From leppik@uxa.cso.uiuc.eduWed Jan 11 11:58:43 1995 Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 09:16:32 -0600 From: leppik peter To: london@sunsite.unc.edu Subject: The Plants By Mail FAQ Newsgroups: rec.gardens,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: Plants By Mail FAQ Followup-To: rec.gardens Reply-To: p-leppi@uiuc.edu Summary: This FAQ contains information about buying plants and garden supplies through the mail. It includes suggestions, information about what to expect, and a lengthy list of mail-order companies. Opionions about some companies (derived from experiences with those companies) are included. Message-ID: From: p-leppi@uiuc.edu (Peter Leppik) Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Archive-name: plants-by-mail Posting-Frequency: bimonthly (sporadic) Plants By Mail FAQ by Peter Leppik p-leppi@uiuc.edu This document is intended to introduce readers to the world of buying plants by mail order; and also to serve as a central clearinghouse for information about contacting various mail order plant houses. I make no claims about being more informed on this topic than your average Joe, but I saw the need, and I'm willing to put forth the effort to compile and maintain this. History: Updated: 7/12/94 General updates. Updated: 4/30/94 Originally Created: 3/17/94 (late at night) Contents: I. Introduction II. But First, A Word From Our Lawyers III. How To Tell a Good Company from a Bad One (or: Things To Look For Before Taking the Plunge) IV. What To Do When Your Order Arrives (or: OhMyGawd! There's No DIRT With These Plants!) V. Which Catalog To Order From VI. Mail Order Houses, How to Contact Them, and My Opinions Thereof VII. But Before We Go.... I. Introduction It seems that one of the most common article titles in rec.gardens is, "How can I reach XYZZY?" or, "The Plugh company sent me a catalog. Are they any good?" I hope to be able to answer some of these questions in a reasonably definitive manner (the first is easy, the second harder), and provide the neophyte with some introduction to buying plants by mail. My experience in this area has been short, but intense. After finally moving from a small condo into a real house (with a YARD and a GARDEN even!), one of my first projects was to begin widespread replanting of the yard (which is mostly boring grass, or very ugly hybrid poplars). To do that, last Fall, I began ordering large numbers of bulbs and plants from a number of mail-order houses. Some were good, some were bad, and I learned a lot about what to look for and what to avoid. I welcome any and all comments. Send them to my E-mail address above. If there is some catalog not covered here which you think should be, by all means let me know. If you do send me comments, PLEASE please respect my poor, overworked mailer. I've had people resend me the entire FAQ just for a few lines of comments, and I even had one person send me a bunch of UUencoded binary pictures! Needless to say, this doesn't help me much, and it wastes my disk space. That said....do send comments, because they do help! At the end of this document, there is a URL address where you can find an HTTP version of this FAQ. If you don't know what HTTP is, don't sweat it. If you do, then you can get this FAQ there. There is also a nifty "point and shoot" form set up there, so you can mail me comments without having to know my E-mail address or anything. I assume that, if you send me comments, you don't mind if they find their way into a future edition. I'll try to verify this, but sometimes I forget. Thus, if you DON'T want you name in a future edition of the FAQ, be sure to say so. II. But First, A Word From Our Lawyers All opinions in this document are the opinions of the author, unless otherwise noted. The author is well-known for his arbitrary and capricious judgments, and cannot be held liable for anything he says herein. Besides, the author is a poor grad student, and suing him is like trying to squeeze blood from a rock. III. How To Tell a Good Company from a Bad One (or: Things To Look For Before Taking the Plunge) If you are like me, you probably have a dozen or two catalogs from various places, some fancy, others plain, and you're wondering who to order from and how to tell the difference between a place that really cares, and a place that is just trying to unload some poor, pathetic bits of green stuff on The Gullible Majority. In this section, I will outline what I think a reputable mail order company should do, and what you should consider before buying a plant sight-unseen. What a Reputable Mail-Order Company Will Do 1) Every perennial in the catalog should have a clearly indicated hardiness range. That is, for every perennial (anything you expect to last more than one year) should have indicated which USDA hardiness zones it will survive in. Simple adjectives like "hardy," or "tender," are NOT sufficient. Perhaps I am biased, being a Minnesota native currently living in Illinois, but I have seen too many catalogs which do not include this crucial information. Without knowing this, it is too easy to buy plants that won't survive in your climate. This also includes those of you who live in places like Southern California, where it never gets cold, since some plants require a period of cold temperatures every year in order to survive/bloom/etc. 2) Every plant should have its botanical (scientific) name listed. Of course, this doesn't count for things like roses or tomatoes, which everybody knows what that are. This may sound picky, but think about it: if you ever want to get information on this plant from some other source, and they use their own name, you might have a devil of a time figuring out how to get information. A plant's botanical name is unique. I have seen places that will take a standard variety of some plant, come up with a flashy (trademarked) name, and sell it as something special. Needless to say, this is dishonest. 3) Information on the habitat requirements should be easy to find. By this, I mean answers to questions like, how much sun does it need, how much water, and so forth. Nearly every catalog has this, but if you see one that doesn't, stay away. 4) A good company will have a horticulturist on staff you can call, and provide the phone number in a prominent place in their catalog. This can be priceless if you need to know a specific answer about some plant or another. Some catalogs have a horticulturist, but only one phone number (i.e. they don't have a separate order line), so don't take the lack of a "Horticultural Information" phone number to mean a lack of horticultural information. Finally, something that you should probably ignore: 5) Every mail order catalog that I've seen offers some sort of guarantee. This should NOT be a factor in deciding where to buy from. After all, what good does it do if they replace a plant that died because you can't grow oranges in Alaska? The replacement will just die, too, and you'll spend twice as much time on a plant that was Never Meant To Be. Besides, these places know that 95% of all gardeners will never take advantage of their guarantee even if the plants do die. Some people have even noted an inverse relation between the quality of the guarantee and the quality of the plants: the louder the company proclaims its "FOOLPROOF 100% MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE," the worse the plants are when they arrive. What To Consider Before Taking the Plunge Okay, so you've got your heart set on the beautiful Creeping Green Stuff. Before plunking your money and time on it (usually more time than money), you should stop and ask yourself a few questions: 1) Will it grow in my area? If they don't make it CLEAR (i.e. by telling you the hardiness zone), then avoid that plant, or buy it from somebody who will tell you. 2) Do I have a place to put it? It is very easy to get spring fever when all the catalogs start arriving midwinter, and wind up buying enough plants to cover every square inch of your yard two or three times over. Make sure you have a specific place for each and every plant you order, and make sure you will have the time to plant it when it arrives. Keep in mind that you will probably have to plant them soon after they arrive, and you might not be able to control the exact day they arrive. Thus, ordering 150 bushes for a new hedge from one place, all of which will arrive via UPS on the same day and need to be planted immediately, is probably not a good idea. Believe me. 3) Will it really look the way I want it to? Keep in mind that the pictures in the catalogs are designed to sell plants, and the plants in your garden will generally not look quite as nice. I have seen a lot of comments from people in rec.gardens about the rose Blue Girl as a particular offender in this respect. Also keep in mind that illustrations (as opposed to photographs) can be very deceptive, too. IV. What To Do When Your Order Arrives (or: OhMyGawd! There's No DIRT With These Plants!) The most important thing to do when your order arrives is DON'T PANIC! Good. Take a few deep breaths. The reason your roses/trees/whatever arrived without any dirt is not because the company sent you dead plants. Shipping woody plants without dirt ("bare-root") is standard. First, it does not harm the plants much, as long as the company has taken steps to ensure that the roots don't dry out. Usually, this involves dipping the roots in some sort of stuff that helps retain moisture. Second, shipping plants bare-root helps keep shipping costs down. Shipping with dirt could easily double or triple the weight of the plant when shipped, and make it that much more expensive to buy. Finally, shipping plants bare-root helps prevent the spread of pests that live in the soil (like the Japanese beetle). Needless to say, unless you're buying small seedlings, it would be expensive for a company to grow all their stock in greenhouses. There are a few places which ship plants in pots. Shipping a plant with the dirt will be less traumatic to the plants, and, as a rule, you can expect these plants to be healthier, but, because of shipping expenses, they will often also be much smaller than bare-root plants. Given the option, I will usually buy the plant shipped in a pot, eve though it will usually be more expensive. In addition, there are some plants which have to be shipped in pots, simply because they're too fragile otherwise. Generally, you will get a little booklet with your order explaining how to plant your new plants. Usually, the first thing to do (with bare root plants) is to stick them in a bucket of water for some time. You should do this as soon as they arrive. Then, dig a hole according to the booklet instructions, and plant those buggers. It may take some time for your new plants to leaf out, especially if they're dormant when shipped. Again, don't panic. If you planted in the spring, don't call the company to complain that the plants are dead until midsummer. They'll just tell you to wait, because sometimes the plants take a while to adjust to their new surroundings. V. Which Catalog To Order From If you are buying roses, you should certainly order from a catalog which specializes in roses. There are quite a few of these catalogs, and you will generally get better selection, quality, and price than you would from buying from a catalog which doesn't specialize in roses. For some reason, this rule of thumb seems to be the other way around when buying bulbs. I have had the best experiences buying bulbs from White Flower Farms, which is generally an outstanding catalog, but they aren't even remotely limited to bulbs. My worst experiences, on the other hand, were with places that sell only, or mainly bulbs. Go figure. Not everybody will agree with my judgments. After much consideration (and several long discussions on the order of "Company X isn't really THAT bad!"), I've decided that the main consideration has to be consistency. That means that I can count on large plants, of a uniformly high quality, every time I order. Note, too, that I haven't yet had anyone take issue with my list of "Good" companies, just the "Bad" ones. Having said that, here is my list of best and worst companies, based solely on my personal experiences: Really Good Companies: White Flower Farms Nor'East Miniature Roses Heirloom Old Garden Roses Gardener's Supply Company Shepherd's Garden Seeds Companies To Avoid: Spring Hill Michigan Bulb Co. Breck's Bulbs Gurney's VI. Mail Order Houses, How to Contact Them, and My Opinions Thereof This section is really the meat of this FAQ. Here, I will list as many mail order houses as I can get catalogs for, how to contact them, and my impressions of them. If you're interested in a place that isn't listed here, by all means, ask them to put me on their list, and I'll include them in a future edition. For each company, I will list their name, mailing address, phone number, a general description of what they sell, and my opinions. Opinions are strictly mine, unless otherwise noted. I will not indicate an opinion unless I have actually ordered something from a company, unless the opinion is someone else's. ------ Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden 608 NW 119 St. Vancouver, WA 98685 (206) 573-4472 A wide variety of irises, and some orchids. Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ Antique Rose Emporium Route 5 Box 143 Brenham, TX 77833 Old garden roses. ------ The Aril Patch catalog $.75 3843 Concord Blvd. (We have less experience Concord, CA 94519 with these since we grow Aril Irises. Catalog $.75 Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ The Banana Tree, Inc. 715 Northampton St. Easton , PA 18042 Phone: (215) 253 9589 Fax: (215) 253 4864 Jarkko Lapinlampi reports: The catalog costs $3.00, and lists rare seeds, mostly tropicals, gingers, bananas. 36 pages of Interesting Reading! ------ Breck's Bulbs U.S. Reservation Center 6523 North Galena Rd. Peoria, IL 61632 Orders: (309) 689-3870 Breck's sells bulbs imported from Holland: tulips, crocuses, daffodils, etc. OPINION: Overall, I am not terribly impressed with Breck's. Their merchandise (contrary to the catalog hype) is not particularly premium, but their prices are higher than most places, even some places which have superior stock. They do not list hardiness for anything, though most of what they sell should do fine most places in the U.S. (they don't sell any of the really tender bulbs, like glads). You can do better elsewhere. Note that Breck's Bulbs appears to be the same company, or closely associated with, Spring Hill, another company on my "Avoid" list. ------ Bridges Roses 2734 Toney Rd. Lawndale, NC 28090 Phone: (704) 538-9412 Fax: (704) 538-1521 Mostly miniature roses, and a few hybrid teas. ------ George C. Bush Clean Shaven Iris 1739 Memory Lane Extended York, PA 17402 Phone: (717) 755-0557 Siberian Irises. Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ C.W.S. Roses 2232 Gale Ave. Coquitlam, BC V3K 2Y8 CANADA Miniature Roses. ------ Caprice Farm Nursery 15425 SW Pleasant Hill Rd. Sherwood, OR 97140 Phone: (503)625-7241 They specialize in peonies, daylillies, and irises. Thanks to lindap@scic.intel.com (Linda Peake) for this listing. ------ Carlton Rose Nurseries P.O. Box 366 Carlton, OR 97111 Phone: (503) 852-7135 Roses. ------ Chamblee's Rose Nursery 10926 US Hwy. 69 N Tyler, TX 75706-8742 Phone: 1-800-256-7673 Fax: (903) 882-3597 Miniature roses, and old garden roses. ------ Cooley's 11553 Silverton Rd. NE Silverton, Oregon 97381 Tall Bearded Irises. Color catalog $3 (deductible from order) Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry ------ Draycott Gardens Carol Warner 16815 Falls Road Upperco, MD 21155 Phone: (410) 374-4788 Siberian Irises. Catalog $1 Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry ----- Dutch Gardens, Inc. P.O. Box 200 Adelphia, NJ 07710 Phone: (908) 780-2713 Fax: 908 708-7720 Thanks to kimf@amaryllis.EBay.Sun.COM (Kim Foster) for this address. nguyenpd@ntmtv.com reports: *** Good selection of basic Holland bulbs; good prices, esp. in quantity (group order program esp.). Excellent color catalog with pictures of all cultivars. *** Highly recommend ------ Ensata Gardens 9823 E. Michigan Ave. Galesburg, Michigan 49053 (616) 665-7500 Japanese Irises. Catalog $2 Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ The Flowery Branch P.O. Box 1330 Flowery Branch, GA 30542 Phone: (404) 536-8380 Mon.-Fri. 10 AM-4 PM Fax: (404) 532-7825 Jarkko Lapinlampi reports: The catalog costs $2.00, the 1994 edition 'A Garden of Delights' is 100 pages, and lists a LOT of seeds as well (between 1000 and 2000 different kinds) (ornamentals, herbs, everlastings). ------ Flowers Tn Friends Miniature Roses 9590 100th St SE Alto, MI 49302 Phone: (616) 891-1226 Miniature roses. ------ Four Seasons Nursery Dept. 9 1706 Morrissey Dr. Bloomington, IL 61704 Orders: (309) 663-9551 Four Seasons sells a wide variety of nursery stock, like bushes, trees, and bulbs. They also have a limited selection of garden supplies. ------ Fungi Perfecti PO Box 7634 Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (206) 426-9292 Fax: (206) 426-9377 Fungi Perfecti sells fungus. Thanks to Kris Carroll (kcarrol@u.washington.edu) for bringing this to my attention. ------ Gardener's Eden P.O. Box 7307 San Francisco, CA 94120-7307 Orders: 1-800-822-9600 Customer Service: 1-800-822-1214 Fax: (415) 421-5153 Mostly upscale garden-stuff, like furniture, birdhouses, and so forth. No plants to speak of. ------ Gardener's Supply Co. 128 Intervale Rd. Burlington, VT 05401 Orders/Customer Service: (802) 863-1700 TDD: (802) 660-3530 Fax: (802) 660-4600 All kinds of gardening supplies, and a few plants. OPINION: I have had good experiences with this company. Their products appear to be of a uniformly high quality, and a lot of people in rec.gardens swear by them. At least one of their employees reads this newsgroup, so you may be able to get answers "from the horse's mouth," if you know who to ask. If anybody can supply me with his E-mail address, I would appreciate it (for future editions). ------ Gardens Alive 5100 Schenley Place Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 Orders: (812) 537-8650 Fax: (812) 537-5108 Organic gardening supplies. ------ Giles Ramblin' Roses 2968 SR 710 Okeechobee, FL 34974 Phone: (813) 763-6611 Roses. ------ Gurney's 110 Capital St. Yankton, SD 57079 Orders: (605) 665-1930 Customer Assistance: (605) 665-1671 Gurney's sells nearly everything under the sun: seeds, shrubs, trees, bulbs, garden supplies, you name it, and they probably sell it. OPINION: I ordered seeds, bushes, and trees from Gurney's this year. The quality was generally proportional to the price paid: some things are really good, but the el-cheapo specials sometimes left something to be desired. Their horticultural staff appears knowledgeable, and certainly friendly. Susan Profit (tinne@isumataq.eskimo.com) reports that she had some bad experiences with Gurney's a number of years ago, relating to shipping and billing screw-ups. She hasn't ordered from them since, so I don't know if this is an isolated incident, or the result of generally bad management. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated. ------ Hardy Roses for the North Box 2048 Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 CANADA Box 273 Danville, WA 99121-0273 Fax: (604) 442-2766 Own-Root (not grafted) roses. ------ Heirloom Old Garden Roses 24062 NE Riverside Dr. St. Paul, OR 91737 Orders: (503) 538-1576 This is a catalog of "old" roses: not a hybrid tea to be found. If you're looking for english or unusual roses, this is the place to go. OPINION: If you are a rose grower, and you are still growing hybrid teas, this catalog will convert you. Many of the old roses offered here are just as good, if not better than, the more common modern roses. The catalog offers a lot of information about a zillion different roses, including hardiness, and (my favorite) lists of roses well-suited for particular uses (i.e. roses for growing over trellises, roses for scent, etc.). Their stock is first-rate, and all grown on its own roots, so there are no bud unions to worry about. There is no separate phone number for questions, but I found the people answering the phone to be knowledgeable and helpful. Two thumbs up. Note that they charge $5 for the catalog, but once you're on their mailing list (i.e. after you buy something), they'll send it free. ------ Henry Field's 415 North Burnett Shenandoah, IA 51602 Orders: (605) 665-9391 Fax: (605) 665-2601 Customer Service: (605) 665-4491 A general seeds-and-stuff catalog. They sell seeds, plants, and bulbs. ------ Hidden Garden Nursery 13515 SE Briggs Milwaukie, OR 97222-6117 Miniature roses. ------ Holland Bulb Farms 423 Borad St. P.O. Box 220 Tatamy PA 18085-0220 Orders: 1-800-283-5082 Another bulb catalog. ------ Hortico 723 Robson Rd. Waterton, Ontario L0R 2H1 CANADA Phone: (905) 689-6984 or (905) 689-3002 Fax: (905) 689-6566 Roses. Catalog costs $3. ------ J.L. Hudson, Seedsman P.O. Box 1058 Redwood City, California, 94064 Jarkko Lapinlampi reports: The catalog costs $1.00, and is worth every cent. The 1994 edition of the Ethnobotanical Catalog of Seeds is 95 pages and lists a LOT of seeds (herbs, trees, vegetables, some ornamentals), as well as some books and other literature. More info is printed on every seed package, and there are plenty of seeds per package. (The motto is: 'If seed production was bountiful you'll get more seeds). ------ Jackson & Perkins P.O. Box 1028 Medford, OR 97501 Orders: 1-800-292-4769 J&P actually publishes more different catalogs than you can shake a stick at. They are highly respected, though I've never ordered anything from them. ------ J. W. Jung Seed & Nursery 335 S. High St. Randolph, WI 53957-0001 Orders: 1-800-247-JUNG Customer Service: 1-800-297-3123 Jung's sells seeds, nursery stock, a few bulbs, and supplies ------ Justice Miniature Roses 5947 SW Kahle Rd. Wilsonville, OR 97070 Phone: (503) 682-2370 Miniature Roses. ------ Lee Valley Tools Ltd. P.O. Box 6295, Stn. J Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1T4 Canada Phone Order: 1-800-267-8767 FAX: 1-800-668-1807 Customer Service: 1-800-267-8761 They carry mostly really neat woodworking tools but have a garden supply section that has some interesting things. Hope this helps. Thanks to Janet Lupson (jlupson@uoguelph.ca) for this entry. ------ Lenington Gardens 7007 Manchester Ave. Kansas City, MO 64133 Tim Fehr (FEHRTJ@CNSVAX.UWEC.EDU) Provided this address and reports: We just returned from Kansas City and had the pleasure of visiting Lenington gardens - over 1,000 varieties of daylillies. Robert Lenington and his wife opened the garden 2 hours early to accommodate our travel schedule. We were treated to tour of the gardens and it was really impressive. They introduced many of the Marsh cultivars including the Prairie and Chicago series. Seeing 30 feet of Prairie Blue Eyes or Chicago Knobby in bloom makes quite an impression. The Leningtons host garden clubs during the summer they said and run a mail order business. I was especially delighted to see some of the Lenington families own introductions. Two were really eye catching FUZZ BUNNIES is a lemon yellow double with really consistent double form and WINE DELIGHT is a small wine-red flower with a real red eye zone - this had up to 40 buds on many of the scapes and there were lots of scapes so it should bloom for quite a long time. A landscaper or gardeners delight indeed! Send for a catalog - prices were very reasonable - I would guess 90% are under $20.00 - 50% at or under $10.00. Donna Sullivan (sully@mathworks.com) reports: I ordered from their catalog last fall and the daylilly varieties were outstanding! They arrived in good shape (I'm in Massachusetts) and are coming up strong this summer. Looking forward to the blooms. If anyone is looking for variety in daylillies, their catalog is wonderful and inexpensive. I ordered with a friend and if you ordered more than a certain amount, everything was 50% off! ------ Lilypons Water Gardens Box 10 Lilypons, MD 21717-0010 Phone: (301) 428-0686 Pond stuff. Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this address. ------ Louisiana Nursery Rt. 7, Box 43 Opelousas, LA 70570 Louisiana Irises. Also daylillies and some other bulbs and plants. Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ McDaniel's Miniature Roses 7523 Zemco St. Lemon Grove, CA 91945 Miniature roses. ------ Michigan Bulb Co. 1950 Waldorf NW Grad Rapids, MI 49550-0500 Michigan Bulb Company sells bulbs, perennials, and other assorted plants. OPINION: This catalog is filled with the kind of BREATHLESS PROSE and AMAZING BARGAINS designed to stampede the gardener into making impulse purchases. Their prices are cheap, but selection is limited, and quality was very mediocre. In addition, I was unable to find a phone number anywhere in the catalog--this could be a real problem, if you have problems with your order. To their credit, they generally include hardiness information. On the other hand, they also sell the "Blue Girl" rose, which is an automatic two demerits in my book. Go elsewhere. jsr@geneab.b23a.ingr.com (Jeff Reifsteck) reports: I've had nothing but bad news from Michigan Bulb. The plants were poor and didn't survive. They did replace them without question but my 40 creeping myrtle (6" evergreen ground cover) became 40 crape myrtle (a big bush and a lot more expensive). I needed ground cover not bushes. Except for the replacement of a "Blue Girl" rose all the other replacements were not plantable. apilote@wtcd.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Angela Pilote) reports: Last year I ordered some things from them -- NEVER AGAIN! I even told my husband to remind me of the poor quality of there plants and bulbs if he even SEES me *looking* at one of their catalogs. None of the plants survived and only about half (maybe less) of the bulbs came up. The bulbs also seemed very small and I think I read somewhere that this is a sign that the bulbs have not matured enough to bloom. The prices seem to be good, but if you factor in the survival rate and time invested -- it's not a deal. I'm better off paying premium prices at my nursery for good quality plants and bulbs. [Whew! I guess the verdict is in on this one!] ------ Michigan Miniature Roses 45951 Hull Rd. Belleville, MI 48111 Phone: (313) 699-6698 Miniature Roses. ------ Miller's Manor Gardens 3167 E. US 224 Ossian, IN 46777 A wide variety of irises, daylilies, and hosta. Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ Mini Rose Garden 1043 Mini-Rose Bldg. Cross Hill, SC 29332 Miniature Roses. ------ National Arbor Day Foundation 100 Arbor Ave. Nebraska City, NE 68410 All kinds of trees OPINION: The National Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit organization which promotes the planting of trees. They run frequent membership blitzes where they offer to send you 10 free trees for joining. I did. You do get 10 free trees. They're all seedlings (no real surprise), but it can be hard to tell them apart, since they are labeled with a spot of colored paint which is hard to see. Their main method of raising funds appears to be selling trees, of which they have a good selection and reasonable prices. Might be worth joining if you plan to plant a lot of trees, or believe in their cause. ------ Netherland Bulb Co. 13 McFadden Rd. Easton, PA 18042-9078 Orders: 1-800-788-8547 Customer Assistance: (610) 253-8879 Netherland Bulb Co. sells bulbs and other plants grown from their roots. OPINION: Mostly big pictures and not much else, this catalog will entice the winter-weary gardener into buying lots and lots of colorful plants. Their prices are cheap, but their stock is mediocre, and selection is very limited. Hardiness information is nonexistent, though most of what they sell should do OK most places in the U.S. Unless you're really pressed for money, you can do better elsewhere--just keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Cate Williams (williams@ssnet.com) reports: I'd like to really say that Netherlands Bulbs is HORRIBLE! I got suckered by the prices, and ended up with a bunch of seriously diseased tulips -- so sick, that I can't plant any more in that bed for two years. N.B. is simply dangerous. My .02$. ------ New Holland Bulb Co. P.O. Box 335 Rockport, IL 62370-0335 Bulbs, and assorted perennials. Note the lack of a phone number, which could cause problems if you have difficulty with an order. ------ Nor'East Miniature Roses, Inc. P.O. Box 307 Rowley, MA 01969 Phone: (508) 948-7964 Orders: 1-800-426-6485 On the West Coast: Nor'East Miniature Roses, Inc. P.O. Box 473 Ontario, CA 91762 Phone: (909) 984-2223 Orders: 1-800-662-9669 A large selection of miniature roses, and some supplies for those who like to grow them (like miniature vases) OPINION: This company is also on my "Good-Guys" list. Their prices are quite reasonable, and their stock is high quality. Their catalog has a photo of many of the offerings. If you are into miniature roses (or would like to be), this is the catalog to get. ------ Ohio Gardens 102 Laramie Road Marietta, OH 45750 Miniature Tall Bearded Iris. Catalog $1 Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry ------ Oregon Miniature Roses 8285 SW 185th Ave. Beaverton, OR 97007 Miniature roses. ------ Paradise Water Gardens 62 May Street Whitman, MA 02382 Water garden supplies Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Park Seed Co. Cokesbury Rd. Greenwood, SC 29647-0001 Orders: (803) 223-7333 Customer Service: (803) 941-4480 Park Seed sells seeds, a few smaller plants, some bulbs, and garden supplies Susan Profit (tinne@isumataq.eskimo.com) reports: The Washington State Attorney General's office considers them to be one of the top ten mail order companies in the country. They will refund money for just about any reason, they have always been unfailingly courteous when I have called, they are knowledgeable, and will get more information for you if they do not have it on hand. The one person I know that had a customer dispute with them, was very satisfied with how they handled it, it turned out to be a quarantined plans she had ordered. They found her a local nursery that carried the plant, and had them reserve one for her, refunded her money, and apologized for the inexperienced phone trainee that had taken her order. They are always very friendly, and making comments like, oh that's a nice variety. I have never heard them say anything bad about any other company, and they are a marvel of customer appreciation. When my stepfather retired as head of the State Capitol grounds after twenty years, the company sent him a letter of appreciation for his support over the years. And he of course, had nothing but great things to say of them, based on over thirty five years of professional contact. ------ Quality Dutch Bulbs P.O. Box 225 50 Lake Dr. Hillsdale, NJ 07642-0225 Phone: (215) 253-9570 Orders: 1-800-755-2852 Bulbs (need I say more?). ------ Raintree Nursery 391 Butts Road Morton, WA 98356 (206) 496-6400 Fruit Trees Thanks to Eric Reed (ericr@corgi.sps.mot.com) for this entry. ------ Rialto Gardens 1146 W. Rialto Fresno, CA 93705 Reblooming Irises. Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry. ------ Roses Unlimited Rt. 1 Box 587 Laurens, SC 29360 Phone: (803) 682-9112 Roses. ------ Santa Barbara Water Gardens Box 4353 Santa Barbara, CA 93140 Water garden supplies and plants. Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Schreiner's 3629 Quinaby Road Salem, Oregon 97303 1-800-525-2367 for orders 1-503-393-3232 for questions Tall Bearded Irises, color catalog $4 (deductible from order) Thanks to Jim Wilson for this entry ------ Seed Savers Exchange Kent Whealy-Director Rural Route 3, Box 239 Decorah, Iowa 52101 jacobson@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu provided this entry, and says: These are great folks and it's a very worthwhile program. ------ Seeds of Change P.O. Box 15700 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87506-5700 julianet@freenet3.scri.fsu.edu (Juliane Thomas) provided this address and reports: My husband found this address because he wants to do some organic gardening, and these are supposed to be seeds which come from plants uncontaminated by pesticides or chemical fertilizers. He hasn't ordered any yet, but he probably will very soon. ------ Sequoia Nursery/Moore Miniature Roses 2519 E. Noble Visalia, CA 93292 Phone: (209) 732-0190 Miniature Roses. ------ Shepherd's Garden Seeds 30 Irene St. Torrington, CT 06790 Orders: East (203) 482-3638 West (408) 335-6910 Customer Service: (203) 482-3638 Horticultural Help: (408) 335-6910 Shepherd's sells mostly seeds, but also a few plants, and some kitchen and garden supplies. OPINION: The stylish illustrations in this catalog give it a distinctly yuppie feel, but this is a good catalog nevertheless. They have a number of varieties that are hard to find elsewhere (a whole PAGE of ornamental sunflowers!), and a wealth of useful horticultural information. My order arrived promptly, in good order, and appears to be high quality (it is still a little soon for things to be sprouting around here, though). Prices are a little above average, but seeds are cheap no matter how you slice it. ------ Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery, 2825 Cummings Road Medford, OR 97501-1538 Phone: (503) 772-6846 Catalog $2 Thanks to Sean A. O'Hara (saouc@uccmvsa.bitnet) for this entry. ------ Slocum Water Gardens 1101 Cypress Gardens Boulevard Winter Haven, FL 33880-6099 Water garden supplies and plants. Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Smith & Hawken Two Arbor Lane P.O. Box 6900 Florence, KY 41022-6900 Smith & Hawken sells mostly supplies and yard stuff, but also some seeds and live plants. ------ Spring Hill Mail Order Reservation Center 6523 North Galena Rd. P.O. Box 1758 Peoria, IL 61656-1758 Orders: (309) 689-3800 Customer Service: (309) 689-3849 Spring Hill sells just about any kind of plant that catches their fancy. OPINION: Spring Hill is one of these places that is in the business of dumping cheap, inappropriate merchandise on unsuspecting customers. The quality of their merchandise is mediocre, even though the prices are about average. The provide little or no hardiness information, which is especially troublesome considering that they sell some plants (like carnations) for outdoor planting, even though they will not survive the winter in large portions of the U.S. Furthermore, if you ever buy anything from Spring Hill, you will be on their mailing list but good. I have received no less than four different catalogs from them in the last two months (not even counting the large number of "special offers" which seem to arrive about once a week, and at least one telemarketing call). Avoid this company like the plague. Note that Spring Hill appears to be the same company, or closely associated with, Breck's Bulbs, another company on my "Avoid" list. Al Harrington [alh@hprnd.rose.hp.com] says: I think you are being way to hard on Spring Hill. I realize that they do not supply hardiness information, and that some of their plants are not in the best shape - their customer service is very good. I purchased the carnation collection (15 plants) and 2 of them died. I got credited for all 15 as it was a collection. I ordered a lot of stuff from them (over 100 plants) and just about all are doing just fine - what isn't I get credit for. If nothing else seeing color pictures of *everything* they sell is nice. :-) ------ Stark Brothers P.O. Box 10 Louisiana, MO 63353-0010 Orders: 1-800-325-4180 Customer Service: 1-800-478-2759 Stark Brothers sells almost exclusively fruit trees, and a few ornamentals. Eric Reed (ericr@corgi.sps.mot.com) reports: Stark Brothers have been around for a long time. Many of their fruit trees are their own hybrids. I have order from them twice, both times the orders were very well packed and the trees were healthy and in general good shape. I planted a local nursery apple tree and a Stark tree the same weekend. The Stark tree has done much better. It has grown faster and produce fruit earlier than the local nursery tree. The catalog is well written and gives a lot of information on each tree. ------ Taylor's Roses P.O. Box 11272 Chicksaw, AL 36671-0272 Phone: (205) 456-7753 Miniature roses. ------ Tetra Pond Box 4858 Toms River, NJ 08754-9946 Water garden and pond supplies Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Texas Mini Roses P.O. Box 267 Denton, TX 76202 Phone: (817) 566-3034 Miniature roses. ------ Tiny Petals Miniature Rose Nursery 483 Minot Ave. Chula Vista CA 91910 Phone: (619) 422-0385 Miniature roses. ------ Trophy Roses, LTD 1308 N. Kennicott Ave. Arlington Heights, IL 60004 Orders/Catalogs: (708) 253-0998 Fax: (708) 253-0738 Roses. ------ Van Dyek's Flower Farm PO Box 430 Brightwaters, NY 11718-0430 Bulbs. Thanks to Howard Fujimoto (hmf00@eng.amdahl.com) for this listing. ------ Van Ness Water Gardens 2460 North Euclid Upland, CA 91786-1199 Water garden supplies and plants. Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Waterford Gardens 74 East Allendale Road Saddle River, NJ 07458 Water garden supplies and plants. Thanks to Bill Stoffel (stoffel@oasys.dt.navy.mil) for this entry. ------ Wayside Gardens 1 Garden Lane Hodges, SC 29695-0001 Phone: 1-800-845-1124 Thanks to jacobson@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu for this listing. ------ White Flower Farm Litchfield, CT 06759-0050 Orders: (203) 496-9600 White Flower Farm sells just about every kind of ornamental plant that one might reasonably want to grow in North America. OPINION: I will state my bias right up front: White Flower Farm is far and away my favorite catalog. They have a reputation for being "upscale," but their prices are only slightly above average. Their catalog offers a wealth of useful horticultural information, along with interesting commentary about each and every plant. All the information you need to know (hardiness, planting requirements, light requirements, etc.) is compiled in a single useful index, as well as being stated with the description of each plant. The catalog is organized alphabetically by genus name, so in addition to being fun to read (and look at the pictures), it makes a very useful reference. Of course, the catalog is only secondary to the merchandise. Fortunately, their produce more than lives up to the high standards set by the catalog: it is absolutely first rate. When I was buying daylillies, crocuses, and daffodils from White Flower Farm and other catalogs, the bulbs or roots from White Flower were often more than twice the size of the ones from other vendors, and at a comparable price. Even if you never buy anything from White Flower Farm, you should get their catalog as a reference, since it is almost as good as buying a book on ornamental plants, but a whole lot cheaper. Sean A. O'Hara (saouc@uccmvsa.bitnet) disagrees with some of my tone: Not really a flame, but please! I have a few of White Flower Farm's catalogues, and I do value them for their reference quality and nice photographs. But their plants and garden information is distinctively East Coast in character. I would very much enjoy growing a number of plants they list, but no longer attempt such folly as they are definitely inappropriate for my arid western climate (as would many of the plants I cherish in my garden be inappropriate for yours). Please, let us not forget those 'less fortunate' souls who garden elsewhere! North America is a big place, and I do not expect my garden to look like your any more that I expect your to look like mine. This reminds me of the search for a "North American gardening style". I can think of nothing more ridiculous to search for - as if it could ever be defined for a continent like ours - or that you'd want to try! This has always been a way to 'one up' the 'English style'. Well, England is a relatively small place, and even then it contains diversity more than we imagine. [I must plead guilty here. Perhaps I should have said that they sell "just about any ornamental plant one might reasonably want to grow East of the Rockies...."] ------ Gilbert H Wild and Son, Inc. P.O. Box 338 Sarcoxie, Mo. 64862-0338 Phone: (417) 548-3514 Thanks to Joanne Kube-Harderwijk (joannek@empros.com) for this address. Harry Boswell (u4imcehb@apollo.wes.army.mil) reports: ....an excellent mail-order nursery specializing in daylilies and peonies (I've ordered from them several times, with very good results).... Great catalog, with lots of color photos, good discount section in the back. ------ Wildseed Farms, Inc. 1101 Campo Rosa Rd, PO Box 308 Eagle Lake, TX 77434 Phone: 1-800-848-0078 Fax: (409) 234-7407 Wildflower seeds, including some hard-to-find ones. Thanks to Chad Segura (segura@owlnet.rice.edu) for this entry. ----- Woodlanders, Inc. 1128 Colleton Ave. Aiken, SC 29801 Fax/Phone: (803) 648-7522 Plants, with an emphasis on native plants, and a few books. Thanks to Anne Wolf (WOLFFMAD@ACM.ORG), who reports that this is an excellent catalog. ----- VII. But Before We Go.... I hope this FAQ has been useful. I also hope it has been accurate. If you find any mistakes, or have any comments, please send me E-mail at the address listed at the top of the file. Any suggestions for improving future editions will be happily accepted, and possibly even acted upon. This FAQ is also available via the World Wide Web. The URL is: http://jean-luc.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/PeterL/PBM-FAQ.html I will try to get the new edition up as soon as I can. If it isn't updated within a few days, send me mail and I'll get to it. There is also a WWW page which allows you to send me comments without having to know my E-Mail address or anything. You can reach this page at the same URL as the FAQ itself.