Santa Rosa Gardens: A Review

Welcome to the Member Ideas area! This community feature is where our members can post their own ideas. These posts are unedited and not necessarily endorsed by the National Gardening Association.
Posted by @Trish on
Santa Rosa Gardens is well known for their selection of grasses and new annual introductions. This week I voice my opinion of my order.

According to their website, Santa Rosa Gardens is a 4th generation family owned business. They are best known for their ornamental grasses and wide selection of unique annuals and perennials. I am excited to have the opportunity to review them for you!

A clean layout and good organization makes a visit to Santa Rosa's website an easy and pleasant experience. I especially appreciate all of the different possible ways of searching for plants: sun exposure, bloom color, hardiness, or just browse through the entire list. Santa Rosa does not print a catalog, but instead focuses on keeping their website up to date. There is something always on sale, and usually something in the "Bargain Bench". As a bargain hunter, I love that! I also love that they offer a flat rate shipping of $7.99 per order. That can be quite a savings!!

Unique from the other reviews I've done is the "My Rewards" system that they have. You can earn points for the plants that you purchased which can later be redeemed toward your next order. 100 points = $1.

My order was a mixture of annuals, perennials, one sedum and some ornamental grasses.

The custom box arrived two days after my order was placed. As you can see, it was impeccably packaged!

2012-08-13/Trish/45e88e    2012-08-13/Trish/d95ad7

Each plant was individually wrapped with netting around the pot. Each plant was in a 3 or 4 inch pot with the grower's tag.

2012-08-13/Trish/b7bf29

Most of the plants that I received look excellent.

2012-08-13/Trish/eeceec 2012-08-13/Trish/a1a4c9

2012-08-13/Trish/54b8a3

Some of them looked a little "worn out" with brown and/or yellowing leaves.

2012-08-13/Trish/e63e67

The grasses were all healthy, a bit rootbound and excited to be potted up.

2012-08-13/Trish/80fa9e 2012-08-13/Trish/1549d7

This annual Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' was not looking very healthy at all, and was in full bloom.

2012-08-13/Trish/a3caf1

My conclusion is a little varied. While Santa Rosa has an impressive variety of the newest sought-after annuals, I do not like purchasing plants in full bloom, and I would not pick out annuals already in bloom. My Rudbeckia was very stressed and in full bloom in it's little pot. It didn't last very long. I won't be purchasing annuals from them, and caution buyers about the purchase of them.

That said, I potted up the grasses and perennials. Those that looked stressed bounced right back. I continue to be impressed by the perennial and especially the grass selections. That combined with Santa Rosa's good prices and low shipping makes me not hesitate to recommend them for those items.

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Good article by NJBob Aug 24, 2013 6:52 PM 10
did you let them know? by flowersrjen Aug 29, 2012 11:26 AM 1

Explore More:

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Zoia and is called "Volunteer"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.