Go to link below. It is a rating of various mail order bulb companies. Some nice gardenwebber put me on to this site and I confirmed past experience!

Here is a link that might be useful: davesgarden

I ordered from Breck's many, many years ago. I had no problems with them at all. However, time does things and perhaps there is new staff, owners, etc. as I have been reading for the past couple of years that they have been unreliable. I would check around and see what others have experienced. Dave's Garden Watchdog is a great source. If Breck's has something you absolutely have to have, try ordering one or two things and perhaps if they do not turn out to be reliable, you have not lost too much. It is up to you.

As for Royal Dutch Gardens, I do not think they have anything to do with the Dutch whatsoever. It is another one of those TY Ty type nurseries...absolute rubbish!

Scheepers is an excellent catalog.

I had a pitiful experience with Brecks several years ago. I got a glossy brochure showing their Pink Collection of Daffodils.

I ordered them and they were so disappointing. Seems the pictures of them were air brushed or something to make them appear as very pretty pink flowers. They were nothing in real life compared to their glossy pics.

Sue

I wouldn't. Go for Brent & Beckys, or Scheepers

The creme de la creme is Old House Gardens in Michigan, who sell very rare heirloom bulbs of all kinds, and also the beautiful and unusual. They are really pretty much in line with everyone else for price, a pleasant surprise, and their catalog and website are really fun to browse.

It depends on what you want though. If you just want some big yellow daffodils, I'd go to Costco and pay $15-18 for a 50 lb burlap bag of giant 'King Alfred type' bulbs. If you want more than a few, Van Engelen is the bulk supplying sister to John Scheepers. If you just want a few - Scheepers or Brent and Becky's are good and I think you do get true varieties. I would not count on the big box stores, Costco, etc to deliver what is in the picture. I've been burned too many times on that. The companies like Royal Dutch, Breck's etc are not suppliers of the highest quality bulbs, altho back when I ordered a few things they did eventually grow.

2013 - First time ordering from Dutch. Placed my (huge EXPENSIVE) order in mid-February. Checked mid-March to see when it would be shipped and if I would get notification when it was shipped - they said no notification, but I could check back any time to see what status was. Checked end of March; got standard response - 'items will be shipped when appropriate for your area, blah blah blah'. Checked early April and now, mid-April and still no shipment; only get the same standard response. It's been in the 70s and 80s here . . . All my beds are mulched - I had wanted to get them planted BEFORE I mulched. I have NO idea when I'll get anything. If they are not spectacular, they are going back and I will NEVER order from them again. Grrrrr.

I ordered reblooming Iris from Royal Dutch Gardens. They sent me a notice that the item was out of stock and substituted daylilies, a plant that blooms in the summer, not the spring (as iris do). Per their policy, I sent a reorder request. They again sent daylilies. The second time, I returned the daylilies (not required) along with a letter explaining what I wanted and why daylilies were not acceptable. I specifically requested either the ordered items or a refund. The third time, they sent no plants, only another voucher for use at their nursery only. If I ever get anything that I want with this voucher, I will never do business with them again and will encourage others to deal with a reputable company, which this company seems not to be.

I love Brecks. I have ordered from them for 20 years. Never had a problem. If something died, one phone call was all it took to correct the problem. Also like Springhill. Be wary of House of Wesley. They are difficult to deal with and their product is low grade for the price.

ORDERED FROM ROYAL DUTCH - GOT MOSTLY SMALL BULBS DIDN'T BLOOM -A LILY WAS TO BE BLACK -WASN'T IT BLOOMED MARON. GOT A VOUCHER- WHEN I COMPLAINED. WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN.

Never order from Royal Dutch Gardens. My order never arrived, although they charged my credit call when the order was placed. Don't expect to get any help from their customer service as they will use the Corona Virus as an excuse for lousy service.

I cannot attest to the quality of their plant material as my order is now 6 weeks overdue. Ordered April 16th, 2020. Completely missed at least 1/3 of the growing season. 5/28/20 STILL WAITING. Asking for a full refund as the time to grow these plants to full maturity prior to fall has now passed.
Update, it is now June 6. Filed with BBB and asking for refund investigation through my bank. DG sent email "sorry to hear you wish to cancel your order, however your order is in our shipping department " that email was on May 30. Still no delivery, no refund, $ 236.00 taken from me with nothing in return. TODAY it is June 11, still no order, no shipment, no refund, nothing. No replies from BBB of Peoria, but claim has been filed. Thieves is what Dutch Gardens is, thieves.
6/11 update, Better Business Bureau of Peoria sent me a letter they rec'd from Dutch Gardens signed by Arabella Jahsen stating DG would refund what I paid to them. I had 7 days to reply to the BBB or they would close the case. Today is 6/17 and I reported back to the BBB stating that they have not yet submitted a refund. Looking at the reviews, I find this too seems to be something they fail to do. Why can't someone close down this internet scam !!!!

The issue with Dutch Gardens seems to be ongoing. This post is 13 yrs old & folks still experiencing issues getting their plants. I also had a bad experience with Dutch Gardens 6 years ago & swore I'd never order from them again. I still get their glossy & lovely catalogue; it's sooo tempting to order from them! I guess 6 years is the cut off for feeling burned by them because I find I have to remind myself what happened so I'm not taken in by their sexy catalogue. 6 years ago, I'd placed a $325 order in January of which they charge my cc for immediately & was chomping at the bit for my plants by March; I checked in with customer service in March & they said orders were shipping to my area in March but by mid April, still no plants & no status update. When I tried to contact them again in April, they wouldn't respond at first until I demanded they cancel my order & threatened to do a charge-back on my credit card & file with BBB. Then, as if by magic, they were suddenly able to confirm that the plants shipped. I did eventually get my shipment & the plant performance has been mixed. The bearded Iris' & peony have been blooming reliably & are extremely beautiful. The rose bush & ornamental grasses were disappointing. The grasses died fairly quickly and one rose is still alive but never was healthy. I only get one rose bud a year on it despite all attempts to improve it's health. A 2nd rose bush died quickly & years later a different kind of climbing rose magically appeared in the same spot I planted the other one that died; root stock? To give credit where it's due, though, the peony & the iris are exceptional & the jewels of my garden. If they insist on sending me the catalogue, it's probably just best to use it as a way of garden planning and to look up the plants for purchase on Etsy.

I have had generally positive experiences with Dutch Gardens over the years with bulbs, but not with the very few perennials I ordered, other than the liatris, which did well. This year, I placed an order in January, they charged my credit card in January, but I have no email confirmation of my order (I did screen captures of the order, though). Of course, it's possible that it went to my spam folder and got deleted when I cleaned out the spam. Presumably, they will be shipping to the mid-Atlantic soon. The comments on the Dave's Garden reviews linked above indicate that there are no shipping notification emails (I had no recollection of that), which seems very odd for the late 20th century, let alone the 21st. Fingers crossed that what I receive works as well as in the past. But based on the reviews I read, I think moving to another company or buying locally is probably in my future.