The scoop on 'Paradise Garden'

Company Comment, posted on March 8, 2006:   Paradise Garden is a mail-order retailer specializing in new and hard-to-find clematis, daylilies, hosta, iris, peonies, ornamental grasses, perennials, bulbs and ornamental shrubs. Our online catalog features over a thousand full color photos and recommendations by expert gardeners from around the country. Customer satisfaction is extremely important to us. We believe that taking care of the customer before and after the sell is as important as providing the large healthy plants that we deliver.

Feedback History and Summary   274 positives 15 neutrals 27 negatives

Comments:

Rating Author Content Positive jane_stevens9 (6 reviews) On November 15, 2008, jane_stevens9 Wichita, KS wrote: Just got an order of peony roots - beauties every one of them! Well packed and damp, but not wet. I have always had great experiences ordering from Paradise Garden and their sister company, Oakes daylilies, and will not hesitate to order from either of them again and again. Positive LaurinM (1 review) On October 13, 2008, LaurinM Silver Spring, MD wrote: I am a daylily fanatic. For our new yard, I ordered a total of 50 daylilies -- 30 of them from Paradise Gardens. For a spot-on comparison, three orders from three different companies arrived on the same day. The daylilies from Paradise were almost three-times the size of those from the other companies, were much healthier, were better packaged, and have done incredibly well in my garden. A number of the daylilies from the other companies died. Each time I ordered daylilies from Paradise, they included a free daylily or two. In each case, those free daylilies were of the same caliber as the others AND were clearly selected to go with those I had ordered. Having had such a wonderful experience with Paradise daylilies, I ordered some shrubs from them as well. UPS messed up one delivery and delivered 2 of three shrubs I ordered. The 3rd was delivered 10 days later, and dead. One call to Paradise and another was shipped, and it arrived in great shape. I will continue dealing with Paradise Gardens whenever I can. I also hope to attend their annual daylily festival next year. Pink daylilies anyone ? Positive golfandgardenut (4 reviews) On August 27, 2008, golfandgardenut Neenah, WI wrote: Ordered two different Buddleia's (butterfly bushes) for late summer/early fall planting on August 18 and received two very healthy plants today (8/27) that were very securely packed in the box they were delivered in. In addition, to my surprise, I received a bonus daylily with the order that was also in excellent condition. I would definitely order from Paradise Gardens again! Positive pventure (2 reviews) On July 5, 2008, pventure Valparaiso, IN wrote: Just an outstanding company. The quality of the plants I received was nothing short of excellent. I knew the cost of each plant was a bit higher, but when the huge box came with the plants inside it, I first thought they had shipped me a tree of some sort, not ornamental grasses! The grasses were well over 2 feet tall and packed beautifully. They were alive as hell and I just finished planting them. I have ordered from over 9 different mail order plant nurseries, and I never had such healthy and mature plants as these were. I am scanning the catalog and will certainly order more. They may cost a little more, but oh the quality is worth it. Positive daiglers (1 review) On July 3, 2008, daiglers Dexter, ME wrote: I ordered a Red Prince Weigela and received it in excellent and healthy condition. Very happy with product. Keep up the good work!!!!!!! Positive dpl9222 (6 reviews) On June 10, 2008, dpl9222 Dexter, MO wrote: My first purchase from Paradise Gardens was five Hostas. They arrived in amazing condition, and there was even a beautiful bonus hosta. I am a very satisfied customer and will order more in the future. Thank you. Positive eickenho (25 reviews) On June 8, 2008, eickenho Sugar Land, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: I purchased 7 Red Volunteer daylilies. I received 9 Red Volunteer daylilies from Paradise - all healthy and large (at least 4 fans). I'm very pleased with my purchase. Positive sbollinger (5 reviews) On June 2, 2008, sbollinger Elgin, OK wrote: I have made two purchases of clematis. I was very impressed with the size and quality of the plants. Neutral scribblerjenn (1 review) On May 12, 2008, scribblerjenn Franklin, TN wrote: Having ordered last year from Oakes Daylilies, I expected to be as pleased with my order from Paradise Garden as I was with Oakes. Sadly, no. I think the problem may lie in fulfilling orders with suppliers, rather than directly from the company. Issue #1: The order came in two parts, one from a Tennessee supplier (I don't think the company itself--the return address wasn't in Coryton). In the first part, two of my plants, a gaura and a toad lily, arrived well packaged, with the cardboard insert to keep the planting medium in the pot taped all the way from top to bottom; no soil falling out of the pot, in other words, and the box had a sturdy cardboard rectangular tube to keep the plants from getting crushed. So far, so good. However, while the plants had been placed in 6" pots and were advertised as more mature, they were obviously transferred from starter pots into the larger pots recently. As I turned them over to decant them, the rootball of both was only a few inches wide and quite shallow, and the plants were small as well. They were healthy, and I figured it wouldn't be worth the hassle to try to get the promised larger plants. So far they are doing well. I was miffed, but not really irritated. But then, issue #2: The second batch of two plants, a cinerum geranium and a magnus coneflower, arrived about a week later. This time, they came from Michigan, so definitely from a supplier. The packaging was not great. The inserts to keep the soil in place had simply been rubber-banded around the pot on either side, and a considerable amount of soil (about a 1/4 total) of the soil in the geranium pot fell out before I got it out of the box. Also, the only thing to keep the box from getting smashed was two bamboo sticks in opposite corners of each pot. The geranium seems on the wilty side, but that may just be the nature of this variety. The coneflower had a head on a 15" or so stalk, but had been smushed into too short a box, so that its flower head was seriously pushed over and about 3" of it was headed horizontally. Despite being out of the box a week now, the stalk has not straightened out. The leaves look healthy. I don't know whether this is typical of the variety I got (Magnus) or not, since it's a new variety to me. Possibly the stalks on these tend toward droop. I can't say that I would want to order again from P.G., which makes me sad because they're not only in my zone (6b), but based within a few hours of Nashville, and so there's theoretically less of a carbon footprint made when ordering from them. But since they use far-flung suppliers, that's an illusory advantage, and the plant quality seems average at best. Positive stricklw (2 reviews) On May 8, 2008, stricklw Pittsburgh, PA wrote: Very nice plants (bare root hostas), very well packed, arrived within the time-frame requested. Look forward to dealing with Paradise Garden again. Positive Clark615 (1 review) On May 4, 2008, Clark615 Albuquerque, NM wrote: This was the first plant mail order that was a pleasant surprise. The plants were better than expected. Negative Lscott2058 (1 review) On April 19, 2008, Lscott2058 Abilene, TX wrote: I received my order in a timely manner, the plants were in excellent condition and are doing well after planting. My complaint is that they left out three items in my order. I have e-mailed them three times and they have not responded. I would have expected more from this company. I have placed several orders with the other company (Oakes Daylillies) and have never been disappointed. I expected this company to have the same integrity. Negative tennesseetomato (2 reviews) On February 5, 2008, tennesseetomato Knoxville, TN wrote: Placed a large (for me) order of tree peonies. More than half of them did not even survive their first growing season. Have contacted the company a total of eight times. They were only available to talk once and promised replacements. They never arrived. Numerous voicemails and e-mails have gone unanswered. I've given up on them out of frustration. I have never been dealt with in such an uncaring fashion in all my years of mail order gardening. I will never deal with them again. By the way they are owned by Oakes Daylilies. Company representative comment on April 4, 2008: On Apr 4, 2008 1:20 PM, Paradise Garden added: We made an attempt to contact this customer regarding this matter using the D-mail system. We have not heard anything back from the customer. We are sorry that this customer had this experience and would love to talk to discuss making things right. We also reviewed old emails and did customer searches based on tree peonies and have yet to be able to determine that actual name and contact info for the customer. Positive flowergirl78 (5 reviews) On January 23, 2008, flowergirl78 Dublin, OH wrote: I ordered some daylilies as well as campanula 'white clips' from Paradise Garden this past September. They arrived well packaged and good sized. (They even sent a bonus daylily!) One of the daylilies (leprechauns wealth) even bloomed by October!! The items seemed to be on the pricier side (though it's worth it for the larger plants provided). My only real 'complaint' about my experience w/ Paradise Garden would be their shipping rates... different rates apply to different items ordered and end up adding up! But overall, I would definitely order from them again. Positive that_bob_guy (5 reviews) On October 10, 2007, that_bob_guy Kansas City, MO wrote: So good so far - I ordered a white peony bush from them and it cost about same as a dud one I had bought from a well known catalog/online plant seller. Paradise Garden's root is 3-4 times larger + they included a nice day lily start at no extra. Positive VenusQlip (2 reviews) On October 4, 2007, VenusQlip wrote: I'm very happy with the products that I received and will order again! Positive twohawk (3 reviews) On September 20, 2007, twohawk Blanco, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: The plants I received were in very good condition, and when planted, took off right away. Their customer service was very good, and they also sent along a 'freebie' I had not anticipated, which is as good as the items I ordered. Positive dooharro (1 review) On July 11, 2007, dooharro Henderson, KY wrote: Simply .....The Best plants I've ever bought anywhere, anytime in over 23 years of gardening....and to think, this kind of superior products and outstanding professional customer service through a mail order catalog !! Positive JDriver (1 review) On July 6, 2007, JDriver Nashville, TN wrote: First time order from Paradise Garden. Plant (viburnum) arrived very quickly and packaged carefully. I was pleasantly surprised they had sent me a 3 gallon size in place of the 1 gal. I had ordered at no extra charge. Is very healthy looking with a multitude of berries. Thanks. Positive wordscapes (1 review) On June 8, 2007, wordscapes Shellsburg, IA wrote: Over the past two years, I have ordered a variety of hostas and daylilly's from Paradise Garden and I could not be more pleased! The plants have always been quite large with very healthy root systems and they ship promptly and package everything well! Most daylillys blooomed the very first year (profusely!) and everything 'wintered' well - which is always a plus here in Iowa. They also include "bonus plants" and that's a pleasant surprise each time. It's a great company to deal with! Positive RaiderLep (8 reviews) On June 6, 2007, RaiderLep Los Alamos, NM (Zone 5a) wrote: I ordered six lily bulbs from Paradise Garden this spring but only received three. They gave me "seed points" to use toward another purchase to make up the difference. I would have preferred a refund, but didn't ask for one. Anyway, the three lilies are coming up and looking great. The three plants have an average of nine buds each so far, which is really impressive for a first year bulb. In fact, I've never had a first year lily with that many buds in the initial clump (even more should develop as the inflorecense develops). My only regret is that I didn't get all six of these little dynamos! My only suggestion is that Paradise Garden reduce its shipping charges by at least a couple of dollars. If shipping was less, I would purchase more. Positive sandnsea2 (8 reviews) On May 26, 2007, sandnsea2 Kernersville, NC (Zone 7a) wrote: Huge hosta divison sent!! Best I have ever received and I have been gardening for over 20 years. BIG Kudos! Please don't ever change! Janice Carter, Kernersville, NC Positive majormike (1 review) On May 25, 2007, majormike The Villages, FL (Zone 9a) wrote: Ordered three daylilies at Paradise Garden web site. I was pleasantly surprised that the number of fans of each daylily I received was greater than the number of fans advertised (5). Also they included a bonus daylily. The order was filled quickly and accurately. The plants were healthy and are growing well in my garden. Positive goettingkj (1 review) On May 10, 2007, goettingkj Lake Saint Louis, MO wrote: I ask that my order be held until after I returned home from vacation. My plants arrived on time and were packaged better than any plants that I have ever recieved in the mail. UPS can really mess them up, but not these. They were carefully wrapped and got here in very good condition. Your packers should be commended!!! Positive asarcher (1 review) On April 29, 2007, asarcher New Richmond, IN wrote: I ordered 6 hydrangeas and they arrived within a week. I'm very happy with the size of these 2-year-old plants. I've had these about a month and planted them 2 weeks ago. Four out of the six has new buds. The other 2 are showing green in the stems so I think it's just a matter of time. I would gladly reorder from Paradise Garden. Positive Geobuckeye (2 reviews) On April 27, 2007, Geobuckeye Edmond, OK wrote: This is the first year I have mail ordered plants, so I picked out a handful of companies and placed smaller orders with each. The order from Paradise Garden arrived in 2 parts. Their plants were the biggest and look the healthiest of all that I have received. One of the bulbs that I ordered was out of stock, so they allowed me to substitute another plant AND, on their own, credited my account with extra "SeedPoints" to spend on that plant. They also included a free day lily with the order. Positive budster22 (2 reviews) On April 27, 2007, budster22 Hightstown, NJ wrote: My order for bonanza clematis arrived in a timely fashion & was well packaged. Plants were very healthy looking but a little smaller than anticipated. I have them planted for a week now & they are already growing very well. Negative figaro52 (22 reviews) On April 26, 2007, figaro52 Oak Lawn, IL (Zone 5a) wrote: I ordered and received a red columbine from Paradise Garden. When I looked inside the box I was initially pleased with the plant, but after fully unpacking the plant I noticed that most of the foliage was white and crumbly even though there was a beautiful blossom on the plant. It looks as though there may have been some frost damage prior to shipment. All that's left now is a small cluster of new growth in the center. Even though what's left is small, I am confident the plant will grow and bloom -- and if it does so this season I'll change my rating to "positive." I'm excited about the bonus daylily that was included with my order! I've ordered lots of mail order plants over the years, and I must say theirs is the best packaging I've ever seen! On May 16th, 2007, figaro52 changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following: Alas, my red columbine has quickly produced a bud. So I am changing my rating to positive. The bonus daylily is also doing well! On April 30th, 2008, figaro52 changed the rating from positive to negative and added the following: I\'m very disappointed with Paradise Gardens and will certainly never order bulbs from them again. When I received my order the box was all banged up (no fault of Paradise) but when I opened the box I was very disappointed to find poor quality bulbs: soft begonias, rotten cannas, broken clump of dahlias. I contacted them via email (included photos) and got no response. (I paid over $12 in shipping!) So I called them 2 days later. They offered to replace the rotten cannas. As it turned out they replaced the rotten cannas, the begonias and the dahlia clump. Begonias and dahlias were OK this time, but the replacement Chinese Coral Canna was just as rotten as the first one. What really concerned me initially is that the bulbs were shipped from Virginia Beach, VA. (Paradise is in Tennessee.) I was suspicious that these bulbs might be from Van Bourgondien. Lo and behold, there was a VB flyer in the bottom of the box! All the more reason not to order bulbs from Paradise, and this is the reason I am giving them a negative rating. I am hoping Paradise will take heed and exhibit better discretion by selecting a more reputable supplier for their bulb business. I must say that I never have problems with Oakes Daylilies -- a sister company. Positive hilomark (6 reviews) On April 21, 2007, hilomark Homer, NY (Zone 5a) wrote: WOW! I just unpacked my first order from Paradise Garden, and couldn't be happier. The plants are HEALTHY and HUGE--better than I normally get from area nurseries. The packaging is the best I've seen. It should be the industry standard for how to ship plant material! And I received a beautiful bonus daylily for a relatively small order. Thank you, Paradise Garden! I have the feeling I will be doing business with this company for a long time! Positive nljstone (1 review) On April 11, 2007, nljstone Perrineville, NJ wrote: Received beautiful, lush juniper. Packaging couldn't have been better. Couldn't plant them for several days - watered them and left them in boxes. Held up great. The best looking plants I've ever received by mail. Will be buying from Paradise Garden again soon. Positive Shellsfarm (4 reviews) On April 6, 2007, Shellsfarm Grass Valley, CA (Zone 8b) wrote: I ordered three hosta bare root plants from them, and not only did they arrive in record time, they threw in another hosta as a bonus. Order status via e-mail was timely and informative. Very positive experience with this company, I will order from them again. Positive PinkShades99 (4 reviews) On February 19, 2007, PinkShades99 Houston, TX wrote: I ordered some hostas from these folks last year and they arrived in great condition, very good plants at arrival. I will try some clematis in 2007. -Lady Positive jcenter (3 reviews) On February 11, 2007, jcenter Wilmington, DE wrote: I've placed at least six different orders with Paradise Gardens. I've always gotten excellent service and healthy, rather larger-than-usual plants. They usually throw in an extra plant or two. I'll continue to do business with them. Positive kokomo54 (1 review) On November 25, 2006, kokomo54 Fairfield Bay, AR wrote: No problems. Ordered peonies for fall delivery. Through a mix up plants didn't arrive. Called company on November 22 and asked for a refund. Dave Black said he would issue refund. Check arrived on Nov. 24. Have done business before with company. Great service. Will order from Paradise again next spring. Positive swodarski (2 reviews) On November 4, 2006, swodarski Minneapolis, MN wrote: I found Paradise Garden this spring and ordered a number of plants over the season. This is one of the best nurseries I have discovered. The plants are big and arrived healthy. I will definitely be back in the spring. I have recommended this company to a number of friends. Positive dayli (2 reviews) On November 3, 2006, dayli Vienna, VA (Zone 7a) wrote: Just received a new tree peony from Paradise Garden. I couldn't be happier. It was big, beautiful and healthy-looking. Thank you Paradise, you are awesome! Positive 10948early (1 review) On October 26, 2006, 10948early Summerton, SC wrote: In the spring of this year I ordered some hard-to-find plants in local nurseries from Paradise Garden. The order was shipped early per my request and arrived in excellent condition. I was so impressed with their service and healthy plants that I let my closest friends know that I'd love plants on my wish list at Paradise Garden for my birthday. I am pleased to say that they all sent plants from Paradise Garden, and all were healthy and came with a bonus daylily- or should I say daylilies because each one far surpassed any daylily plant I've ever received from other nurseries. I've recommended ordering from this company to my friends for their own gardens and asked them to please continue to use my wish list at Paradise Garden for future gifts for me! Positive dayliliylover (1 review) On October 16, 2006, dayliliylover Spring Hill, FL wrote: I just received my first order from Paradise Gardens for several varieties of daylilies. I was amazed at how big the plants were and so healthy looking! I can't wait until they bloom next spring. Thank you Paradise Gardens! I'll be back!!! Positive mijardin (2 reviews) On October 15, 2006, mijardin Seymour, TN wrote: Last fall I purchased a peony from Paradise Gardens which didn't make it. I emailed the company in the spring and told them about peony. Right away I received a reply letting me know that in the fall I would receive a replacement. Here is fall...and I just got my peony in the mail as promised! Thanks PG for such excellent service. MSheahan Positive wingate61 (1 review) On September 21, 2006, wingate61 Stevensville, MD (Zone 7a) wrote: I ordered a bunch of daylilies from Paradise Garden. I was very pleased and excited to see how healthy they were. I planted them almost right away (love to dig in the garden) and now after being in the ground for only 3 weeks - one of the daylilies is getting ready to bloom. Now if I can hide this bloom from the deer . . . . . . . Now when the other lilies arrive (hope is this week) I'll be done.

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