here is the picture. Not obsidian, but beaujolais.

better pic of the small plant.

Wow! That's quite a difference between plants. I got my SRG orders via UPS yesterday and all the plants were good-sized & exceptionally healthy looking.

SRG prides itself on its reputation. I would definitely let them know you aren't 100% satisfied with the plant material you received. It's not complaining--how else can they assess & improve their quality control?

Rather than complain about the small size, you might take the approach of asking them why they shipped such a tiny plant as well as what options they're willing to offer you. Their goal is satisfied customers. You're not. Until you are, they lose.

Very true. Yes it is a huge size difference. I am going to email them with the picture.

I was also pleasantly surprised about the free gift plant they sent and the way they packed the plants with the netting and paper. The best mail order place so far exept for the tiny plant.

I will take your advice and email with a positive approach and attitude. Thank you gardenweed. I always appreciate your input!

southerngardening24 - generally speaking, open dialogue leads to better results than do accusations, criticism & conflict. Basically you have the same goal as SRG: a stunning garden that others appreciate and comment on so you can tell them about the plants you ordered & planted from SRG.

Always happy to shed garden light where it's needed.

I pulled up the site and they are "sold out" of that particular Heuchera. My guess is you got the last remaining plant and they included a free plant since they knew it wasn't up to standards. When plants are on sale, I am not all that picky myself and my expectations are not as high. Often the reason they are on sale is because prime time is over and the selections are not what they were or what you would receive if you bought it while paying full price when selections are at their peak. It seems they are sold out of nearly all the varieties.

$2.99 rather than $9.99--- that is a heck of a bargain.

If it was me, I wouldn't make an issue of this since they sent you a free plant. The plant looks like it will probably come around and be fine.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Sat, Jun 21, 14 at 2:13

I've placed several big orders with SRG and never gotten anything free, so I think Tex is right and they included this as a way to compensate for the small heuchera. I've had a few failures with some of the plants I've gotten late in the season, but that's always a crapshoot. I didn't bother to tell them about the failures, it was under $10 total which is what a single plant would cost. I'm very happy with what I've gotten, and their prices are the best.

Cheryl

I ordered only a couple of heucheras from them (most of what I wanted were out of stock) and Beaujolais was one, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) they ran out of them by the time my order was up to be packed (due to ship this coming week). I would mention it to them about the size of the plant, but I also see some nice young new growth coming out of your plant. If it were me, I would plant it up into a slightly bigger pot and let it grow for a few weeks to let it bulk up before planting in the ground.

Karen

I agree with above - don't do anything. The price was low, with care the plant should do fine, you got something else for free. If this nursery had a reputation for ripping people off - then I would complain, but from what I've read about them, they don't.

I tend to be very loyal to companies and businesses I like and ones that have treated me well in the past. If every once in a while something I purchase from them isn't quite what I had hoped it to be, I'm willing to cut them some slack. If I truly believe they did their best, I can deal with that. I want them to stick around. If bad products or services becomes the norm - well - that's a different story. I'll dump them without a second thought.
Kevin

This post was edited by aachenelf on Sat, Jun 21, 14 at 9:10

I would send them the picture but say you are repotting and going to watch it to see if it grows/thrives rather than demand a credit....Santa Rosa is an excellent mail order nursery. I've had excellent customer service from them as well as great plants but an end of season sale can be risky from any nursery.

I wouldn't complain either. The plant is small but looks healthy. In good soil, it will likely have tripled in size by summer's end.It sounds like you got the last of the stock.

I also would not complain. It looks small but is growing and should do fine for you.

I planted everything in the garden yesterday evening, including the small one. They all seem happy so far. It may have been the last one they had and maybe it's just the runt and will turn out the best one, who knows. lol

I'm a positive kind of person who doesn't really complain much anyway and I am happy with the rest of the purchase, especially it being an end of season sale.

Now I'm really curious what their full price plants look like. Looks like I will order from them again.

Thanks everyone!

That happened to my Georgia Peach. It was a tiny, pathetic little thing when I got it, but I potted it up and grew it through the summer in its pot and when September came I plopped it in the ground. I still have it, it's a big, full plant and it actually outlived the other plants I got from that order that were bigger. Yours may very well do the same, grow into a nice, beautiful plant.

Karen

Karen: nice to hear that! I will definitely record its progress with pics.

I had an issue with an order for roses in the spring from Pickering Nurseries. One of the bare root roses was very undersized. So I took a photo of all of them before planting, so there was a comparison. I still planned on using the plant, but I wanted documentation. Sure enough, out of all the roses I received, that was the only one that didn't make it. I emailed them the other day with a photo of the rose when it arrived and a report on how it grew and that it had died and they quickly refunded my purchase price. So having a photo of how it looked on arrival is always a good thing, even if you plan on keeping it.