Val! Good to meet you!!

Sounds like you have some great comparisons to post.

Which company were you most pleased with?

Rita,

Jo Ann got an order from them recently. She posted on "Where are you ordering from #1".

ge1836
Apr 22, 2012 6:25 AM EDT posting

Apr 22, 2012 9:35 AM EDT posting

Out of the three on-line places I ordered from this year, I liked Lazy S's the best. It was also my smallest order--only two items.

Phlox paniculata 'Katherine'
Callicarpa dichotoma 'Duet'

I was expecting a teeny, tiny beautyberry (callicarpa) due to the price but what they sent was nice-sized. I was impressed. I've wanted this cultivar for a while. It has beautiful variegated leaves.

We got seven agastaches from HCG. I don't know what to expect since we've never grown them before. DH built a raised bed for them.

I have gotten large plants that did well from Lazyss.
Thanks Val! Glad to hear that.
The variegated Calli must be wonderful ... The birds friend

I order from HIGH COUNTRY GARDENS myself most years so I do know what to expect there. I have tossed my Bluestone Catalog. Don't really need to spend more money, just get tempted.

I recieved my order from Bluestone must say I am very happy with the clematis they are nice bushy plants ready for planting. I have ordered clematis from them in the past that were very spindly and I had to baby them along til they were large enough to plant. Also got some aquilegia that are much larger than previous orders so they will establish much faster in my garden. Each person has their own opinion but I like the larger plants of course my garden is quite established and only needs a few additional plants each season. In my climate where plants have a short period of time to get established before winter I much perfer the larger size plants.

My plant crazies seem to bounce around although I have the roses, iris and daylilies crazies and that will never stop. This year I am having the plant veggies crazies. Honestly I planted very large veggie gardens here for years and years and years before I ever got the crazies for any type of flowers. I just went and ordered seeds from BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM Seeds. Yes, I know I said I hate to start seeds but some veggie seeds are so easy (like peas and beans) that it is silly to buy plants unless you only want a very few. Plus most varieties not avaible as plants. I bought three different types of Chinese Long Beans, have never tried to grow them before but figgured it couldn't be too difficult. Also ordered Scarlett Runner Beans which I sometimes plant just because I think the flowers are so pretty. And some other stuff.

My order came from Graceful Gardens and is all unpacked. Three boxes with one flat each of Fruit Punch Poppies. My second order of the year from GG. The first order was a flat of Fruit Punch Poppies also. I just love these poppies. Mine from last year are in flower now.

Wow! Honestly, I'm shocked. I never knew that people actually bought poppies. I don't remember ever seeing them for sale at a garden center either. Are they expensive, Rita?

I guess I assumed that everyone who grew poppies grew them from seed.

Karen

Not so cheap as plants front garden centers. But I tried these from Graceful Gardens last year and they are so beautiful that I knew I needed more.

I have to mention, poppies are so easy from seed. Even if you direct seed, you should get a lot of plants CHEAPLY.

Karen

I have sown annual poppies from seed and done well. Never managed to get the perennial ones to even start up though.

I grew some perennial ones from seed once- wintersown. I don't even remember what they were called. I eventually got rid of them, didn't like them much.



Karen

These Fruit Punch Poppies I ordered are to me the nicest poppies I have ever seen. I really do love them.

On Sunday I has gone to look at High Country Gardens to see if they had INDIGO SPIRES Salvia back in stock. They didn't and didn't even have it listed. I was totally discusted. I even dragged my Bluestone Catalog back out of the garbage and dusted it off as I knew they had INDIGO SPIRES listed. But tonight I went and checked HCG one last time or else I was going to order at Bluestone in desperation. But to my shock and delight, there was INDIGO SPIRES ready to order back in stock again. So I happily ordered at High Country Gardens and will be tossing my Bluestone Catalog back in the trash.

Glad you found the Salvias, Rita!

Those Poppies sound yummy! Fruit Punch sure would be nice right about now.

I got some nice plants from Growers Exchange (mostly Herbs). They came 2 days after ordering online and nice robust healthy plants, well packed.

I was skeptical as DG had not so good reviews, so I kept the order small. But I can say they exceeded my expectations, and I plan to order much more from them in the future.

(We are planning a move and I am trying very hard not to order things, seeing as I will just be digging them up again. )

kqcrna said:

I have to mention, poppies are so easy from seed. Even if you direct seed, you should get a lot of plants CHEAPLY.

Karen

Annual poppies are easy to grow from seed but the perennial type not so easy. I've found that I have to plant them in peat pots or some type of disintegrating pot (so the roots don't get disturbed when planting) moisten them, cover in plastic and refrigerate for at least two months or they will not germinate. It's taken a couple years of experimenting to get the best germination but that's what works best for me.

kqcrna said:I grew some perennial ones from seed once- wintersown. I don't even remember what they were called. I eventually got rid of them, didn't like them much.



Karen

The poppies in your photo look like "Iceland poppies" The type I've grown are the large orientals and one smaller orange one I can't find a name for.

a nice clear pink from Thompson and Morgan Seeds.

This one is Patty's Plum.

The orange one with no name.

Here's my "Orange" California poppies (yellow-orange ) from Botanical Interests. Last year I tried around 4-6 varieties and these were the only ones where more than 1 came up. Eschscholzia californica. I thought it would reseed better than it did, but a few came back (from seed, I think) this year.

The flame red-oranged are also Eschscholzia californica but only one plant emerged and I saw few seed pods.

BGoth were called "perennials grown as annuals". Supposedly hardy dfown to Zone 6, but I'm Zone 8 and it was a warmwinter. Maybe the fact that December and January were much warmer than February tricked them into sp[routing and then freezing! I know I saw of the yellow sprout in January, and there seem to be fewer now than there were then.


Yellow California

Mikado



Snapdragons, Pansies Lobelia Poppy

They look so beautiful along the path, Rick.

First time I have seen Mikado. Very nice!