If no stars was an option I would have chosen it. I ordered plants around April 1 noting that, according to the catalogue, "plants are shipped at the appropriate time for planting in your area." It's now mid June, heading into the heat of summer, well past the time for planting. Plants will not survive the summer heat if I plant going forward (although I still don't have the plants and have no idea when they will arrive). Their customer service is non-existent. I have called repeatedly (early, late, a few minutes before opening etc) and the number is always busy. Essentially they simply don't take customer calls. When I emailed 3 weeks ago I received a generic response, "we received your order and plants will be shipped when the time is appropriate for planting in your area". Don't order from this company. I am sorry I ever did. Barbara read more

Wish I could give no stars. Also wish I had read reviews before ordering from this company. Ordered bulbs and roses. Came 3 months after purchased. Roses dead and bulbs were a moldy mess. Company made me plant anyway and wait 6 weeks. What a joke! Of course everything still dead and they refuse to replace or refund. read more

See all

ZERO STARS : How I wish I read these reviews before ordering!!DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!!! Fraudulent practices listed below by other reviewers are exactly what I've also experienced ; DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY they don't ship; don't answer phone: send you an email that your order is "in shipping" and then weeks later it still hasn't shipped read more

I finally got my order today. That was after numerous attempts to call and Email. What did the trick was that I wanted cancel my order. I did get a response from "customercare", someone named "me". Probably Lori Lightfoot moonlighting. Subpar products and a tracking number that didn't work. I can understand Covid may slowed operations down, but all the other plant companies shipped, provided good, live product and communicated in a professional, timely matter. read more

I did follow the instructions that stated that they would only give me a refund if I saved my original shipping label which I did. When my root stock arrived it was moldy and I had my doubts if it would take root. I have planted root stock successfully that I was allowed to pick out and purchase from a wholesaler in Washington State. None of this root stock was viable but I waited anyway because of the warmer weather but finally pulled the plug on any hopes of growth 5 months later. I was notified that I would only receive a credit and now they are trying to reduce me refund amount so I am awaiting math calculations explaining why. I suspect that they are not refunding me their shipping costs. Gardeners are busy people who have to fight with pests and weather, this is not worth my time nor yours! read more

I am shocked with the negative reviews. I will admit that shipping took a really long time, and when my package arrived I was sure that I had dead sticks. I immediately had buyer's remorse, but they do offer a lifetime replacement guarantee if you keep the shipping label. I read the instructions and planted as directed and I am thrilled with the results so far. I am still waiting for my second package to arrive a couple weeks now after I've received my first one, (I contacted customer support and got a response within a couple business days). It is possible to grow these plants you just have to have patience. read more

See all

I gave direct gardening one star because they do not allow zero stars. That is how I feel about this company. In my order 10 bushes died. I mistakenly did not save the package label for a refund. That is my fault. What is very bothersome is that after I showed proof of purchase on my credit card, EVEN Though they have it on file, it would be at least 5 weeks to receive the 10 dead plants. So I decided to just suck it up and pay for another 12 plants, because they only ship them in 4's. They want me to pay not just for the 10 plants that were dead on arrival but charge me tax andfull shipping to replace them in FIVE WEEKS at earliest at another full price including shipping! What I find insanely amazing is that they have my full order in their system and act as if that does not matter. I am a faithful customer and I do not believe I was asking too much. I will move on to another company!!! Good luck to the rest of you!!!!! read more

Direct Gardening - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

I ordered plants. They substituted several high value plants for low value plants without refunding or verifying that it was ok. When I complained, they offered to put me on a waiting list for the high value plants if I sent back in my original shipping label (something needed to use their 1 year warranty). I verified that I would still be able to sue the warranty if I sent it in and they confirmed that they would keep it on file for the year. They never sent the high value plants. Before the year had passed (this spring) I contacted them to use the warranty as most of the plants from last spring were dead on arrival and never grew. They refused unless I sent in the label. I reminded them I already sent in the label and they said they would keep it in file. They refused to actually read my emails (based on the responses) and just kept on replying that I needed to send in my label then stopped responding altogether. read more

My Wife ordered a few hundred dollar order from them , and only part of the order arrived. So over the last several months she's gotten nothing but a run around as to where the rest of her order is ! Today I overheard her call with customer service and the "Customer Service" operator told her she'd need to get a copy of her bank statement to prove she bought the roses. WTF ? You'd think THEY would have a copy of what was paid to them , they can obviously see the order, and they can see the roses were not sent ! But still they need a copy of her bank statement ... All I can say is absolutely Do NOT order anything from this fly by night outfit !!! We'll NOT be ordering obviously from these idiots EVER again ! read more

Impossible to cancel once an order is placed. Phone is disco, email slow to reply and full of form letter excuses, like "your tree has already been sent to shipping and the order may still go out". That was 3 weeks ago, still nothing shipped. Advised now 4 times over last 30 days via email to cancel my order. Still shows active when I log in. Dont waste your time trying to follow their return policy. Have your credit card issue a chargeback, refuse delivery if/when they still attempt shipping. Fight these scammers by taking away their $$$ via merchant services.... Finally, after 3 months I sent a final email threatening legal action, reporting them for fraud to the FTC and the FBI Ic3 Internet crimes task force and filing a complaint with the BBB if they decided to randomly ship my order at some future date-vs acknowledging my repeated cancelation attempts only be told (repeatedly) my order was already in the shipping dept.. I got a reply that my order was officially canceled.. Do yourself a favor, STAY AWAY FROM THIS NIGHTMARE read more

I give direct gardening one star yet that is more than they deserve. I order Irish moss a hardy plant and was advised that it would be shipped in two weeks approximately one month later the moss still had not arrived. The moss was not shipped until emailed and said I was canceling my order and contacted my credit card to stop payment . When the plants did arrive they were dead so i through them away. Now Direct Gardening has popped up and says they are going to re charge my credit card. Don't buy from them is a sham only place that might be worse is Ty Ty nursery read more

I ordered plants and one is dead not dormant. The order was 125.00 for bamboo and roses. One of the bamboo is dead. I have been corresponding with them via email because their phone number 1309-662-7943 does not work. It is a perpetual busy signal. If you are lucky the phone may ring once and then get a busy signal. The warranty for the dead plant is simple enough; return the dead plant with the original shipping label. HOWEVER there is a one year warranty on the remaining when one of those plants dies you no longer have the "original mailing label". I have 4 emails from the customercare@directgardening.com none answer that question. The customer service is lousy and they do not have an alternative phone number as a contact. This was my only and last order with this company. Go elsewhere. Go to a company that has a functioning phone. read more

I wish I had read the reviews here, and elsewhere (about the same level of dissatisfaction), before I ordered. This company will take your money in November, not ship until April ("We're closed for the winter"), be unable to tell one order from another, and not include most of the promised bonus plants with the order. They ship bareroot trees (seedlings, actually, but that's OK for the price) when they get around to re-opening, supposedly in March, but actually in mid-to-late April but NOT at the bareroot planting season for your area (which for me is January/February). read more

AWFUL.. I called ahead to insure I would receive powder puffs. Without my knowledge or consent - they substituted the dead plants. The confirmation email nor the checkout page indicated they reserved to ship substitutes. They will not accept scanned copy of the shipping label via email for proof of purchase even though they have it in their computer. They will not verify they received the shipping label. Only will let you check back for shipping label receipt in TWO weeks. They have started up under different names as this one has received such bad press. Spoke to supervisor and she would also not allow sending a copy of the shipping label via email. No authority at all. Angie G - the owner will not accept calls. No refund on the shipping. STAY AWAY read more

It's the first time i ordered plants online and it will be the last with them. All the plants are in very bad condition. I am very disappointed. I will certainly not recommend buying from them. It's a waste of money and time. 0 star is what i give them. read more

I been trying to cancel a order for over a month, Have post on there email page. I have wrote 6 emails to customer service dept. with no responds to any contact at all. Tried calling them you get three busy tones and the line goes blank. I will never do any business with them again. read more

I had great luck with this company. I ordered, then saw reviews, and was skeptical. I considered cancelling, but decided to take the $50 gamble. I'm glad I did. I potted the plants immediately after they arrived Out of about 12 plants, one arrived with dry roots. I thought I'd lose it. But it is doing well along with all the other plants. The order did take awhile. But since they are bare root better to plant in the fall anyways. Not sure if they ship based on best planting times. Maybe not everyone understands that a bare root plant, that didn't get light for a week or so, does not arrive looking good. After potting them, I slowly acclimated them to light. After potting I put them all in the shade. After a couple of days I placed them in part shade. Then eventually placed them in the correct light requirement for the type of plant it is. I ordered from Direct Gardening again hoping for the same results. I debated on giving a 4 or a 5 as a rating. The 4 would be for one plant arriving with dry roots. The 5 would be for the good prices this company offers. So I'll settle for a 4.5 rating. read more

You'll have better luck buying seeds from China. A tree I waited over a year for showed up broken in half. Don't waste your time with this company. Go to Tennessee wholesalers or Home Depot. Too bad you can't give negative stars. read more

I submitted an order 5 weeks ago. I finally receive a partial order today and they sent sticks. So dry, definitely dead. This is not what I ordered! So disappointed. For now on going local only. read more

See all

Liars and Cheats! You will never get anything worthwhile and never get your money back. Here are some pictures of what they say are Lilacs, Red Maple, Rose of Sharon, and Douglas Fir. If you don't like what they ship, then you must pay for the return shipping and you must include all of the original packing along with the original shipping label. Direct Gardening is a complete rip off. read more

Direct Gardening - All returns MUST include the original packaging and original shipping label. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

terrible. I ordered online and then googled and saw their negative reviews a few mins later (also heard from a friend who ordered last year and received NO PRODUCT AND NO REFUND) so I emailed to immediately cancel my order (following their guidelines for canceling an order within 24 hours via email). They gave me the runaround saying they would forward my email to appropriate person / were closed for one thing or another, or they hadn't gotten my original emails (I emailed their only listed customer service email address 5 times). I also called several times and always got a busy signal. These people are tricky and dishonest. They charged my card and I now have to dispute the charge. read more

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY. There is a reason there are over 600 reviews and ALL are negative. Silly me not researching their reviews before ordering. Customer service is nonexistent, they will not cancel an order that has not shipped in over 8 weeks (my ground is covered with snow and going to freeze this weekend - no way to plant bulbs now). When they do ship orders, they are incomplete orders and offer no assistance in trying to rectify their mistake. You cannot speak to a supervisor....they either hang up on you when you ask for a supervisor, make excuses when you are forced to explain why you want a supervisor or, my favorite, a supervisor is not available; call back. I will be contacting Visa and disputing my 2 orders and I will be sharing this review far and wide! Friends, feel free to share! A 1 Star is too good for this company. I have also filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Consumer Affairs, and the McLean County Chamber of Commerce read more

My contractor built me a beautiful bluestone entryway with stairs and a walkway where I hope to cultivate moss in the spaces between stones. This time of year, Sagina Subulata, Irish Moss, is very hard to find. But Direct Gardening offered it, priced right, and delivered in perfect condition for immediate planting (which I did). The packaging protected the plants, which were grown in extra-deep three-packs with a permeable paper-like wrap around the roots so they popped out easily without harming them. Included with the shipment was a planting guidebook and a little bag with freesia bulbs in it -- a lagniappe! I wasn't expecting that. Good price, timely delivery, healthy plants -- I got everything I expected and a little extra. read more

Direct Gardening - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

10 plants $30 + $10 shipping seems like a good deal. 2 Hawthorne, 2 rose of Sharon, and 4 butterfly bushes never came out of dormancy in 6 weeks. So I have 2 living rose of Sharon plants for $40. Tiny plants... at Lowe's the sell ones twice the size for $14 each. They were promised to be 2-4 feet tall on arrival. Unfortunately they were only 18" tall on arrival. Took 3 weeks before shipping and another week to arrive. Only provided a tracking number when I told them they had 24 hours to ship or I'd file a credit card claim. Scam. Pure and simple. read more

Years ago I bought from this site.... The plants came quickly and grew! Now when you buy, they take weeks to ship and arrive half dead or die within days/weeks.... I am so disappointed... To get replacement you go through the same process.... I a Done w this company read more

I am an avid gardener with a small hobby nursery of unique perennials. I was extremely excited to order some "rare" looking plants that I have never seen offered elsewhere. I WAS prepared to get a shipment of teeny tiny roots or plants.....that look nothing like the pictures of an adult plant. I'm okay with that. I know how to grow things :) Along with them, I ordered a few tangerine trees. I KNEW what to expect from mail order as I've ordered from other places-Brecks, Park Seed, Blue J Iris, Schreiners and others. My orders from those places arrive with a growing manual as well as specific instructions of what to do with the shipment immediately such as: soak roots before planting, if not planting immediately do this.....etc etc. THIS company however was a complete disappointment and disaster! For beginners, the day that it was sent out was June 30. I received this order of "LIVE PLANTS" on JULY 13th!!!! The items were sent during one of the hottest times of the year (unless you live in Alaska or Australia.) It all arrived in a flimsy plastic bag with holes in it. Everything looked 100% dead, shriveled up, yellowed leaves, and containers (that I'm sure someone took care in putting together with the plants in them) were squashed, split open, with dirt strewn throughout the bag. It was a complete, disaster mess. I was not just shocked at the lack of sense-why not use a BOX when you have crushable containers!!! but also why did they not use the 2-3 day shipping like all the other places?! Are they clueless!? oh why did they go with some 3rd party cheap shipping service that probably had this sitting in their wareshouse or a hot truck for the last few weeks!!!!???? I'm not finished yet. THEN....THEN.....I call. Because....this was part one of 2 of my entire order. I did NOT want anymore stuff from this place!!!! I call and I call....and there is no one to answer their phone. So I email...and finally get a response 4 days later telling me to send the dead stuff back on MY penny!! (more like to the tune of $12 with stuff shoved in the smallest envelope possible!!) I tell them I do NOT want the rest of my order and to NOT ship it. I never got any communication whether they agreed to that or not. I thought....oh no, maybe I'll get another envelope of crushed plants and dirt falling out! I did priority mail with tracking...it was the same price as parcel post. I finally send yet ANOTHER email asking if they got my returned dead plant and they say oh yes, they received it and a refund had been "started" a week ago! What does that mean? No email, not receipt, nothing.....like "look for it to post to your credit card" or anything like that. I also never heard from them if they canceled the rest of my order! Oh yeah....if you don't send the dead stuff back within 14 days...you're stuck with it. They will REPLACE dead stuff after that....but you still have to ship it back! I had really wanted a tangerine tree and knew that they love the heat and MAYBE would revive with some care. Turns out one lived and has a small amount of growth coming out of the dead looking stick that they ssent me. But, the other is as dead as ever. I also kept the canna rhizome/bulbs and figured they had a chance....but only 1 of the 3 came up. Now I'm trying to decide if I spend money sending this stuff back only to get sent replacement ones that will arrive dead as well! Sigh. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AT THIS PLACE. How in the world they ship items that should be planted early spring.....in the middle of the summer and say this is the time to plant?! That in and of itself is a joke. read more

See all

What a scam of a company. They ship you "dormant" plants...which basically means DEAD. I have followed their directions on "waking up" these dormant plants...so far nothing has worked. BE WARNED...YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY ON PLANTS THAT WILL BE DEAD. If I could give them less than 1 star, I would. TERRIBLE COMPANY read more

Absolute worst gardening company ever. Believe all these reviews on this sight . They are true. Amazing they are still in business. I bought a mix of trees and shrubs 2 months ago and greater than 80 % of the plants are dead. Given how bad they looked when they arrived I am surprised that many lived. They plants they ship are much smaller than advertised. The roots on the plants were open to the air without any kind of wrap and completely dried out. (who would ship plants like that?) Save your money and buy your plants somewhere else. I definitely will next time read more

One because zero isn't an option. I'm usually a positive reviewer for the most part. But my God this has got to be one of the worst. I ordered this tree in Feb. website said they ship in April. I asked them in Late May where my order was... they obviously shipped late and left it bag for ages. It arrived mid June dead as a bone dry door nail. I do not have original bag it was in, but I do have the picture of the original label. No return possible. read more

See all

This direct gardening place is a scam! Don't ever buy from them. I purchased plants and the way they were delivered, was just unbelievable ! I refused to accept them and returned the whole package back to them. Still waiting for my amount I paid them to be reimbursed! What a scam company! read more

Placed an order back in July. Got the trees on September 1st, they came completely dry and dead, no soil around the roots, just shoved into a plastic bag. Customer service has been unresponsive. E-mailed them Saturday and today is Wednesday. I have bought trees and flowers before from other places and they all came with soil around their roots, in a jar. Not the case here... read more

Direct Gardening - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Do yourself a favor and set the money you would spend here on fire. You will get more for your money that way. I don't think the plants are dead when they send them, but they way they package and send them kills them in transet. Shipped in a green plastic bag without anything to keep the roots moist in the slowest possible way. It would be ok if they actually cared about the product they were sending you. They are just here to take your money in hopes that you can revive one of your plants to life. read more

The plants arrived crushed and they would not replace them, only offered to plant them and forced me to wait 6 weeks before claiming a warranty. BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK Their shipping methods are of poor quality. My plants were shipped inside a plastic bag with not of enough protection. read more

The only one unhappy about the plants was my mailman, who got poked with thorns a couple times because of the plastic bags. He'll get over it. In my humble opinion, they are cheap for a reason so don't go into it expecting a plant you would have bought from a big box store for 100x the amount. Yes, the plants do need some work when they arrive because keeping something moist ultimately does lead to problems like mold. So, with proper new care of the plants they sell, they will survive and thrive. Customer service was on it, I followed up after a few weeks to ask when they would be sent. They shipped right after, and the plants I was honestly iffy about at first, due to the molding. However, three weeks later with proper care, every one is flourishing! I'm very happy for the price I paid and was more than willing to put in a little work for this reward. I have beautiful, healthy, hardy plants for pennies on the dollar. Nobody paid me to write this review, everyone expects the best for the cheapest price and I don't believe they deserve the bad rap they have gotten. read more

I have dealt with online shopping for 15 years regularly. This is the worst experience with direct Gardening. They rarely pickup their phone. After I wrote them to cancel order. Immediately they send me email with shipping tracking number. Wow - you would think they really ship the product???!!! No. They only issue tracking number, but they didn't give the product to the carrier - it has been 4 days. This company is a joke. Direct Gardening doesnt deserve to get any star but out of sympathy for them, I give them 1 star. Reasons: 1. takes more than 20 days to fulfill any orders 2. customer service doesnt know anything except to read from a script whenever you ask about your orders. BAD BAD BAD ---- dont buy from this company read more

Run, run far away. They are clueless. My order has been shipping to to me for two weeks. I did get a tracking number, seems strange as the package has been in 10 different cities, but never seems to get here? Wish I would have read the other yelp reviews before I ordered. Will I ever get my plants? Stay tuned. read more

I placed an order three weeks ago, and still I have not gotten anything. They have no way to track shipments. Who knows if they ever even mailed anything at all. Do not use this company. read more

I just received my order after many weeks of waiting, only to get bare dry, dead roots!! If I could give them "0" stars I would!! What a rip off!! read more

Direct Gardening - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

IF there was a negative star, I would rate them that. Last year, they took my $93 and sent me dead, tiny stalks. I sent back a Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree (arrived dead, dried up, not dormant, about a foot long), which I returned after my valiant efforts to revive it. They stated that they would replace it this Spring. No word since. I emailed. They replied that they would send to another department. Nothing. They are TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! read more

I placed an order with this company on April 30, it's June 26 and I have received nothing. Every time I contact the and ask for a shipping date I get a runaround.They have the wrong shipping address on my order, I asked them to correct it twice, no response. I've asked them to cancel the order since their customer service is so terrible and now they say they can't cancel it because it's already been sent to the shipping department, which is just more BS.They don't ever answer the phone, you'll get a busy signal every time you call.I think they just take it off the hook. Since I made the mistake of placing this order I've looked into them more, it's a TOTAL scam. They do business under all these names: Owen Nursery, which also operates as: Direct Gardening, Honeycreek Nurseries, Dutch Gardens House of Wesley Inter-State Nurseries Farmer Seed and Nursery Four Seasons Nursery Richard Owen Nursery / Exciting Gardens Kelly Nurseries Royal Dutch They send people plants that are dead or in terrible shape all the time. I am reporting them to the FTC, these scammers should be shut down. read more