Comments regarding Hirt's Gardens (formerly Hirt's Greenhouse & Flowers)

I ordered two citrus trees from Hirt's, a pink variegated lemon and a key lime. The lemon tree looks great, but the lime tree is quite small and has been harshly pruned so that my tree has a lot of stubby limbs. The tree seems healthy enough - we shall see how it does -- but I am disappointed in the size and the way it has apparently been treated. It was not an inexpensive tree.

Posted on March 12, 2015, updated May 11, 2015
Posted on March 9, 2015, updated March 12, 2015
Interesting, I had not thought to check their rating here on Dave\\\'s Garden before purchasing from Hirt\\\'s on Etsy. About two months ago, I placed a fairly small order (5 plants: spider plant, parlor palm, snake plant, fiddle leaf fig, and a pineberry) from their Etsy store. I not only received them quickly, but they were all beautiful plants! Since having them, they are all growing wonderfully. My only complaint is that there was one particular plant I have been searching for, but they refunded my order for it saying the plant was too small to ship. I did have correspondence with customer service, which explained why. I just recently placed another order with them last week on ebay and should be getting it today (\\\"Bonnie\\\" spider plant and a hoya). Will update when I check the plants.

Never really had to deal with any customer service issues. Their tomato and pepper plants are always well packed and awesome. Their dahlia tuners are awful, but they just distribute replaced imported ones. They all arrive broken with very little material attached to the stem, although all will probably grow.

I wanted to give another try at the Santa Claus dahlia, and they had it. So I ordered it. The tuber clump was huge and healthy looking. It grew like a weed, a fantastically wonderful looking plant. But it wasn't Santa Claus. It was vaguely similar in that it was the same sized bloom and red/white bicolor, but not the same. So hence the neutral. I am very particular about what I want. Would I try them again? Sure, but one more miss and I will not again.

Earlier this spring I ordered a selection of plants from Hirt's. While the plants were all alive upon arrival, they were battered and broken from the packaging method used. The plants were masking taped into their respective pots, then crammed (yes, crammed) into one box, surrounded by packing peanuts.

I opened the box in the yard on a breezy day and spent most of the afternoon retrieving packing peanuts from the grass. After unpacking the plants, I was dismayed at the amount of damage the plants suffered in transit. Several leaves of one day lily were taped to the pot; the stem on a Ligularia was bent almost double. The peony is still alive, but is still bedraggled and bent and completely unhappy looking.

I don't believe I'll be ordering from Hirt's again. Other sellers have far better packaging methods which provide protection for the plants. I'd rather not risk demolishing through transit in the future.

I actually feel more negative than neutral towards this company. The only reason I am leaving a neutral is because my experience was not a bad or expensive as others. I ordered 2 double mockoranges from them. They shipped them the next day Priority Mail. Great. One of the plants I received was the one I ordered. The other one was not even labeled and the open flowers on it were clearly single instead of double. I contacted the company asking them to sent me the right plant. I got an email from Matt Hirt stating that he issued a refund. I did not want a refund, I wanted a plant. I had a place where I was going to plant it! Any other reputable company I have ever dealt with would have sent a replacement but this company must be too cheap to pay shipping.

Posted on May 15, 2012, updated May 21, 2012
Last year I ordered 25 strawberry plants and 10 thornless blackberry plants-they were ok.
In Feb. I ordered seeds for my garden-beans, corn, etc. and then in March I again ordered more seeds. They all came ok.
BUT.....when it was time in Wa State to plant the garden, we had high hopes for a good return - NOT!!!!!
The seeds have turned out to be TERRIBLE - poor germination or no-germination at all - and it's not because it's been too cold, etc.
Planted the whole big pkg of blue lake pole beans - 2 came up, the whole pkg of yellow wax beans-NONE came up, 2 pkgs of peaches and cream corn - that has to be at least 100 seeds- only 31 came up, no rutabagas, parsnips, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and the list goes on. This is very irritating and maddening, it puts our gardens way behind, and besides we had to go out and rebuy them locally and take potluck, not much choice of seeds now that it's so late in planting season.
Today, I have sent them an email with these complaints - we shall see what transpires. I'll keep you posted.
Hirt's has just lost a good customer by this poor showing of their supposedly "so-good or better" seeds.

I was going to place an order with this company, until I came across this site. When this many people have a complaints, and take the time to let others know there is a problem, one should pause and consider. I think I will shop elsewhere and spend my money at a company that puts their customers first!

My first order I ordered a japanese white pine and received a mugo pine. Which would of made me mad but I would of eventually ordered it later. I still wanted a white pine. It did come fast and in good shape it still looks great. On my second order I actually order from 3 different online sites and Hirts sent there tree first and was in great shape. I also sent them an email and got a response the next day. I'd have to give them a B for a grade

I ordered several plants from Hirt's on eBay. The order was shipped quickly and the plants were beautiful and packaged well. In fact, they were the best-looking mail order plants I have ever received. Absolutely no damage to any of the plants.

In checking the order, I found that I was missing one of the hellebores I had ordered. No big deal - I contacted them through the eBay messaging system to let them know. I had bought the plants in several separate auctions but paid for them all at one time to combine shipping. Because of that, when I clicked the "Contact Seller" link, the subject line of the message contained information about the most recent auction, a Japanese forest grass, instead of the hellebore. I noticed that and made a special point in the body of the message to specify that it was the hellebore, not the Japanese forest grass, that was missing from the order.

I got a prompt reply that the missing plant would be shipped. It was shipped promptly, but it was a Japanese forest grass, not the missing hellebore. I contacted them again about the mistake and the seller repeatedly blamed me for the error. After a few email exchanges, the seller finally agreed to replace the plant. It was shipped promptly and was in great condition. All the plants I purchased from Hirt's are in the ground and are doing great.

Because of the seller's negative attitude, I didn't feel like I could rate them as a positive. However, the plants were beautiful and packaged well, so they don't deserve a negative. I will most likely order from them again.

I want to thank all who have posted about their experience with Hirt's. I nearly placed an order today for some San Marzano and other tomato plants. But after reading the approximate 50-50 chance of getting the right products, the multiple experiences of poor customer service, as well as photographs being improperly stolen and used, I do not assess this to be a reputable company and there are just too many others who are.

Posted on January 24, 2011, updated January 28, 2011
Due to overwhelmingly negative feedback about their seeds, I haven't bought any seeds from Hirts, but plants are a different story! I have ordered several different fruit trees from Hirts to make into bonsai/houseplants, and have never been disappointed. I recently ordered an olive tree from them, and it is now flowering beautifully in its new pot. I just ordered 3 more. They take great care in making sure the plant is secured in its pot during shipping, and even put a warmer in the box that was still warm when the plants arrived. Truly a top-notch company when dealing with plants and trees. It's just the seeds that scare me. :)

I wish I read all this before ordering....more negative feedback than positive?? I ordered a plant and two packets of seeds. Never received one packet of seeds. The plant is questionable. Lots of holes in the leaves....seems like something has been eating it. No flowers or buds yet, not sure how it will do. The customer service is horrible. I contacted them via email as well as sending them an ebay message after ordering. I wanted to know what combined shipping was so I could send them the correct payment. No response. I called and left a message asking the same thing. No response. I finally called again (as I didn't want negative feedback on my ebay account for not paying) & got someone on the phone.

After receiving the incomplete order I emailed/ebay messaged Hirt's again. No response to date. I have been trying to call all morning. I keep getting a recording telling me their hours are M-F 9-4. I started calling Monday at 10. I will update this review once I finally get in touch with their customer service to let you know the outcome.

Note: This company is on eBay as "hirtsgardens."

Their store page calls them, "Hirts Gardens, Seedmart and Bulbmart."

Wow, I almost ordered from this company. Thank you everyone for your feedback about the seemingly awful customer service; I surely will not order from them.

my god, well it looks like i have a 50-50 chance,huh....well it seems as though most of you have ordered plants or bulbs...i have ordered pumpkin seeds of different varieties what should i do if none of them ever grow? this is my first time ordering online..............im a little worried.bummer.

I've ordered a couple of times from this company, as I was attracted to the low price on Ebay. It took awhile to get here, but the plants were generous and healthy. Thing is, their customer service leaves alot to be desired. I called, and the woman who answered seemed moody and had no knowledge of the plant I had inquired about. "I dunno. *sigh* Hoooold on..." I was on hold for awhile, but she finally got back on the line and said they had one more of a particular plant. I saw they relisted it on Ebay for 17.99 rather than the original 7.99. Also, they don't answer their emails or Ebay correspondence. This can't be good for business. I won't be doing business with them anymore.

I ordered a single carnivorous plant from Hirt's using E-bay - a drosera, or sundew.

It arrived quickly, but the packing left something to be desired. These plants are usually grown sitting a tray of water, and Hirt's used masking tape to secure the soil in the container - which doesn't work so well on a wet pot. The plant ended up kind of bare-rooted by the mailing process.

I washed off and re-potted the plant when received, and it seems to be getting better - it was a fairly large specimen, which in this case means a couple inches across. It did also develop an infestation of thrips shortly after it was received - my guess is the insects came with the plant, and were allowed to prosper due to the stress resulting from its shipping mishap.

I think part of the problem here is that carnivorous plants are quite specialized things, and Hirt's is not a specialized nursery as such... but I probably won't be ordering and drosera from them again, at the very least.

Ordered "Plum Lemon" tomato plants, and received "Yellow Plum" instead. Sent an e-mail to customer service, who replied that the varieties are "one and the same." These ARE two different varieties, and there ARE two different listings on Hirt's website, so something's wrong somewhere... Also: it won't be planting tomato planting time in my area for another five or six weeks, and I get these plants on March 27?

I tried this company for the first time this year for their unusual seeds. The package came in a reasonable time. All the seeds were in small ziplock bags and no planting information. Planting per normal recommendation for the pant types I got resulted in very poor performance. Less than 30% of the cauliflower germinated and less than 5% of the spinach. I have received no feedback from the compnay and their website leaves you with the impression that seed sales are "as is" with no guarantee. Needless to say - I may be shopping around in the future.

On a good note - all the Hmong Cucumbers did germinate. This is the only company that seems to have Red Hmong Cuke seeds.

I've had mixed results with Hirt's. Over the past six months or so, I've ordered a large number of things from them -- seeds, starter plants, and potted houseplants.

Most of the seeds have been viable. I had some trouble with a few varieties, so reordered and had trouble again (no germination). I called them to ask for culture instructions, and they didn't have any suggestions beyond what I was doing already. They did send me replacement seeds without my asking. Still no luck, so either the seeds are just no good or my germination technique is wrong.

Some of the starter plants I ordered during the winter arrived damaged. They appeared to have frozen slightly during transit. Hirt's replaced them. Once they asked me to email photos before replacing them. In each case, they both refunded my money AND sent replacement plants.

A few of the starter plants I ordered this spring (Feb and Mar) were pretty sickly-looking. Spindly and weak. They did not survive transplanting. I should probably have called and gotten replacements right away, but since I went ahead and put them into the ground, I didn't feel right complaining to the company weeks later when they died. (The hardy hibiscus were the worst problem. Of a flat of 25, only 10 lived. On the other hand, I ordered another flat of 5 later on, and all 5 are doing well. They were much larger and sturdier than the first group. Perhaps the first plants were too young to be shipped?)

The potted houseplants were exactly as advertised, and are all thriving.

I ordered seeds from Hirt's for the first time this year. Seeds were in good condition, and are just starting to pop up. I was impressed with the unique variety of seeds and some plants they have to offer.
Though they are lacking in planting/sowing instuctions, at least with the seeds I ordered.

If you are ordering more than one plant, order them all at the same time, otherwise you will pay separate shipping even though they packed it in the same box.

I ordered to two wisteria bonsais. They were really bad looking. I am trying to nurse them back to health. I will have to let you know how it works out. From reading the other post I don’t think I will be buying from them again.

My first order from Hirt's was really sub quality. I was disappointed, and had ordered several things that were unique. Not one of them survived.

I was on the "lust hunt" for a true blue Hibiscus, and fell in love with their deep "Blue Satin" variety. So... I decided to give them one last chance this spring. The plant arrived in perfect condition - exactly as it had been described. The shipping was a little slower then it should have been, but the plant was none the worse for wear.

It's a gamble...

I have bought from them off ebay at least 5 times. The flower bulbs are big and healthy and always bloom for me. The "live" plant, ones that come in pots are not that great. They either look like they are about to die or sick. The last ones I bought had little buggies coming out of the dirt!!!!!! I had to spray all of my plants after that. I think I will stick to bulbs, IF I ever buy from them again.

Goods are ok, but don't expect they will get back to your Email.

I purchased a couples sets of Japanese Maple seeds via eBay. On May 17 I received a notice that they would ship "within 6 days".
It's June 10 and nothing. I sent $10 for a $7.xx total order and instead of adding insurance or upgrading shipping I guess they thought it was a tip. I went back and realized they got my address slightly wrong in their confirmation e-mail (checked all my sent messages and it was not my error)-- sent a note this evening and waiting for a reply. The wrong address would still be on this route so I don't think that explains the missing seeds. I look forward to upgrading this report to a positive.

I have ordered from this company several times and overall would recommend them. The plants are small but usually make it here fine.
One complaint I do have is last year I placed a small bulb order and they left out 3 of the hyacinths (I paid around 1.50 apiece for them but never got them) I purchased, but otherwise I've been overall pleased with my orders from them.

I ordered several tomato plants in the spring of 2004, and I never received them. However, I was never charged for them, either. They lost my order, despite e-mail confirmations I received.

I have bought from this company a few times. The shipping time is moderate but although I followed the provided directions, I have never had much success w/ their seed. It's my guess that their seeds aren't quite a fresh as they should be.

i have had different luck with this company . one time plant will be nice and next time not so nice . last thing i ordered was a staghorn fern. it had mealy bugs all over it. i know the difference between spores and mealy bugs. i just cleaned the plant up and kept it away from the others i have. i was really shocked at this because i have never received a plant from anyone with bugs already on it.

Extremely fast shipping and excellent packaging. Amaryllis and garlic bulbs were large and healthly and perennials adequate. Free bonus included. So far I am very satisfied, and I will upgrade this company to a positive if the amaryllis blooms are the species stated in the web site (I ordered from the company site, not ebay.)

Bought a Seemanii Passifloria for them via e-bay. I have been somewhat satisfied with the product they sent me....The plant was very small for the price paid. But at least it is begining to grow, unlike some of the other experiences.
However, since I see all the negative responses of the way others were treated. I think I will count myself lucky and not buy from them again. There are just to many other places to buy good plants and seeds, and not have to pay out your money and put up with such nonsense...

I live just down the road from Hirts. Last year I was a first time customer and bought a truckfull of merchandise for a very large gardening project. It is a well established business in our community with an old fashioned reputation for excellence. I am impressed with their prices but unimpressed with their advice and labeling..They have an excellent selection of largely unknown perennials to our area..I was duped into thinking that certain perennials were in fact "perennials" for our zone 5 when in fact they were not....this was the case on almost 1/3 of what I bought and planted including Cortaderia Selloana and bunny tails. I am not a novice gardener and should have known better to do more homework before buying. Shame on me. I plant with great care before and followup with aftercare of all plants. I was dismayed when 8 large clumps of grasses labeled as Miscanthus sinensis Gacillimus I planted never came back in Spring. Zero Zip nothing......not a blade, nothing but dead patches. It was not my planting methods..(others a few feet away have returned just fine). I believe mislabeling runs rampant in this store... I returned to the store to inquire and got "gee, we don't know what happened!" I was out a large amount of money not to mention a lot of time. I had all my labeling sticks and a receipt and no offer was made for reimbursement. In all fairness, the many tufted hairgrass I bought and planted has done very well and is quite established for 1 year old plantings.

Bottom line, do your homework...known what your buying for what zone and this retailer should be o.k. to do business with.

I emailed in advance asking if the kyoto moss spores could be placed in full sun... oh sure they said... So I ordered them. Quick shipping. Have had the spores for 2 months. there is a tinge of green. However, every time I attempt to put them near sun, (as far as I know they only like shade) they shrivel up and die.

They seem to have a good thing going, just abyssmal customer service and uninformed order techs.

I ordered hollyhock, delphinium, and meadowsweet from this company through EBay. Each variety was sold for $17.99 per 8 plants. They arrived in 3-4 days and were packaged carefully. HOWEVER, the plants were very small for the price paid and did not appear to be well rooted. Four of the hollyhocks had all yellow leaves w/ blacks spots, obviously diseased. I emailed Hirt's and they said they would send replacements but have not received. What ticked me off is that he did not offer any apologies for the inadequate plants. I will not order from this company again b/c I can get better through Bluestone or my local nursery.