Marilyn said:The first time I ordered from HCG was spring 2005 (when David Salman, the founding owner had it) and when it was bought out some years ago, HCG isn't and hasn't been the same.

After being very upset with them last year of not getting any of the plants I ordered and now this upset, I may not order again with them.

I know I most likely said the same thing last year, but I really wanted the 'Red Happiness' Agastache and thought I'd give them another try.

Ordering and receiving plants, should be a happy experience, not an upsetting one.

It is now April 25 and I haven't heard anything back from them. One of the Salvia plants that arrived on April 20 had brown on its leaves toward the tips, but I thought it would still be ok and its now been dead for days.

Marilyn said:Yesterday, I received the box from Colonial Creek Farm and the box from Almost Eden.

Regarding Colonial Creek:

I'm suppose to have 9 plants in the order and I only got 8 plants. Agastache 'Tutti Frutti is missing. I just emailed them about it.

They're going to ship Tutti Frutti out Monday.

Was at local Meijer store today and picked up:

One-gallon size pot Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis Fashionista™ Ballerina Pink) It was written as Ballerina Pink on the pot.

One-gallon size pot Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'

3 hanging baskets of orange upright Fuchsia plants (plan to plant them in containers) Looks like Fuchsia triphylla 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' flowers, but in orange.

3 Proven Winners 4-inch pots Verbena Superbena® Scarlet Star

3 Proven Winners 4-inch pots Petunia Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum

Marilyn said:

I got an email from a HCG employee on March 29, she said:

"We are happy to accommodate your request and have reset your shipping date to the week of 4/22/2019. When your order leaves our warehouse, you will receive an email confirmation and tracking information. We have also asked to ship the order out in the first half of the week.

Thank you for letting us know your preference in advance so we could make these arrangements for you. If you'd like to make any changes to the ship date or you would like to add any additional items onto your order before it ships out, please let us know and we will be happy to help."

Today, on the afternoon of April 20 (Easter weekend), I opened my front door and was very shocked to see a box of plants from HCG! I was so upset. I had contacted them on March 27 about this (about shipping wk of 4/22). And no, there wasn't any email confirmation and tracking information sent this week.

I did receive the correct plants I ordered:

3 Agastache 'Red Happiness'
1 Salvia penstemoides
1 Salvia 'Cold Hardy Pink'

Hopefully, they all grow and bloom well.

The first time I ordered from HCG was spring 2005 (when David Salman, the founding owner had it) and when it was bought out some years ago, HCG isn't and hasn't been the same.

After being very upset with them last year of not getting any of the plants I ordered and now this upset, I may not order again with them.

I know I most likely said the same thing last year, but I really wanted the 'Red Happiness' Agastache and thought I'd give them another try.

Ordering and receiving plants, should be a happy experience, not an upsetting one.

I wrote previously...

It is now April 25 and I haven't heard anything back from them. One of the Salvia plants that arrived on April 20 had brown on its leaves toward the tips, but I thought it would still be ok and its now been dead for days.

Finally, today on April 30 I get an email from HCG. Not from the person who emailed me in March, but a different person.

"Greetings Marilyn,

Thank you for contacting High Country Gardens and alerting us to our oversight and error. Although we did leave a note in your account regarding your most recent request to change the shipping date, we made an error and did not change the dates in the system correctly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Additionally, you should always receive an automatic order confirmation and a shipping/tracking information email. Do we have the wrong email address? Our records have the following address:

If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to reply by return email, or call us at (800) 925-9387. We can be reached Monday through Friday from 7 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 7 am to 3 pm Mountain Standard Time.

Thank you for choosing High Country Gardens.

Kind Regards,

Lin"

I was extremely upset with them last year not getting any of the plants I ordered. I got the correct invoice, but someone else's plant order. 2 of the plants I wanted and ordered were sold out when the box came with the other person's order. It was a lot of time and trouble to get my money refunded.

I was very upset with them this year with not changing the shipping date, not responding back to me and then I'm left with a dead salvia.

HCG wrote....

"Additionally, you should always receive an automatic order confirmation and a shipping/tracking information email."

This company that bought out David Salman is not giving customers good service and it's getting worse since then. No, I didn't receive an automatic order confirmation and a shipping/tracking information email. It was completely out of the blue that the plants arrived. They have my correct email address. They picked that shipping week of April 15 and it was not I wanted.

I'm not going to order from HCG anymore. I'll spend my money at other places where they know how to treat their customers.

I have a certain amount of self interest here and want to make that clear up front.

The nursery industry in the US is rapidly consolidating. It is very difficult to be a "little guy/gal" in today's marketplace. We are seeing almost every week another small operation being purchased by a mega-nursery or a consolidator. What I believe is lost when this happens is passion - love for the plants that we tenderly care for. Consumer choices shrink and the "last one standing" has less incentive to maintain the highest quality.

This is not a knock on HCG or anyone else specifically. Just a reminder that the nursery industry is changing rapidly and IMHO not for the benefit of the consumer.

Thanks for chiming in Kermit.

We all hope you don't go out of business. We love you, your great service and the great plants you send.

Ordered from Bluestone Perennials tonight (requested ship date May 6)

1 Agastache Firebird
1 Kniphofia Redhot Popsicle
1 Echinacea Kismet™ Raspberry

I placed a second order tonight at Flowers By The Sea. (shipping 5/12)

1 Salvia 'Purple & Bloom'
1 Salvia microphylla 'Red Velvet'
1 Salvia greggii x lemmonii 'Raspberry Royale'
1 Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Blaze'
1 Salvia microphylla 'San Carlos Festival'

@FBTS The previous order arrived a couple of days ago and they look great!

I wanted to get plants that were already in stock, some of the others weren't available right away or out of stock like the very desirable Elk Raspberry Moose.

I've grown all of the above before, except for the new 'Purple & Bloom'.

Kermit,

The plants came yesterday, not a couple of days ago.

While shopping at our local Kroger's today and picked up 3 small pots of Million Bells (Calibrachoa Cabaret™ Bright Red) and one small pot that had 4 Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' plants.

Select Seeds order arrived.

I have my eye on some humming bird mint plants. We had one humming bird drop by to enjoy our hibiscus. Will these plants attract more humming birds, or is it kind of a case where it just depends how many hummingbirds live in your area?

@Miamiu Eric,

I haven't grown hibiscus before, so I don't know. I don't know when the hummingbirds are in FL.

I checked the database for the Main Plant entry for Hibiscus.

Hibiscus

It shows:

Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Butterflies
Hummingbirds

They are attracted to Hibiscus.

Marilyn said:Ordered from Bluestone Perennials tonight (requested ship date May 6)

1 Agastache Firebird
1 Kniphofia Redhot Popsicle
1 Echinacea Kismet™ Raspberry

Bluestone order arrived today.

Marilyn said:Third order.

Placed order tonight at Romence Gardens. (scheduled to ship May 2)

1 Cuphea hybrid 'Vermillionaire'
1 Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Bloom'
1 Agastache 'KUDOS Series Red' (gal. size pot)
1 Salvia hybrid 'Rockin' Fuchsia'
1 Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing' (gal. size pot)

Added Major Wheeler (gal. size pot) on April 17

Last week some of the Romence plants arrived:
Cuphea hybrid 'Vermillionaire'
Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Bloom'
Salvia hybrid 'Rockin' Fuchsia'

Love the color of the 'Rockin' Fuchsia' flowers.

Was told that....

Agastache 'KUDOS Series Red' (gal. size pot)
Major Wheeler (gal. size pot)

Would ship later this month

and that....
Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing' (gal. size pot)

Was expected to ship early June.

Hcg has some interesting plants. Has anyone purchased any of their seed collections?

Eric,
The "Hummingbird Mint" Agastaches have a reputation for doing poorly in high humidity areas like Florida. Many areas in Florida get their best hummingbird traffic during the winter so you may want to try some winter-flowering species of Salvia.

Danita said:Eric,
The "Hummingbird Mint" Agastaches have a reputation for doing poorly in high humidity areas like Florida. Many areas in Florida get their best hummingbird traffic during the winter so you may want to try some winter-flowering species of Salvia.

Does that mean they will probably die, or not grow right?

I can't say for sure since I haven't gardened in Florida, but I've heard others in Florida and the New Orleans area complain that they just peter out. Even here, I often only get one good year out of some cultivars. Since they'll often give a lot of blooms that one year, they can still be worth using "like an annual." Some, like Agastache rupestris, seem better adapted and live longer. Since they are native to the southwest, I think the high humidity and hot nights of the southeast just wear them down faster and make them susceptible to disease. They need good drainage for the roots. They are almost always available at local nurseries, so you could try a couple cultivars to see how they react to your conditions before making a big investment.

Also, "my" hummingbirds have always preferred the hummingbird-adapted Salvias over the Agastaches.

From what I've read, Miami gets spring and autumn migrants as well as some winter residents. You'd want to focus on plants that bloom in very early spring, autumn, and winter. There won't be any/many hummingbirds in your area to enjoy summer blooms.

Edit: I just noticed that you are in Hawthorne rather than Miami. You are far enough north that you could get some summer (nesting) Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. It would still be good to have multi-season blooms for them, though.

@Marilyn - you may want to split this off onto its own thread, perhaps? (from Miamiu's Post #1969497 )

@Danita,

Great information. You always seem to have a wealth of knowledge.

Placed a third order at Flowers By The Sea (shipping wk. of 5/26)

3 Salvia 'Roman Red'

There's still 15 Roman Red left in stock at FBTS at this time if anyone else is interested in ordering it.