Last mail order review "Gardens Plus"

I was in the middle of working like a mad-woman in the garden yesterday .. all of us know what that is like right ? Total garden mode !

High noon my mail order plants arrived .. Gardens Plus from Peterborough Ontario about 2.5 hours away from Kingston.

I was a little skeptical with the size of the package and the light weight feel to it .. I was thinking .. "oh brother .. this is not going to be good" ..
I was FRIGHTENED by the limp mode of Majeste pulmonaria .. it frankly looked like a goner .. even though I received the mail alert that it was just shipped the day before .. I thought the roots would be moist and the foliage a little more resilient ?
Sorry about the dark photos but high noon here is BRIGHT so you will have to click on the pictures to get a better idea of the plants ..

They were for the most part dry in the plastic bags ... but everything was well packed along with a paper barrier to protect them .. the box was stamped all over to keep away from HEAT and FROST ..
The was paper work on how to plant "dry root" plants was the first time for a mail order that I received .. for new gardeners that would really help !

Billing paper work .. straight forward and great for record keeping .. a map of Peterborough .. Dawn says I should come down for a weekend because of all the festivities the town has .. which is a nice touch for people wanting to do that sort of thing .. and a free pen to boot ? LOL
OK .. enough of the light weight conversation here ... down to the plants and what I think ....
They were all clearly RECOGNIZABLE plants as to what they are .. even if a bit dry .. the tags were perfect .. the plants had rather mature foliage .. so the true test was to get them in the garden quickly to help them get over the stress of mailing ..
Since I was already in garden mode, away they went to their perspective homes .. and watered in.

I was worried about my Majeste .. it was the limpest of them all .. but by golly today it is PERKY and looking good in the garden .. Redstone Falls, the newest heucherella that I was drooling over, had wonderful foliage and hardy character .. too happy as well .. as so were they all ...

"Emerald Mist" brunnera in the back garden joining my collection there.

Gunsmoke heucherella was a little small but again I could clearly tell what it was .. perky today no problem .. and Pow Wow Wildberry echinacea was a good healthy division , very happy in the sunny strip of my back garden.

So .. how do I rate this company ? ... 8.9 out of 10 .. the dry condition of the roots could have used a little more water in their plastic bag enclosure .. I understand the issue of weight, when it comes to shipping and Dawn tries to keep that price as low as she can .. but a little more moisture might have kept Majeste from scaring the bejesus out of me ? wink wink

All the plants clearly appear to be what they were supposed to be .. information on how to plant dry root plants perennials was was practical information for new gardeners.

Prices were reasonable, a little less than Canning but then again the plants were a little smaller than Canning Perennials .. but then you have a little competition for varieties offered between the two companies .. so that is a good thing !

Would I order from this company again ? ..... YES ! so this was a positive experience.

The problem I have after collecting so many different plants for my garden, is that my local providers do not have the newer and varied selections that I find during the winter on the net.

So mail order is the only avenue I have for obtaining these plants for the most part.

This wraps up 5 Canadian companies .. three from Ontario , one from PEI, and one from BC.