" Death by Mail " EEK!! I think you are correct on that statement. Yes was a very hard lesson learned and $130 loss. UGH!!

HORIBLE HORIBLE HORIBLE. I received some plants today and the leaves were yellow and falling off. Some of the plants were sealed in plastic baggies with no holes to breathe....but it only took them 11 days to ship my order. I immediately got on the phone and ended up with a full refund. I will NEVER NEVER NEVER order from them again. Fellow gardeners beware...you have been warned!

Pam

The worst of the worst. They have probably driven more people out of gardening--and certainly away from quality mail order nurseries--than drought, hail, blight, wilt, and insect pests combined. It's absolutely incredible that they are still in business. Not quite as bad, but darn close are Owens, Spring Hill, Burgess--and Gurneys and Jungs--at least as far as plants go, though their seeds can be a poor quality as well.

Don't be fooled by the lifetime guarantee policy. If too many of your plants die, as did mine, then they will send you a letter stating that they will not honor any outstanding replacement certificates or allow any future orders. I ordered a 6 daylily collection, after 2 years, only 2 have ever sprouted out of the ground and the leaves look like thin limp noodles, with no blooms. I am incensed that they will not at least stand by their replacement policy.

3/12/2011

I have been purchasing now for 3 years and each time I have ordered one of their professionally laid out gardens. These are pre-planned flower gardens they arrange and then offer it at a great discounted price (usually the discount is about 30%).

In the spring, if you are a regular customer you will be sent a "special discount coupon" with the new year�s catalog (up to 40-50% off your entire order). You can�t go wrong!!

As their catalog states their plants are small and need TWO YEARS to mature, but if any thing dies � they do replace the items. (So be sure to keep your receipts).

I have had to replace a few plant�s (I am no pro at gardening) so thank goodness for Michigan Bulb. They replace any and all items for you for want ever reason.

Two GREEN Thumbs up for Michigan Bulb

I wish I would have read these postings before I ordered. I found out they have my zone incorrect as I am in a "micro-climate" I even convinced the Master Gardner of the company and she states that there is NO possible way to send my order earlier to reflect my actual zone. I know I'm going to get my goods way too late. Luckily I had one of those new customer coupons, but will not continue to be a customer after this.

I have mixed feeling about MBC. A few years ago I purchased 3 of their garden packages. I chose MBC because I was just beginning to landscape and I wanted to do it cheaply. I live in a zone that is 110 in the summer and 30 (and freezes like crazy!) in the winter. I also was unfamiliar with the soil. So I figured that a lot of plants would die anyway. I have to say that a lot of the plants did well depending on where I planted them (duh). The daylilies are very pretty (wish I had bought more), the columbine are flourishing (even reseeding themselves), the trumpet vine is taking over the fence� and the strawberries were greatly enjoyed by the birds. The bulbs (i.e., daffodils and crocus) have also done well. They are gorgeous in the early spring and you get so many for a good price. You can afford to experiment with them. You do need to be aware that they look very pathetic when you get the packages. It has taken 3 years for the trumpet vine to look actually nice/pretty� but I paid practically nothing for it and it started out as a little twig (seriously). So, if you want an instantly gorgeous yard, do not use MBC. If you are patient and on a budget and do not know your yard yet, then I highly recommend MBC.

My grandfather purchased probably 1.27 million bulbs from mbc, and I don't remember anything being of poor quality, of course this was 15 years ago. There are still a great many irises at my parent's house, all of which originated at mbc. Probably most of the tulips, and daffodils also.

I ordered 5 strawberry plants and planter at $35.00 and got 3 dead plants and 2 I thought we could save but they all died ,now all we have is a planter.MORAL, NEVER but plants thru the Mail!

A few years ago I ordered 100 foot of flowering fence from them. I got 50 feet and never got the other half. When I called them they told me that I did not exist in the data base and that I was trying to rip them off. I even gave them the order number. What I did get was little twigs. Out of the 50 plants they sent me I have 3! one forsythia and 2 blue rose of sharon. So I do not and will not ever order from them again. There catalog goes right into the trash when I get one.
So it is THUMBS DOWN for them as well as Spring hill and Brecks.

I really wish this was a rave review of a product but it is not. Here's my story last year I purchased
3 of their gardens. After planting all of them and following the directions explicitly. I have a total of 42 plants out of 123 planted coming up. Not a good ratio. I do not want to think about the money wasted. It is too sad. I can�t believe someone would sell such poor products. I will have learned my lesson and will be buying my flowers from the local garden center from now on.

DONT waste your money!!!!

I have had the same problem with all of those companies- MI Bulb, Spring Hill, Burgess(do not let me get started on Burgess) Gurney's..... I have spent well over $100 at each of those companies, hoping to get great plants and bulbs, but they only deal with dead plants, black rotting bulbs and huge disappointment and stress. I am surprised to hear that people have gotten refunds from them or even replacement plants, for when I tried to get either or, I have been refused, because they said that if I can't garden properly, then its my fault the plants died. They classify me as zone 7a, which is the Raleigh area, and at that time, I lived in Beaufort, NC,which is 8a and when they send it at their regularly scheduled time, keeping in tune with Raleigh's zone instead of the real plant zone for my area, it's about 120 degrees in the shade, most years. When I opened up the airtight brown box from Gurney's, MI Bulb, and Spring Hill, you guessed it, all the baby sized(when you see them in the catalog you think you are getting this bright, nice, bushy plant not true), wilted, and 3/4 of them are already dead from being transported in such heat. But if you call customer service the same day, you will be told they are in shock, to give them water and they will be fine, or that its UPS' fault for not shipping them quick enough, it is never their fault. I know water is great for plants, but when they are dead in the box, nothing will revive them.
I think they can only get seeds and products right, since they cannot be killed in any way..
Burgess, they have so many bad reviews against them in the Illinois BBB, that the BBB is surprised they are still even in business! I sent them a money order, kept the receipt to verify so that I would know when they would cash it, had it sent via mail confirmation in addition to it, and then they said they never got my payment, and when the authorities checked into it, they said that their representative got the mail, signed for it, and then promptly cashed it through their bank account. I had an out right argument with said supervisor who called me stupid, a thief and a liar, not to mention a lousy gardener.
Do not buy from any of these companies if you can help it, either buy locally or try your hand at Ebay, you will save yourself so much frustration and stress, it won't be funny.

Small, poor quality plants, poor or no adherence to naming conventions, misleading photos and advertising. Their catalogs are a waste of paper.

I have been ordering for years. Its where I got most of my Hosta's.
Many years ago I bought T roses from MBC and they did wonderful for a few years till I transplanted them n lost them. my fault.
They are very small plants. ya get what ya pay for,. thats why there so cheap lol.

I placed an order with Michigan Bulb Company on 03/25/13. They charged my credit card immediately. But, until now, I have not received my order. They keep pushing back Delivery Date. I got an email yesterday, showing Delivery Time is 05/20/13-06/10/13. Ha!!!! I don't even know if they will push back again and again.

I will never buy from MBC. >_

oh dear oh dear oh dear, ordered from MBC about a month ago, order to be here this week per their email, about $100 worth, had no idea they sent dead/dying plants, wish i had read about them first, just that they have been in business so long figured they were one of the good guys, will post after plants arrive regarding their condition

Michigan Bulb must be the worst company to buy any type of plant/tree from!!! I ordered on 2/3 and was told my order would be here on 3/15 didn't happen. On 3/17 got an email saying my order would be delivered by 3/24-3/28 still nothing. So on 3/31 I called they said it would be here by 4/15 what the heck??? Told em NO send refund and now they say my acct is going to priorty and will get a call. What a nightmare!! Will never order from them again. Have had better luck with the nurseries on ebay and plants come ALIVE!!! better prices too!

I am sorry to hear of your negative experience with Michigan Bulb. Did you order bulbs or plants from them? With Michigan Bulb, I find that it is a hit or miss thing. So far they have done a good job with my order(the plants I received have been very healthy). Hope you and MB can work it out.

Very disappointed in the delivery time but mostly the extremely poor quality of Michigan Bulb products. The azalea we ordered for 6.50 is nearly dead, and about 3 inches tall if that. It's not worth the cost of shipping to send it back, and the company refuses to return emails. We finally received one of two elephant ear bulbs and it's very small...twice the price of a local store and about 1/3 the size. Just not worth buying from this company at all!!

So far not happy with mbc .... i ordered 3 roses and double tuber roses .... well the purple tiger was sent to my sister covered in powdery mildew so they sent a replacement . The double tuber roses never came up( i planted fressia ,glads and even hycithias all came up) my new dawn has not come . Ordered 03/03/14 still waiting for it hate this stupid company

Absolute criminals! Spent over a $100.00 and after a very, very long wait everything that trickled in was either dead or died soon after planting with great care. Most of what they represent as luscious greenery on their site look more like weeds in reality. The only thing that survived were a few Hostas.
I tried complaining but all I got in return was more dead plants!

DO NOT BUY FROM THESE FRAUDS!!!

Wish I had found these reviews prior to ordering, now I'm in the same position as many here. Very unsatisfied and trying to give others a heads up.

Ordered several plants in Jan and was notified they would be shipped "at the proper planting time". Well received them when it was well below freezing and snow on the ground for the next month. Finally able plant them over 6 weeks after receiving them with the plants now in not so great shape. Half of them died and no luck with customer service. Sent 3 different emails and no response (saw others here with the same issue). Called them and they said they can't do anything because only 30 day guarantee.

Plants are very small, even for the price. My advice is to stay away from Michigan Bulb since it seems you only have a 50/50 chance of being satisfied. BTW, same company and customer service as Gardens Alive.

save yourself time and money and dont bother with this company. Items were included on sipping docket but not substituted with other items- in the hope we would not realise. Items were to be sent on as orders were accepted but items were not in stock. Items that followed on in the post were dead or dying. Items that we were promised would be re-shipped were cancelled past the delivery date as they were out of stock. Very unprofessional company, advice provided on some plants by staff was totally incorrect, line manager could not even understand what we had ordered as no noted had been taken. Avoid at all costs.

I ordered a Meyer lemon tree from Michigan Bulb. It was very small (though as described and expected for $10), but with green leaves (some of which fell off during the stress of transport) and decent roots. I re-potted into a larger pot and it has grown very well over the past month and a half.

It was a good experience for me. I agree with Therese-- they aren't going to send you large plants (which really wouldn't be cost effective for a mail-order company), but for a small budget, if you are willing to wait for the plants to mature, they are decent. I also always look for the scientific name of the plant, as the "names" they show on the webpage are not what are actually used. If you are looking for a specific variety, identify the scientific name and then verify that the plant you are ordering is the one you want.

I have had nothing but wonderful results from this company. Plants arrived in good condition and grew well.

i just received my hellebores from Michigan BUlb. They look great! Their prices were really good. Though the perennials were very small, just tiny plugs though healthy. Overall I am happy with the plants they sent me.

Anyone who had a good experience with Michigan Bulb was simply very, very lucky.

I've ordered a few batches of flowers from MB. The first grew great, better the second year. The 2nd shipment was for my shade garden, basically nothing bloomed or grew, i waited all spring and summer to see if anything would pop up but it never did. A year after my purchase i sent them an email with pictures showing the barren areas and they gave me a full gift certificate for the amount I had spent. I used it on new flowers this year. I was happy with the delay in shipping, i actually had to call and have them push it further out because we still had 4' of snow on the ground when they had wanted to send them which was end of match (northern Ohio). They were happy to do so. I received the flowers when i asked to. All of them are growing, my foxglove and sweet vanilla butterfly flowers are flourishing. The roses are growing but slowly (i expect that though from roses), and butterfly bush was only a little stem when it arrived and is now 4'+ tall (in 3 months). So far even when i had bad luck, they were quick to fix it no questions asked and it worked out for the better. Very happy with them.

I have had good luck with MB (and the associated companies) also in the past few years, receiving healthy, well packaged plants that have for the most part done well. Some losses were due to my ignorance, or unsuitable growing conditions (took me a long time to realize that my yard is too wet in late winter/early spring for many things). I can't think of anything that was in poor condition, unlike my experience with Wayside. Maybe my luck is due to my location, only 100 miles from their headquarters. I usually buy things at end of season clearance or with their best specials, so I don't expect the best stock, yet have been just fine.

I know that some of their products are obtained from the same suppliers as better rated nurseries -- you can tell by the packaging and labeling. for example, I got a bulb mix once that was supposed to be purple-- and bloomed orange -- was the same bulb mix sold by several other unrelated nurseries, so I couldn't blame MB, but they sent me a new package no questions asked. However, they seem to operate "close to the bone" and do run out of stock and/or don't get new supplies of an item, especially if it isn't one of their mainstays. This fall it seemed that they are doing a little bit better at showing what is out of stock on their site.

They have definitely had issues with the outsourced customer service, hopefully those issues have been resolved.

I suppose I am one of the lucky few whose bulbs arrived healthy 4 years ago (tuberoses and bearded irises) and have established and propagated. I must admit that when I received my Josee Reblooming Lilac I thought it was a joke because it was so small but it grew rapidly and four years later it's 4ft. with continuous blooms throughout Spring and Summer. I don't expect the highest quality but do expect to nurture and observe their growing habits and gain experience. The price is right for me and should I get a dead plant or mixed shipments, I'm sure I'll be upset but I won't abandon MB and return to local nurseries exclusively because I do remember why I left them in the first place and found Michigan Bulb Co.

In the early spring of 2016 I ordered Apple Dapple ground cover roses bushes for MBC. They were advertised as being in 6" pots. What I got was 2 in cuttings, rooted, with plastic wrap on the roots. Most of the leaves were yellow and fell off. They were sent nearly 2 months before I could safely plant. I nurtured them indoors and got some green growth and popped the tiny things in the garden. They survived but sure didn't have the 6 foot runners that were advertised. At best they were 4 inches tall. I demanded and got a refund in the form of a credit voucher. Never again1

My Review:

Shipped late. Plants tiny. One dead. Leaves yellow. Not happy.

Order was shipped late when I received the order my plants were Brown they look Dead I'll see what happens over the summer not very happy about the condition of my plants. Order four Mock Orange plants three of them look Dead one has a couple tiny leaves. I have worked with Michigan bulb before and always had a good repore. Plants were always awesome looking. I don't know what's happened but it's not the same.