I've bought a number of brugs from Country Gardens and have always received beautiful plants. They do have most of the large leaves cut but so do the brugs that I receive from anywhere else. I also strip off the large leaves prior to shipping. They grow back very quickly. I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience with them.
Karyn

WOW!!
I am so sorry that you had such a bad experience.. It is so exciting to purchase something you are looking for and to be disapointed is JUST WRONG!!! I have has such wonderful success on ebay (10 plants)! some of the brugs I have recieved were 3+' tall and not a single dissapointment .. they were well within the price range of any company I researched..I have seen several double brug H.Garten's up for auction.. might give it a look...
I am in NO WAY soliciting ebay or any other place it is just my personal experince...( which is limited....LOL)
Blessings
Chena

Sorry to hear about your disappointment. I've ordered from them before and they were great. I got a trimmed back, well-rooted plant that was probably 18-20" above the soil line. It spent a couple of days gradually moving out to it's location in full Florida sun and has been doing fine all summer. It was a double, too (Tiara). From what I've observed so far, doubles do seem to take a bit longer to grow than singles (and that's based on plants obtained from multiple suppliers). Maybe yours just need a little more time? :)

I have also purchased multiple other brugs from other places that were shipped the same way, but didn't have nearly half as much 'trunk'thickness or height. I was defintely happy with the plant I got from Country Gardens and would order from them again without hesitation.

I have had nothing but great brugs from Country Garden.They always send me nice plants and are super nice to deal with.
Your post gives the impression that the plant is wrapped in aluminum foil and plastic.Actually only the roots are wrapped.
The roots also have damp moss around them.All in all,I now order brugs from only two places,Country Garden and Seedsprout.

Karin123 I order from Seedsprout and Country Gardens and I've also bought from a number of eBay sellers, so far I've never had a bad plant. Even the cheapo $2 ones from Parks are doing quite well. I was surprised to read about the problems that Smurfboy had with CG as I think they are one of the most reputable brug nurseries and I've recommended them to many people.

Wanna run faster I agree that the doubles and my variegated brugs seem to grow more slowly than my others.

Well, another one chiming in on Country Gardens. I ordered a Santa Rosa in spring, got a probably 14" cutting well rooted (roots wrapped in plastic with sphagnum moss) and about 4 leaves at the top of the plant. This plant was wrapped entirely but I forget in what, and shipped in a triangle/tubular container. I planted it in potting soil and pot right away and it's now 7' tall and covered with flowers. Give your babies a chance, I bet they recover nicely in a month or so and by next spring you'll have wonderful trees.

I guess I need to put in my two cents worth since ours is the company under discussion.
First,all the plants we send out are of decent size and are sent with the roots in damp moss and then roots wrapped in foil and plastic.We do remove all the large leaves before shipment.We also guarantee live,healthy delivery.
In the case of Smurfboy,he received a nice healthy plant.He later complained that the plant had died,was shipped sans pot and without leaves.We mailed him another plant at no charge and no charge for postage.Now he complains here about both.Some people you just can't please.
If you have never ordered from Country Garden check us in the Garden Watchdog and our Ebay feedback.We work hard to keep our customers happy and most become repeat buyers.

Smurfboy, I read your post shortly after you first wrote what you did and bit my tounge...I've seen people downing sellers on these forums before in an attempt to try and ruin their reputation for whatever reason.

I've not delt with either that you mentioned, but obviously others have had good experiences with CG.

About your plants....I've received rooted cuttings with the leaves attached and ended up pulling most of them off for the health of the plant. Once it's been through the mail, those leaves aren't in the greatest of shape and the plant needs to concentrate on the root system, not trying to support those old leaves...Now, I've never received an un-rooted cutting with leaves attached. If I ever did, I'd be very leary of ordering from that person again because it would be obvious that they didn't have a clue what they were doing! Your seller knew exactly how to ship for the best interest of the plant. It's now up to you to know how to care for it.

Ok I've been growing brugs for 3 years. CG is the first place I have ever known of to rip off leaves, as it does not put the plant into shock during shipping. I've been growing plants indoors and out for 8 years, never had this trouble with other catalog companies other than michigan bulb. The first plant recieved by country gardens looked bad, and was less than 7" tall from soil line. I checked it today and it had a leaf bud growing from the stem near the soil line, however the roots are rotten and has some bugs on them. The replacement also came in a triangle tube, so far the 3 leaves are still attached. I know how to grow plants, order a brug from Logee's Greenhouse, their plants look 100% better than Country Gardens, they are full of leaves, and come in the pot the were rooted in.

Gone2seed your company supplies beautiful healthy plants and I think that's obvious by looking at the responses to this post as well as the comments on Garden Watchdog. I've only been growing brugs for a few years but have bought plants from a number of sources. All but one supplier has stripped off the larger leaves. The one company that didn't was Parks and they don't specialize in brugs.
Karyn

smurfboy,

I don't know gone2seed on a personal or business level, so don't think that I am just sticking up for one of my friends. But I am sure that he or she would be a good friend.

Anyway, as a brug seller on eBay and private seller, from what you have described as having received, it is standard procedure for not only those who sell brugs, but trade them also.

I always take off all of the larger leaves before shipping a plant. When you disturb the rootball of an actively growing plant, it can no longer support the amount of leaves that were on the plant before the rootball was disturbed.

On the Country Garden website it plainly tells you that the plants will be shipped bare root. So you knew this, or should have known, when you placed your order.

You talk about receiving 2 very nice plants from Logee's in a 4 inch pot. You very likely did, but you also had to pay an additional $10.95 for S&H to obtain those plants "in their pots". With Country Garden the S&H cost are included in the price listed.

And yes, I do sometimes ship a plant in the pot, especially when it is a high dollar plant. But the buyer also has to pay extra to have the plant shipped that way.

If you had to pay what it would cost to ship a plant in a gallon sized pot, you would say that you were being ripped off. Because the cost to ship a plant in this manner would be much higher than the actual cost of the plant.

gone2seed, I know how you must be feeling over this. I had a person last year complain that the plant I sold them did not have any roots on it. What he did was, just blatantly strip all of the roots off the plant and then wanted a refund. I gave them a refund, but I won't make the mistake of selling to them again. This is something that I do when I sell a plant. I make photos of the plant in the pot and of the root system before it is packed for shipment. That way I have proof of what was sent to them.

From David, "Way out in the sticks of West Virginia".

Nicely Stated David, now you know why some of us would rather cull than sell. Please folks read the www of the place you are ordering from and smurfboy this isn't the way to handle problems.

I paid 25.91 for each of my brugs from Logee's Greenhouse and would definately buy again. I would rather pay more and get better plants. I doubt I could give away the plants from CG verses try to sell it to someone for 19.95. My largest brug that I bought for 17.99 at Terra Salis here in WV was 6 feet tall when I got it. And karmahappytoes, i'm not handling problems here, just discussing plants people have bought online. I had a very painful experience and wanted to know if anyone else has.

I bought a Datura "Moonflower" type plant online from a random seller on Ebay. The plants were sent bare root wrapped in moist paper towels to keep the roots moist. They had most of their leaves attached, and looked decently healthy. They were small, little things, maybe about 5- 6 inches in height or less. I'm am a little worried about whether they will survive or not. Its actually 3 root stems so hopefully, one will make it if two of them die. But I'm sure if it gets promptly put in some soil with some water, it should be okay.

I was wondering if i should cut off the leaves, so the plant would focus on root development more. But I missed the Paul James episode on HGTV about cutting near the node of the plant to ensure a healthy cut. So i will just leave it be for now (besides, he was talking about trees anyway)

I plopped it in some potting soil and dumped some water on top of it since I'm sure it was thirsty. I was wondering if i should put in enough water until the plant takes a piss out the bottom to be sure it had enough. I read somewhere on the forum that it should be okay as long as the stem is still green. I would tell you how it made out, unfortunently i just got them in the mail on Thursday, so i can't say just yet.

Here are some crude PC-Cam pictures of the Datura and how it looks at the moment. Sorry, i have a digital camera somewhere, but my mother took it again. I will post some better pictures again later.

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Thats not all, the seller also sent me something which she called a "yallow yellow" I never heard of it. (Because she only had 3 Datura's left, so she gave me something else. looks like some kinds of ground cover plant. This plant was very healthy and green, with a very good root ball system. I did the same thing to it as with the Datura, and it seems to be doing very well. Unfortunenly, i don't know the scientific name for it, since there seem to be hundreds of "Yallow" plants so i can't find out more info on it. Here are some crude, eyeball straining pictures of this "Yallow" plant

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If the plants dont make it, oh well. After all, i only paid 6 dollars for all of it, including shipping.

Aside from my plants i just want to say, dont be quick to get out the spikes and hammer to crucify Smurfboy for venting out on CG. Yes, we all make mistakes and yes, it is possible that perhaps, the seller did make a mistake by stripping off the leaves of the Brug before shipping, causing the little plant to turn into a useless twig. Even people with years of experience in their field can make the smallest of mistakes from time to time. But then again, there are a number of factors that must be thought of before we point fingers. Perhaps what caused the plant to die was out of the hands of Smurf and CG. It is good that, they replaced your Brugmansia free of all charges. Even if the second one didn't make it either. All in all, just choose what company or Joe you choose to buy your Brugs from. One that sends healthy, green plants that are as healthy as the moment they left the nursery. Or better yet, skip mail order all together and buy a plant in person so you can be sure what you are getting is a good plant. After all, it's your hard earned money that you are spending.

- Pete, 18

The Brugmansia N00b

plantfreak727: Daturas generally don't like being transplanted. Period. These should be grown from seed and carefully transplanted once when they are still pretty small. Hold off watering it too much as you may cause root rot. Next time buy seed. Or, email me if you'd like some from this plant, Datura inoxia.

smurfboy:When shipping bare root cuttings (or seedlings) it IS best to remove most of the leaves. It reduces the amount of water needed during transport and thereby DOES cause less shock to the plant. When I mail out cuttings (all hardwood) I strip off ALL the leaves, wrap the rooted end in wet paper towls and plastic then put them all into a ziploc bag to contain any moisture. I've almost never had one not make it. Where and how you spend your money is your choice, but as to what the best method is for shipping...well, your choice may not be the best.

They were not bareroot cuttings, they had soil ball on the plant. Plantfreak727, I saved seeds from my white datura, if you'd like to try and start some seeds let me know, i'll send ya some fresh seed. smurfboy77@aol.com

Hey tngreenthumb,

Thanks for your watering tid bit. I watered the Datura the day i stuck it in it's pot of soil. It's still a little moist, but not overly wet. The plant is still very depressing looking. I would hope it would prop itself slightly more upward today, but it's still droopy and wilted looking. I will continue to try to nurse my poor plant back to health as best as i can. The plant is currently sitting in my room because i know putting it outside will be the final nail in the coffin for this plant, since it's so weak and pathetic looking.

Thanks you for you offer smurfboy! This is the first Datura i have tried to grow, and so far, it isn't going too well. I would love to try and grow some Datura from seed, since the cutting aren't doing too hot. My e-mail address is: DracoMalfoy347@aol.com bye guys, thanks for your help so far. Keep the posts coming and happy growing.

Pete, 18

The Brugmansia N00b

plantfreak-

If you're VERY lucky the datura will survive but like others said, they really should be grown from seed. It's easy to do and they grow to the size yours is pretty fast (germination can be tricky so read up on that.)

Anyway, your other plant is yarrow, not yallow. It is highly invasive and IMHO, a weed. Research it before you plant it anywhere because you maight not like it. If you do plant it, give it room to roam or stick it in a trouble spot where nothing else grows. Whatever you do, do not put it in an organized or formal bed.

Good Luck!

Here's a photo of the plants I ordered from Logees, the small one being the last one I recieved, the leaves fell off when I brought it inside.

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Plants I got from Country gardens Below:

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This plant has since been thrown out as it died.

WOW, pictures speak a thousand words.

Hey Guys, (and girls)

Thanks for the posts, i placed my Yarrow plant outside today, still in it's pot, since it needed sunlight. Anyway, i decided to check out the roots of my datura cutting today by gently lifting the plants (more like twigs) out of the soil. two of the three had brown roots and was pretty much dead, except for one, which has a very tiny white root coming out of the bottom. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed though, since im 99.9% sure it will die like the others.

Anyway gents, keep the posts coming. I'll check back tommorow

-Pete, 18

The Brugmansia N00b

I'm still shaking my head at this post and when you compair apples and oranges you are going to get a difference in what you get. So sorry you toss what you thought might be dead instead of waiting to see if the shock from shipping would produce a plant. But again we folks that have many years of growing brugmansia know what we are doing and wouldn't dare compare apples and oranges. Newbies just make me laugh!

First of all its dead. A rotten potato is not going to grow, neither is a rotten plant.

Looks like the replacement plant is no longer "struggling to stand up" and will grow on to be a healthy plant, if given proper care.

You got a decent plant at a fair price.

SO LET IT GO!!!!

Actually the second plant isn't doing good at all, so I just threw it out also, I found a member by chance on aol who has a few double brug cuttings so I bought a handful from her, and they are growing like weeds!

I chop off ALL the leaves on my cuttings, sometimes even the very top of the cutting. Most of the time the cutting is not going to be able to support those big leaves while it's rooting. And sometimes the tip will wilt and die off anyway. Scrape the bark & if it's green it's alive.
Tally HO!

there's nothing to scrape but goo, its dead.