are they giant hosta [size potential] ..... or giant plants [large crowns] ????'

are they named in advance.. it seems their website offers many packages in large volume without names ... or perhaps.. you dont get to pick which names .. is more what i mean ... what one might call... grab bags

do they check for virus ..

i have no direct experience with them ... but think others have spoken of them .. and we shall find out ...

ken

ps: partners with a magazine isnt really a basis for trust ... unless you trust all marketing hype just for the sake of it ...

Hi Slettven,

I have purchased from them over the years, my first purchase was hosta by the handful (100) and it was a great buy but the individual hosta were smaller may be TC first year plants some were bare root and some in 4in pots and if you were to break up the rootball you would find the starter plug and my experience was difficult to keep the roots moist. Great people and good customer service. I would say my experience would be somewhat satisfied.

Hope this helps!

Hosta-see

I spent about $125.00 with them a couple of years ago. It was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent on hosta. Some were half rotted, all were liners (really small hosta), many were mangled. It was a complete disaster. I bought 18 (I think) hosta. Probably 6 or 7 survived. That was after they replaced 2/3 of them.

I believe the business they are in is selling mailing lists, not hosta. You can get better liners from lots of other companies for less money. The problem with the 4" pots is that they put them in the pots to ship them. The ones I bought had been in smaller pots than that. You could tell because the roots were in a smaller section of the pot.

I think the 100 hosta for $100.00 is probably a good deal. The problem with the named varieties that they are implying they are selling you a $15.00 for $10.00 because of their "sale". In reality, they are selling you a $5.00 hosta for $10.00.

To be fair, some of the high losses over the winter of 2014 were due to our very dry winter. If you want to buy liners, ask about them here as many of our regulars buy liners.

I photographed everything they sent me. A couple of samples are below. One is the worst, one is the best (notice the small amount of roots on Sun Power).

For $125.00, I could have had 6 or 8 really nice hosta by now. Instead, I still have 5 or 6 really small hosta.

bk

For Daylilies I have ordered from them and have been very satisfied. I have ordered a few hosta but they were smaller and are still out there growing. I think of them as my go to daylily place not my go to hosta place. I have not had to return anything but I have heard of peeps who have but the plants were replaced fast.

WOW, look at the size of that Komodo Dragon they sent BKay! Most impressive!

&^&%%$#$@&^!!! Jeez!

It was obvious that the Komodo Dragon had once had more roots, but they had cut them off and stuck them in a 4" pot.

bk

Only if you don't really care about correct names for hostas.

I know of 2 times they sent the wrong hosta when a named variety was ordered.

If I remember correctly, they sent BKay a mis-labeled hosta in that order she is showing us.

If I remember correctly, Chris said Rainforest Sunrise was mislabeled. It didn't survive, so it's moot.

bk

This reminds me of a problem I had several years ago. I ordered plants through my Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Great publication, so, no problems with ordering through them, right? Wrong! Had to deal with White Flower Farms. Three small plants, one survived. Sure they will replace, and did, but that means starting all over with another too small plant. That was the biggest gardening mistake I made in recent years. I would have been WAY better off at Home Depot, and no, they weren't hostas.

Sherry

we have lists of favored vendors ... based on value for money ... as well as health of the plants ...

a large hosta can take ... 5 to 7 years to mature ...

if you start with one the size of the pix above... you are looking at 7 years ...

if you order from someone like hallsons ... who takes the above hosta.. and grows it on for 2 years.. in the ground... then it might take you .. only 3 to 5 years... since they have already grown the rot mass.. for the top to start growing ...

it boils down ... to how much you spend.. as compared to how long you have to wait ...

ken

ps: the pic above.. properly done.. should be potted for this year.. and then.. maybe.. put in the ground in late summer .. as you can grow the roots easier.. than in mother earth ... in a pot

Wow! What a wealth of information! Thanks so much for the input and pictures, everyone!

I am now convinced I'll wait until the local Botanical Garden plant sale for my Hosta shopping like I did last year. Not only can I see what I'm getting, the vendors were really well informed and friendly.

I have a pretty big area to fill in in my backyard, so I don't think I'll risk mail order.

Happy Spring to you all! :)

Terrible company. I purchased their Bee Balm package and the plants arrived diseased and moldy. I wrote to customer service 3X and sent photos. They did nothing. I eventually had to throw away all the plants because I didn’t want to contaminate my garden.
Don’t be fooled by their pretty catalogue! The actual product they sent was awful.

Contact them and ask which HVX test they use on their plants. They used to dig hostas mechanically, which is the very best way to insure all the plants will have HVX. Looks like now they are selling liners, so maybe they would be willing to tell you which lab they use, and which HVX test that lab uses. Don't expect an answer any time soon.

They do have some decent daylilies, or used to.

Dave's Garden Company Watchdog

https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/52/

slettvin, don't give up ordering hostas online. There are many reputable vendors who sell wonderful, healthy plants. There is a recent post regarding good vendors that you may want to scroll back and find.

debra

That's not mold on the bee balm....it's powdery mildew and a disease monarda is highly prone to. And it can form overnight. The close confines of shipping the plant(s) - darkness, no air circulation and a warm, humid environment - are all incubating factors for this issue. I would not be inclined to blame the vendor for this.

I sent them an order and a check for what the catalog advertised. They wrote and said I have to send more money. I wrote back and said to cancel the order and return my check. I never got the order but they cashed my check.

I got some clearance lillies and irises from them in 2018, and there was a freebie "25 mixed unnamed" to boot.

All the plants came in nice. The bag of 25 turned out to be more like 50- peewees, but then I figured that is what they would be. About three dozen really grew out into good plants- not bad for the freebie.

I realize it's not hostas and a couple years ago, but I had a good experience with them.

This company is horrible. i got a bum peony and they wouldnt replace it. They blamed me and then questioned me that perhaps it came from another nursery. Never buy from them again. I’ve bought hundreds of dollars from better and reputable vendors since. Your loss Gilbert !

Bought 8 Peony roots last year. Only 2 lasted a second season, 4 never sprouted and none have yet to bloom. They print QUALITY GUARANTEE on EVERY page of their sale circular, but they DON'T say it's ONLY 7 days from receipt of order and they require pictures within that time frame - and an overall 45 day guarantee -(a time frame during which no one could possibly know if a root is going to produce). When you email then about the problem, they basically tell you to go fly a kite..... WILL NEVER order ANYTHING from this AWFUL company again.
Should have spent a few dollars more and bought existing plants from a local TRUSTED nursery.

I've bought from Gibert Wild for many years. Their hostas always do well for me as do thier daylilies. I have had better experience with their potted hosta over bare root but these do grow as well, a bit more slowly though. I've never bought peonies from them since we don't have enough sun but overall I would say my experience with them has been good. New Garden Plants has great plants and reasonable prices. I've been very pleased with all my purchases from them.

I ordered 2 Chaste Trees. I was sent 2 Lady Victoria Hydrangeas. I called a few times to speak with customer service. (No one to answer phone on weekends.). Finally got hold of someone on Monday and was shipped the correct plants. However, I was very disappointed, the trees are more bush like received are quite small. I will have to grow them in pots for a few years before planting in the ground. All plants just seem immature and not very strong and I hope they make it. Sorry, I can't recommend ordering from this company and I won't be ordering from them in the future