Comments regarding Logee's Greenhouses, Ltd.

I absolutely LOVE their plant variety for exotic items! But... I kinda hate their website... the search function is a mess. Their prices are rather high for the rather small plants you receive - but that's the exotic trade for ya. Everything arrived very healthy and is growing excellently but honestly for the price point I was expecting bigger plants. I will certainly buy from them again with the expectation that anything I order will probably take a few seasons to fully explode with growth. I do really like that they have informative videos available on several items I've ordered.

Posted on November 22, 2014, updated April 3, 2015
Posted on May 1, 2014, updated November 22, 2014
I\\\'d had my eye on their yellow coffee cherry plant as I\\\'ve yet to find this item anywhere else. After getting my tax refund I finally had a some cash to spare on my rare fruit collection, so I placed my order along with a few other items to make it worth paying the high shipping fee that comes with buying live plants online.

2 weeks goes by, and I open my package to find the 3 other items I ordered but no yellow coffee, just a line on the invoice saying \\\"item discontinued.\\\" They shorted me the 1 item I actually really cared about, the whole reason I ordered in the first place. It would be one thing if it were back-ordered and they were going to send separately at a later date, but to advertise an item they had no intention of selling again makes me feel cheated. They had 2 whole weeks to notify me and let me cancel or change the order but they said nothing, and I even contacted them in that time period to ask about adding an additional item to the shipment before it went out to combine shipping, so they should have seen that when customer service looked at my order before replying to my question.

I emailed customer service about the discontinuation and all I got was a weak apology for not notifying me and an excuse that other customers must have bought the remaining plants right before I did. So this tells me either they are discontinuing a hot selling item, which would be stupid, or their inventory system is horribly inaccurate and out of date, and can\\\'t be trusted. I\\\'m guessing its the 2nd. And the fact they really did nothing to try to make this right tells me these types of screw ups probably happen pretty frequently.

Its a shame because Logee\\\'s has some exotic offerings I\\\'d love to grow, but what\\\'s the point of offering all these unique fruits if you aren\\\'t committed to carrying them? When I place an order I expect to receive all the items I bought, and if your company screws up you should at least make some kind of effort to set things right.

Posted on July 26, 2013, updated September 25, 2013
When I placed my order for three plants (Bougainvillea 'Double Red' 2.5", Hibiscus 'Japanese Lantern' 4" and Clematis 'Nelly Moser' 4") I was giddy with excitement. Here I saw a company that has been around for more than a century, has a well constructed website that is easy to browse, has an exciting selection of plants and had authored a book that I own and enjoy referring to. Not only that, but the plants I ordered had excellent reviews on Logee's website and they were part of the summer sale currently under way, so I decided to take the plunge and order. Unfortunately, my experience after the order was less than desirable. These are the points that made me decide to give a negative review:

1) The online order tracking system is a bit dysfunctional. After ordering I got a confirmation email of my order. The site said orders are typically shipped within 5-7 days. A week later, I got no shipping confirmation email and the status on the website had not changed, so I contacted customer support. They told me it had shipped the previous day, and since I had chosen not to receive emails from them I didn't get the notification. Firstly, I did not choose not to receive emails, and secondly, even if I did, then how did I get an email confirming my order was placed? So I asked them for a tracking number, but their tracking system was down on that Friday and I had to wait until Monday to get a tracking number, by which time I received the plants. Today, two weeks after I placed my order, the website still has not updated with the order status. They really need work on making this system better.

2) Typically, you would want to avoid physical stress to the foliage of plants when shipping them, but the plants were wrapped fairly tightly in packing paper, placed at the bottom of the shipping box, then secured there by boxy wads of the same packing paper placed on top of the plants in the corners of the box. I have ordered plants from other places and this packing method was rather disappointing (refer to my review on Neem Tree Farms' where I described their packaging).

3) The Clematis has no growing tips (was cut back) and the leaves look unhealthy and stressed. The Bougainvillea's growing tip was damaged by the packaging and has shriveled and blackened. The hibiscus, although healthier looking than the other two, came with it's own ecosystem - it had a live spider, complete with web and insects caught in it. Now, I've been gardening for years and bugs don't bother me much but if I'm ordering from an established place, I surely expect the plants to have been inspected before shipping. What if it was a poisonous spider?

4) In the reviews on the site, most people said the plants were bigger and healthier than they expected, and in some cases already blooming. In my case, I was surprised at how small the plants in the 4" pots were. I did not get the feeling that I got my money's worth, particularly on the hibiscus which cost twice as much as either of the others. I was definitely expecting something bigger than a 4" cutting for $13, and that was the sale price; full price is $17 and for that price I can get a gigantic hibiscus plant, albeit not this particular breed, at Lowe's or Home Depot.

On the positive side, their selection is great, the site is good (except for the order tracking part), shipping was fast (2 days via Fedex) and that the customer service rep on their online chat system was helpful and understanding when I called to enquire about my order. I will wait a little longer to give these plants a chance to redeem themselves before I decide to give Logee's customer service a call, but overall I was disappointed with this order.

I really want to give Logee's a positive rating - they have such unusual plants and their catalog gets my tropical/exotic-loving heart going. I'm not giving them a negative because some of the plants I've bought from them survived. Not many.

The first order I placed with them was for six plants (Adenium obesum, three violets, sweet olive, sweet potato vine). With the exception of the Adenium, they were all really small and none of them lived more than 5 weeks.

I gave Logee's another try and ordered another Adenium, a banana shrub (Michelia figo) and another sweet olive. The Adenium was a good size but the other two were very, very small. Five months later, the Adenium is doing well and the banana shrub is barely hanging on. The sweet olive was dead in two weeks.

I'm not a master gardener but I'm reasonably adept at container gardening; I grow bird of paradise, hibiscus, plumeria, adeniums, etc. None of the plants I ordered were "hard to grow" and yet ... I give up and won't buy from them again.

Posted on June 4, 2013, updated June 6, 2013
Last summer I ordered a purple Iochroma from Logee's. The catalog stated it was hardy to zone 7 (where I live). I planted it, it grew all summer, then died back to the ground last fall, which I expected. On May 3rd, I emailed customer service to say that it had not sprouted yet. They advised me to wait until the end of May, because this year's weather had made everything a little late. Well, my area just had 4 days of 87-plus degree weather, it is now June 4th, and nothing has grown yet. I emailed customer service again this morning asking for a replacement. I will change my rating if and when I hear from them.

Posted on July 25, 2012, updated May 22, 2013
Posted on June 21, 2012, updated July 25, 2012
My first order with Logee's was a success! I purchased a set of the Lithops and a Split Rock for my mom's birthday. Both were smaller than I envisioned, but what did I expect? The website plainly stated that they would arrive in 2.5" pots. They are both very cute, and I believe I may have gotten a bonus Lithops! (The website picture shows a pot of 3, I received 4.) They are all so cute!! A real conversation piece, my mom is going to love them. I also bought one of their Ponderosa lemons in a 4" pot. It looks to be a nice, healthy cutting. It is a single stem, about 14" above pot. All plants arrived in good condition, especially since it has been in the mid 90's here. Everything was very well packaged, all the dirt and plants stayed securely in their pots. Also, shipping was very fast, only 2 days from Connecticut to Missouri. I wish they would have included a catalog with my order, I was looking forward to sharing it with my mom when I give her her gift. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase and will definitely keep them in mind for future purchases. Thanks Logee's!

I placed an order on July 10 and didn't receive any information after the initial order confirmation. I would check their website and everything in my order was "in progress". Finally, I called this morning to inquire and was told it was too hot to ship to Texas. I cancelled the order. By the way, I just checked their website and my order is still listed as "in progress" and not "cancelled".

I can accept that Logee's feels it is too hot to risk shipping live plants. However, the lack of communication was very frustrating. A simple email saying that my order would not be shipped until temps were lower would have gone a long way in easing the frustration I feel with the company right now. I understand they have made a change to the website that makes this policy clearer but it came too late in my case.

I have ordered from Logee's before and probably will in the future now that I am more familiar with their shipping policies. Sigh. I was really looking forward to the scented geraniums.

Even though I am a young guy, I am currently going to school to get a Horticulture Technician degree. I know lots of plants when I see them and from my experience with Logee's obviously they are making lots of cash! For what do you ask? Small tiny plants that are shipped at the stated shipping price but honestly, whomever it is that knows how to create a new plant from whatever species it is must be smarter than a genious. I'm literally serious. I've ordered from them before but from my intuition, I don't really think that these plants I ordered were considered 'real' in my mind.

Posted on November 6, 2009, updated June 28, 2012
Posted on August 24, 2009, updated November 05, 2009
My husband overheard me discussing Hoya Lauterbachii, so he ordered one as a surprise.

The hoya is absolutely beautiful. Its height is 22 1/2". I checked for hitchehikers, so far so good..none. Its velvety leaves are without mars. In fact they're perfect.

The only mistake Logee's made, they asked if the Hoya was a gift. He said yes. He was under the impression a gift card would be included, but the plant arrived without a card or any indication who the plant was from. My name was on the outer box, but I had no idea who sent a plant. 'for a minute I thought I had a secret admirer..lol'

The hoya was wrapped securely, well-packaged, and according to the time my husband ordered, quickly shipped.

If for some reason my husband reads this, "thanks, XOXO"
I'd like to thank Logee's too..Toni

Posted on March 15, 2012, updated March 16, 2012
I made 2 different orders on 2/22/2012 with Logee's. Having heard nothing, 13 days later I had to email them to check on the status on 3/6/12. The first order was delivered to me 3/7/12 in good condition with very fine plants. The other Order # 14587868, for my niece, was back ordered because of an outage of Citrus Medica Turunji. I was informed by email that as soon as it was back in stock the 2 trees would ship together as a full order. My niece was quite disappointed when the package arrived with NO CITRUS MEDICA TURUNJI after I informed her that Logee's email said it would ship as a complete order. There was NO explanation in the package or in my mailed invoice to explain the contradiction in shipping and the promises in the email. When I ordered the tree online it was IN STOCK. I find communication at Logee's to be woefully lacking, their promises empty and an absence of commitment to stock online orders by following through with their own emails.
"Dear Customer,

Your order is in Back Order status due to the Citrus Turunji. Our growers are letting us know that this item should be available shortly. As soon as they release this item suitable for shipment we will get your order shipped right out to you.

Thank you
Logee's Customer Service "
I informed them I was happy to wait for the whole shipment and was not informed that they were only going to ship out 1/2 of my order in contradiction to their email.

Please read the review left a few reviews below this one by "Fragrantfan".I have not been able to figure out the password for that account and hence am posting it under another new account. I would like to say thank you to Logee's for taking care of the Michelia Alba problem. I left them a phone message and had given up on getting any resolution out of it.My Michelia costing $50 was sent with scales on it! But few weeks later another Michelia arrived in the mail all for free. They sent me another $50 plant all for free.That is surely commendable. However, i would stilll like to reinforce the presence of the rude lady on the phone who i talked to again a week before and she hung up in a hurry while i was in mid sentence asking about guess what??(another order ofcourse!)So, will i order again, ofcourse i will, but i do think Logee's needs to address the rude lady on the phone problem.Also, they discontinued a plant which i had ordered already but showed available on the website and nobody communicated with me about that.I was waiting for the plant and when i called,was told it has been discontinued.(Jui molle).Also i have noticed that in orders with many number of plants, to fit all plants in a single box, they ship smaller sizes,but if you order one or two plants they arrive in decent sizes.

I ordered a couple of things from Logee's some time ago and they did well. I was planning to order from them again but they have dropped so much in the ratings that I may not. I wonder if Logee's has changed hands?

Posted on August 17, 2009, updated June 6, 2011
I have ordered from Logees for about 5 years. Unfortunately none of my lemon/lime trees have survived thus far. I'm sure due to my own fault. I currently have a vanilla vine that was replaced because the first one came in broken. I also have a very small persian lime tree that has not grown since I've had it (about 2 months I think) but continue to have high hopes for. Logees has very good customer service and people there that are available to help you with plants questions because of that I would not hesitate to try yet another tree from them.

My complaint is the same as a few others....you really don't get much for the price.
I have purchased similar plants locally twice the size and half the price.
What I do like is their selection,,some stuff is hard to find.

Posted on May 15, 2010, updated May 22, 2010
I never received my shipment of passifloras that supposedly arrived on May 5th by priority mail. My mail carrier always makes sure I get my packages and nothing from Logees ever arrived at my address. I have e-mailed repeatedly and all I get is "We sent the order. You got it on May 5th."

I DID NOT GET IT.

I asked them where they sent the package and requested that they trace the package so they ignored the question about where they sent it and e-mailed ME the USPS shipping number. I am not only horribly disappointed, but am angry at the lack of customer service as well. Now the flowers I really wanted are listed as unavailable and I am horribly disappointed because they were purchased with a gift certificate that I received from my sister as a Christmas present. I literally spent hours pouring over their catalog choosing just the perfect flowers for my garden and now I won't have them. This is so frustrating.

Now, after reading feedback here on Dave's Garden and finding that many people get "hitch-hikers" (spider mites, thrips, caterpillars and more) I'm thinking that the indifference of their customer service and the frustration of dealing with this company is not worth it...they have lost a potentially good customer as I spend hundreds of dollars at a time on my ever-increasing number of gardens.

Posted on August 20, 2009, updated October 27, 2009
I ordered a number of plants for my terrarium, based on Logee's recommendations for Terrarium plants. Unfortunately, they came with hitchhikers and the slugs promptly killed my entire previously healthy terrarrium.

To be fair to Logees, I was too busy to contact them about the problem and give them a chance to fix it. I will probably give them one more chance since I'm having trouble finding good sources for terrarium plants. Next time I will also be smart enough to quarantine new plants for awhile.

-Sarah

I love that Logee's carries many unusual plants and I've ordered from them 2 times recantly.
I wanted some supplies so I thought I'd try a couple plants also.

First order was for a Columnea and it arrived looking OK but within a couple days turned black, I emailed them but got no reply. I'm thinking it got to hot on it's way to me.
The other plant I got was Schlumbergera 'Thor Tenna' and it was a very nice size plant and is growing nicely.

2 of the supplies wern't sent but I was charged for them so I had to call about that and they did sent them.

So I felt some what confident ordering 2 Schlum Aspens allthough they were a bit high priced but I've been looking for this one for some time now.
Well they arrived and I was very disappointed, the Schlums were less than 3" tall and one had 3 tiny segments off the rooted piece (very tiny) One was out of it's pot so I could see the root ball and it also was very tiny.
In my openion these should have never been sent to a customer at this size.

I also ordered a Begonia but it arrived smashed and broken.
I called them and they did say they would refund for the Schlums but asked me to give the Begonia a couple weeks to see if it recovers.

So far I've not gotten a refund so I'm not only out the cost of the plants but shipping as well.

I probally wouldn't order from them again!

I struggled with the NEUTRAL because I ordered from LOGEE's twice in early 2005. I talked on the phone with them, I placed internet orders also. When I encountered small problems - I emailed - but received no response.
My Allamanda Butterfly (2 plants) were small, and not well rooted -- contracted spider mites almost immediately after they warmed up and died. They did not transplant well - I don't think they were "well rooted" .Some of the rex begonias I ordered were quite lovely -- some have done better than others. Plants were well packaged, except when a heavy bottle of liquid fertilizer was placed on TOP of small plants !
I think they have some unusual plants that you just can't find everywhere -but I think for the premium prices, ALL the plants should be premium quality. Yet, I would probably order from them agan - just because I collect unusual plants. and they have some quality items. I just wish they would have kept the dialogue open and answered my e-mail. (and maybe said I'm sorry you had a problem. That would have done it for me.

Summation: Dirty and lots of bugs.

I've been lucky enough to visit Logees twice in the past few months so I could pick out plants in person. The selection was amazing. What was also amazing was the shocking contrast between the pristine, vibrant catalog and the reality of Logee's filthy greenhouse. I don't think I've ever seen so many fungus gnats in my life. I was also a little grossed out by the green slime that was coating some of the older plants in terra cotta pots.

If you ever visit don't wear anything nice. Some of the aisles are about 18" wide; I had to walk down them SIDEWAYS. There is literally NO room for people to pass if they are walking towards you from the other direction. I had to climb up into some side aisles whenever anyone needed to pass by me.

It is great that they have been around for over 100 years, but I don't think they've cleaned anything since their grand opening. The prices do seem high for the small plants, but you do pay for getting plants that are hard to find. If you can visit I do recommend it. You can pick out your own plants and you get to walk around a place with a lot of history. But... expect lots of bugs and be prepared to get a little dirty. Watch out for the uneven floors and steps.

Logees is a place where I can get things no one else will ship. Their violets are exotic, begonias are extensive, they have a wonderful selection of fragrance plants. I used to think they were the best I could get, until I tried another source and got a big shock.

I ordered an osmanthus fragrans from another company to go with one I got from Logees...what a difference! The price was the same! The Logees sweet olive was about 4 inches high in a small container. It looked like it had been forced to grow roots from a twig. The poor little plant has bloomed but it was sad in comparison to the 1.5-2 FOOT specimen I got from Ecolage for the same price. The Ecolage olive was very full of leaves which looked healthy and was blooming when it arrived. The wrapping was great and there was an impressive set of papers from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture stating the health and pest free status of my plants.

For the money, I will only be shopping at Logees when I can't get it anywhere else. I have had the whitefly experience from Logees in the past, so many of their plants are teeny weeny things with great big price tags.

Mailed order and check April 1st this year, specifying May 12th week delivery; check was cashed April 10th. Sort of forgot about my order til June 10th ,when I emailed to ask where my stuff was? About an hour later, a very nice customer service person called and apologized for the 'delay', and said my package had shipped the previous day (June 9th).Hmmm.Got the box the next day (Hmmm) and was disappointed to find 4 TINY crummy plants (that I paid $4-6 each for), and 2 larger crummy plants. The bouganvillea($14) actually looked as if it had spent time in a freezer, and was now in the process of dropping all it's leaves,and a hibiscus was obviously chlorotic-a $15 plant. So I sent another email, detailing my complaints. The same service person called back again; this time she had talked to the owner, who had authorized her to reship new plants and give me a full refund. Well, I didn't expect to get anything for free, but accepted. 3 days later got the replacements via Priority Mail: mostly better quality though still small, BUT they had apparently run out of the hibiscus variety I had originally ordered, and had substituted a (cheaper) one that I detest. I emailed again, to let them know I got the stuff, and it was mostly acceptable, but that I wasn't keen about the substitution. They emailed back, basically, 'Sorry'.The next day I got the refund check in the mail. I would have been very satisfied just to get good replacement plants, even though they were late, but that substitution bugs me, even for free. They get an A for good intentions,and a seductively gorgeous catalog, but there are some problems there. Unless I desperately want something in one of their catalogs that no one else has, I don't think I'd take a chance again.

Positive : Begonias. LOTS of them, and very nice specimens.

Negative : WHITEFLIES!!! I had a really bad whitefly problem after bringing plants home from Logee's. This is not an issue with begonias, since whiteflies are not attracted to them.

Bottom Line : I've had more than my share of whiteflies and won't be shopping from Logee's again.

The Passifloras I ordered from Logee's were beautiful---good-sized, well-rooted plants. Unfortunately, they had mealybugs AND spider mites.
I had the opportunity to visit Logee's; their plants look great and I was more pleased by the plants that I could pick out myself.

Placed a rather large order from them a couple of years ago - the plants that arrived were barely more than weakly rooted cuttings. None survived. May order again, but it will be a very small order.

I ordered 4 items as a gift. 3 of the 4 died (2 were citrus)causing knats in my friends solarium. Plants are not at all established, very small. When I called to complain THE MANAGER was rude twice. Their return policy is 2 weeks. They were going to give me a credit. Instead, I ordered for myself another larger citrus to give them the benefit of the doubt. The small balance was to be credited to my account. My order never arrived. My account was not credited.
The replacement was shipped to the wrong addy, therefore, going to my PO BOX which sat there for 4-6 days. When I called asking for my shipment they never checked the addy just said the weather was too cold and it was on it's way. My credit finally happened after a 4th call. Again, rude. Citrus is living, somehow.
They seem to feel that because they have been in business for 150 years as they pointed out all too often, they can do no wrong! They certainly did do wrong twice and would probably do wrong again.
A WORD TO THE WISE IS SUFFICIENT! I am never this demonstrative. Good luck!

I have placed one order so far with them. The plants were smaller than I thought they would be. They weren't sent as fast as I thought they would be either. I will give them another try though.

I have had mixed results. Once I ordered an ornamental grass (several different orders) which was consistently filled with a different plant. You probably cannot beat the selection, but I've had problems with insects on the plants. I've probably had about 50% survival rate which is somewhat lower than I would expect. I will order from them again.