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lila888

Van Engelen

lila888
15 years ago

Has anybody ordered from this company and what is your experience with them?

Comments (10)

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    15 years ago

    I've ordered from them in the past. I can't complain, bulbs I've ordered from them have all grown. Sometimes they're smaller than same varieties of lilies from say The Lily Garden. But given a year they'll catch up. bb

  • alina_1
    15 years ago

    Always very fresh and nice bulbs. I got a wrong Amaryllis from them, but they replaced it. Very limited selection of Lilies though.

  • lila888
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you Alina and hostaholic2. I ordered from them last Sunday and they shipped my order Monday. I thought they will ship them in the spring. Anyway, things did not go right between me and the customer service. I have 130 bulbs that needs overwintering. It will be 3 more months before they get planted. I need help from you guys on how to overwinter or store them. Thank you.

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    15 years ago

    Oh dear! A lot depends on the bulbs you have. Tulips, narcissus, paperwhites could be potted and forced. Lilies are tougher. I did manage to keep a couple of lily bulbs in the crisper tray of my refrigerator one winter when a fall order arrived long after the ground would have required a jackhammer. They weren't in perfect condition, but they did grow when planted the following spring. Can't keep them in a refrigerator with fruit though. My estimation of Van Englen just went down as I certainly can't understand why they wouldn't have contacted you about whether you REALLY wanted them now. I'm assuming your zipcode would have triggered info as to what zone you were in. I think if I were you I would post my experience with them over at Dave's Garden on the Garden Watchdog section. I'd also let them know I was planning to post there. If you let us know what bulbs you have, we might be able to be of more help.

  • lila888
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi, hostaholic. Thank you for replying to my post. Van Engelen did not contact me about shipment. It was UPS. I contacted Van Engelen and they told me to refuse delivery so it will go back to them. I was at work so I can not refuse. I gave them an earful. SHE said she will send UPS to pick-up the box. No UPS guy showed up and no email either. anyway, I am stuck, I am keeping the bulbs.

    I am planning to post my experience with them at Garden Watchdog.

    I ordered 100 mixed Asiatic Lilies, LAs and Orienpets.

    I have already planted 30 bulbs last night. Put them in pots and covered them with 3-4 inches of dirt. Right now they are in my basement. I will put them in the garage so they will overwinter. I hope I did the right thing. I do not want to put them in the refrigerator where we store food.

    Any advice or input will be appreciated.

    TIA,
    Lila

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    15 years ago

    Your best bet is probably what you're doing with potting them and putting them in your garage. I've heard of quite a few people in zone 5 doing that successfully. I have not tried it in zone 4. Maybe I will sometime if I have some spare bulbs from dividing and don't care if I lose them..just in case. Good luck, hope they all make it for you. But what a pain, planting them twice.

  • viov
    15 years ago

    Hello,

    I am from Romania.Sorry my english.I have 410 sorts of tulip.Can i buy tulip bulbs from USA?This is my tulips.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_pzmFhweIU
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plSS3QdwJmc
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u110PEXDkVE
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiNoBfbjw0

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    15 years ago

    I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question. It would probably be best if you e-mailed some of the bulb companies directly and asked them if they can ship to you. You can go to davesgarden, then gardenwatchdog to find names and web addresses of many different mail -order companies. good luck. Just so you know for future reference, if you have a new question you should post it as a new, separate post. You will get more responses that way. Happy Gardening!

  • alina_1
    15 years ago

    Hi viov,
    A couple of advices:

    1. Post your question about Tulips on the Bulb forum, not on the Lilies forum.
    2. Most of the American bulb vendors receive their Tulip bulbs from Holland. It might be much easier (and cheaper) for you to buy your Tulips from the Holland sellers.

  • someonelse
    11 years ago

    There is no customer service here if something goes wrong with an order. When I called to report that I received the wrong bulbs (the ones I received were less than half the correct size) I was told that I received the correct bulbs. When I asked how they could be so sure that I received the correct bulbs when I still had them I was told that they were packed in the Netherlands at a plant that has a conveyer belt with holes that were sized to the right size. When I proposed that they were missed labelled, the customer service representative and her supervisor and her supervisor 's supervisor told me that they weren't. when I asked how she could be so sure of all this, the answer was that they checked the bulbs they had on their stock shelves and they were all correctly labelled. When I pointed out that maybe the bulbs I received were mislabeled they all said they weren't etc. etc. like a broken record that went on for a half hour of rudeness.

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