As a rule, mail order plants are nearly always on the small side. Responsible nurseries will always warn customers about this because they may even cut back the plants before packing. I don't much mind as I still vaguely remember when nearly all perennials were dug from the fields and only sold as bare-roots during dormancy. Postage, in such a huge country as the US, really does vary hugely (and is one of the reasons I prefer growing from seed or buying in person - mail order is always a last resort.

I am finding it hard to believe that there is no database of nurseries similar to our RHS plantfinder...which lists all available suppliers in the UK. After all, these are not truly rare exotics you are talking about Prairiemoon. Is there a US equivalent to the RHS?

Anyway, good luck with your search...and if all fails, I can attest that the campanula at least, is relatively easy from seed (despite being minute) and will certainly reach flowering size in 2 seasons. Have only grown corydalis ochraleuca from seed...but it was straightforward and easy from an autumn sowing outside in covered pots. I think seed merchants are much more amenable to sending seeds around the world (B&T and Plantworld are my main go to merchants).

That's a good question, Campanula. I just went and tried using the RHS plant finder and it is great! Now if it were available in the USA too - I'd be all set. [g] Maybe there is one, but I am unaware of it. And I just made a quick search and all I could come up with was a Wholesale plant locator.

I do like to start from seed, if I can take the time to do it. I really like the winter sowing methods, for a lot of seeds that are not straightforward. Over the winter I have sometimes started a lot of seed under lights too, but not this year. And I have the opportunity this spring to get some projects done and need the plants to do them. Timing is everything, I guess.

Something I've often considered doing, is to make my plant list early and ask my local retail nursery to get it in for me. I don't know why I find that hard to do, but I think the time to do that is my busiest time of year with non gardening activities. And this year, I didn't even anticipate being able to do some of these projects. Oh well, the sun is out, it's the weekend and plenty of nursery visits on my schedule today, so maybe I'll track down a few of these. :-). Thanks.

boy is that old school shipping system ... i ran into such in the 90s .. when i started mail ordering hosta ...

i just divided the shipping into each plant.. and tried to decide if that made each plant cost prohibitive ...

eventually i moved away from peeps who did it this way .. or they switched over .. most of them just got old.. and retired.. lol ...

the downside is.. being old school ... they might be the only place that has the old school stuff .. a real catch 22 ...

ken

ps: i should add .. i was not dealing with this place ... just a similar experience ...

That's a good idea, Ken, to divide the shipping by each plant, and see if it's still worth it. Actually considered that way the price per plant before shipping is less than another nursery I was just looking at by at least 20%. Thanks.

digging dog is good but forest farm is great-shipping about the same but the plants are the best i've ever gotten mail order. and huge selection.

Thanks Dave, I'll check out Forest Farm.

Thanks VesFL I guess that's the reason I am still considering buying from Digging Dog, since they do have a good reputation.

Hi PM, it's me Kathy in Napa ..I'm a lurker now lol. I buy from Digging Dog every year either mail order or in person. They grow things that no one else does in Northern Cal . They are in a very remote location along the coast so they may be paying more for shipping up front. It's a 3 hour drive for me but I can pair it with a weekend away . I agree with Davez re Forest Farm, they are excellent . In both cases though you are looking at transcontinental shipping-one of the reasons I rarely buy from Plant Delights or the other east coast mail order peeps unless I'm just buying bulbs.

Hey, Kathy, what a great surprise to see your name here! I'm glad to get the point of view of someone who has ordered from them. And I am coming to that conclusion that it is the shipping from one coast to the other that is the issue. I noticed that their prices to ship to states that are local to them are a lot lower. And I seem to remember having this same issue with another nursery that specialized in Geraniums and was on the West Coast. Lucky you that they're close enough for a road trip. :-)

So, tell me, do you have any recommendations for any of the plants you've bought there that you've found particularly successful?

PM, I tend to buy plants that are difficult to find in garden centers here-all my Sanguisorbas except one came from DD. They also grow lots of Erygiums which are hard to find here as well. They tend to be short lived for me but I don't mind re-buying One of my faves is E. Jos Eijking (don't ask me to pronounce it) and last fall I bought E. blaukappe after seeing it at Longwood in June. I've also bought quite a few grasses-they offer quite a few Panicums which again are rare in our bay area retail garden centers. Persicarias too. I also bought my Lobelia tupa there --how I love that plant ! My other fave is the beautiful Miscanthus 'Rigoletto' which I bough a few years ago but am now starting to see around in other places. Kind of a crappy pic, but that's it on the lower right.It stays about 3x3, 4x4 or so.

Lobelia tupa

Love that Lobelia tuba - great looking plant and it's always a pleasure to see the roses in your garden. I like the way you layered them on the fence and then in the foreground. It looks so lush! And the Lobelia is a hummingbird attractor! Alas, you have all the fun there in zone 8, Kathy. :-)

Hello, I'm bringing this thread up because I've got an order in at Digging Dog now which hasn't been shipped yet. I'm just needing a sanity check here. (I don't post often but I'm here lurking every week).

The order was placed on July 15 and I understood the shipping would take some time based on plant availability.

Now, as of an email from them Saturday 8/21 they are ready to ship but were wanting to know UPS or USPS and I responded right away via email USPS. Now they have delayed shipping by a week, claiming I hadn't responded about UPS vs USPS by a phone call instead of email, and indicated the plants have been boxed up as of Monday.

I've had a hard time contacting Digging Dog by phone and have emailed to ask that they unbox the plants in the intervening week. They seem quite adamant that plant damage is not their responsibility.

I'm disconcerted about this and if anyone has thoughts or advice, please let me know.

editing to say I've also had username snow and a 2nd edit to fix typo

I placed an order with Digging Dog earlier this year. I ordered some tricyrtis and a few other things just to fill out the order. I also placed a similar order with Plant Delights. The first thing I noticed when I received the orders is the difference in the packaging methods. Plant Delights does a much better job with their packaging, which results in less wear and tear on the plants. Plant Delights uses a fairly sophisticate system of custom packing boxes for each plant. Digging Dog's method is basically plastic pots with some plastic over the top to hold the soil and moisture in, all tossed together in a box full of shredded newspaper. The 4 tricyrtis, a brunnera, and an agapanthus from Digging Dog were decent sized, but a little frazzled from their 3000 mile trip across country. However, they recovered well in a few days. The cyclamen from DD were not in good shape at all. The tricyrtis and other items from Plant Delights were at least 50% bigger, and much fresher looking. Of course, Plant Delights is only 200 miles from me, and spent 1 day less in transit.

Digging Dog bills itself as a family operation, and that certainly shows in their packaging. Would I order from them again? Yes, but with qualifications. As indicated above, their prices are excellent. The tricyrtis I got from them were half the price of the ones I got from Plant Delights. And even though the plants from Plant Delights were a bit larger, by the end of the summer there is little difference. But, because of their packaging method, I would not order anything overly fragile. Nor would I order anything from them in the heat of the summer.

Before my order was shipped they sent me an e-mail asking me to contact them because one of the plants I wanted was not available. Trying to get through to them on the phone proved to be a waste of time. E-mail worked much better.

I use them only rarely due to the shipping charges. They are sometimes higher than the cost of the plant.

Thanks, Terry, for detailing your experiences with Digging Dog and Plant Delights. I had ordered from Plant Delights last year and the plants arrived looking fine and very vigorous. I wish I could remember the packaging better. Bluestone Perennials has great packaging with the clever way they fold the cardboard around each plant. I appreciate the heads up on what to expect the shipping box to look like from Digging Dog. I too am getting a tryctiris as a substitution from DD, so fingers crossed. I agree their prices are great, $45 minimum makes sense and I feel pretty sure I selected USPS as my option during checkout back in July. The shipping and handling listed on the invoice came to $25.95 and that is what my purchase and payment was based on.

My Plant Delights order last spring was Pulmonari 'Trevi Fountain' , Stylorphium diphyllum, (didn't bloom but is alive and well) Jeffersonia dubia (hasn't bloomed but looks healthy), and Thalictrum kiusianum (bloomed beautifully and flowers still present - hoping it self seeds), all seem to be doing well and survived our lovely snowy winter.

At this point I'm just hoping the plants aren't currently still boxed up from when they didn't ship this past Monday. I can't imagine they would do that, but they haven't as yet assured me of that. My last 3 emails to them are strongly worded and show my frustration/entreaty but in what I hope is an insistent but reasonable voice. I have rarely if ever had this kind of shipping experience and it is disconcerting. UPS would be almost double the cost and I trust and prefer USPS Priority even though Digging Dog warns against it.

My Digging Dog order is Actaea simples 'Pink Spike', Dracocephalum argunense 'Fuji Blue', Thalictrum flavum ssp. glaucum (this is the one that precipitated my order), Verbena hastata 'Blue Spires' and Tricyrtis ‘Autumn Glow’. I was so happy to have placed the order, but now that feeling has turned to dismay. I will come back and share the news when the plants get here next Thursday at the very soonest. I am still hoping to receive decent plants despite my choosing USPS and being warned of delay and no guarantee of healthy plants.

Thanks again for your great information about your experience! Forgive the long post, and know that it has helped me tremendously to share.

- Rhonda

Thanks callirhoe123, I thought the UPS charges were high but USPS seemed reasonable. Maybe it's the case that Digging Dog just doesn't really want to offer that option, but they did so and I was was grateful for that... it made it possible for me to go forward with the order.

They do have a great selection of plants (way over my head) and a well developed website that makes it fun to shop.

I have stopped ordering from Digging Dog due to miniscule size of plants. I wish it weren’t true as they have such a nice selection of plants. Mine is only one opinion…..

The best sized plants and best packing have come from Annies Annuals, Joy Creek and Forest Farm. I have also had good luck with Gossler Nursery and Keeping It Green for the more unusual. Far Reaches is within pick up distance for me so haven’t experienced their mail order but would be surprised if their plants arrived in anything but pristine condition.

cervis47, Thanks for those nursery recommendations, I believe Iif I remember correctly that I have ordered from Far Reaches, Rhododendron lapponicum, lapland rosebay, a dwarf that is native to Alaska where I live (I have coveted it for years). Alas, it didn't make it - likely needed more of a gravelly situation - it grows in other parts of Alaska than where I am. I may try again, though, need to research and refresh my memory.

The other nurseries look intriguing and as the winter 'hygge' sets in I will be checking them out!

I will post again when my plants arrive and comment on their condition.

Hello, I did just get a phone call from Digging Dog where they said that the plants were unpacked within an hour of their decision not to ship this past Monday. The plants will be packed again on Monday, August 30 and shipped via USPS (I hope).

I was grateful for the phone call which I must admit did not feel satisfactory - a case of agreeing to disagree. I do believe the nursery has integrity and wants to do the best for their customers, it just backfired in this case as there was a breakdown in communication as they wanted a double confirmation of shipping preferences to do, in their view, proper customer service (I thought I had communicated from my end very clearly to ship USPS).

All that matters is that the plants aren't being kept in a box and will be shipped Monday, which is fine.

Thanks very much

- Rhonda

Hi again,

The plants arrived this afternoon (Thursday) after having been shipped on Monday, and they look very nice, great roots. Thanks,

- Rhonda

I ordererd from them for the first time this spring . Due to high volume it took quite awhile before my order was confirmed and then shipped. That was something I knew to expect from the start. The plants I wanted were available and they were sent in fine sizes and condition and all are doing well. I ordered from them because they had a clematis nobody else was carrying, and I got a few other plants that looked interesting. Shipping was high but offset by reasonable plant cost.

I know this is an old thread, but I was just ogling the great, hard-to-find stuff at Digging Dog. The shipping cost is high, yeah, but also the idea of these plants having to endure a long trip from one end of the country to the other. Which begs the question: Is there a great nursery anywhere on the east coast at least halfway between here and CA? I looked at Plant Delights and Forest Farm, incidentally, but they didn't have any of the stuff that I saw at Digging Dog. I absolutely love Bluestone and their packaging is great, but they don't have anything unusual--I feel like anyithing they have that grow in my zone, I've been there and done that. I wish they'd try adding some unusual/hard-to-find stuff...

Hmmm. Looks like I have two new nurseries to waste my Sunday morning on! Thanks ;)

Previously I was wasting my time looking through Quackin' Grass and Issima, both East coast nurseries with "interesting" things... which is why my garden looks more "interesting" than Proven Winners beautiful.