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On May 22, 2013, hardyinokc Oklahoma City, OK wrote:
Posted on June 18, 2012, updated May 22, 2013
I ordered 4 sedums from R&R. 1 sedum arrived in really good condition - lots of leaves and roots; 2 arrived as VERY small root cuttings but were alive and growing; the 4th sedum arrived with no leaves and soft, blackened stems (the root ball was soppy wet). contacted R&R about a replacement plant & was informed that shipping was finished for the season & they will send me a letter with store credit to be used next spring. guess we'll see how they do when it comes to using the credit next spring.
On May 22nd, 2013, hardyinokc changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
debated this spring about whether or not to use my store credit...would have been nice if they had just issued a refund because I'm very hesitant to order from a company with so many negative feedbacks...do not want the headache & hassle of receiving another order of less than healthy plants & then having them issue another store credit...guess I'll just let them keep my money, & I'll just never order from R&R again...lesson learned...will take my business elsewhere
On May 22, 2013, lanakila Holly Springs, NC (Zone 7b) wrote:
My fault; I didn't check Garden Watchdog. It has been several years since I ordered from this company. I was always very happy with the service and the quality of the plants. Not any more. It is very sad to see that they both have gone down to the point that I felt compelled to write a poor review. I ordered six echis. I received four, with a notice that the other two were on backorder. Of the four I received, two were dead on arrival. I contacted R&R and they shipped out replacements. When I asked about the timeframe for the two plants on backorder, they said that they had cancelled that order. Woulda been nice to know that! The other two plants from the original shipment died despite nursing. They were just too weak to survive. I didn't request a replacement for these because I didn't want the hassle. When the first replacements came, they looked just as weak; few leaves, soil so dry and loose that the plants weren't even in the pots. If even one plant of the six I received manages to make it, it will be a miracle. Spend your money elsewhere.
I ENJOY THE SELECTION THEY OFFER. THE PLANTS WERE SENT FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS (I THINK). SOME PLANTS NEEDED A LOT OF R & R BEFORE PLANTING. ONE WAS THE WRONG PLANT AND SOME NEEDED REPLACEMENT (WHICH THE COMPANY DID IN A TIMELY FASHION). NOT BATTING 100 FOR SURE.
On Apr 19, 2012, reeve1 Plano, TX (Zone 8b) wrote:
DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS ANY MORE!! It's a shame to see what has happened to so many great, privately owned nurseries after being bought out by Jung's, and Burpee and Parks, too. They've lowered the quality so much of the companies they purchased in order to meet their own poor quality that they've ruined the companies. After receiving my $230.00 order, I contacted them over a week ago to ask for refund on some dead Alstroemeria and haven't received the courtesy of a response yet. They have the nerve to ask $9.95 per plant and you wouldn't believe what they send out now. Small, shriveled pieces of plant material that have been out of the ground for so long that it's turned black and is crumbling away. I can just see them laughing all the way to the bank. Roots and Rhizomes used to send out only live potted plants and healthy rhizomes that were already growing and ready to be planted, and they were bigger than the standard plants, and always healthy. They also responded to customer inquiries within hours. What a huge contrast to order from them now after JUNG's has taken over. It's like losing a piece of American History, and for this Jungk? What a complete disgrace. I'm done shopping anything that has Jung, Burpee or Park's name on it. I hope more people will boycott their junk and force them to give the quality that our hard earn money deserves. Just say NO!
Posted on May 5, 2006, updated May 25, 2011
judging from the user ratings and comments I must be one of the few that got what they paid for. I've ordered plants a few times & never had a problem. The prices were right & the plants were a nice size.
On April 11th, 2008, woof12 changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
Geez. I spoke too soon. this spring's 2008's order arrived & I wouldn't send this to a sick dog. Half of the order was only so-so. The other half was the pits. Out of the pots, leaves pruned all the way back & dried out/ wilted from the trip. Totally unprofessonal to send stuff like that no matter what the price.On April 14th, 2008, woof12 changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following:
Well, at least they made it right. The replacement arrived sooner than I thought it would. On May 25th, 2011, woof12 changed the rating from positive to negative and added the following:
What a pile of junk. The 2011 order was only half filled, apparentlly they couldn't fill the other half. What they sent I wouldn't send to a sick dog. The replacements they sent were just as bad & it wasn't even the replacement they were supposed to send. On May 25, 2011, Roots and Rhizomes responded with:
"
On Apr 11, 2008 12:41 PM, Roots and Rhizomes added:
We hope you'll contact us directly to resolve this problem.
Ruth
800-546-4399 ruth@jungseed.com"
I first ordered from this company several years ago and was impressed with the plants I received at that time. I just received the plants I ordered earlier this spring, and was shocked at the poor size and quality of the plants I received. The amsonia was barely an inch tall. Yes they were in pots, but had not been in them long. The roots were not settled into the soil at all. In fact, the soil was all over the inside of the box, and the plants were laying in empty pots. The hostas advertised on sale were a few tiny roots, with an eye so small that I had trouble finding it. The daylilies were a little better, but no much. I won't order from this company ever again.
I just received my order from Roots and Rhizomes today and was extemely disappointed. They offered for sale plants and what I received were a real stretch to be called plants. I received an echinacea that was a stub at ground level in a pot and a hosta that was two scrawny leaves in a pot. These are not what oe would expect. If I would have known they were accociated with Jung I would never have ordered from them as Jung is just as bad, probably worse.
I recently decided to give R&R a shot as there was no recent bad feedback. What a mistake. I ordered half a dozen daylilies and received the most pitiful, paltry, pathetic, puny plants I have ever seen and that's just the "P's". They were obviously not freshly dug with both fine and fleshy roots darkened and shriveled. Also very little growth-where had these been for the last six weeks?? If I ran this "circus" I would be ashamed to send out such dismal plants-sale or no sale-a little quality control is in order here. Only a complete novice would accept these plants in such bad condition. I will stick to the daylily nurseries that dig the plants when I place my order.
Earlier this year I ordered six Echinacea Virgin from them. The plants, which were supposed to be in pots were plugs with ALL top growth removed. The instructions on the bag said something like "plant and water me well and I will rewards you with beautiful blooms". Well, only one of the plugs grew, and grew poorly and now (July), it is still struggling. I called the company about 3 weeks after I babied them to no avail, and they told me that they were out of the Echinacea Virgin and sent me a credit letter for replacements - next year! They also told me that I should have called them immediately when I noticed anything wrong with the plants. Well, I thought a plug with the top growth removed was the norm. I trusted the company's judgement. I will never order anything from this company again. I thought this subsidiary of Jung was "more upscale", but based on the plants received, I guess not.
On June 8th, 2009, ben773 added the following:
I lied when I said I'll never order from them again. But then, I don't have a choice because who else would honor a credit replacement letter from Roots and Rhizomes? So, I placed an order for Echinacea Virgin and Siberian Iris. Well, I get the same puny Echinacea Virgin and the "generous sized" Siberian Irises were partially dried up and not generous at all. Got fooled twice and never again!
On Jul 9, 2008, KYGardenGirl Georgetown, KY wrote:
We placed an order from this company back in 2006, for about a dozen daylilies. It's taken this long for some of them to bloom for the first time, so that's why I'm just now leaving a rating.
The daylilies were the smallest I've ever gotten from anywhere, and I have over 400 daylilies. That would be fine if they took off and grew, but about half of them died. The company did offer replacements when available, or credit. But now I'm finding out that of the ones that lived and are finally blooming, most of them were labeled wrong. This is way too much trouble and hassle to bother with ordering from them again. It's too bad, as their prices are good, and the catalog pictures are so nice, but the plants don't live up to them.
I am on old gardener who has ordered many plants in my lifetime. I have never ordered and received more wretched, pitiful plnts in my life as I did from Roots and Rhisomes. On top of that, the woman who took my order was unknowledgeable and rather rude. What a disappointment and waste of money. I ordered eight plants of galiun odoratum (Sweet Woodruff) which were spindly and dry. I planted them anyway. Oh well.
I ordered an Angelica,3 Princeton Silky daylillies, and 1 daylilly Welcome Mat. Only the Angelica and one of the Princeton Silky have survivied. All of the daylillies were extremely small and I am surprised that one has survived. I have been growing daylillies for 40+ years and have never had an experience like this. The catalog was quite nice but the product was very poor. They have seen the last of my money.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to comment on Roots and Rhizomes. Several years ago I order the day lily Rose Crush. The description and picture in the catalog were great..."We can pick this one out in our fields a mile away, blah blah" Check out the pic and you have to admit, its outstanding. Well I ordered it, planted it and anxiously awaited its first bloom, Yuck! it was a muddy rose, unnoteworthy from even six feet away. Called the company, they said no complaints had been lodged before, sent me a replacement, same dirty color. I gave up and never ordered again. What prompts me to write is that even to this day they continue with the same BS and the same picture. I wonder how many have been let down in this way.
On Jan 26, 2008, Roots and Rhizomes responded with:
"
On Jan 28, 2008 2:16 PM, Roots and Rhizomes added:
We're sorry 'gardenner' was disappoited with our Rose Crush daylily. We've sold hundreds of Rose Crush daylilies since its introduciotn in 1999 with many repeat orders and have had few, if any, complaints. We will review the picture of Rose Crush and take a new picture if necessary. We try very hard to make our catalog as factual as possible and will look into this customer's report. If any of our customers have a similar complaint, please contact our customer service department at info@rootsrhizomes.com or 1-800-546-4399."
In spring of 2007, I ordered 3 Athyrium "lady in red", 1 Dicentra gold heart, 3 Reginae lady's slipper, 3 Turtleheads, 1 Monkshood pink sensation, 2 Common Monkshood, and 3 Black adder agastache. Of the bunch, the Dicentra came up and survived, though it's rather small (about palm size). Two of the lady's slippers also came up, but did not bloom. They were also bare-rooted, which usually means they were pirated from the wild.
The athyrium arrived potted, but disappeared. Nothing else showed up. Even if it had, I think the pirated lady's slippers would have convinced me not to buy from them again.
On Jan 27, 2007, northgrass West Chazy, NY (Zone 4b) wrote:
So much effort putting out such a gorgeous catalog with a nice selection of plants but failing so miserably by shipping sub-standard plants that generally did not even come up or died. It is a shame!
I ordered four plants from this company in April. It took an extended time, over a month, for the bare roots to arrive. When they finally arrived two of them were in bags that had a label a different plant than the label inside the bag. To make matters worse neither of those two plants were what I ordered. Additionally, I order two Geranium Sinense the bare roots were in bags with no labels and in very poor shape. I complained to the company with no feedback or help from them. Both of the Geranium Sinense failed to thrive and of course now the company is out of stock. I am a Master Gardner and have never had such poor product and customer service from a nursery before. I wish I had known read about this company before I ordered. I am a Master Gardner and have never had such poor product and customer service from a nursery before.
On May 28, 2006, sneezepac Elkview, WV (Zone 6b) wrote:
I ordered 3 day lillies and a hosta from this company and paid a high price for them. When I got them I was definately unimpressed. All of the plants, though alive, were very small for the price I paid. I ordered from them mainly as I saw one variety of day lilly I really liked, but wish I had come to WatchDog first. I would not have ordered. I've gotten much bigger and healthier plants at other mail order nurseries for less money.
I placed a substantial order to Roots and Rhizomes on April 28, 2006. I received a confirmation on the order but never received noitification that the order had been shipped. I called today (May 6, 2006) to inquire on the status of shipping. I was told that the order would be shipped next week. I explained to the young lady that I had a problem with that due to having to having to go overseas for 2 1/2 weeks and wanted the plants in the ground in ample time to make sure they were watered and tended properly before departing. She could not assure me of that due to some of the plants being on backorder, which I was never notified about. I had no alternative bu to cancel the order and ask for a refund. She could not offer any information of when the refund would be made. If I had been notified about the backorder status, I would have made other arrangements.
On Feb 21, 2006, irishflowergal Clawson, MI wrote:
It appears some of the photos in the catalog have been enhanced or altered and are not a true reprsentative of the actual plant...ie: Red October and Queen Josephine Hostas. 2006 Catalog. May be others as well.
On Feb 21, 2006, Roots and Rhizomes responded with:
"
On Mar 17, 2006 2:00 PM, Roots and Rhizomes added:
On Feb. 21, 2006 at 2:14pm I emailed irishflowergal the following:
We are sorry you didn't contact us to ask about this before posting in a public forum. The picture of Red October came from our vendor, the picture was not a very high resolution so maybe that is why you think there is a problem. The Queen Josephine picture was taken right here in our growing area. That picture was taken in shade, so maybe it appears dark to you? If you have any other questions about our pictures or any thing else, please feel free to contact me.
Ruth
As of today March 17, 2006 I have recieved no reply.
"
Nice catalog. However, plants always arrive in poor condition due to poor packaging. About 50% are always dead on arrival or shortly thereafter. Life is too short for such grief.
On Feb 21, 2005, flowerlady70ks Dodge City, KS wrote:
They have a lovely catalog and thats all they've got. The plants were all small and most of them dead when they arrived. The replacements weren't any better.
On Feb 19, 2005, threepools Springfield, MA wrote:
The daylily fans were very tiny. Perenials were very tiny. They were very poorly packed and fell out of their packing into a muddle. I called Roots and Rhizomes and complained. They were very accomodating, but the replacements they sent were equally small and equally poorly packed.
I ordered from R&R for the first time in the spring of 2004. By the beginning of June my order had not arrived and I phoned to ask about it. I was told that they had been doing some construction and that their orders were thus going out later than usual. I eventually got the order in late June, which is too late for Massachusetts when the plants arrive as small as these were. They were in o.k. shape, just very small. I planted them out but many were still quite small (for example the blue corydalis) in September when we had a hard frost. I am doubtful that some have survived but will wait and see. If a company has a problem with getting orders out within a reasonable amount of time for spring planting, I would expect that company to take the trouble to contact me, not the other way around. I am very tempted by the wealth of offerings to try again this year, only perhaps on a more modest scale. Reading all the comments makes me wonder if I would be wise to try elsewhere????
On Sep 3, 2004, lego_brickster Lawrenceville, PA (Zone 5b) wrote:
I ordered from Roots &Rhizomes in spring 2002 and 2003, and was disappointed both times. In both cases, I ordered varied perennials (nothing too difficult).
First, they were out of stock on several of my selections. Those that did arrive were undersized, and in many cases the plants were DOA.
While R&R did replace the lost plants, these arrived later in the season in the same condition - undersized and dead or dying.
I found through later research that one of the perrenials I was ordering was actually an annual - misinformation in their catalog.
Between the original plants and the replacements, I have had about a 20% survivability over a single year of growth.
I finally located some of the same varieties at a local nursury this year. They're doing fine. :) Beware of this company.
Ordered Two Daylilies from them paid top dollar. Plants arrived in plastic bag, very small rooted 1 fan tissue culture plants. Will take at least 3 years to bloom, before I even find out if they are what I ordered.
I have ordered from them in the past with good plants, and results, but I will never order from them again as there are far better nursuries out there.
I actualy felt cheated and nobody ever gets a second chance to do that.
I do not know what happened to this company but it has changed for the worse.
On July 30th, 2004, gramush added the following:
Follow up. One of the daylilies died, I called costomer service and a replacement was sent. This also was a small plant packaged in a sealed plastic bag. I planted it, and it never showed any life. I have purchased many daylilies from mail order nursuries before with no problems. The tiny plants that Roots & Rhizomes send are a joke by industry standards.
If plants even grow you will need three years for them to get to blooming size. You will do way better with some of the better rated nursuries, much larger plants, at simular prices. Never again for me!
This company listed a plant I have been searching for(Verbascum Helen Johnson' and the catalog is nice,but what a flop! All of my first order did not sprout -- I had also order other plants, but I thought I may have set them out too early. Some companies think that all of my state is zone 8 and we live in zone 6 mountains. So I gave R & R the benefit of the doubt and just asked for verbascum replacements. They were sent promptly. But alas, they too were DOA.
Wish I had researched Garden Watchdog BEFORE I ordered.
I ordred $120 of daylillies from Roots & Rhizomes this spring. They arrived and I immediately planted them. As the season progressed the daylillies failed to progress. They didn't come up! The company replaced my lillies, however it got worse! The lillies bloomed, they are not true to name!!!!!!!!! The lillies that they shipped me are not what I had ordered (one of whcih was a $35 lilly)! This is too much money to spend on lillies I already have!
I am an avid gardner with over 200 lillies, I will never order from them again!!!!!!!!!
My first experience with roots and rhizomes was in 2002 and overall it was a mostly good experience. However, 2003 was an entirely different story. The order arrived in a very small box with 8 very tiny bare root plants in plastic bags and 3 ornamental grasses in small pots crammed inside. 6 of the items inside the plastic bags were dead when I received them but I decided to plant them in the ground anyway. 1 of the items wasn't even inside the box and I was sent something that I didn't even order instead. 2 of the ornamental grasses lived and are still living now, but, 1 of them was in a very poor condition when I received it. After about 10 days I could tell that the plants weren't going to make it so I called Roots and Rhizomes and complained about the condition of the plants. I was told to return the plants to them using the prepaid label that they mailed to me and they would refund the price of the plants plus the cost of shipping. I mailed the plants back to them on May 28, 2003 and was expecting a credit back to my Credit Card. After another 2 weeks I went online to see if my credit had shown up on the statement. I wasn't there. Again, I called roots and rhizomes and asked why the credit wasn't there and was told that all of the returned orders were in back of the warehouse and when their inspection people had viewed the returns, they would notify the front office of the amount of the credit to each customer. I waited another 2 weeks and the credit was still not on my credit card account. At this point, June 25, 2003, I notified my credit card company and made them aware of the problem and I have disputed the entire amount of the purchase--$62.20. Whatever you do, avoid this merchant. Do not waste your time and money. It's just not worth the pain, frustration, and suffering they put you through.
i don,t have any idea how anyone could rate this co. positively. i have ordered from at least 30 different nurseries in the last 10 years, and this was the biggest scam going. beautiful , lush photos mislead one into believing that is what you get. half dead liner stock meant to grow on in pots is what they send. so far, they have sent replacements(no improvement) on some, and it remains to be seen whether they credit my account as promised. they are next to impossible to reach on their 800 #. do not go there.
I ordered from this company near the end of last summer (August). I had only done mail-order once before so really didn't have anything to compare with. However, I was concerned as the Custard Candy daylilies I receieved had practicaly no roots at all. I was suprised that two of the three actually made it through the end of the summer before dying. The third one died before winter. I also ordered one tradescantia and it also didn't make it through the winter.
By comparison, though, I ordered from Homestead Gardens last year after I received my R&R order and was really surprised to see how large their plants were. They were more than twice as large as the R&R plants. Also, the R&R plants were in very small pots and the Homestead plants were large bareroot divisions. I have since placed an order with Ensata as well and their plants are also more than twice as large as R&R.
So, I don't plan to order plants again from R&R. It would be a waste to order such small potted plants when other companies provide much better plants for about the same price. It is a shame as their sister company Jungs is just down the street and I do like buying plants from them.
On May 12, 2003, trautmak Millerton, NY (Zone 5a) wrote:
As others have said, very small plants, very high price. Also, catalog does not say that some plants are bareroot (with hardly any roots!). Won't order from them again.
I called customer service to ask which of the daylilies I was interested in were registered as dormant since their catalog doesn't specify and here in Montana only the dormant daylilies have a chance of surviving. I waited 35 minutes to reach someone, and then she was quite rude. She told me to read the catalog for that information, and when I pointed out it wasn't in the catalog she curtly replied that it was last year. When I explained my climate and that I had to know this information before ordering she told me to order from someone else and hung up on me! I complained to the supervisor and eventually did get a list of the 30 or so varieties in their catalog that are evergreen or semi-evergreen (NOT all marked as such in the catalog), but she was defensive of the woman I dealt with and did not apologize. I had really wanted some bright fuchsia daylilies, but will not order from them. Martha Rhoades
My experience was exactly as described by Eric. My plants were tiny, not packaged well and extremely overpriced for what you get. I don't mind paying higher prices for healthy plants. I even potted them up and nurtured the plants in my greenhouse and they just never really did much. The ornamental grass was just a teeny sprout and the Astrantia was dead on arrival. They did replace one plant with yet another sad plant, and refunded the cost of another that was out of stock. One plant did make it but will take a couple years to be of any size.
On Jan 4, 2003, Eric_OH Columbus, OH (Zone 6a) wrote:
The catalog and variety of plants offered are impressive. But my order yielded mostly extremely small plants that were a poor value for the relatively high price charged. One salvia was sent bare root with no packing material around the roots, dried out and dead (as was a subsequent replacement). Tiny seedling ornamental grasses were shipped. Packing was poor. After shipping the dead replacement salvia and three additional tiny ornamental grasses that I did not request, the company ignored further e-mail from me. This is one operation to avoid.
I bought several perennials from them. Some arrived as small dessicated roots in little plastic bags. A terrible thing to do to a plant, I thought. Turned out they were not live plants as they were potted and coddled and never grew. A lesson learned.
Terrible experience. Perennials were tiny (prices are on the massive side), poorly packed with soil strewn around the box. One perennial Salvia was shipped bare root, dried out and dead with nothing packed around the roots to keep them moist. A replacement was similarly packed and died soon after potting. Three of an expensive ornamental grass were sent as tiny slips that would take years to attain decent size. The company initially sent several replacements but then ignored requests for a refund or credit for the dead Salvias. There's no reason to order again from this company, which apparently gets a number of its plants from other suppliers.
HORRIBLE. My first order was this year (2002) with this company and it was the worst packing I've ever ever seen. They crammed 10 plants, bareroot and potted, with 6 metal markers into a 7 x 7 x 7 inch box, which seems impossible but they somehow did it. There was no packing but for 1 sheet of uncrumpled newspaper, and the pots had nothing on them to keep the soil from spilling everywhere. The box looked like it had been used as a soccer ball, and because of the lack of packing all the plants were crushed and mangled. The plants themselves were tiny and sad. I planted them, have no idea if they will survive. I will never again order anything from this company, there is way too much risk.
Interestingly, the label indicated it was shipped by Jung Seeds. I had ordered plants from Jung at the same time, and they were packed far better than this.
Something happened to this nursery since my first order last year (then they were strong, healthy plants). This year the plants were interesting but were excessively small. Only one eye on the daylilly; a crown the size of an asprin tablet with 3 long roots on one of the perennials; a vacuum (?) packed bare root plant with 4" of top rowth that wilted immediately as I put it in a pot to get it started; a small potted plant that started green and ended up brown two days later after being in a sheltered spot.... and many more disappointments.
They win the prize of being the worst mailorder experience I have ever had. (Before it was SpringHill Nurseries, whose plants were tiny, also.) The only hope I have for the mass of plants I ordered were the few that were still dormant when they were received -- but since they haven't put up any top growth yet, I am still keeping my fingers crossed.
Just received my first order from them. I was disappointed at the size of the daylilies they sent, especially when I asked the operator if they sent 1 or 2 fans. I was told they usually sent 2 fans unless the plant was large, then 1 fan. Of the 3 daylilies I ordered, 2 were tiny fans with a small amount of roots. The third fan, (cheaper of the 3 plants) was a double fan and what I would expect. They do carry a 1 yr. guarantee. Be aware they are connected with Jung nursery and I have found their plants to be quite small also. I will not order from either company again.
