien sends out two catalogs, one wholesale, one retail. Unfortunately they use a lot of gimmicks with their customers, but their prices are sometimes good. Last year I placed a large order that included achimenes. These arrived very late, in early summer! They needed to be started MUCH earlier. However, I did not complain and I started them in pots. Only one of thirty actually grew! I work at a plant nursery, and know how to start and take care of plants.
I have ordered and received bulbs and perennials from van Burgondien for several years. All the bulbs I ordered were both bargain priced, came on time, and were mostly fat and healthy and large. The bulbs have been all outstanding and the variety they offer is exceptional.
However, my experience with ordering perennials from van Burgondien is not one I will repeat. All three times they made a mess of the order, one batch of pink double hollyhocks being delivered a year later, after I had already re-ordered it and received the re-order thinking they had lost my original order. None of the perennials ordered came at the best planting time. One batch of very expensive new cultivar of a violet daylily was a disappointment I am still angry about. The root they sent is a single tiny one which I ordered and planted three years ago. Last year one of the six plants was big enough to produce one flower. After waiting two and a half years I discoverd they had not shipped me the variety I had purchased and desired, but a very ugly brown and dark purple one. The money lost was bad enough but the disappointment after nurturing the pathetic starts for so long and finding they were the wrong one was infuriating. I will continue to order bulbs from van Burgondien, as long as they continue to be good, but never again will I risk ordering any perennials which come late, mistaken, and often in very poor condition.
My calls to them about problems were answered with smooth assurances without any follow up. mjzajic.
My son ordered a couple of amaryllis bulbs for me in early July 2007. I did not get the bulbs until November, and one was obviously damaged. However it was starting to sprout so I planted them both. Since then, neither bulb has grown beyond the initial sprouting stage. I have never had amaryllis grow so slowly and I believe they had been improperly stored. The bulbs were a gift so I didn't fuss too much, but I will not order from this company myself. The product is inferior and the delivery abysmally slow.
I fell for their ad for fall planting of an order of Phlox. After getting a place ready in my garden by getting rid of some plants I had grown tired of I waited for the arrival of them. And I waited, and waited, till it was getting close to the end of the fall planting in my area. I called them and asked where my order was and the lady said they didn't have any in stock. When I asked why they didn't let me know she said she didn't know and is there anything else she could help me with.
I spend $5,000 every Spring on my gardens. I spent about $1,000 with this company. What drew me in was the huge variety. What came up was really great, pink heart shaped leaves, don't recall name ,maybe calladiam. The Canna were also spectacular. I have always wanted Gunnera Manicata and the 3 came up and are doing well. Asian Lillies were also very nice and bloomed at a time when everything else was done. Sea Holly was a bust, I think housekeeper thought it was a weed. Will try again. I took a chance on V-B, did not use a coupon, did not let them know about plants that did not come up (about 30%, most of the shade plants) I just assumed that it was my fault. Waiting too long to plant or putting plants where conditions were not ideal. They were out of a lot of items because I ordered late, but my order was accurate and price was correct. It was my goal to have more perennials rather than annuals. I am going to try some of their Spring bulbs. Will keep you posted. heirai1
I was getting ready to order from the Virginia store (aka the bulb lady) when I saw all these posts. I couldn't believe it because I grew up on Long Island where the catalogue used to be based. They were considered one of the premier nurseries, and I have ordered from them in the past with good results. So I googled Van Bourgondien Long Island and came up with the website for what I think may be their original nursery--www.vanbnursery.com . They do mailorder, so may be worth a try.
I had SEVERAL problems with this company. First of all, I placed an order with them early in the season, and never received any confirmation email or other information about this order. My inquiries by website were fruitless and I received no answer over email regarding the status of this order. I assumed I made a mistake and reordered the bulbs.
Several months later (now that it's appropriate planting time in Florida) I received an email notifying me that most of my order is out of stock, and in fact my orders were being HELD until some of these items "backordered" plants came back into stock (i.e not this year). Ultimately, the company wound up sending me a bunch of crappy, dried out, practically dead bulbs/bareroot plants, and I got twice as many after they "found" my original order (all of which I was charged for).
Do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS.
In July I ordered plants from van Bourgondien. When it was time to plant them in my area I received my plants in hard box packed with such a care.All plants of daylilys were there in peat moss. All plants irises & bulbs were the top quality no one has the size end quality like them. All plants which I ordered were there. I was thrilled, I pick up the phone & I called to thank them. Will the plants will grow? This depends how I plant them & take care of them. Most of the time good planting material grows for me very well. I'm sure I will enjoy all of them in blooming time.I'm giving them the highest possible score. This is the best catalog which I ever ordered from. I will order from them again and again.
On May 15th, 2009, bolek changed the rating from positive to negative and added the following:
The plants didn't bloom the following season. when they did recently , they were not what I ordered, daylilys were not duoble, which I ordered for $ 15 a piece, they were single, diferent . I could buy them for $1 from other place. Most of the plants including german irses were wrong color.I contacted the catalog, when they learned there is a problem not new order, the person hang up on me. The second person after I explained the problem ask me if I want to share my problem with them. Heck no! They sent me wrong plants, which didn't bloom in few months after planting and they don't feel responsible for? They should place a big note on the front of catalog: "send us your money, don't bother with numbers of the plants you will like to buy, we will send you what we want plantswill not bloom for next season, so you will loose your money and we don't care". When I said I will go on line to Daves Garden and write what I got he said "you will hurt your self doing that". I hurt my self by ordering from them. It is waste of money and time.
On Oct 16, 2007, greenhorse53 Willow Springs, MO wrote:
I was unhappy with my experience ordering from this company. The roots of one of the clematis I ordered were extremely dry and brittle. I'm sure it was dead. It didn't grow. One of the canna rhizomes was rotten and moldy. The crocosmia bulbs, few grew, and the ones that did were not impressive. I won't be ordering from them again.
On Oct 16, 2007, jcpaul Alexandria, MN (Zone 3b) wrote:
In January, 2007, I placed an order for plants to be delivered in May. I ordered a purple shamrock plant, a package of 10 Lily of the Valley pips, and 3 cinnamon ferns. The purple shamrock bulbs grew but weren't purple. The 3 cinnamon ferns died even though I watered them regularly (although to be give them the benefit of the doubt, it was probably too dry for them where I live). The 10 Lily of the Valley were only seven and of those only a few of the pips were not mushy. I called VanBourgondien and they were to give me a credit for the shamrock and send me an additional package of 10 lily of the valley. The next package of pips was one large pip or grouping of pips which I could not separate without damaging the pips so I planted it whole. Nothing grew from either 10-pack. Called them again and they said they would give me a refund which I have yet to receive (not holding my breath). Very disappointed with this company.
In nearly 40 years of gardening I have never come across another garden company where the quality of everything we have gotten from them is so poor. The peonys never grew leaving us with a credit we are trying to use up. A full 30 % of the dahlia tubers didnt send up shoots and many of the ones that did produced flowers that were either far smaller than they should have been or not the color described. The flock roots were so small and dry we could hardly tell them from the packing material - their growth was clearly stunted. The company is living on its no longer deserved reputation and should be avoided at all cost.
