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MAIL ORDER PLANTS REVIEW: GARDEN CROSSINGS & CLASSIC VIBURNUMS

June 1, 2016

Oh my, there is so much going on in the garden and I’m not sharing any of it! Bad blogger! Soon, I promise.

We had the most amazing weather for Memorial Day weekend and I spent plenty of time in the garden. It was lovely. But, once again, I was so busy gardening that I didn’t take any photos. So today I’m going to wrap up my mail order nursery series for the year with a bang.

If you recall, my friend Linda at Each Little World starting posting about her experiences with mail order plants this year and I liked it so much, I decided to do it too.

I ordered several small shrubs from Garden Crossings in Zeeland, Michigan. It’s obviously not my preference to order shrubs online, but I was dead set that I wanted Hydrangea serrata ‘Tiny Tuff Stuff’  in the patio garden where I cleaned out a bunch of stuff last year and although I was finding plenty of ‘Tuff Stuff’ (which grows to about twice the size of ‘Tiny Tuff Stuff’), I saw no ‘Tiny Tuff Stuff’ anywhere. And as long as I was ordering (I can’t tell you how many “as long as I was ordering” plants I have), I threw in some white impatiens that Garden Crossings’ website raved about.

A neat stack of boxes was waiting for me. Four hydrangeas came in the big box, plus the fifth in the tall skinny box. The impatiens were in the square box.

I ordered from all kinds of nurseries this spring, both small and large, with specific focuses and some general focused-nurseries. My guess is that Garden Crossings was the largest nursery I ordered from. When my ordered arrived it was clear to me that they have a very specific system in place for shipping. A neat stack of boxes were waiting on the front porch for me.

Impatiens were all neatly tucked in their own compartments.

The five hydrangeas were in tall boxes with dividers holding each plant in place. The impatiens were in a similar but smaller divided box.

Each hydrangea had its own box so all of the foliage was in perfect shape.

The real genius of Garden Crossings’ packing is in the paper. Every plant has a tight band of kraft paper that holds the foliage up in a column so it never gets crushed.

Every plant, regardless of size, was wrapped in kraft paper, keeping the foliage protected and making it easy to pull them out of their compartment.
Healthy looking Infinity white impatiens.

When I took the hydrangeas out of the paper, I couldn’t believe what I saw. They are basically fully grown plants (or very close) that were in full flower. I left the flowers because I have a heart and lack that hardened gardener ability to trim off a flower even if it’s better for a plant. Everything was extremely healthy, although I stupidly didn’t figure out that the hydrangeas were obviously greenhouse grown and I put them out right away without any hardening off. The results is that I now have five purple-leafed hydrangeas, all of them having been sunburned. The plants will be fine, I have no doubt, they will just be a little odd looking for a time.

I ordered during a shrub sale, so that helped bring the costs down, although I don’t feel like Garden Crossings charged any more than I would have paid locally for hydrangeas of this quality and size. Shipping was only $30, which I think was great, and proves that buying more can help you maximize your shipping dollar. I wouldn’t hesitate to order from Garden Crossings again.

Because I feel like this series is perhaps getting a bit tedious, I’m just going to quickly tack on a note about the final nursery I ordered from this year: Classic Viburnums. I continue to be irritated with the lack of selection of interesting plants available even at the better nurseries near us and I was searching for a specific viburnum: Plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Shoshoni’.  This is sort of a dwarf version of ‘Mariesii,’ which is quickly becoming a favorite in my yard.

Classic Viburnums is pretty much the exact opposite of Garden Crossings. It’s essentially a couple running a very specific nursery. There is a website with a lot of cultivar information, but you can’t order on it, nor can you find out what they have in stock. You have to call or email, which is what I did and received a quick reply. By the next day I was on the phone with Gary learning that not only did they have a nice ‘Shoshoni’, but I was also getting advice on an additional virburnum I should get to maximize the shipping cost. With Gary’s help I chose Plicatum ‘Magic Puff’.

The two shrubs in gallon pots with lots of nice, healthy and well-shaped growth, came in one large box, each strapped in by a nylon strap and in perfect shape. Gary had told me that after I get the shrubs and everything looked good I should mail them a check for the amount on the invoice they sent. Yes, that’s right, mail them a check. Which I did, along with a note letting them know how thrilled I was with everything. I’m chalking it up as my single best mail order plant buying experience of the year and I’m certain I’ll be back for more.

So that’s it. The shopping is finished (except for what I need to buy for the container at work). All that’s left now is to get it all in the ground and to get the garden in full-on shape for the summer. And to give my bank account a chance to rest a little.

Here are the other mail order plant reviews I did:
Digging Dog Nursery
Arrowhead Alpines
Joy Creek Nursery

And here are Linda’s:
Odyssey Perennials
Far Reaches Farm
Rare Find Nursery / Old House Gardens
Plant Delights Nursery
Arrowhead Alpines

Are you still buying plants or are you mostly finished for the year?

mail order plants shopping
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
10 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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previous post: WHAT THE FOX DRAGGED IN (AND OTHER GARDENING TALES)
next post: FRIDAY FINDS

Comments

  1. Lisa Greenbow says: June 2, 2016 at 10:21 am

    It appears that you had great luck with this company. I am finished buying plants for the garden this year. I am afraid that the weather is going to be severe this summer. It is already too dry. I have to water water water. Not a good way to start.

    Reply
  2. Heather - New House New Home says: June 2, 2016 at 11:35 am

    Those hydrangeas look amazing!!! I'm sure they will survive their sunburn and prove to be stars in your garden.
    I've finished ordering and receiving plants this year. My favourite is the anmsonia which you recommended – it's just starting to bloom!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says: June 2, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    I enjoyed reading about your purchases. I had never thought about ordering plants this size via mail order. I may have to try it!

    Reply
  4. Garden Fancy says: June 3, 2016 at 4:17 am

    Thanks for the recommendations — it's nice to hear about mail-order companies that exceed expectations. -Beth

    Reply
    • Karen says: July 21, 2018 at 12:39 pm

      I ordered plants from Garden Crossings for the first time and was thrilled, impressed and thankful when they arrived. The shipping wrapping was excellently protective during transit. The plants themselves were healthy, robust and of impressive size, much more so than plants that I’ve ordered from probably the two best known nurseries with multiple yearly catalogs. I needed two more clematis diamantias. When they arrived they were two and a half times larger than the other two I bought online and are already twining their way up the huge double trellis and flowering! The other two clematis are healthy and growing, but way behind the Garden Crossings specimens. I will continue to work with GC whenever I can, their quality plants and shipping procedures are superlative. Stay well everyone!

      Reply
  5. Nicole says: February 10, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    Hi Erin! I just found your blog and I love it. I have spent this snowy day enjoying your garden and advice. Just wondering if you’ve updated this list of retailers? i am looking for a Pinky Winky hydrangea to plant out this spring, and my local retailers (big box only) don’t sell it. I have never ordered plants online before and am nervous! Thank you.

    Reply
  6. Pat Ehrlich says: May 23, 2020 at 9:24 am

    Nice to know that Garden Crossings plants and shipping was great. I will be more inclined to buy online from them now. Have you ever purchased a Munchkin Oakleaf hydrangea – from whom and what was that process like? I don’t like buying without seeing what I am getting.

    Reply
  7. Kim says: May 26, 2020 at 7:32 am

    We love Garden Crossings! We are local and it is actually quite a small outfit but their plants are always beautiful! Glad to have you promoting their small venture.

    Reply
  8. Amy says: August 24, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Love Classic Viburnums! Had a similar “wow” experience with Gary and his expertise. Have bought plants over two seasons now and will until I run out of room!

    Reply
  9. landscaping company says: October 28, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    Those white impatiens are GORGEOUS!

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I fell in love with gardening through container de I fell in love with gardening through container design and it’s probably still my favorite type of gardening. My trip to Philadelphia area gardens was full of so many excellent ideas. For several years I’ve been enamored with clustered pots, but in my opinion they work best when they are able to stand alone in a space. And you probably know me well enough by now to know that as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the pot, the better. Feast your eyes on these beauties and use your zooming fingers to really get into those nooks and crannies. 

Don’t forget to save your favorites because you know you’re going to be looking for them come next spring. 😀

Photos 1 & 2: Amazing container cluster at @longwoodgardens  that works particularly well because of the restraint used in the design. Also how many different ways is the universe going to tell me I need to grow agave before I actually listen?

Photo 3: This was probably favorite display I saw the whole time and of course it’s from the masters at @chanticleergarden This is a master class in texture. It’s also probably not attainable for the average home gardener because it relies heavily on tropicals that need proper overwintering in order to reach a good size. But there’s no reason why I (or you) couldn’t use this as inspiration to create a similar feel with other plants. 

Photo 4: Strappy foliage, bright orange and colorful pots create such a good doorway collection at @chanticleergarden 

Photo 5, 6 & 7: Similar colors were used at a patio doorway at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm home garden. A pot is perfectly framed by an arbor off a side patio. The front entrance has a pink theme (and an amazing feature pot that I couldn’t show here because all my shots are vertical). 

Photo 8: Back to @chanticleergarden where I could have studied this container planting for an hour just to soak up all the detail. 

Photo 9: And while I love a pot with a lot going on, never underestimate the power of a simply planted, gorgeous pot, like this one at @abunting64 garden Belvidere. 

#gbfling2023
I think every garden probably needs a little bit o I think every garden probably needs a little bit of water, even if it’s just a bird bath. All of the fabulous gardens I saw recently in the Philadelphia area incorporated water into them. Here are just a few examples of how lovely these water features were. 

@paxsonhillfarm @northviewgarden @brandywinecottage @longwoodgardens #gbfling2023
Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the vi Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the view even though we all know that most of us rarely take the opportunity to use them. The seating I saw in gardens in the Philadelphia area reflected their gardens and all were special. 

Make sure to share your favorite!

Photo 1:  I adored these perfectly lichen-covered chairs at @brandywinecottage

Photo 2: Great lichen game on this bench at Wayne Guymon’s mind-blowing garden WynEden. 

Photo 3: Perhaps my favorite seating moment of the whole trip was this chair in @jennyrosecarey @northviewgarden . Not only was it perfectly lichen covered (are you sensing a theme here?) but a volunteer cleome was growing right up through the middle of it. Unfortunately this photo of it isn’t grata because by this point in the trip my phone (I didn’t want to use my DSLR in the middle of the tropical storm so I switched to my phone) was getting very grumpy about the rain. 

Photo 4: I’d be happy to hang out on these chairs in @abunting64 ‘s gorgeous garden Belvidere. I loved this space. 

Photo 5: Color was the name of the game on this patio at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm. 

Photo 6: The most original table and benches I saw were at @abunting64 garden. This was a portion of the garden that was actually on the neighbors’ property adjacent to Andrew’s. It had been a vegetable garden but is getting a bit too shady so it will soon have a new life. 

Photo 7: We visited Barbara Tiffany’s Mill Fleurs in a deluge, which is a shame, and dotted throughout the property are examples of her husband Tiff’s amazing furniture. This was, called the Centipede was upholstered and quite different from the others. All were amazing works of art. 

Photos 8 and 9: The @scott_arboretum at @swarthmorecollege had some excellent seating, from brand new @deebenarc chairs to more lichen-covered charmers.

#gbfling2023
*** I can already see that some people do not unde *** I can already see that some people do not understand humor so let me just say this: 1. I was fully aware of the escaped convict situation (I’m an avid follower of the news, which is common for us journalists). 2. It’s ok to laugh about the fact that I’ve missed the Longwood meadow twice through weird circumstances while being a rational adult and realizing that I’m not making light of the situation that led to the meadow being mown. ***

I missed seeing @longwoodgardens beautiful meadow the first time I visited so I was excited to see it the second time. Not so fast! Turns out it had to be mown down during the search for an escaped convict who was hiding out there (at least that’s what I was told was the reason for the mowing). He’ll never see goldenrod the same way again! 😀

That whole situation was really unfortunate for @longwoodgardens (not to mention everyone who lives in the area), which had to be closed for about a week while the hunt was on!
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