For sure I would be writing letters Shelley, I hate that when that happens.

As you already know with the Asiatic 'Landini' that I ordered from Veseys, I kindly wrote them an email and there was no questions ask, they credited my account on my next order.

Those Chianti's, I don't know now what to think, there are so many varations on Google, that its mind boggling ;)

Here is my Chianti
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Here is Chianti from The Lily Nook

And here is Vemeer from The Lily Nook

and according to the Botanus catalogue, its a much softer pink with green throat. Oh well, they were only 5 for $5.25.

Sharon

Wow that's a streak of bad luck Shelley! I haven't had any really bad ones to complain about this year, well except for the pastel mix tulips that flowered red & white striped, but they were cheap and I liked them anyway!

But one thing I did notice with my Lily Nook order, the Aurelian 'Bright Star' was pale yellow instead of dark orange. Here is my pic...

And theirs is at the link below.

I did notice that the 'Aurelian Mix' description reads: "A mix of ÂBright Star hybrids ranging from pastel yellow to deep orange" Coincidence?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lily Nook Aurelians

Our Westman Gardeners club was at the Lily Nook last night for our summer garden tour. We really enjoyed our time there. While walking through the flowerbeds Laurie and I did notice that some lilies had quite a bit of variation even though all the lilies in that part of the row had the same name. Quite a few went on our wish list.

It is too bad that you all did not get the lilies you ordered. Have you emailed your pictures to Nigel or Barry at the Lily Nook to show them and see what they will do for you? The Lily Nook grows their own whereas Lindenberg's brings theirs in from a different grower.

Brenda

Yes, definitely write to the companies. It's so frustrating when you don't get what you ordered. I wonder if sometimes they just gamble on sending something "close enough" expecting that the average gardener, or maybe hoping that it's a newbie gardener, wouldn't notice the difference. They probably don't count on some of us hard core gardeners who know their way around a flowerbed ;^)

I phoned the Lily Nook and she told me that she'd have to go out into the field to check her lilies and that she would get back to me. Lastnight I sent them an e-mail with a picture to show them what I meant. I really don't believe it is any variation of Uncle Albert because of the earliness of the blooms. I paid over $15 for these 3 bulbs. If I would of wanted a creamy white, I would have bought them in Saskatoon this spring for 3/$4.99.
I also emailed Lindenberg last night and haven't had any replies as of yet from them either.
I didn't bother with Botanus and haven't decided if I will from Veseys. If my Dot Com isn't true then I definately will though.
Did any one else plant Dot Com? Do your leaves look anything like an Orientals leaves?
I agree with you Laurie, I think that some companies send things that are close enough, expecting people to accept them.
Sharon, did you send a picture when you e-mailed Veseys? Where did you get your Chianti?
Shelley

Shelley, I don't have Dot Com(yet), but I did see it in the field at the Lily Nook last night(I posted a pic in the thread Trip to Neepawa) and I don't remember it having unusual looking leaves like an oriental. Yes, once it blooms, you'll know for sure.

Gillian, I think your lily is lovely. Unfortunately, hybrids of 'Bright Star' are going to be a mix of colours. You can only get identical ones when they're vegetatively propagated. Because 'Bright Star', itself, is almost twice the price, I'm betting that orange occurs rarely. Had you bought 10 hybrid bulbs, the majority would probably be yellow.

Shelley, even if 'Dot Com' comes true, I'd suggest getting in touch with Veseys. Although you ended up with another 'Purple Reign' (lucky you), it wasn't what you ordered. I've found Veseys to be very good about fixing problems. One summer, I ordered several perennials on sale. About half the plants were sickly when they arrived (since it was fairly late in the season), but the rest were in very good shape, and I told them so. Nevertheless, Veseys refunded the entire amount of my order--gaining me some free plants and gaining them customer loyalty. But I won't be ordering plants at the end of the season, again. ;-)

Doris, no actually I forked out the big bucks and ordered the real 'Bright Star'. I just noticed that they also carry cheaper hybrids that "may be yellow" and figured out what probably happened... I really should complain. I don't like to be a complainer, it just drives up the prices for us all. But I wanted the orange one!

OK I sent the Lily Nook a very polite complaint e-mail with a picture and also pointed out how much I like my other lilies from them. I will see what they say. After all, it was a $9 bulb... I had forgotten how much it cost!

Sorry, Gillian. I misunderstood your previous post. Since you paid more for the orange one, you absolutely should complain. If companies raise prices to compensate for their own errors, they'll lose customers.

I wonder if the lilies sent in error were growing near the ones that were ordered? That's a lot of errors in one year. It makes one leary to order. I hope it was one small problem that caused the errors, and that the companies can fix it easily. Keep the rest of us posted!!

Did any one else plant Dot Com? Do your leaves look anything like an Orientals leaves?
I'll have to check tomorrow, its too dark to see right now.

Sharon, did you send a picture when you e-mailed Veseys?
What I did was sent them a link to the photo and the next day they wrote back and credited my account for $16 with an apology.

Where did you get your Chianti?
Botanus, I'm going to let this one go by because they were dirt cheap and besides it was over 2 years ago, however if they were expensive, I surely would be putting in a customer complaint.

Gil, no one likes to be a complainer, but heck girl, if we don't complain, how will these companies know. Perhaps their supplier sent them the wrong batch of bulbs. Besides I don't order or buy anything off the Net that doesn't offer a guarantee. We are the paying customers and if they are going to market, they better be true to name.

Sharon

The leaves on my Dot Com do look more Oriental than Asiatic. One bud is swelling - gotta get out there and dance!

Sharon if it makes you feel better, I personally like my Vermeer better than my Chianti. The Vermeer I bought from Liliy Nook this spring and my Chianti was bought a few years ago from the same place that I bought Purple Reign from this spring.
Marcia, my Dot. Com has a bud that is starting to swell as well. So soon we'll see.
The America pink bud that I posted the other day has opened and looks alot like Chianti . Not quite, but similar.
Shelley

Look at this one, to add to the confusion, I wonder if this one is the right one too, kind of looks like Chianti, doesn't it?

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'Vivaldi'
This one I just bought this spring from Botanus.

Sharon

The leaves on my Dot.Com look Asiatic, LOL ;)

Let's start from the top...

Shelly, the Uncle Albert you received is definitely not Uncle Albert... here is mine.

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Sharon, Botanus, for sure, did not give you Chianti, 'cause your Chianti does not look like mine either...

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America looks right...

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and so does your Vivaldi... (one of my favorites!)

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Here is a clump of Vivaldi...

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Brenda (who will be doing a lot of dividing of my hundreds of lilies hopefully this fall.....hint, hint!)

Looks like I have a name for my mislabled America lily. Vivaldi it is . I like it better than America.

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Shelley

Heres what open today, man this is really getting confusing now....

Again from Botanus, actually this one was a free coupon lily. Looks very like the so called Chianti they sent.
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Renior

Sharon

I bought Renoir from the Lily Nook back in 2003. This is what mine looks like.

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Brenda

My Netties Pride just opened up from Veseys.
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A picture of what it is supposed to look like.
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I wonder if Veseys had a surplus of Purple Reign. I have my bill and they printed right on the form- NO SUBSTITUTIONS.
I'm just waiting for Dot Com to open before I e-mail them.
Shelley

I'm thinking I should have ordered from Veseys this year!! I would have had 'Purple Reign' in my garden, finally!!

I was thinking the same thing as cailinriley...

Maybe some of you who accidentally received Purple Reign from Vesey's would like to get rid of it now? Maybe do an exchange of some sort? I have lots to choose from here in the yard, hint, hint.

Brenda

Yeah for sure Purple Reign is beautiful, but I can see why you wanted Nettie's Pride, Shelley! I love that one too!

I haven't heard back from the Lily Nook yet. I guess they are busy this time of year with their festival and stuff.

Shelley, that is one mistake I would not grumble about, have you noticed that your supposed to be Netties Pride has 7 petals to some of them? Its gorgeous!

But yes of course, you ordered Netties Pride, then it should be Netties Pride!

Sharon

You know sometimes it's scary when you get what you wish for. I was seriously thinking about ordering more Purple Reign to put into other beds. I have 6 bulbs in total now. My mom wants some too. She's first in line for obvious reasons. A plant exchange is not out of the question at all. I do have my eye on a lily- Something Else. As far as Veseys, I ordered enough stuff from them this spring that I feel that they should supply what I have ordered, especially when I say no substitutions. (Remember that I ordered the little Mantis tiller, which I love.) The quality of their bulbs were none to great compared to other places either. I have found that their service is excellent though. I am almost certain that I will send in a complaint.
BTW, I am planning on stopping at Zosels on Saturday. This is where I bought my original Purple Reign. I will check if she has any left.
Sharon, I have noticed that some of the flowers have 7 petals. Only one plant is blooming as of yet. Maybe I will get lucky and get one Netties Pride. Doubtful but who knows.
Shelley

Shelley, do you want to exchange a Purple Reign lily for Something Else lily this fall?

Brenda

Brenda, you've got mail.

Shelly, that is one thing about Veseys they do have great customer service and honor their guarantee. I guess we all take chances when ordering plants from companies as such.

Just last evening I wrote to tell them about the mislabeled Starburst and got a quick reply this very morning. Talk about fast service!

Hi Sharon
Thank you for letting us know. I am very sorry again about the incorrect color bloom. I can assure you that doesn't happen often and it is very unfortunate that it happened to you more than once. I have placed another credit on your file for 8.51. Once again our apologies.
Enjoy Your Garden
Sincerely
Shirley G., Customer Service

Still waiting to hear from Floral & Hardy ;)

Sharon

Hmmm well I got the following from the Lily Nook:

"Bright Star is a strain, and some do sport yellow centers. However since our picture shows a orange, we will send you a credit voucher for it."

Well that's not my understanding, there were separate order codes and prices for "Bright Star" and the "Bright Star Hybrids". The real Bright Star was almost double the price of the randomly coloured ones. Its description was: "Pendant ivory white star shaped blooms with a apricot orange star, recurved petals".

And now I feel like a jerk for complaining. :0(

Gillian, it sounds like LN is confused about their own plants, and about how to respond to customers. The photo shows an orange star, and the description says "orange star", so it is quite unforgiveable that they should make you feel bad about actually expecting an orange star. (Silly you!!)

I have ordered from LN in the past, and have (luckily) received the right lilies, but their reply to you leaves me wondering about their customer service and their commitment to good customer relationships. At least they're sending you a credit voucher.

Don't feel bad about complaining--that's what a responsible consumer does when something has been misrepresented.

Yes for sure Gil, ditto what Doris said!

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So what do I really have here....is this the real 'Purple Reign' or Tango Cappuccino. LOL

Pudge, I recall that you had ordered Cappunccino, did yours come out like this?

Sharon

I recived an email from the Lily Nook as well today. They wrote: Yes upon checking our stock we found that most of our stock we recieved was wrong and not Uncle Albert. We will send you a credit voucher.
Just what I wanted to hear. No word from Lindenberg yet.
Shelley

So maybe I jumped the gun. Or maybe the confusion is getting bigger. My other Cappucino bulb opened yesterday in the mist of placing an order to Valley K. Something told me to check my lilies before I ordered. And this is what I saw blooming.
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A Netties Pride. It was on my list to order from VK and after seeing it, I changed my mind. Not that I wouldn't like more but there was others that I wanted as well. I'll settle for one and let this one multiply. Couldn't they have at least substituted with the same lily? Do they think people are that gullible.
Shelley

My supposed to be Dot Com opened up yesterday. I was right in thinking that the leaves looked Oriental. Veseys has an oriental named Sorbonne in their spring catalouge that looks just like my supposed to be Dot Com. Grrrr. Good thing that I ordered from this one from Valley K.
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This has been one year of mislabel lilies, eh, I'm wondering if Veseys and Botanus are getting their lilies from the same supplier?

No wonder your Dot.com has oriental leaves!

I hope your writing a letter to them Shelley to get your money back, these screw-ups are absolutely not good!

Sharon

I did e-mail Veseys and they have given me credit. I find that Orientals do not do all that great here. Each year they have less blooms. I haven't lost any bulbs yet. Maybe I should try mulching these bulbs and see what happens once. What does everyone else do with their OT lilies in the fall?

Shelley

Shelley, I cover my Orientals and other less hardy lily bulbs with a good heap of straw around Halloween time. Other good tips is to plant deeper than 6". 8-12" is a good depth. As well, plant in the spring only, that way they'll form good root growth so that they'll have a much better chance of surviving the winter.

Sharon