Unfortunately most of my favorites have closed :(

I ordered (this past week) for the first time in ten years from Plants Delight, which is very high, but sometimes the only source of neat things.

I tend to order from Select Seeds annually and Missouri Wildflowers. There's another native nursery (that doesn't do mail order) that I buy from several times a year, so that doesn't help you..but I stated it :)

Then there's bulbs, but I don't see that you're headed in that direction, so I won't list unless you correct me.

I rarely ever find I need to do mail order. And when I do, it is usually from a specialty nursery that focuses on a particular plant type or species (they tend to have a much wider selection).

For general purposes, I like Digging Dog Nursery, Edelweiss Perennials, Joy Creek and Far Reaches Farms. Far Reaches is like a revised version of the old Heronswood - a plant geek's mecca - but is a short drive away from me so I visit in person :-)

Bluestone was my go-to, tried-and-true source. I can't tell you how much disposable income I've given them over the years lol. But when they changed their sales plan from the affordably-priced three-packs to the more expensive single plant, that kind of ended my love affair with them. I realize for years they had the best deal going (and great plants and awesome customer service) but now you're paying more for one plant than you did for three, the plant isn't all that much bigger, just in a bigger pot, and maybe it's me but the quality of the plant just doesn't seem as good. And they've gotten much stingier on their return policies. I'll still buy a plant from them here and there, and know I'm getting something good, but I don't place the large orders with them that I used to.

I haven't really found another go-to place since. Admittedly, my focus shifted to cut flowers while selling at market, so I did many more seed-started annuals, so my perennial buying declined, but I've bought from Digging Dog, Joy Creek, Santa Rosa (agree with your assessment on inconsistent quality), Forest Farm, and I think Plants Delight. I wasn't disappointed by any of these, but don't remember being wowed either.

I do buy almost all my hostas and daylilies (and a few peonies) from Gilbert Wild. I've read negative reviews of them but I've been dealing with them for over 20 years and always, always have been happy.

I just placed an order with Almost Eden so we'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to seeing what others recommend. I do the majority of my plant buying by mail order, and now that I'm back in the perennial market I'm looking for a good source. Although shipping is now so expensive I may do more local shopping.

Oh, and before I place an order with a new company I always look at the other garden site to check the reviews!

;)
Dee

Yesterday, I received an order of perennials from Digging Dog Nursery, which I had asked to be delivered the week of May 11th. Bit of delay in arrival, sure, but this year is fraught with problems However, the plants were all beautiful and healthy and likely larger than they would have been a month ago! Now to get them into the ground....

I also once loved Bluestone, back when the prices were for a 3-pack. Did a lot of business with them a couple of decades ago. No longer, sadly They seem to have a more limited selection now, and the price for single plants is too high, IMO. Too bad -- they were a good supplier.

Like GardenGal, I rarely need to do mail order -- I am blessed to live in an area with outstanding independent local nurseries. I can usually find what I'm looking for in less than an hour or so drive. But, I do order occasionally if there's something I want that I just can't find locally or just "have to have" and don't want to take a chance I can't hunt it down around here. This year it was Select Seeds -- the plants were reasonably priced and really nice quality this year but that hasn't always been the case. What I love about SS is they carry heirlooms (plants and seeds) that can be hard to find -- I usually place some sort of seed order with them every year, some sort of seed of theirs always catches my eye in the catalog.

ETA: Re: Bluestone -- I posted about them not too long ago, I found their prices ridiculous for the small pot size, especially in light of the fact the one or two orders I placed with them a long time ago weren't that great in quality.

Dee, I had the same experience with Bluestone. I used to buy something just about every season. The small 3 packs were reasonably priced. You were getting a smaller plant than you would normally find locally and it would take longer for it to mature, but for the price they were great.

When they switched to their ‘ecological’ pots. I tried them, but was very disappointed with them.

That was then and this is now. The way they used to sell their plants in 3 packs and the small 4” pots of shrubs, enticed me to buy a whole lot more than I planned to. And I have gone back here and there when they had their Friday sales, if I needed something, but even then, sometimes they were only reducing prices by 10 -20% which didn’t really put a dent in their prices and I bought a minimum.

But the kicker for me, was when I noticed that after a visit to their site, if I added something to the cart to come back and think about later, then every site I visited after that, one of the plants I had in the cart would show up as an ad on the site I was visiting. I find that very invasive and unnecessary. A very odd business practice.

I’m not actually buying a lot online any more either. I guess I started with an empty garden and bought a lot and now that I have an established garden, I buy less anyway. I end up buying at local plant sales in the spring, one or two local nurseries. I always like to buy natives and I like the New England Wildflower Society’s nursery locally. I don’t think they do mail order. I’ve bought a lot of Epimediums and I buy from a specialty nursery for that, Garden Visions, which is a Massachusetts based nursery and they do mail order.

I do buy bulbs, either from Scheepers or Brent & Becky’s. I buy Lily bulbs from The Lily Garden. I’ve bought bare root roses from Palatine.

I’ve been happy with all those companies and should probably take the time to go write a review on Garden Watchdog. Which, by the way, is a great place to check out reviews on nurseries and garden related companies.

Garden Watchdog - The Watchdog 30