I find myself always wanting a certain plant and usually can't find it locally. Does anyone have a good reputable company(ies) they'd recommend?
For roses, Chamblee's http://www.chambleeroses.com/ For herbs, Artistic Gardens (Le Jardin du Gourmet) ArtisticGardens.com I don't order shrubs or perennials on-line. However, I can give you a couple of places you definitely do NOT want to order from!
Springhillnursery.com I have order many times from them. And while they have loads of gorgeous plants, they are located in Ohio and I am tired of trying to grow plants that are just not able to handle our growing conditions even though the information includes my Zone. They do have a great replacement policy too. My most recent order came from Highcountrygardens.com they are located in Albuquerque, NM and the plants I got from them last weekend are beautiful and healthy. I will probably do most of my ordering from them now because they carry Native, Xeric and hardy perennials...the ones that are more suited to the hot, dry conditions we have. I have also ordered from Mountainvalleygrowers.com for the first time this year because they had the Hops vines that I wanted. The order is scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks, I'll let you know how everything looks then.
I know of quite a few companies Cheryl but I'm afraid they're all UK based. I hope you find one that will be a good, reliable and afforable source of plants for you soon.
I ordered my dwarf blueberry from Burpee.com, they only send plants when they are in planting season in your zone. Keeping mind I'm new at this, the plants were about 12 - 15 inches(including root)and very healthy, leaves were still tender and moist and they packed them well for travel. They even gave me instructions on getting them used to my weather before transplanting and a timeline to avoid shock. From the comments I read they are very friendly with returns and problems.
I'm totally curious to see how they are packed. Can someone post a photo of them all packed up next time you receive a shipment, please?
I reconstructed the box my recent order came in. The plant pots are enclosed in a plastic bag closed at the top with a rubber band. This keeps the soil where it belongs. The plants are laying down and there is a tab on the edge of cardboard that clips into the top edge of the pot to keep them from moving around. Plants in box ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) You can see the little tabs that hold the pots in place. This company ships in two sizes of pots and the system is made for all of one size or a combination of both... tabs to old them in place. ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) If your order is more than will fit in one layer, there is a second layer of the cardboard that fits down over the first. See the raised end on the left? There are raised sections on both ends and those hold the second layer above the first so the plants of the first layer are nestled between the two. And they prevent the lid from laying on the top layer of plants. Additional layer to hold more plants ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
Oh! I see now. I just couldn't imagine how they'd be packed and shipped without flippin and floppin all over the place. You can bet I'll be checking into some of the places you all have suggested. I just get tired of going to the stores and finding nothing but the same ol' plants. Not that there's anything wrong with them... sometimes I just want/need something different! Thanks Toni for going through all that trouble of showing me. Hope the plants didn't freak out about being put back in the box!
I promised them they wouldn't be in the box for long if they would just lay there quietly....must have believed me 'cause I never heard a sound out of them. That's why I order online too. The garden centers around here all order their plants from the same growers so there is no variety between centers or from year to year. I have found a little more variety at Lowe's than anywhere else though but not enough to keep me from ordering online.
Totally agree. I've stopped going to the "other" big box store for plants. And that "big" nursery isn't much better. I did find a little family owned nursery in town the other day that actually had a few different plants. I plan on stopping in there again next week and really take a look around. On our commute to/from work, we pass 4 nurseries, but from what I can tell it's just the same old stuff too. I'm going to make myself stop in and take a closer look... just in case there's a few surprises!
Jane... Not sure if it's against policy or not, but it might be helpful to know who NOT to order from. I'll definitely look into the sites recommended, but if you could PM your list of "avoids" I'd surely appreciate it. I'm just itching to order some stuff and don't want to get ripped off.
