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I worked for Sheperd's/White Flower Farm for several seasons. Renee is a lovely lady who truly cares about the product she puts out. She began her company in her basement in CA and it grew very quickly. So much so that she eventually sold to White Flower Farm who took over controlling interest and left her out in the cold. She always lived in CA and came to the East Coast for business. I had the pleasure of meeting her and being part of the group who worked at the Boston Flower Show one year.
Once White Flower took over her company and she had no real say in how anything was run Renee stayed for a time as she had signed a contract saying she would not open another company on her own for a certain period of time. Once that time period was over she started Renee's Garden.
I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Renee. She is a wonderful lady and truly cares about her company, customers and the product she carries. She travels extensively looking for her seed and she does tireless trials on them before offering them to the public.
As to the customer service offered by White Flower/Sheperd's nothing surprises me after I had worked there as a CSR in both the retail and wholesale divisions.
Whiteflower Farm purchased Shepherd's Seeds not long after its inception. The original owner stayed on for many years, then left to start over with her own company.
Shepherd's Seeds as a division of Whiteflower Farm has since gone out of business.
Renee Shepherd owns and operates Renee's Garden (www.reneesgarden.com) and sells several Shepherd's Seeds equivalents. Quality is phenomenal, germ rates quite excellent, all plants extensively trialled.
You can also buy Renee's Garden seeds at various US independent retailers, and now also in Canada (this year marks her launch into the Canadian market).
Renee's Garden Seeds only acquired back Shepherd's Garden Seeds packet business for retailers and is going to absorb the line into the Renee's Garden Brand. It sounds like Shepherds will still own the retail mail order business.
On Dec 6, 2002, hopflower Santa Rosa, CA (Zone 9a) wrote:
It does seem as though being merged with White Flower Farm has changed Shepherd's Garden Seeds a lot. They have gone up in price, the catalogue is indeed flowery in seed description, and they are slow to respond now. If one only has one shaky experience with a company, I would give them another chance; and sometimes seed, being a viable product, is not quite the same from year to year. I have bought many times from Shepherd's and never had a problem with quality of goods, but I am uncomfortable somehow with their new catalogue and business arrangement.
This company has slipped badly since being acquired by White Flower Farms. The prices have gone up to the point where they are now, in my experience, the most expensive seed company in existence, and on top of that, the shipping charges are exorbitent. In the catalog, flowery language has replaced substantial information, and the variety list has gone down. I haven't had a bad experience with them, which is why I'm rating them neutral rather than negative, but there's no reason to buy here when you can do better elsewhere in every way.
I ordered a miniature Meyer lemon tree from them (by phone) in February, and tried to convince them to send me the plant right away, as it is more of a houseplant in my climate than outside. They would not do this, and insisted on sending it at 'appropriate planting time' for my zone 5, which is May. This was fine, however, they charged my credit card immediately, which I don't believe is standard procedure for most of catalogues I've ordered from. Usually they charge me when they ship the product. Also, there was a delay in shipping and I finally got my little lemon tree last week of May. Quality of the plant seems ok so far, it is very small, but leaves have unfurled and look healthy.
I was amused to discover that Shepherd's Seeds is owned by White Flower Farm. How fitting, as I find the tone of both catalogs to be decidedly arrogant. I have stopped ordering from Shepherd's because I have found some packets short on seeds. The narratives in both catalogs make me fearful - am I worthy of their products?
I've ordered Charmel Melons and Zuchetta Rampicante from them for 3 years, and they're always wonderful, but last year I ordered a great sounding golden tomato, and got another variety. When I emailed Shepard's to see what was up I got less than a satisfactory response. They said they had several similar complaints, and were growing some in their trial garden. I was never contacted again!
Unfortunately, my experience with online Shepherd Seeds is dismal. I placed my order, then an hour later I received a note from some wonderful people in Portland saying that they received my order confirmation which included my credit card number. I thanked them profusely for contacting me, I proceeded to cancel my credit card then called the company who blamed their server, and promised to call me, which they did not. I would be very cautious.
One year I was a test gardener for Sheppard's. At the end of the season I was to submit a form concerning the two new seeds I had nurtured. For one I was all praises. For the other I had problems all along the way and wasn't sold. Their response? For the one that I didn't like, they said I must have done it wrong! They sent me a brochure on Hollyhock culture to show me the error of my ways. Nothing in there that I hadn't tried. They had no comments on the other, praised seed.
I like the cultivars offered by Shephard's, but never order by mail because Portland Nursery (Oregon) has a large selection of their seeds. I wonder why their packets are priced 10 cents cheaper off the rack than in the catalog.
I ordered from Shepard's last year for some of the more exotic types of vegetables that were unavailable from the other catalogs I ordered from. Although the seeds were of very good quality, I have to say I winced at the prices and at the high SH cost for only three packets of seeds. I'm searching for a cheaper alternative.
