Last year a friend ordered 2 roses from them. After about 6 weeks, one grew well but the second didn't even begin to put out any growth. She called them and told them this. They were out of stock of the original rose she ordered and she agreed to a replacement of a different variety. She was pleased that all it took was a phone call to get a replacement and that it came shortly after her call.

If you do place an order with them, I hope you too will be pleased with their plants and their service.

Rose Anne

I have always been pleased with my things from Wayside. On the rare occassions that I have had problems, they always took care of it immediately.

Eleanor

I ordered roses from them 2 years ago and all of them grew lovely. I wouldn't hesitate to order again from them.
Lilly

I've ordered from them for at least the past 10 years. I've never had any trouble with them, but over the years, I feel that the plant quality has deteriorated significantly. That's why this year, they're not getting any of my business. If I wanted small plants, I'd get them cheap from Bluestoneperennials, and if I wanted to pay a lot to get something unusual, I'd rather go to Plant Delights. The only thing I would still order from them are roses, but only if David Austin Roses doesn't carry what I want.

Suja

I ordered a tree from them for twenty dollars and it was less than a foot tall and I also ordered some bushes that were very small. Big prices for very little plants. They'll get no more of my money.

Their prices can be high. And some of their "exclusives" aren't. But they always have something exciting.

Just received a large order. Every item arrived in outstanding condition. The packaging was also first rate. They also respond to all E-mails within 24 hours. No complaints and I will order form them again. Prices are a little on the high end but the selection, quality and packaging make up for it.

I got my order 2 weeks ago...the hellebours looked great, everything else was VERY small and sickly. Most have not recovered. Some of the bare root stuff was black and molded when arrived. I will NEVER order from them again. They don't seem to eager to make this right either. I have had E-mail communications with a very rude woman there.

They just had a huge rose sale for subscribers to their internet newletter and I succumbed to it. I got David Austin roses for around $3.50 each....Tamora, WInchester Cathedral, English Garden, Charlotte, Kathryn Morley also Gruss an Achen, bunch more. I was nervous until I got the box. The plants are fabulous...Grade 1 and all in great shape. I have planted most in pots and they are thriving. I think they are trying to make amends for a sketchy past.

Have any of you ever ordered bare root plants from any where else before? I have and none of them have ever lived! It's not simply this company! It's any company! I never buy bare root plants! I won't even trade for bare root! They simply don't make it through the mail! I cannot believe you people think a plant will live in the mail without anything - soil, water, root support - for who knows how many days! Also, did you read the descriptions that go with the plants before you placed your orders? I did and am not surprised by what I received - from any catalog (or web) order! If you have trouble visualizing the size of a plant, then get out a ruler and measure how big/small a 3.5in pot really is! If you don't know what zone you live in, then check out the heat zone map that is provided in virtually every catalog and on every web site and even on this site! All of you who think this nursery is SO high in price should get more information about what you are ordering prior to placing your order... I did & my plants are not over-priced! I think you should look at their web site & contact them if you are so unhappy about their product(s) as they are quite accomodating. And whomever it was up there that had the snotty customer service person should've asked to speak to a supervisor or at the very least someone else! (No! I don't work for them! I'm simply an imformed shopper!) Also, if you live in the south, don't purchase from a nursery that grows all of their plants in the north - for them a 'full sun' plant is totally different that what we mean by FULL SUN here in Florida! I purchased some blue fescue (not from Wayside!) & planted it in full sun as the description stated & it proceeded to die - even with daily watering! So... I did some research & found out that in sunny FL that it needed to be planted in dappled sun... funny how these things work out.

I buy many bare root roses through mail order each year and at least 90% thrive. The selection is just not available locally, and it makes no sense to pay for shipping a potted rose. There are many effective packing methods to insure that a dormant bareroot arrives in good health.

Ok, I admit... I don't do roses - yet! But, I can speak for just about everything else. One other thing I forgot to mention above is that if I absolutely have to have something that is shipped bare root, then I pay for priority shipping. Also, if a plant is 'cloned' it will cost more than if it was grown from seed!

That's all I'm going to say about high web/catalog prices! But if you want cheap, then you get what you pay for & don't come crying to me...
+Enjoy

I ordered from them for many years, but two years ago had an experience so bizarre I will never order from them again. They have really gone down hill. Anything Wayside sells can be gotten elsewhere, usually for a better price and with more care taken in all stages of the order.

Take a look at the comments about Wayside at the Garden Watchdog (do a Google search for it) - it's split fairly evenly as to whether or not this is a good mail order firm, similar to the comments in this thread.

Apparently, once upon a time, they were quite good and were involved in a number of outstanding new cultivar introductions. However, there are now a number of better mail order firms that ship larger, healthier plants, packaged better, for a lot less (sometimes 2-3 times less) than most of the plants at Wayside.

So, unless the plants you want are a Wayside exclusive, then you can do better elsewhere. Even then, be prepared to pay a premium.

Check my page for a couple of mail order rating sites:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mail order watch dogs

And, as I noted before those "exclusives" aren't always exclusive. Do a web search for cheaper alternative sources before ordering.

I ordered from them & never got my order.

I ordered from them for many years, but no more. Quality and service have definately deteriorated.

I watch for their end of season sale when everything is about 1/3 the price - all I've ever gotten are thriving.

I've generally had great success with Wayside plants. One exception has been the Romantica rose, "Jean Giono." Both the original and replacement plants were scrawny non-growers. However, when I recently commented on this in an email on another subject, Wayside quickly gave me a credit (without any prompting from me) even though the replacement is two years old.

I've had a few other rose casualties, but customer service has always been terrific about replacements.

Plus, although they have a limited selection, their David Austin Roses are $4-8 less than what they cost on the DA site!

I hope no one is confusing Wayside Gardens and Wayside Nurseries!

Speaking for myself, I've dealt with Wayside Gardens for quite a few years and have always had good plants and service. A neighbor sent off for plants he saw in 'catalog' and when received, they were not good, small and sickly. When he showed the plants to me, I asked to see the 'catalog' and he came back with a newspaper-type flyer from Wayside Nurseries. I've never heard of the WN before, but it looks like another instance of "Caution: similar name."

In the past I always defended them when I read bad opinions by others. My opinion was that even if some of their plants are not of very good quality or mislabeled, their customer service was one of the best. The roses I got from them in the past were pretty good except the Austins.
Recently my opinion has changed for the worse regarding Wayside. I placed several orders with them last spring and was more than disappointed. This year was the first when most of the roses I got from Wayside were not quality plants; they are alive but do not perform, grow and bloom well.
The perennials I got from them were basically a bunch of disasters. Some mislabeled, the replacements I got were not true to variety either, and some "dissipated" pretty soon. A lot of plants were dead on arrival, and the replacements I got recently were dead just as well.
I am just hoping that those friends to whom I reccommended Wayside Gardens did not have the same experience and will not get mad at me.

Just have to add my own little Wayside Gardens story. I had ordered from them for several years. Some of the plants/trees I ordered did fine, some didn't. The packaging was excellent. Last year I ordered 4 Baptisia. The first 4 arrived dead! I called them and they said they would replace them. The second 4 arrived in about the same condition with one additional item -- a slug!!! I love perusing their catalog but I will definetly never order from them again.

We should form a club. Quite a few years ago they mailed me phlox with live snails gnawing on the crowns.

I don't believe they grow the plants, I believe they are the middle man. I ordered a large single pink althea from them and it arrived in pitiful shape. The first one I received was lavender. I notified them when it bloomed, they replaced it but it was the next year and it died. Several other items I ordered from them died shortly after planting. Now please take note, folks say I have a green thumb and they say I can revive dead stick but I can't revive Wayside plants. Yes, they did refund my money without any problems. Now I use their catalog just to window shop.

Long ago Wayside was a true nursery located on the banks of Lake Erie in northern Ohio and grew a lot of what they sold. Then they were bought by Park Seed, which is why you see a SC return address. They now don't grow most of what they sell, but contract with various growers to produce their items. That's why the variability in quality, I expect. Not sure how they handle order fulfilment, whether stuff is drop-shipped from the grower or all brought to their SC facility to be shipped. Their catalog is sure beautiful. I just wish they'd show realistic photos of blooming plants, rather that tucking extra blossoms into a plant to make it looke more floriferous than is truly the case at any given time.

Soeur

I have had nothing but good luck with Park's Seed company. They may have a bad plant but that happened only once that a plant didn't grow and I didn't know they replace them. If you order things directly from Park's they will refund your money or replace it immediately with no hassle at all. I haven't ordered from Wayside but if Park's owns them then write to Parks about the deterioration of the product.

I have had mixed success over the years, but it has gotten worse each year and I no longer order from them. I ordered 12 roses from them last year (4 varieties, 3 each) all of 3 varieties grew, all 3 of the fourth variety never grew. All were planted together. They would not make it right and I had a 3/4 finished rose garden. Had to search long and hard to find potted roses of the variety that did not grow.

I ordered from both Wayside & Parks for the first time this year. I ordered all native perennials (some bareroot and some potted) for $5 to $8 each, and they all arrived in a day and a half, and they all immediately started growing the day after I planted them. :o) I am still waiting on one plant, the Gaillardia 'Tokajer' which says will ship on 5/1.

I won't order plants from either Wayside or Parks anymore. With our short growing season, mid-April is the time I need to get plant orders. Both Wayside and Parks have promised me early delivery but they don't deliver as promised. Parks is still great for seeds.

I ordered from both Park Seed and Wayside Gardens this year. It was all through online sales at 70% off so I really didn't pay much - even the shipping was cheap. Live "starts" I ordered from Wayside gardens, Lavender, Clematis henri, 2 Asclepias, 2 Blue plumbago, bleeding heart, fountain grass. All arrived packaged well and are currently growing very well out in my garden, except for the lavender. The asclepias were bare root. I paid a little over $12.00 including shipping. I would have never gotten 8 plants anywhere else for that price, I don't think. Park Seeds, I spent under $10.00 including shipping for 8 seed packets - they even sent me extra seeds of the sweet peas I ordered because they said they had a low germination rate - every sweet pea seed I planted from the packet germinated and is now over 6" high. And I still have about 25 sweet pea seeds left to plant. I've had good germination with all of the other seeds I ordered besides the Sweet Peas, salvia,cosmos, poppies, dianthus, and 2 different tomatoes. The only one I've had problems germinating have been some aster seeds I ordered from them.

I am not all that great of a gardener, pretty new to the whole thing so I thought I made out really well. Just transplanted 20 of the Sweet Peas into the garden yesterday, I paid $1.00 for the packet of seeds through Parks - I couldn't have gotten 20 healthy sweet peas for a $1.00 anywhere else around here. Tomorrow after work I'll be transplanting about 25 lemon drop cosmos and the salvia.

For under $20.00 I got a lot of plants. Maybe because I hadn't ordered from them before and really wasn't expecting much for the money I paid I am happy with them.

I have ordered from them for years and have had alot of success including bareroot phlox and many others. This spring I ordered pincushion flowers and they have not done well. I wrote them (e-mail) and they agreed to send me replacements in the fall-no questions asked.

I've ordered from Wayside for ~4 years. Sales from the web newsletter are fabulous. Customer service has been great, if there's a problem they try to correct it. Got a variegated daylily this spring that was packaged so well it looked like I had just picked it up from the nursery down the street. They have a knack for picking out some of the nicest and newest varieties. I think if you are just going to pick a couple of this kind of plant and that kind of plant, you will save in shipping charges. But if you want a bunch of iris for example, you will get fresher plants from Cooley's. I've had a few problems with mislabelled daylilies, they've tried to correct, I'll keep ordering from them but I do get disappointed when I wait a year for something to bloom and it's the wrong thing.

I have to wonder why the split in Watchdog is so close. Does it make any sense that some stock comes from one place and some from another? Ive ordered lots of bareroot stock but none compared to the poor quality i recived from Wayside. After i complained twice thru email and got no response i called. They had the gull to tell me i could have emailed the complaint to them. Then they gave me an in house credit, another 2 emails and 2 months to get them to credit it back to my card. Never ever again for me.

I guess I've been lucky, but I've never had a problem. I had a lot of fun ordering from their online newsletters that they seemed to send every few days in the spring. Great bargains, especially on roses. Park Seeds (which I think is owned by Wayside) also offers great sales through e-mail notices. We moved this year and had to start from scratch, so those sales came in handy.

But for splurges, I shop Whiteflower Farm, and for really good prices and if I need a lot of something, Bluestone Perennials.

I've order a lot from them and Park this past year when they've had close-out sales. About half of what I bought made it. I think part of the problem could be that we had a lot of rain in Texas in the summer and we typically don't get much. I bought a lot of drought tolerant plants. Some bareroot came up, others didn't.

I haven't utilized their refund/replace guarantee. Does anyone have an opinion on when to contact them. I'm afraid they may not believe me because I lost so much. On top of that most of the items aren't in bloom at this time, so they could tell me to wait until Spring. I know what is dead because they never came up. Any ideas? Thanks!!!

Yes, I have ordered from them for years. I have always been satisfied with their stock. The "Old Man's Beard" that I ordered 6 years ago. (you need 2 to flower) One did not make it through the winter and they immediately replaced. Today, they are the most beautiful shrubs. I always think of Thomas Jefferson expecially when they bloom. Because they were one of his favorite shrubs or trees. (Chionanthus virginicus )
We also ordered 10 Birch trees (Heritage) 3 years ago and they are growing beautifully.
Carolina Allspice is wonderful.
I have nothing but good things to say about Wayside Gardens.

Happy Gardening,
Lassielee

I would research Gardenwatchdog.com before ordering from any mail order company. You want the most current feedback --as noted here companies can change under new ownership or with staff turnover.
Good luck.

I haven't ordered from Wayside in over 10 years now. When I did, the bulbs and bare-root roses were fine. The perennials and other shrubs were overpriced. Looking at current prices, I'd say the perennials and other shrubs are still overpriced, although Wayside is very clear about what size plant to expect.

What you pay for with Wayside is the expensive catalogs they inundate you with. Their stock is inferior to that of so many other companies, and their prices aren't great either. I've ordered from them several times, and I've just never found the quality to justify the price. I stopped ordering from Wayside after 6 out of 10 roses I'd ordered were cankered and broken with tiny root systems, and after I realized that there were much better companies out there. Their customer service is sometimes good and sometimes terrible - no way to know until it's too late. If you do have a problem, a family-run nursery is going to be far more likely to go the extra mile to fix it, AND more often than not you'll talk to the same person every time you call. I've spent more time on the phone wrangling with Wayside customer service than you care to know.

FWIW, I don't see any reason to order from them when so many other nurseries offer so much. You can get much higher quality perennials from Bluestone for a lot less; rose suppliers like Roses Unlimited, Pickering, Antique Rose Emporium, High Country, Chamblee's, and Ashdown offer far better roses at better prices; and nurseries like Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm supply a lot more bang for your buck when you're buying shrubs. Plus the varieties that Wayside sells tend to be available at your local big box (and the "new" expensive stuff they introduce each year will be $5.97 at HD in just a year or so anyway.)

If you must have something from Wayside, check "Krazy Keith's Garden Shed", which is some offshoot of them that sells the same stock at about 50-75% less. (Really!)

How wild that Krazy Keith's web site doesn't break out of the comical format anywhere (except for plant facts, prices, other bare bones information), even at 'Meet the Family'. I see no statement indicating a connection to Wayside there, but can see how that might be inferred by a telephone number, address, items offered or other clues.

I ordered a number of plants from Wayside last fall at their end of the year sale. Most looked poor to dead. They replaced those - with replacements that also looked poor to dead. They credited my card for some, told me to wait and see if they made it through the winter for others. This spring they finally gave me the rest of the credit for the dead ones. Even though I have my money back, I wasted a lot of time on their poor quality stock - never again.

A company like this will be a sort of online garden center, likewise subject to what the growers they have contracted with or ordered from have sent them. You are paying them to track down interesting and desirable stuff and show you pictures of it, give you longer descriptions than a grower's list might. Their markup pays for this. It also pays for them to try and get good quality stock, which is where they may be having a recurring problem.

I wish I would have found this site earlier. The Wayside Gardens web site is awsome and they have some plants that I can't find at my local nursery or big box stores, however they are a bit pricey.

I placed an order (April 2006), received it timely, excellent packaging, There after is where the problem starts!

Two of the three plants arrived with the bottom half (and I do mean the whole bottom half) of the plants were covered with some type of leaf blight. The leaves were totally covered in brown spots with dark circles. The tops of the plants were a washed out green covered in some kind of brown fuzz.

I called them immediately, and was told it was just some type of fungus plants get due to stress when they are shipped. That all I would have to do is buy some fungicide spray and they will be okay after a week or two.

I disagreed with them as the damage was so extensive. They said they try to run very tight quality control, these must have slipped by and they would ship out replacements immediately.

In the meantime I ordered some additional bulbs and a couple of more plants using a 15% off coupon they sent. The website said they gave free upgrade shipping, however when I entered the code for the 15% off coupon, the site then added back the additional charge for upgrading the shipping which just happened to cancel out the 15% off. The site would not let me delete or cancel the upgrade .

I called again and was promised by the customer rep that he would remove the additional charge and submit the order for processing. The next day I received the replacement plants for the first order. Guess what......

They were in the exact same condition as the plants they were sent to replace. I called again. A different customer gave me the explanation I got the first time and said they could give me an in store credit.

I responded that that wouldn't work, but I had another order they could credit. She pulled the order up to apply the credit and surprise, surprise...the first rep did NOT credit the account for the extra shipping charges.

I was upset about it all evening and called the next day to cancel the order and get my money back. The third rep once again explained that the horticulturist (???) said the problem was due to wet conditions in the warehouse and shouldn't affect the plants other than they didn't look pretty, I should just spray them.

I insisted on cancelling the order, he then said he would try but since it was already into processing he couldn't guarantee the cancellation!!

Save your money...... buy somewhere that doesn't play games with their customers.

Except for seeds, I won't deal with Park's/Wayside any more, because of all the bookkeeping headaches, late deliveries or no delivery of plants. At one point I'd been double-charged for the same order, so I had to call and straighten THAT out. Then, they were slow in shipping my dormant Dahlia tubers. I placed a second order to give them a second chance, and the seeds (and some supplies) came on time, as expected. The plant in that order was cancelled by Park's, and I received no notification of same, no offer of a credit or refund until I contacted Parks and asked (a second time, mind you) what was going on. Eventually the cost of the plant and pro-rated shipping was refunded. That many slip-ups in ONE season for ONE customer? I could understand if it was a small, family-run business beset by family emergencies, weather emergencies and other not-so-fun stuff that can really set a small business back. When it's a company as large as Park's/Wayside, I expect more efficient service.

Lisa

I really do not recommend ordering from them. I have ordered $2000 of plants from them this spring and needed to get a refund for about $800 because of plants that ended up dead. Unfortunately here is the way this works: Your recieve the plants and notice that they are a) too small, b) dead or c) dry-ish. They have a nice label telling you "I am not dead, I am dormant". That is comforting because without it I would have had a near heart attack. Now you call them up about the ones that are really dry and complain. They tell you to plant them anyway and wait 4 to 6 weeks before they do anything. 6 weeks later you still have nothing growing and you call again. Now they will offer you a replacement, but ofcourse all the plants are gone and you will have to wait for their fall shipping season. They will offer you store credit good for up to one year. You can actually get real credit after one year. I kept complaining and managed to get half back in real credit and managed to find some leftovers to fill the remaining $400 with something I can actually enjoy this summer (maybe if something is alive when it arrives)

I have started shopping at local nurseries, lowes and home depot meanwhile. They all offer plants that are 3 to 10 times larger than the misery I recieved from wayside at prices that are equal to half the wayside prices and without shipping costs

I have had an awful experience with them. Their products (Amaryllis bulbs) were clearly advertised as "ready to ship", and they "readily" charged my credit card when I placed an order, but their items never moved one inch from their premises, or those of their suppliers for that matter; thus, after having waited for a few weeks, I called to have an explanation. I was informed, that the items I had ordered would have been shipped in weeks. I protested and made them aware about their false and misleading advertisement, and cancelled my entire order.

They did not refund my money "readily". in fact, it took several phone calls, and finally an intervention from my credit card to get my money back ... weeks after the order (which was never honored) had been cancelled.

I will never ever do business with this company (and affiliates) in the future.

I was very excited to place my very first orders with Wayside, but now I am wishing I stuck with Home Depot. They are now claiming there is a time limit on their "Guarantee" which is not posted on the website, nor in the materials packed with the plants, nor in the catalog. I was told, when I emailed right after shipment about the bedraggled dead plants to wait (no mention of a time limit). I waited, and now I am being told I waited too long and am out of luck. I am stuck with expensive dead plants, and no refund/replacement/credit, like I was promised by their glittering "Guarantee". I want my $82.48 back, as I was duped by pretty pictures and an empty promise.

I was about to order something from Wayside, but after reading these posts, I probably won't. As to the posting up above from "Paradise Plants" as to why anyone would order a bare root regarding a certain plant, I did from Nature Hills Nursery, a rose bush, that can't be found at any of my local nurseries and it is doing fine. They package it up in a clear plastic sleeve with mulch and water and it did fine through shipping and is in the ground. These bareroots come to you dormant, so once you go through the correct process of prepping them for planting into the ground, they do fine. Some speices of roses you cannot find at your local nursery, as was in the case that I ordered. I have also ordered through a nursery called Bridgewood Gardens for Hosta's and they are very good. I ordered like six plants from them last year, planted in the fall here in SW Michigan and they are huge this year. I would highly recommend them as well. You need to do your research really well on the nurseries on line, and look at the blogs and complaints filed by people to determine if you want to order from them.

I ordered a New Dawn climbing rose (in a pot) from Wayside; it's the first time I've ever used them. The rose came in excellent condition and, although it's only been a couple of days, it seems to be doing well--even has one flower and one bud on it. As I said, it's the first thing I've ordered from them, but it went very well. Just thought I'd share that.