Where do you purchase or order your Perennials? Please tell us about any sources for them that are reliable, offer good deals, or that you think are worthy of a recommendation for any reason.

I've bought from Bluestone Perennials, got nice healthy little plants and they were tiny but cheap and healthy. Now they only sell in bigger, 4 in pots and the $$$ has gone up a lot. I haven't bought from them since. (When I was looking for a hardy geranium for fall planting, Bluestone's price was $12 for a 4" pot. Locally, they were being sold for $9 for big healthy gallon pots.)

I ordered from Santa Rosa Gardens, I believe three times this year. Reasonable prices for 4 in pots and they were nice healthy plants, and all are doing well. Once you become an established customer, they email coupons, good deals like 25% off. Shipping charges are not excessive.

I shop from local garden centers when possible, but I can't always find what I want here.

Karen

Thanks, Karen. Good to know about Santa Rosa Gardens. I have not ordered from them but will check out their website.

Hi everybody!
Last spring I ordered from a very nice company named gardenharvestsupply.com
This is where I bought my PowWow berry, 2.99 for 3"pot and PowWow white 3.50 for 3"pot. I also got Big Sky Sundown-7.75, Fireball Monard-3.80, Sonset Lantana-3.05, Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia-3.80. Most of the plants were small 3" pot but prices were really good and all the plants did well and the packing was real good too. The shipping was 11.70 for UPS ground.
I also ordered from Bluestone and was happy with them.
I also ordered a clematis from Paradise Gardens, it was 14.95 right? Then as a free gift they give me three Chicago Star which sell for 21.95! The free gift cost more that what I bought and it was so beautiful when it bloomed. (see pic)

Good to hear of reliable sources.

Karen

Thank you for the report on Garden Harvest Supply. I had been looking at their site and wondering about it.

My favorite here in TN is Sunlight Gardens. Very good personal attention, excellent communication, and compared to most places I've bought online, the plants are quite large. I'm always excited to open a box from them when it arrives.

http://www.sunlightgardens.com...

http://www.sunlightgardens.com...

Nice website thanks for the link!

susan

Thanks, Tee! Sunlight look great!

with Karen about Santa Rosa. They have really nice plants and their packaging is the very best.

I third Santa Rosa Gardens!

I'll also put in for Santa Rosa Gardens. Good sales, Coupon Codes, you earn points with each purchase.Nice size plants for the money , and the one time I got a plant that died they replaced right away.

ILoveHosta.net. Nice plants and 3.99 shipping and handling no matter size of order. They carry a lot of different Echinacea and Heuchera and seem to get the new Terra Nova releases before anyone else.

A bit more expensive but nice plants Mason Hollow Nursery.

I'm a big fan of Lazy SS farm (www.lazyssfarm.com). Their plants are beautiful and healthy, and their shipping method is beyond expectations. Their service is great, too!

I used to order a lot from Bluestone, but their prices have really increased. I used to love purchasing the smaller plants from them just because they were easier to plant in some situations. I"m also not a fan of the coco pots--they just never seem to break down as well as advertised. I'm really disappointed in their decision to change their business in this manner.

Thanks for the tip about lazy SS farm, I have visited the site several times and have stuff in my shopping cart, but never ordered from there. I will certainly give them a try.
I was thinking the same thing about those coco pots, They remind me of the peat pots and if they use cheep soil then the nutrients cannot get to them when you plant them. I had two hostas that I planted in a peat pot and they just never grew, the good soil could not get to them. I had to dig them up and rip off the pot. Also they do not biodegrade as fast as they claim and there is no where for the roots to go, it stunts their growth. I would rather have bear root than this mess.

I agree with the assessments of Santa Rosa and Bluestone, as well.

I get my bulbs from Brent and Becky's - brentandbeckysbulbs.com/ or from easytogrowbulbs.com. Brent and Becky's sells companion plants, too, and they have marvelous 50% of sales biannually, if you don't mind waiting until the end of the season to buy.

If you care to figure out the Yahoo site (which can be a little tough at first) you can get some really good deals through Pam (woodthrush) who does a *ton* of co-op buying. Much of what she deals in are starter or liner sized plants, but certainly not everything. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/... (You have to have a Yahoo ID and Pam has to accept you into the group before you can view the goods.) Mamajack on Cubits does the same, although she does have a small surcharge. http://cubits.org/notfortheser...

I did business with Yahoo Coop twice this year, one order for hostas and one order for coral bells and coneflowers. I will do business again with Pam Woodthrush. They are liners but you can get plants you want with out paying big plant prices.

Yeah... I've had a couple of mix-ups there, but you really can't beat the prices, and it's incredibly generous of her to do all that work with no charge.

I've also found that some plants just plain do better if they're started in your garden young. Bigger plants look nice, but if they've acclimated to somewhere else, well.....

Good input. I'm also in agreement about most of the coir or coco pots.

I had wondered where you got your lovely hostas, Bob. Good to know.

I will be trying some of these sites that I haven't used before. I hope everyone will post on the sales thread when sales and deals on perennials come up at the various sites.

sheryl said: I've also found that some plants just plain do better if they're started in your garden young. Bigger plants look nice, but if they've acclimated to somewhere else, well.....

That is such a good point!! I knew plants adjust to certain conditions over the years but I didn't realize they might be adjusted to someone else's conditions before I get them.
Another good reason to buy local whenever we can, the plants are already adjusted to our climate!

susan

Tee I bought most my Hosta from a local person who sells off of his property. He left the area last year but used to sell all his Hosta for 3 to 5 dollars in 1 gallon pots. Also got quite a few on ebay auctions.

Thanks for letting me know that. I've been admiring the pictures in the database. Hopefully, then, I can find some of them around here next year.