Did you contact them? I once had a nursery send the wrong bulbs. I informed them and they sent me another order. It was still wrong. Called them and they sent another order. Still wrong! I gave up. But I was able to add three different varieties to my collection; although I had to guess at their identity.

Mark, mislabeled bulbs are nothing new....and nearly every distributor has this issue. Last year was particularly bad for several reasons. One of the nice things about this group is that if you can't identify a bloom, someone on this forum likely has the same bulb and perhaps even photos to confirm and ID. This is something that happens every year. Some distributors just have a worse track record that others!!

I have been looking through my records and can't find where I bought Red Pearl from Living Gardens. I am not sure who supplied them. I planted them in the same general area as the Living Garden bulbs were planted and just assumed that they supplied it. I must totally apologize to Living Gardens for the statement. They have been nothing by fair about replacing the previous bulbs and are in my opinion one of the most reputable companies out there. I would recommend purchasing from them. They work hard to keep their customers happy.Again I am sorry for saying that the bulbs came from Living Gardens as they obviously did not.

Maida

Just curious, were the bulbs received as the size described? I placed a huge order and had most of the bulbs much smaller than the description and they said it was natural shrinkage. I've never had that problem with any other bulb company.

My bu;bs were large and good size. No problems with the bulbs.

Maida

All my bulbs from 3 different distributors were very large and healthy looking this year in particular I thought. Donna☺☺

Would it be appropriate to ask for a refund if the bulbs received were smaller than the bulbs advertised?

Retailers always in turn depend on wholesalers to send them the right items, unless they are growing them themselves.

How big a difference in size are we talking? If they were advertised as 36-38 and they were 32-34 I would complain that they were not the size advertised. If they were 30-32 or less I would definitely ask for some kind of credit or refund. I have seen some bulbs shrink a little in storage, especially if stored in a low humidity environment. But not to a great extent. Make sure you can document the size received in pictures. I have received bulbs that were not the size ordered and when I complained I have always asked for replacement or credit. Most of the time it is a mistake in the shipping department. One time I ordered DN2 'Tete a Tete' Narcissus bulbs and received DN3 bulbs which are a whole grade smaller. When I called the dealer, the women I talked said she didn't even think they carried that small a bulb. When I sent her a picture of the bulbs and the label on the box, she apologized profusely and had the correct size shipped for free. A reputable bulb dealer will make good on the order or give credit. If the dealer is charging a premium for larger bulbs, they should be shipping the size advertised. Ask for a refund or credit; the most they can say is no and then you will know not to order from them again.

Examples: I received 25 cm advertised as 30/32. 28 advertised as 30/32. (2) 20 advertised as 22/24 and (3) 17 advertised as 20/22. And I placed a huge order with Living Gardens. I have it all photo documented. Their response was "Thank you for calling our attention to the need for education on our website about the meanings of bulb size. Growers designate bulb size at the time of harvest. This initial bulb size is an indicator of flowering performance – number of flower stems and individual blossoms. During storage, amaryllis bulbs will lose some moisture but will plump up again once potted and rehydrated. In addition, the bulb is gradually transferring nutrient stores from the older outer scales to the developing flowers within the bulb. These natural size changes do not impact the flowering performance of the bulb.

Living Gardens gave me a refund for bulbs that were improperly sized. Thank you for your help and advice.

Glad to hear that. Most plant people want to do the right thing and I am glad to hear that Living Gardens wanted to do right by you as one of their loyal clients. Just curious, did they give a full refund, partial refund, credit, etc.?

I requested a partial refund on the bulbs that were small in size, and that is what I received. Now I may feel a little bad if those small bulbs produce beautiful flowers, but it's the principal of selling something not as advertised that upset me. They stood by their word on their product, and that's what matters. I consider them a good company for doing that.

Kudos to you and them. You recognized that you did get value in the smaller bulbs and did not request a full refund. Don't feel bad about the refund, even if the bulbs do well. This was good feed back on how they are doing and what needs to be upgraded. Plus, if the bulbs do well, they know you will be a repeat customer and it shows that they value you as a customer.

Living Gardens is replacing my misnamed bulb. This make about four Jungle Bells now.

Maida