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Mail Order Review 2012

Vesey was very good about sending me a replacement for Blossomtime rose that failed so this link explains about that happening.
Vesey Replacemment 2012 ... customer service was very good.

Hortico Order ... there is more to this story about my Hortico order .. I contacted the company and the spokesperson I e-mailed was very nice .. she did not realize that I did not want a substitute for Zephirine D.
She also offered a 10 % discount on my next order to cushion the blow ? which was good PR
BUT ... this story goes on further .. ironically the substitute up and died on me .. Louise Ordier .. which is very similar to Zephirine D climbing rose .. I took pictures so she could see that Ilse Khron Superior was fine but LO was dead as a door nail .. so I get to pick a free sub rose in the Autumn plus my 10 % discount.
So I am happy with how Hortico handled my dilemma .. I think it always strengthens your case when you have pictures to illustrate what is wrong with your product !
Customer service VERY good ... with a happy satisfying result for me.

Garden Import (Ontario)

These are smaller plants but very healthy and well packed .. and so far they are doing very well.
In fact I have already pre-ordered a peony from them for this Autumn .. so I am a happy gardener with this company.
Customer service was good .. I wanted to change my order midstream and that was not a problem for them.

Botanus (from British Columbia)sent the rose I had been lusting over since last year and missed out on .. White Licorice Weeks rose and I can't wait to see it mature and look amazing : )
Customer service is excellent with this company  .. I had issues last year and there was a wonderful on going communication to make sure the product was surviving for me.

Gardens Plus from Peterborough
 Dawn ships her product very well ... but they are also very dry and on a smaller scale compared to Canning.
Having said that it doesn't mean the product is not good ! just smaller .. plus I had a problem with Tiny Monster geranium and Dawn has given me a credit for it on my next order.
You may wonder what I got ? .. aside from Tiny Monster geranium which failed sadly.
Tiarella Spring Symphony
Delta Dawn heuchera
Echinacea Solar Flare and Maui Sunshine, and a variety of day lilies .. for which they are all doing well !
Customer service VERY good .. Dawn is quick with e-mails and sorting out problems.

Canning Perennials
Paris Ontario .. moved on to almost total mail order now and I can't say enough about how remarkable Chris's product is .. the plants are huge as if you bought them at a nursery !




Both my husband and son said "how on earth did they get all of those plants in that box?!!"
I had a variety ranging from Red Racer hellebore to day lilies to yarrow to a beautiful new buddleia called "Peach Cobbler", veronicastrim Fascination , a load of goodies I am enjoying a great deal and looking forward to seeing how they perform for next year !
I rate Canning Perennials as my # 1 mail order company and recommend it highly to my garden friends.
Customer service VERY good .. Chris the owner has no problem sorting out issues !

4 comments:

Heather said...

Hi There, just wanted to say thanks for the review... I live in north central Canada (rated as zone 1b) and I always find it hard to get plants... my garden has been neglected for the last 4 years, I have lost a lot of plants, and the rest is just weeds, so am hoping next year will be a year I start working on it again... have been looking for a place to get good perennials and based on your rating and taking a look at their website, am considering Canning... love your photography, sounds like we have a lot in common (photography - I just started a course, quilting, you call your hubby your sweetie, and you call your cats your girls...) way too funny! Thanks again, have a great week! Heather

LauraH said...

Just found your blog and wanted to thank you for reviewing mail order companies. I use mail order a lot since I don't have a car.

Haven't tried Gardens Plus, will give them a look this spring. My experiences - two orders from Canning a few years ago were very disappointing, have to consider trying them again after seeing your amazing photos. Garden Import tends to be small, I use them for bulbs and hard-to-find clematis. I've also had good luck with Beaver Creek in B.C., Select Plus in Quebec which specializes in lilacs (amazing varieties), Fraser's Thimble Farms also in B.C.

Thanks again and hope you stay healthy.
Laura

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Laura hello and thank you for reading this page on mail orders .. I actually have one from the previous year as well that illustrated a few problems.
I would try Canning again because Chris has mainstreamed her company into total mail order (customers can still drop by the nursery and purchase plants) .. Chris is also very good with customer service .. if you have a problem with a plant let her know about it and she will do just about anything to make you a happy customer. Her plants are the largest I get from any mail order company. having said that , of course we know some plants will naturally be smaller in size because that is the type they are.
Gardens Plus is a good company too .. the plants are smaller in size .. there aren't as many perennials to choose from but what she does have they are up to date with variety.
I use Garden Import for exactly your reason too .. some cultivars are hard to find with certain plants and they some times have "them" .. smaller but well packed.
If you do roses ? .. I use Hortico, which has great customer service .. I have used Vesey for a few things.
I used to use Floral&Hardy but not really keen on the product size or condition from a bad order.
I haven't tried Beaver Creek or Select Plus so I will have to have a look at them now! .. I have drooled over what Fraser's has to offer .. an amazing variety .. Phoenix Perennials in BC are supposed to have gone mail order and I am curious about their plants.
I would really like to have a current directory of Canadian mail order plants and customer reviews on them so we can really get a good picture of what is going on and where to go for good plants .. especially for the gardeners that are restricted in their area !
Thanks again for dropping by and leaving a great comment for me to answer : )
Joy

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