Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
robthomas_gw

2014 online retailer review

RobThomas
10 years ago

I know it's still early, but I'd like to hear reviews of the many online retailers. I think we can post reviews of orders we've already received this year, and add reviews as orders are received over the next several weeks. This can also give folks who still plan on placing orders some direction.

I didn't order as much this year as I have the last couple of years. So far this year:

Peaceful Valley Farms (aka groworganic.com): I only ordered strawberries. 25 Seascape and 25 Ozark Beauty. Prices were very good. $4.99 per bundle of 25. All plants appeared alive, well packaged. Two short on the Seascapes and one short on Ozark. Would order again.

Fruittreefarm.com: Like last year, I drove to the nursery which is actually Cumberland Valley Nursery. They are located about 45 minutes away. I got an exceptional bargain on 3 peach trees, 1 pluot, 1 plum, and 4 asian persimmons. Also got a nice tour of the nursery as we drove out to the field to dig my plants. Always a pleasure to deal with them, always excellent prices, and great plants.

Still waiting:

Burnt Ridge. The order should arrive sometime in March. This may be the last time I order from them. They are a real mixed bag. Order six apple trees and you may get three tiny twigs and three nice sized branched trees. Some things have had disease issues. Customer service is always great. Prices are usually very good. Will update once I receive the order.

Comments (49)

  • santo379
    10 years ago

    This is my third year ordering from Bay Laurel Nursery, and so far the trees are looking good. I have two cherry trees (minnie and royal lee) that are still alive and healthy going into their third year.
    I ordered a Sunraycer nectarine, Fuji apple last year that are looking great this year. The Sunraycer already set blooms this year.
    This year I ordered a Splash, Emerald Drop and Flavor grenade pluot that are already starting to leaf out. I also have a tri-lite peach and granny smith apple that are still dormant, but look healthy.
    All trees that I have ordered from them seem to be 2 year old trees with good size trunks and roots.
    The great thing about Bay Laurel is that if you pre-order in the fall, you have the option of choosing the rootstock before they start selling them online in January. Plus, you can choose which month you want them to send them, between Jan-Mar.

    I also ordered from chestnuthilltreefarm.com this year, but their trees are small and seem to be 1 year old, which is why they are a little cheaper than Bay Laurel Nursery. You can not choose your rootstock on these, but they are grafted on nematode-resistant rootstock.

    So those are the only two places I can review so far as I am waiting for Raintree Nursery to send me the trees I ordered.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    I myself want the samller trees. I would rather have them from 2 reasons. They will adapt better, and I can shape them easier. They respond much better. I would only order trees from Bay Laurel if I could not get them elsewhere, they are too big! I did place an order for some blueberry plants with Bay Laurel. They will come the first week in March.

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I think the tree size depends on the type of tree I'm getting. If the trees are peach or plum, or anything that I want to prune to an open center, then smaller trees are best. Those trees also grow quickly and can produce fruit in their 2nd year.

    For apples, pears, and similar trees, then I prefer older two year old trees. They are slower growing and I need a little size before pruning. Getting tiny twigs like I've gotten from Burnt Ridge can set me back two years in fruit production.

    Anyone else received any orders yet?

  • bob_z6
    10 years ago

    I got a fall order of muscadines and strawberries from Isons, both of which I planted and covered with straw (2nd week of October). They sent a very nice pomegranate later, in December, so I planted it in a pot in the garage (which is staying 40-45 degrees).

    My Cummins and Sanhedrin orders should come in the next month, while ACN and Double A will come a tad later. I've toyed with the idea of a Raintree order to get the Newberry blackberry, but am holding off for now (why give SWD more to eat...).

  • waiting_gw
    10 years ago

    This is my third year of ordering from Fowler Nurseries in Newcastle, California. Two apricot trees, a peach tree, and a cherry tree.

    As in previous years I am pleased with what I received. Nice sized trees (not too big) with good root structure.

    gary

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fowler Nurseries

  • benfisher
    10 years ago

    I ordered some bud 118 rootstock from grampas orchard. They were very nice, diameter. The roots seemed a little light. I lost 4 of 25 after potting and grafting them in a greenhouse. They all grew in the pots, then the rots failed after planting them out? Overall I was satisfied for the cost.....might have been my fault.

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    bob, do you know yet if you had any damage to your muscadines from the cold? I know I had some die back, but most of that I was going to prune away anyway. I think my Isons and Darlene are ok, but not sure yet about my smaller Late Fry.

  • bob_z6
    10 years ago

    Rob, it has gotten down to around -1F, but I don't think I'll see any damage this year. I rolled up the young vines and have a pretty good pile of straw completely covering them (hopefully there aren't any parts sticking out). From what Scott says, -1 would probably cause some damage if they aren't protected.

    If they are still damaged, even through the straw, they really won't be hardy enough for here and it is probably better I find out now...

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    Tierra Madre Farm

    Well living in the Midwest and buying trees on the west coast is always a problem. But at the time it was the only nursery that had Old Mixon Free. I have since found a closer nursery, but I already ordered it. It came in yesterday and no chance of planting anytime soon.
    Anyway the tree is awesome. it is a thick caliper 3/4 inch PLUS, maybe even an inch! But branching is already super low!! So I have low scaffolds on this one already Yeah!!
    It appears dormant still. Root ball is massive, and it looks great.
    A little concerned about what to do with it with a foot of snow outside. Once planted I will cut it down, and leave the bottom scaffolds, although they all look excellent. Too many though. I guess I have to make choices...

    Anyway wow, what an impressive tree. I'm super happy with it.

    In the photo the graft union is just above the plastic bag. The first scaffold starts 6 inches above it. The bag is all roots, as you sort of can see, lot's of roots.

    This post was edited by Drew51 on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 13:25

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Nice tree, Drew.

    For those interested, it looks like Grow Organic/Peaceful Valley is having a 30% off sale on selected berry plants and grapes. Actually some pretty good deals. Triple Crown for example is only $4.89.

  • Kevin Reilly
    10 years ago

    I got three trees from Peaceful Valley this year. All DWN types, quick shipping (although I'm not that far away in San Jose). I would order from them again but I'm out of room!

  • Ernie
    10 years ago

    I ordered a variety of berry plants from Pense Nursery last fall, as well as more berry plants from Indiana Berry that just arrived today. This was my first order with Pense, and I was very pleased with their service, prices, and quality. This was my second order with Indiana Berry, and it was as expected --carefully packaged, healthy plants shipped exactly when promised. They did notify me that, due to extreme weather, my blackberries would ship at a later date, but that's perfectly understandable.

  • Chris-7b-GA
    10 years ago

    Here are my grades for online retailers for the season

    A Grade:

    Burnt Ridge - nectarine and plums were nice size and root system and blackberry plants were huge - very happy with order considering very reasonable price and shipping costs.
    Vaughn Nursery - hard to beat them for peach trees - 7 bucks per tree, nice size but not to large to give the knee high cut. Plus, they had the hard to find Clayton peach variety this year

    B Grade:

    Cummins - very healthy dwarf apple trees, great selection, I which the trees were a little larger and more branched but Harvestman has mentioned that their tree size is somewhat limited due to growing in their northern climate

    Vintage Virginia Apples - Old Mixon peach tree I ordered was 3/4" caliper at least - to big for me - they threw in the box a few scion I asked for free of charge, seem like nice folks

    B- Grade:
    Martha's Secrets - ordered a few Persimmon trees in hard to find varieties, prices and shipping costs seemed reasonable, but tree size for bare root persimmons was nothing special, maybe 3/8 to 1/2" caliper.

    Chestnut Hill Tree Farm - purchased some 1.5" or so large caliper persimmon trees for under 75 bucks, a good deal, but had to drive down to north Florida to pick them up.

    C- Grade:
    Big Horse Creek Farm - very good selection but this was the real disappointment of the season, ordered a bunch of apple varieties on B-9 but the trees came in very small, maybe around 3/8" caliper, I guess these are 1 year trees, prior year I had ordered B-9's from Century Farm for about the same price but the trees were twice the caliper.

    Willis Orchard - in spite of all the bad pub, I gave them a try because they are only a hour drive away and I would look at what I was purchasing, the owner helped me, seamed like a reasonable guy, persimmon tree I got was pretty much as advertised, the pomegranate was advertised as 8 foot but got close to that height because it had never been pruned and was overpriced for what you got.

    This post was edited by Chris-7b-GA on Thu, Mar 6, 14 at 19:36

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the ratings Chris, Wow you picked up the Clayton cool! My Old Mixon was big too, but it has super decent low branches, so it's a plus really.(pictured above).
    I don't have room for anymore, Oh well. I have three peaches, and all are decent cultivars. When I move, I'll have room for as many as I want, but not for 4 years or so.

  • Scott F Smith
    10 years ago

    Boy Chris you are a tough grader! Big Horse Creek makes pretty clear they are selling whips so I wouldn't hold that too much against them. In general the size of the tree I don't make too much of, its the size of the roots that matter. The worst nurseries are the ones that send you huge tops with butchered roots. The BHCF trees I have planted in past years did very well, the smaller trees establish faster so you hardly notice any difference.

    I just got trees from VVA and ToA this week. My VVA apples were also huge like your peach was, a little too big. The ToA were perfect. Still I'd give them both A's :-)

    Scott

  • Ernie
    10 years ago

    "...prior year I had ordered B-9's from Century Farm for about the same price but the trees were twice the caliper."

    I bought six trees on bud9 from Century last fall. Prior to buying, I asked a lot of questions, and David (the owner) was very patient, polite, and helpful. The trees all looked good to me (I'm new to apples, so far from an expert), but there was a big difference in size -- three were larger caliper (3/4" or so) with some branching and appeared to have been field grown, and three were smallish whips (3/8" or so) with that appeared to have been pot grown. Size difference aside, all seem healthy, the prices were great, and I'm very happy with the experience overall.

  • Chris-7b-GA
    10 years ago

    Your right Scott, I probably graded BHCF a little harshly. I should have known that I was getting small whips. The trees from BHCF seem to have a pretty good root system and appear to be healthy with plenty of buds. I will change my grade to B since you have had success with their trees.

    I ordered 7 different type of Limbertwig varieties from them, folks here on the Gardenweb site dont comment much on Limbertwigs so I am quite curious about their taste.

  • alan haigh
    10 years ago

    I find size does matter in trees with similar root to top ratio. A nice7/8" caliber tree will tend to come into productivity a year earlier than one that is 3/8", in my experience in southeast NY. Maybe further south trees suffer more from transplant (more intense sun) and benefit from the longer growing season, so difference is not so pronounced.

  • kyyada
    10 years ago

    I ordered a box of 10 trees from Grow Organic/Peaceful Valley they are all nice sized and were in good shape. One tree was the wrong variety but I sent them an e-mail and they sent a replacement out right away, it will be here tomorrow. I would order from them again, they waited around a week to send my trees due to the weather but I will order from them the next time in Dec and get them before things get bad here in Jan.

    I ordered from Willis Orchard last year and my fig and kiwi was as described and was in good shape, I ordered a compact stella cherry this year and will post when it arrives. The -1 below got the Celestial fig on top of the ground anyway...It may go to a good home, Its coming out and I am trying more hardy ones....

    Stark Bro. I have ordered from them and have never been disappointed in the trees the small potted stuff like berry canes is another story they throw them in the box with the trees and they get the rock tumbler treatment. They whined about replacements too but did send more, better packed the next time.

    This post was edited by kyyada on Mon, Mar 10, 14 at 11:23

  • Ernie
    10 years ago

    "A nice7/8" caliber tree will tend to come into productivity a year earlier than one that is 3/8"...Maybe further south...difference is not so pronounced."

    That will be interesting to see, harvestman -- my order from Century Farm gives me a good opportunity to compare how quickly the two sizes come into production in a southern climate.

  • charleslou23
    10 years ago

    not sure if anyone have ordered from http://tropicalbonsainursery.net but I've had some bad experience with them last year after ordering some guava trees. They came ok but after a couple of weeks start dying for no apparent reason. Yes I've had experience with planting these before, and unfortunately the owner at the website never reply back after I contacted him, some Chinese dude based in southern cali....

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    I received two blueberry plants and a blackberry plant from Bay Laurel. Overall they are not impressive. One blueberry plant is fine. The other has very weak growth, it is staked, probably will fall over if not staked. So I'm going to have to remove most of the canes, and let it grow stronger canes. The blackberry is a twig, quite small. I will not order berry plants from them again.

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    For citrus, you can't go wrong with Mckenzie Farms. He doesn't have a huge selection, mostly what's considered "cold hardy" types. I bought an Owari satsuma last year. Great price,great plant, and excellent service. I'm calling him again this week to place another order for three more trees. He responds quickly to emails, and has been very patient answering my question. I'll provide an update once I receive the plants. I should also receive my Burnt Ridge order in the next couple of weeks, and will provide a review for them as well.

    Here is a link that might be useful: McKenzie Farms

  • lawanddisorder
    10 years ago

    A bit off topic, but last year Henry Fields had a 75% off sale sitewide sometime in early April, and I was wondering if any knew if this was something they do yearly?

    Thanks

  • lsoh
    10 years ago

    Just received my order from bay laurel nursery. I don't plan to order from them again. I live in zone 5. In normal years at this time, our average lows are around 25, highs around 45. This year has been colder than normal. We had 100% snow cover until a good portion of it melted today. The ground is solid ice. It is absolutely too early to plant. This is certainly NOT an appropriate date to deliver to my zone.

  • rob_343
    10 years ago

    I have one last order yet to come, but here are my experiences:

    Burnt Ridge - Customer service is amazing. Very helpful through my multiple order changes. Answered any questions I had. Materials received were very good. Blackberries, blueberries, apples. The monster was the tennosui I received. Huge roots, big caliper, no branches (I like it with no branches).

    Groworganic - Customer service OK. Trees (plums and apricot) were from Dave Wilson. Trees were large caliper with large roots, but were heavily branched. This made initial pruning difficult. All in all they were good.

    Ison's - Customer service TERRIBLE. They never responded to e-mails/calls before ordering. They sent the trees in early January during a big snow storm after I requested that they be sent late winter/early spring. The package sat on my front door for an hour or two before I got home. The roots had ice on them. I immediately e-mailed them to tell them this fact so if they all died I would have it on record-- no response. I will not order from them again. The only reason I did this time was to get Spring Satin, which is hard to find. Hopefully, what I received from them survives.

    Florida Hill Nursery - I ordered 2 dwarf mulberries from them. They were about 3 inches tall. Essentially rooted cuttings size. Both put in 5-1-1 (fines, peat, perlite) in containers under grow lights. One looks to be OK, the other... not so much. Though not dead, I think it will be soon.

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I received my order from McKenzie Farm recently. A three gallon Meiwa kumquat, one gallon Brown's Select satsuma, and a one gallon Eureka lemon. All plants appear to be very healthy. The one gallon plants we pretty small, especially the lemon. But, the only real concern was with the lemon. When I went to replant it, the dirt around the roots just fell away. The roots were still clumped together where it had apparently been grown in a small grow pot. It had just recently been stuck in the one gallon pot. I'm not sure if it had been placed into the larger pot just before shipping, but if so, it would have saved me on shipping costs if it had just been shipped in the smaller pot. I'd definitely still buy from him.

    I also received a surprise package in the mail a few days ago. Last year I ordered two persimmon trees from Nolin River. The Morris Burton never leafed out. I was notified by email that they would send a replacement in March. This was back in June or so last year, and I had forgotten about it. The replacement showed up and was bigger than the one I had paid for. Very pleased with the no hassle offer of replacement and the nice replacement tree they sent.

  • bob_z6
    9 years ago

    I've received a few more interesting orders.

    Double A Vineyards- It's the first time I've ordered from them. I figured it would be pretty good, given Scott and others recommendation. But, the roots are HUGE.

    It actually presented a bit of a problem for me, in that the holes I had prepared were woefully inadequate. And I definitely didn't want to prune off such nice roots. I ended up stripping the lawn off in several directions and covering some of the longer roots with a few inches of dirt. Some of the roots were 4+ feet long (making an 8' diameter when spread out...), and I had 2 foot wide holes.

    My order (from left to right in the picture):
    Gratitude
    Somerset
    Hope
    Faith
    Neptune
    Jupiter
    Joy (on the edge of the pic)

  • bob_z6
    9 years ago

    I also got my Cummins order. Everything was fine as usual, but the two plum trees stood out. In the past, I've liked their apples and pears better than the couple peaches I've bought from them, so when I decided to get some Euro plums this spring, I got more of them from ACN. While I haven't gotten my ACN order yet, I can't imagine that they will be nicer than what Cummins sent.

    Here's a pic of the Lavinia I got from them them this spring. It is just over 1" caliper, around 4' tall, with nice roots (not cut back hard like the CA nurseries), and some great branches.

    I was surprised they grew such a huge tree in a relatively cold climate and asked if they were reselling. The response was:
    "I'm proud to say that we absolutely grew those plums here in upstate New York. There was so much rain last year, we didn't have to turn on the irrigation system, and the bud take was superb."

    While the website says "Pumiselect" rootstock, it is actually on Penta rootstock. From the email, all the Pumiselects are actually Penta. It would have been nice to have Pumi, as it is supposed to be somewhat dwarfing. But I don't think it will be that much of a difference. I'm planting the plums at about 5' spacing, so I'll need to prune a lot either way.

  • franktank232
    9 years ago

    Raintree came yesterday. Looks great. A nectaplum and an atomic red nect....along with 10 bud9 rootstock.

  • eboone_gw
    9 years ago

    My orders this year were from Cummins and ACN. All the trees looked quite healthy, good roots. My only complaint is that the Emeraude nectarine ordered from ACN was cancelled due to some massive tree die off in a CA nursery due to weather - they contracted those out. I guess that was not something they could rectify. Hope to get that or a similar white nectarine by next year.

    From ACN I got a Blazingstar peach, a July Rose white peach, and a Dandy Dapple pluot. Pics of trees and roots below.
    From Cummins I got an Opal plum, a PF Fat Lady Peach, and 4 apples - Crimson Topaz and Novaspy on M7, Spigold on G.30, and SunCrisp on G.202. These will be the first trees I have on the newer Geneva rootstocks, looking forward to seeing how they do.

  • eboone_gw
    9 years ago

    Photos of the first three trees mentioned above in entirety as well

  • mrsg47
    9 years ago

    All of your trees look very good. Received and planted my two new apples from Arboreum last week. They were 'Arborose' and 'Ananas Reinette'. They were both excellent with their very healthy roots that I have become accustomed to. Received a notice today that my very first order from Cummins will arrive this Sat. Two Calville Blanc d'Hiver. Cannot wait for those apples! I hope I live long enough! Mrs. G

  • flowerchild59
    9 years ago

    I have had one of the worst experiences with DiMeo blueberry farms. The 8 plants I received had butchered, dried out roots. The size of the plants were as ordered, but had to be cut back severely just to see if they will survive. The owner of the company was rude in the email response back to me. I turned him in to the BBB of NJ.

  • RobThomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    bob, I've only ordered once from Double A, but ever since then I've been recommending them. Just amazing root systems. I also had incredible 1st year growth on them. I hope to get fruit this year from my Hope, Joy and Jupiter. Also, to follow up on our muscadine discussion (see above), my Isons and Darlene had some tip die back, but did survive the cold and are now putting out leaf buds. The Late Fry is toast, but is putting out growth from the base just above the roots.

    The pics of the Cummins and ACN trees look nice. I almost ordered from Cummins this year, but went with Burnt Ridge again instead.

    flowerchild, you probably know now, but avoid Dimeo's like the plague. Read their reviews and you won't know whether to laugh or cry.

    I received my Burnt Ridge order last week. One each of Sansa, Sweet Sixteen, Bella, Gold Star, and Hudson's Golden Gem apple trees, and one Ken's Red Kiwi (I already have a male). Last year, they sent some super small potted "trees". So this year, I asked for bare root only. The trees I received were exactly what I was hoping for; Well rooted, good caliper, and most had some branching. The Sweet Sixteen actually had flower clusters and is now in full bloom (I'll remove any fruit). Needless to say, I was very happy with this year's order.

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    I received everything that I ordered in January and everything has leafed out and growing well.
    Received excellent blueberries from Miller's in Florida, prepruned and ready to plant.
    As usual got excellent apples from Century Farm Orchards. David is a great person to work with.
    Got small trees from Fruit Tree Farm, but I knew they were going to be small to begin with, because of their poor growing conditions last summer.
    Ordered from Bay Laurel for the first time and couldn't be happier with the quality and size of the trees, and the service that I received. Although they are pricey, I'd order from them again.

    Although this isn't the right forum, I ordered a camelia from Camellia Forest in Chapel Hill. NC. Big Mistake.
    The bush came thoroughly diseased with algal leaf spot,
    and am having a hard time getting them to do anything about it. Is there a camellia forum?

  • JoppaRich
    9 years ago

    Made two orders this season:

    Cummins:
    35 Geneva30 rootstock - all put in the ground over the last couple weeks. About half have started to leaf out. The rest, the wood is still very green, so expected to do fine. Plants were pencil width to a bit larger. Some had fantastic roots, some had almost none. Overall, probably better than I expected for ~$110 shipped.

    PlantMeGreen:
    Ordered 3 peaches, 3 plums, 2 asian pears, 3 persimmons (all bareroot). Trees are all at a minimum thumb width, with some being about 1" caliper. Very good size. Peaches, plums, pears have all leafed out. Nothing from the persimmons yet, but I understand thats pretty normal. Very happy about this order, was around $100.

  • Greg
    9 years ago

    I' going to give a thumbs up to One Green World. I have seen many reviews for theses guys both positive and negative but I couldn't be happier with the Wabash pawpaw I bought from them. I have bought pawpaws from other popular online retailers and theirs is by far the biggest/healthiest plant being in a comparable price range. I can't wait to put it in the ground but need to wait until the nights are frost free.

  • timbotoo77
    9 years ago

    This is the second year in a row that I have ordered from Cummings Nursery. Both times the stock arrived as described and was in excellent shape and form. One pear from 2013 died after a very successful sprouting due to unexpected extreme weather conditions. They gladly replaced the tree with no questions asked. I ordered an additional peach and nectarine, all of them came in in outstanding form and condition. I can't recommend them enough. They were very patient helping me to firm up my selections and my experience could not have been better.

  • mamuang_gw
    9 years ago

    I ordered 14 trees from 5 nurseries this year:Burnt Ridge, Cummins, Raintree, Schlabach and Cumberland Valley. I've ordered from the first four nurseries before. It's the first time I ordered from Cumberland Valley.

    I considered the trees' size and health, root system, packaging, customer service. All were very satisfactory. All trees looked healthy, good root system.

    Cummins and Raintree trees were the biggest in size. Both had the best packaging.

    I ordered from CV and Raintree by phone, Schlabach by mail, Cummins, Raintree and Burnt Ridge on the Internet. No problem with any re. customer service.

    Cumberland has the smallest trees but that what I expected. Their peach trees are the cheapest (at $8/tree).

    If I'd rank them, it'd be Cummins, Raintree, Schlabach, Burnt Ridge and Cumberland (just because CV's trees arrived in early March when it's sub zero here. I had to keep them alive in the unheated basement for a month.)

    I'm very happy with all these nurseries and will order from all of them again (if I can find more space to plant.)

  • gardener365
    9 years ago

    Double A Vineyards is superb. I cut the (often) 3' roots or more back to stimulate growth and to not have to dig a hole 4' wide and deep. They'll do excellent with supplemental water and will root vigorously.

    The same may be said about the 6-7' pecan purchased from Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery. They hire professional backhoe operators to dig their trees. The roots were immaculately pruned to perfection.

    As always, Stark Bros. came thru with outstanding roots, as well. I'll any day take a well developed root system on a smaller tree over a larger tree with a less adequate root-system... even though I was as always pleased with all my trees from Stark Bros.

    Roots are where it all is.

    Dax

  • spartan-apple
    9 years ago

    I recently got a concord grapevine from Jung Seed in Randolph WI. Very nice! I used to get fruits from them years ago then got burned 3 times in a row when they would send my stock late May and not dormant. Total loss
    each time. I took the chance and the vine looks good.

    Normally I have been purchasing from Schlabach's in New
    York. This year I never got a catalog! I called late January and told them not received. They sent me one but I got it
    2nd week in April? It was postmarked in January.

    My replacement Balaton cherry came in from Stark's. I bought one about 4-5 years ago? It fruited last year and was not true to variety. I contacted them and they sent me the replacement last Saturday. The tree looks good. Hopefully this one is truly a Balaton. At least the lady who handled my complaint was very nice about it. I wrote them
    off after two bad experiences but perhaps now with their
    changes I will reconsider. Nice customer service.

  • Kitty_T
    9 years ago

    I've received trees from several nurseries this season thus far:

    Burnt Ridge - They sent by far the best root systems I've gotten. I'm incredibly impressed. I purchased from them because they had decent prices on some unusual things I was looking for (quince and medlars), and I got two Japanese plums and a Bosc pear while I was at it. Everything was extremely well packed and arrived in great condition. Grade: A

    Stark Bros: I'd ordered some apple trees from them before and was pleased, so I went back to them for some peach and cherry trees. I wasn't disappointed. Not quite the amazing specimens I got from Burnt Ridge, but they arrived with good root systems, well packed and in fine shape. Grade: B+

    Burgess: Yes, I know. But I got a dozen ornamental trees to put along a scrubby back section of the property for about $25, so I figured if they die, they die, and if some live I'm still ahead. Everything appeared to arrive alive, with something resembling roots on them, and not entirely dried out. A few of the trees were larger than I'd expected, and many were pretty shrimpy (I nearly lost 2 redbuds when I was planting - meaning I set them down to dig the hole and had trouble finding them in the grass!), but for what I paid I don't feel cheated. I ordered a few other perennials of various sorts (humming bird vines, clematis, some bare root roses, etc.) in a different order, again on the cheap - I'll try to update when those arrive. Watch out for their "guarantee" policy and keep your shipping labels! Grade: a solid C for now.

  • gambelsquail
    9 years ago

    Burnt Ridge - Great customer service. I ordered one gallon mulberriy trees and a Italian honey fig tree. The root system is pretty good because it was potted small trees. But the persimmon tree came with 2/3 top died ( brown under bark) and the Li jujube came with three claw shaped roots...@@. The witnney crabapple has the best shape in my oder.

    After all, the jujube tree did leaf out and grow OK now.

    I may order from them again.

    Groworganic - Customer service is OK. I ordered from them twice, Fruit trees have nice size and good root system. Ship quickly . Will order again.

  • danzeb
    9 years ago

    May 15 and I received my order of Raspberries and Blackberries from Indiana Berry. They were kept dormant until shipping. Plants have very large route systems and where very reasonably priced. They have a very nice catalog with detailed planting and growing information that's worth reading.

  • muscadines978
    9 years ago

    If I don't have the muscadine vines which my customers want I automatically send them to Ison's. They have the best selection and quality of any nursery that I know of.
    As another post mentioned, they NEVER respond to ANY emails. I have sent several with no response, EVER!! Most of the time they do answer their phones.
    They do stand behind their warrantees. For example I lost 22 of 23 muscadine vines this last winter when the temp. dropped down to 4 degrees several times ,. They are replacing all 22 that I lost at half price,
    Now I think that is fair and good business.

  • colonel_kernel
    9 years ago

    Bob Wells Nursery in Texas is where I purchased a plum, aprium, 2 cherries, 2 paw paws and 10 blackberries from. Everything arrived fast, looking really good, was tagged, true to order and had good root systems. I used legg creek farms, another Texas nursery, to order some mayhaws (they were on sale). I received the trees pretty quick, they looked decent. I gave away 2 and planted 4 myself. All of them are growing great!

    Also wanted to note, I've called and emailed bob wells and they are very nice people, very helpful! I've also emailed them with some questions and they give prompt responses.

  • ravenh2001
    9 years ago

    Ordered 100 + trees from acn and all but one is looking good.I think it might have been left on the cart a day to long. Norse farms sent 500 strawberries and 500 rasberries. Not even one skip in the rows of strawberries and the rasberries seem to be starting too .

  • Kitty_T
    9 years ago

    I got the balance of my Burgess order, so I figured I'd follow up. It seems to be a definite "some things are better than others" type of place, so hopefully this will help someone figure out what is most worth it:

    Rose bushes and peony trees (bare root) came looking quite decent, and all of them have continued to be alive in my garden. A few have been slow to leaf out, but nothing arrived dead or rotted, and everything seems to be getting along now.

    Humming bird vines arrived looking like sticks - they were alive, but sticks. All are still alive, and one is leafing out, so, OK. The things are supposed to be impossible to kill, so I'm hopeful.

    Clematis came as cute little spider-looking root nodes. Fairly fresh looking. They have all sprouted up nicely.

    Honesuckle vines looked like a bit of a mess when they arrived - it was hard to tell what was supposed to be planted, what was root vs. vine, etc. I've got nothing out of those yet, and for all I know I planted the darn things upside down.

    Day lilies came as nice little root bunches, and all are sprouting up nicely now.

    The bare root trees I had received earlier all still appear to be alive (they're flexible and show green if you scratch the bark), but not a one has leafed out yet. The little potted lemon and lime trees I got came looking good, but the lime was suffering such a mineral deficiency I'm still not sure it will make it. Maybe 3 years from now I'll have a stand of nice little trees started for next to nothing and I'll pat myself on the back, but I'm not awfully impressed on the tree front just yet.

    Overall I'm still giving Burgess a solid C. I'd never accept it if I'd paid anything approaching a usual nursery price for what I got, but overall I think I got what I paid for.