The Green Pages: Bluestone Perennials (E-Commerce Companies)

My first time ordering from Bluestone Perennials, thanks to their fabulous generosity and the gift certificates they provide for the photo contest. So, after scoring a fantastic gift certificate after my finish last year, I set off to their website to make selections. There are so many to choose from, it was a hard pick.

The packaging of the plants are top notch. All of my selections arrived intact, sturdy and well cared for. Even after some mishandling by the shipper. Everything is biodegradable too, from the box, to the pots the plants are planted. Awesome!!!

I can say, this probably will not be my last order.

Here are a couple shots of the packaging and the plants.

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I've been a Bluestone customer for over 30 years. I've watched both their catalog and their selection grow. Their wonderful customer service remains the same. Gardening in Arkansas can be a challenge. It sleets and snows after the last frost dates. Plants advertised for sun bake in 100 degree days. Drought resistant plants rot in unprecedented amounts of rain.

It doesn't matter. Bluestone guarantees that their plants will grow and come back the next year. They will replace plants that do not survive. They even give you a choice. If it seems that a particular type of plant fails in your environment., they'll send you something else that won't. I've bought plants from many nurseries. This is the best guarantee a gardener can get.

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Bluestone is my favorite online source of perennials. The plants are high quality; they arrive well packaged and healthy, and they are free of any diseases. The customer service is always exceptional! Love this company!

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Bluestone Perennials is probably the first online nursery that I search when I am looking for a particular perennial. The plants are grown in the same zone as mine, and I seem to have the best results with them.

I have many plants in my garden that I have acquired from Bluestone. I love their sales.

I have never had to ask for a replacement on any plant that I have received from this nursery. Their stock is grown with the highest standards and their packaging is great.

I do not like the pots that they use, but I remove them and the plants grow wonderfully.

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A couple of months ago I ordered 3 Lycium barbarum (Goji berry) and 1 Eupatorium dubium (Baby Joe Pye Weed) from Bluestone Perennials. It was the first time I had ever ordered from them. I was impressed when I placed the order that they allow you to pick your own ship date. I wanted the latest ship date I could get because it's so hot here that things really need to be planted in the fall to get a great start for next year. I asked them to ship as late as possible. They emailed me back the next day saying my order would ship the 2nd week of September.
Today I received my plants. I opened the box & WOW! The box was pretty tall so I expected the plants to just come to the top of the box but they looked like they wanted to pop out of the box! There was so much greenery on top that I couldn't believe it. Here, see for yourself.


I was so impressed with the way the plants were packaged. I think an elephant would have to sit on it to do any damage to the plants inside. Certainly if the box gets turned upside down or on its side, the plants would be fine. The box is clearly marked "this side up" and mine arrived that way, but we all know there are occasions when boxes get turned upside down.
These are my plants after I removed them from the box.

The Eupatorium is on the left, and you can see it's fairly wilted. I was a little concerned, but not greatly because I know plants can do that and recover. All the plants were just barely damp and needed a good drink. I put them in a container of water. This photo was taken just under 2 hours after I had received them.

You can see the Eupatorium has perked right up and I expect it will continue to do so over the next day or so.
Bluestone included a nice packet containing information on how to treat your plants after receiving them.

I will not hesitate to order from Bluestone in the future! I am overwhelmed by the size and condition of the plants, not to mention the packaging. It's worth every penny I spent.

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I ordered four plants from Bluestone's end of season sale this year, a hellebore, an astilbe, and two daylilies. I watched the tracking information -- having chosen the US postal service as the cheapest option. On the day I expected delivery I saw to my dismay that the post office had noted my plants as delivered, but they had not arrived!

I admit I panicked a bit, even though the time of delivery noted was not as much as a half hour before I looked on the porch. I called Bluestone, not expecting they could do anything really, but they were both very patient and kind and also offered to reship if my order did not arrive by the following Monday (as it was a Friday when this occurred.) The person I spoke with even insisted I call first thing Monday and not wait til the end of the day.

Well, I was a little embarrassed when I got off the phone and discovered my plants had actually arrived during that phone call. I guess the mail carrier marked them off as delivered just before bringing them to my door. I did not think I needed to call Bluestone and tell them, but maybe I should have, because on Monday afternoon I got a "Your package has shipped" email!

I thought it must be a mistake, and there was no functioning tracking link. But in fact another order of the same plants did arrive in two more days! The first shipment was in great shape, but this second shipment the plants looked even better. I'm like the cat that got into the goldfish bowl here. And all those plants are happily growing in my garden.

Not only that, one of the daylilies had a bloomscape when it arrived, and has since bloomed, which is pretty fast for a first year transplanted daylily:

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Wonderful service, wonderful packaging. Plants arrived promptly and were good-sized and healthy. Very pleased and highly recommend!

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Their customer service is among the best in the business. I like their new packaging, much greener than before. I have always had great success with their plants.

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I've ordered from them for a number of years and again this year and have been pleased with their service. They send nice plants at a great price and are very pleasant to work with if a plant doesn't make it to you in good shape. Although I appreciate their effort to use biodegradable pots, I too don't like the coir pots and I pot them up in something else until I'm ready to plant them in the garden. I also really like the large variety of plants they offer.

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Known for their perennials, they also have a selection of bulbs offered periodically.
I most recently received tulips and daffodils from them. It was a discounted end-of-season sale last November. Their response and quality are as good as their reputation for plants. Good customer service.

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I just ordered from them for the first time and, I have to say I'm impresssed! I ordered 6 Sunshine Bluebeards & 3 Veronica Aztec Gold and they came in today. Beautiful plants, VERY nicely packed, everything looks wonderful! I will definitely be keeping this on my list of companies to order from!

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I do not know about the previous price list. A company does what it has to do to stay in business.
When I compared them to other online nurseries, I found them to be normal as far as prices go. I love the packing and I'm not too keen on the coco pots, but I just remove the pot and plant them.
I think this company is worth a second look. I will certainly keep ordering from them happily, and will recommend them to my friends.
I compare prices all the time and I have been happy with this company, even for small plants, but sometimes they surprise me. :))
***(My Order from 07-23-2012)***





Another nice order from Bluestone Perennials. I was happy with the free plant and 10% off my order. (April 25, 2013)








I got 3 Hydrangeas, a salvia, a winterberry, solomons seal, a Hosta and a clematis.

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Been buying from them for five years now. LOVE LOVE the customer service and selection! If you actually go to the greenhouse prices are even better!

Newest order 5/21/13

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I have ordered from this company for over 15 years . I preferred the smaller 3-packs of perennials, but their new pots and larger plants are still nice. The plants arrive in good shape and I have never had a problem with replacement plants. They have an excellent selection and are grown near my zone so I can be sure they will do well in my garden. I order online but find their catalog a joy to look through for planning next year's garden.

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I ordered from them a couple of times and was happy. I was ordering their 3-packs when they offered them. Everything was positive: service, plants, and shipping.

I like the "new setup" they offer now! I'd prefer to have larger potted plants and to be able to buy one or two instead of the 3-packs they used to offer. I'd just take the plants out of the coir pots before planting.

Would order again!

Recommended!

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I love Bluestone! I love their packaging for shipments and have always received the plants healthy and vigorous. I'd rather pay the higher price and receive healthy and sizable plants that continue to grow so beautifully than buy from the cheaper places.

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Bluestone Perennials has one of the most extensive catalogues of perennials I've found online. Each cultivar they offer is carefully documented in their catalogue with a photo and complete but concise information about culture: the plant's size, its soil, sun, and moisture needs, and so on. A careful read will generally give one a sense of whether a plant is likely to perform where one is planning to put it.

The place a plant company earns its keep is in the plants it delivers. I've had two occasions to order from Bluestone Perennials and I have been pleased with the size and health of the plants they send. My garden, perhaps, offers more serious challenges in terms of drought and animal pests than most of their customers experience, and I have lost some plants to rabbits, deer, drought, or other factors. But when I've selected plants genuinely well-suited to my Arizona garden and given them proper care, I've been quite pleased. I regard Bluestone Perennials as one of my favorite online sources for perennial plants.

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