I agree thin man! I received the catalog and while the pictures are great the prices are not. I have seen collections offered from them in better homes and gardens and I wonder if they appeal to home gardeners who don't shop around at nurseries , who may think their packages are great. The only thing I considered ordering is the vanilla strawberry hydrangea, because I was afraid I wouldn't find it locally. I did call around and find that a handful of local places will be getting it so I'm not worried.
I always feel that certain annuals like cleome should just be bought as a pack of seeds (unless it's a sterile variety) , to get your monies worth! But at one time I was a new gardener and didn't know any better.

I could be wrong, but I think The shipping is even higher than listed. I think this is the nursery that added a "gas surcharge" when gas went up originally, and never took it off.

I only ordered the one time. The two roses did well, but too high.
kay

White Flower Farm held the torch of perennial gardening high when not many were interested many years ago. It had different owners then and was a great resource for many. Hate to date myself but I remember in the late 70s being at a local nursery and having to explain what a perennial was to an employee. So WFF was a blessing with its then-owner's passion for perennials.

It has had a number of owners since that time decades ago. Now it chiefly appeals to--how can I describe this?--inexperienced gardeners. The catalog is beautiful, the writing style good. These things attract readers and evidently quite a few buyers. So it fills a niche.

But the plants are usually available at any good local nursery in larger sizes at lower prices. And if you've been gardening awhile and you want anything out of the ordinary, WFF does not usually meet that need.

The only time that I've ordered is when I had a gift certificate-- and they shipped tiny little plants -- but, they did fine. I like their pictures!

For mailorder, I like Lazy S's Farm in Virginia. I have pictures of the order that I bought last year to show how they pack, the size, and the health of the plants.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Perfectly Packaged Plants

White Flower farm prices are crazy. I know a woman who has ordered some roses from them. They did fine, but I pointed out there were great places that sell the same things for less than half the price.

I LIVE in CT and have never bothered driving the hour & a half to visit WFF. Does that say anything about them? I agree they print an award-winning catalog and have a very nice website chock-full of good growing information. I learned how to care for the 80 ft. long row of mature blueberry bushes growing here by reading what's on their website. However, one look at their customer feedback on the Garden Watchdog website was enough to have me looking for other mail order perennial nurseries with better customer satisfaction + more reasonable prices. I ordered quite a few new plants from Bluestone Perennials with great results for a few years before discovering winter sowing.

Thanks for chiming in on this, everyone. the company's history and your experiences and comments were all very interesting. I usually get all the seed and plant catalogs that come to our house, but I noticed that the White Flower catalog was addressed to my DW. I think that you all were right - they cater to the inexperienced. Off the catalog goes into the recycle pile.

TM

I love getting their catalog... it is beautiful and gives me ideas for what plants I want. But I could never justify ordering plants from them when I can get them for so much less someplace else.

OK - I'll admit that I've ordered from them. And alone among mail-order nurseries, everything I've ordered has always arrived very healthy in excellent packaging. (even Bluestone sends the occasional dead dried out plant)

I'm not a beginner and I don't buy common stuff. I got a wonderful darmera peltata from them years ago that I have yet to see it in a local nursery. Yes, most of their stuff is overpriced and not that unusual, but some of it is hard to find, and I know it will arrive healthy and decent sized. Their peony roots are double or triple the size of what I've received from cheaper nurseries.

My husband buys me a gift certificate for 10% off. And their catalog (magazine)is full of dreamy photos.

I agree that they are expensive, but I work more than full time and often on weekends so I don't have time to shop the local nurseries on the off-chance of finding something I might like or am looking for. Even if I call and ask at a local place for something specific, all they ever say is "We haven't decided/I don't have the list of what we are ordering this spring.. Just come see us and maybe you will see something you like." I don't have the time for that. White Flower Farm often has most of the odd or new things that I am interested in, so it's worth it to me to order the 3 or 4 things they have instead of order 1 thing from each of 4 different other mail order places.

However, I don't order from them every year.

Their catalogs are beautiful. I keep all the catalogs of expensive companies year after year. I use them as a guide to seed trading/buying or plant trading. I've eventually gotten many really nice things that I have seen in catalogs by trading plants!

I am sure their high price for plants is needed to offset that truely beautiful top quality catalog. And they send catalogs at least twice a year even if you haven't bought in a while. It really has to add up.

Hello!
I was wondering if somebody wants to order for me the catalog, I will sent you the stamps.They do not sent the catalog to Canada.I will really apreciate it.Thank you.
My email address is claudiabuta21@yahoo.com

Back in the dark ages, when I was a young gardener, WFF and Wayside Gardens were the very elite places to order from. I had to save to order tree peonies from them. $9.A lot for me with 6 kids to feed. The tree peonies are 44 years young now and still going strong.Neither nursery is what it used to be, alas.

Hi andreea,

If you want to see what White Flower Farm has to offer, you can go to their web site:

Here is a link that might be useful: White Flower Farm

Has anybody bought the trellis trio with bird finials from WFF?

I usually only order things I can't get elsewhere, such as vanilla strawberry hydrangea in tree form. It was expensive but I couldn't find it anywhere else. I treated it as a Christmas present to myself.