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Contents |
Glowing Testimonial LettersSince many of you are finding us for the first time on the net, we thought we would let our customers tell you about their experiences. The following are a sample of the un-edited letters we receive from our customers each year. Isn't it about time you brought some "Plant Delights" into your garden? Don't take our word, check out what others are saying...these are from actual letters received by the nursery.
Dear PDN: I have concluded all business with Wayside as I do not wish to waste my money of "plugs" or "liners" for big bucks plus shipping costs. You guys, on the other hand, ALWAYSS send very decent sized plants for the buck!!! I have done nothing but sing your praises this year!!! Wish you had more for those of us in the North, but I totally understand growing space limitations .... thanks for who you are!!! J.K. in Illinois 7/08 Dear Plant Delights: I subscribe to a great deal of nurseries as I grew up in one in Norther California ( think self-sustaining commune, my first given name born in '66 is Sunshine. Nuff said?) and it's in my blood. Since I've been in Florida for the past 4 years ( YUKKK!!! The anathema to the natural gardener) am finally moving north as my hubby's being transferred to Vermont. Wherever you got my address from, thank you so much! Not only for the vast selection and truly informative species descriptions et al., but your catalog banned me from the living room this afternoon as apparently I was laughing reading too much out loud for my husband during the precious "Final Four". You'll be hearing from me next month when we make the move, but in the meantime, thank you for such unexpectedly hilarious reading material. I shall leave it in the bathroom along with all the other journal of Great Wisdom ( yes, my 42 year old husband buys Playboy for the articles.) Have a great day! V.R. in FL 4/08 Dear Plant Delights: Just wanted to take a minute to say thanks. I received my order yesterday and all looked great. I appreciate you keeping me so up to date on the order process through email, and the way the plants were packaged so carefully. Thank you again for all you hard work. May the Lord continue to bless you! I look forward to business with you again, it was a pleasure! Y.T. via email 3/08
Dear Plant Delights: Received "Plant Delights" catalog here in Dalton, GA yesterday and spent most of the evening reading through it. It's one of the best catalogs I've seen. The catalog is informative, has beautiful photography and I appreciate the humor. Also, lots and lots of plants I must have - must not touch the 401K though. Thanks, J. R. in GA 1/08 Dear Plant Delights- I had a great time at your open house on Saturday. Spent a gazillion dollars on plants and had just placed my new acquistions in the van and made the mistake of venturing back into the gardens to say good-bye to a friend. Ran into Gloxinia 'Evita' over near the waterfall. Zzzzfffft! Went my tiny, little brain- MUST OWN PLANT. I trudged back to the greenhouses, admonished the staff "don't let me look at anything else, just take me the to the gloxinia", and took my sad, lifeless wallet home. I enjoy your descriptions in the catalog, but you are failing miserably to describe how spectacular this plant looks. I almost fell in the waterfall and cracked my head open to get a better look at this plant! I think you can do better after my near death experience. O.k., possibly I wasn't watching where I was going.
Keep up the good work and thanks,
Dear Plant Delights: I rec'd my 6 plants 2 days ago. Yesterday I planted them. I just had to tell you how very impressed I was at the packing method and the incredible root systems they all had. I have bought alot of plants, both locally and thru the mail, and have NEVER had plants that were so obviously healthy! I will certainly tell all my gardening friends!!!! Thank you for your superior care. S.S. in MD 9/07 Dear Plants Delights Nursery Staff, This is my first order with your company and I just received my Musa 'Siam Ruby'. I was so happy with my ordering experience that and wanted to take the time to thank you! The packing was great and the trees look wonderful. I say trees because two small trees were shipped instead of the single that I had ordered, what a great surprise. I could not be happier. I have all ready potted them up and watered them in. I look forward to enjoying their beauty over the winter months; because it can be so drab here in Ohio in the winter. I also have a Musa 'Ae Ae' that I have had for years and believe this will be the perfect companion for it! Thanks again and I look forward to my next order!!!
Sincerely,
Dear Plant Delights: I think you guys are doing a wonderful job, you have beautiful and unique plants that arrive in great condition and respond well when planted. The grace our gardens and remind us of your kindness and good customer service. I love the e-mail updates and how you give us so much information in them. I came to one of the Open House events and went crazy buying plants. I have NO PROBLEM referring friends or anyone to your nursery. It is a pleasure for me to do so because my experiences with Plant Delights has been just that, a delight. We all love the cartoons on the front of the catalogs. What a treat to wait for the next one to see what is coming out of your creative minds next. You are the greatest, J.F. in Alabama 10/07 Hi Plant Delights: I was just awestruck by your entire operation! I'm just a girl from Kansas and I feel like I have been to the Emerald City! I'm going to start reading the book this afternoon. It's about 40 degrees here in the mountains outside of Asheville but my Musa 'Bordelon' is sitting in my livingroom, nice and warm. Just an idea, but I really think that Tony needs to have a bobble head made!!!! That way when I'm considering a purchase I can ask "the wizard" and get a true "yes or no". Somehow I think it would always be yes, buy, buy!!!! Thanks again for a FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE! D.F. in NC 10/07 Dear Plant Delights: Thank you so much!! I couldn't believe how healthy my plants were when delivered; all the way from North Carolina to Southern California, and they looked just as good as if I'd gone to my local nursery (except for the fact that my local nurseries didn't stock what I was looking for; hence I had to go to North Carolina!). I wouldn't hesitate to order from Plant Delights again. J. L. in CA 10/07 Dear Plant Delights: Thank u for letting me know. I highly compliment the way this transaction was dealt with. I don't know if u know that I am in Australia and I dearly wanted my friends there in the USA to have these plants from me especially the 'Dahlia Tree' My friends had admired photos that I had sent them of mine and there was no way I could send one from here. I had approached other Nurseries there about it and they were not prepared to do it for me. Yours was the only one and Amanda was absolutely fantastic throughout the whole process. My friends were delighted and in tears of happiness that they got such a wonderful gift. They didn't know they were there actually, it was so funny. I was talking to them on MSN at 9pm and they said that they did not get a parcel that day. (they didn't know it was plants) I looked at the email from 'Fedex' that confirmed delivery and it said that they had left it at the front door at 6-36pm. I told them to go and open the front door ............. they did and found them. Sorry for rattling on but I am just so happy about the way your company made it possible to do this. The plants were still damp and looking fine when they opened them.
Kindest regards
Dear PDN: Just wanted to let y'all know that my last order, which was a gift of plants sent to Oregon to some folks that were quite kind to me on my garden tour, have been received and have caused quite a stir. They sent both email and letter saying the plants were in excellent condition and the pots were most generous! I told them that one was for each, but they could chose who got what. Because the pots were generous, they each have at least one of both! Y'all impressed the daylights out of them, and they are professional plant people! When I contacted them to let them know to expect the arrival of the plants, they had heard of Plant Delights and Tony Avent. They are on your mailing list or someone sends them a copy of your catalogues, I'm not sure which. They mentioned they loved reading, thought it was a hoot, even though they've never made an order! B.M. via email 8/07 Dear Plant Delights, I just found your web site recently. I found your plant selection excellent and making my online purchases was easy and secure. After ordering I browsed some more on your site. I read your fan/hate mail. I am and will continue to be a customer. I think that the self-righteous idiots who wrote the hate mail should stick to growing weeds. This is America and EVERYONE is entitled to an opinion regarding global warming. Also, as the wife of a soldier who is in Iraq, I think we must find humor where we can and be free to express ourselves. I am lucky to say I have friends who are from the Middle East and they have a better sense of humor than those morons who commented on the Jihad. L.M. via email 8/07 Dear Plant Delights: I have never written to a web company before but I have to say how extremely happy I am with my order from you. The plants arrived quickly, were packaged very well and still damp from the newpapers you so lovingly wrapped them in. They were all a nice size and suffered no stress in shipment. All are doing well in the garden thanks to you and your staff. I will most certainly being ordering some more. I ordered a few plants for another site. They sent them in the mail and it took 6 days to get them, Needless to say half were dead and 4 more have died since. I planted them. Live and learn. Thanks again to your staff for making my new flower garden come alive.
Sincerely,
Dear Plant Delights: I don't mean to gush but the Hostas came yesterday and are just unbelieveable I don't know why I mess with what the "big box store" has for Hostas when such beautiful and healthy ones come to me from North Carolina. They look like they have been in th e garden 'forever' already. Thank you again and I will try to hold on to the thought that Plant Delights is the only way to go.
Sincerely,
Dear PDN, I just received the plants that I ordered a couple days ago. Everything was in excellent condition. I've ordered plants from other companies that aren't so concerned about what they ship. You're so far from Redmond, WA, but the quality is better than much closer nursuries. I'll order again from you all. Well done! P. A. in WA 4/07 Dear PDN:
Thank you so much for my lovely Musas! They arrived yesterday and are now
potted and brightening my home. I apologize for the snippy email I sent last
week. I had a very bad experience with a different online nursery last year
and was afraid I might be starting down the same road. Thank you for proving
me wrong. I will gladly recommend Plant Delights to friends and family.
K. B. via email 3/07 Hey everyone in warm-land, Greetings from still-frigid Ohio! I read about your catalog in our local paper via a pirated (okay, probably not but...) article from the AP entitled "Catalogs bloom with personality." Since there isn't much going on in the way of gardening in Ohio this time of year, I eagerly read the article and went to your website. All I can say is..."HOLY CRAP! I LOVE IT!!!" Your website is a hoot! And you have cats! (I have 3, so you are already in my good graces). It takes a brave and self-confident organization to run its Hate Mail along with the typical customer kudos. I laughed out loud (and woke up the cats in the process). Then I requested a catalog. Your "Gardening Jihad" cartoon was extremely amusing, and a reminder that we need to wake up and stop taking ourselves so seriously. Or maybe your catalog is just for independent, democratic-leaning thinkers? Or is it just the chardonnay talking? (Like I said, there isn't a whole lot of gardening going on here right now). To recap: 1. The website is outrageous, informative and fun. 2. Send me the darn catalog soon before I sic my 20-year-old cat on you. With warmest best wishes for your continued success at gardening and ticking off the overly-sensitive, E. in Ohio 3/07 Dear PDN: Unbelievable! I am speechless. For the first time ever I have actually received plants that are vigorous, healthy and ready for the garden. I am so used to receiving tiny little starter shoots that need a year of nursing just to look like they will indeed live when I order plants from nurseries that I couldn't believe it when I opened your box and saw the plants you sent. I have been receiving your catalog for two years and every season I mark off a dozen or more plants I would like to order but always put off doing so as yours are usualy a dollar or two more and your shipping minimum and charges are a little higher as well (especially your minimum as I would love to have ordered just a plant or two to try out your product). This spring I decided to make the plynge and placed a relatively small order and I can only tell you that I am very happy I did. Your slightly higher price is definitely worth it as your plants are much more mature and stable than any I have ever received from other nurseries in the past. (ThoughI would still love it if your minimum shipping was less). I am one who is quick to complain when warranted, but it is equally important to acknowledge excellence when deserved - and in this case the acknowledgement is well deserved. Thank you and I hope to continue doing business with you in the future. K. R. in GA 4/07 Dear PDN: Have read the catalogs cover to cover since I discovered this place. I learn lots, and the writer is a hoot. I'm guessing his sense of humor is lost on the poor souls who don't know that 'Jihad' is arabic for 'struggle', and don't understand the comedic use of hyperbole. Alas for them. When my friend (a landscaper from Seattle) came to visit last summer, he made this place his Mecca (n.b., now I'M doing it... get it?). We lost track of time in their display gardens and nursery houses, and totally forgot to eat lunch. Each of us came away with souvenirs - my Boehmeria 'Nichirin' is now established and beginning to leaf out for spring. I'll go back - but I'll bring some lunch! P. in NC 4/07 Hi, My plants arrived today and although this is the second year I have ordered from you I am still astounded by their quality, size and health - an all too rare situation with many mail order firms. Thanks for a job well done. Regards, D. S. via email 2/07 Hi to one and all! I simply had to compliment you on your ultra efficient website. It loads quite fast, even when dialup is used. Many websites overburden the user upfront with unnecessary details. Your online catalog's layout with a subject list to choose from on the left, and descriptions enhanced by small but quality photos on the right, makes searching your catalog a real pleasure! If only all websites were this user friendly. I'm not as yet ready to order, but I felt an urge to forward kudos to whoever is respectable for your website's terrific design! Best wishes and happy new year! J.R. via email 1/07 Hi guys I just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU For my recent plants - and your OUTSTANDING customer service! I recently placed an order #144113 on 9/19/06. You send an email confirmation and followed this with an expected delivery date of 9/26 via FedEx and the Fed Ex tracking number. On Fri 9/29 as I hadn't heard anything so I checked the fed ex tracking. My plants seemed to have gone on a little journey - from Raleigh, NC to Durham, NC and then to Sacramento, CA - a little strange as I live in NJ. I decided to wait a little longer and check in on Monday before calling you. BUT before I could, your customer service dept called me! They had noted my plants had gone astray, had recalled the plants to Raleigh and had also made up a new plant order with fresh plants - that had already gone out and that I would receive on Tuesday. Which I did - and they are fabulous. Thank you again for such outstanding customer service - I can't think of ANY other nursery mail order company that has ever done that for me. You can be sure I will be ordering from you again - soon! and will be telling ALL my friends!!
Kind regards Dear Plant Delights: I just wanted to let you know I received my order today. I had asked that it be sent to my office and that it be sent on a Monday so I would get it before the week-end. You shipped via FedEx on July 11, and it arrived this morning, July 13! The plants are gorgeous and look to be in wonderful shape. I had only done one mail order of plants before and that was from Heronswood, their plants were healthy but very small. I was so impressed with the size of your plants; a couple of them even have tiny buds. I am very excited to get them planted. I will be placing another order in the next few days. Thanks again. J.R. in OR 7/06 Dear Tony: The Heronswood garden is for sale for a mere 11 million dollars. What goofballs. We got a few belly laughs over the description of the house and garden. Who knows, there might be someone out there with business sense equal to that of George Ball. For 11 million dollars, I could recreate Versailles on Bainbridge waterfront property with change left over for a sizable order to Plant Delights. D. H. in WA 7/06 Dear Plant Delights: Hi! My order of plants was delivered yesterday, and I want to tell you how delighted I am. All of the plants were well-watered, very healthy, and perky (even after spending time wrapped up in a shipping box). I was also impressed with how much larger the plants are compared to those I have received from other suppliers. Plant Delights definitely has a return customer in me, and I already told a friend in Denver to check out your web site when she.s ready to buy plants (she's preparing to landscape the lot at her new house). Thank you again for the wonderful service and quality products. J.B. in MD 6/06 Dear Plant Delights: Just want you to know that the plants have arrived and I am very pleased with them. They look wonderful and are already planted in my gardens. For many years I have ordered plants and I have found yours to be among the very best. And they are beautifully packaged and arrive in excellent condition. Having owned and run a nursery of native plants, I am quite particular. C.C. in RI 6/06 Dear Plant Delights: Just wanted to tell you that I was extremely impressed with the condition of the plants in my rather late-in-the-season order which arrived today. (I wanted to wait until Black Jack was available again) Despite being wrapped and boxed and having been in transit across the country, each plant could rival any which had spent the last few days under ideal conditions. It is good to know that I can still obtain quality rare and speciality plants after what to us in the far northwest were the tragic events of this last week. I will not hesitate to recommend you to the many other rare plant lovers who, like me, refuse to patronize Pennsylvania. C. R. on 6/06 Dear PDN: My husband Bill and I came to your open house in the April/May time frame. We came even though we had car trouble on the way and had to wait three days to get the car fixed. Even though we were on vacation the main site I was dreaming of was Plant Delights and Bill said we were not going home before getting to the open house. We made it. I was sooo exciting. We were the first ones to arrive and everyone was so nice to us. We wandered through the gardens and were amazed at how beautiful everything was. Of course we did not leave without packing as many plants as possible in the car. After our visit with you we came directly home in case the car needed more attention. As it turns out it is in the shop today and it is not an old car but very new. But I am getting away from the point of my writing. We had a wonderful time in the gardens and expect to be LOYAL customers for some time to come. As you will see from your records I have been ordering from you for quite a while. When we got home with all the baby plants from the trip, I tenderly placed them in the garden and have tended to them ever since. They are doing great as everything has that I have purchased from you. I wish we could have met you while we were there. We did meet Amanda and looked for you. I'm sure in our meandering around we were sure to have seen you and not known it. I just wanted to thank you for being there for those of us that love unusual plants and enjoy your wit. You have a GRAND staff and we enjoyed everyone we spoke to. Your gardens gave me ideas in working in mine at home. We are hoping to make it back for your open house in September. Being so excited, we paid no attention to the map we were given and missed the tropical section. Next time we plan to see EVERYTHING:) Don't go anywhere and don't stop offering us the neatest plants we can find anywhere. We brought back several of your catalogs and shared them with friends that love gardening and first of all they loved the design of the catalog. Secondly, they have enjoyed hours of dreaming and hopefully will be ordering and getting hooked like we are.
Take care, Dear Plant Delights Nursery Inc., I am a plant lover. I have purchased hundreds of dollars of plants in the past three years. The local nursery knows me on sight. I have ordered plants from various mail order companies. I have even ordered the particular plants (Buddleia) that I ordered from your nursery from other places. Never have I seen such careful attention to shipping. I have always been disappointed when my plants arrived, withered, dry and limbs broken. I then spend the rest of my summer nursing them back to health with half not making it. By contrast, your plants arrived green and healthy. There was not even a missing leaf much less a broken limb. Each plant was wrapped with kindness and love. I will forever be your loyal customer.
Sincerely, Dear Plant Delights: The echinacea sunrise arrived perfectly just moments ago. What a gorgeous speciman THIS is! I want to thank Lynn over at the Voodoo hospital for helping me yesterday on the phone. It's so reassuring to know you are just a phone call away....I just LOVE doing business with you. Wish we could come for your open house, but, we are too far away to leave our 6 ( yes, six) dogs (cockapoos) to fend for themselves. Thanks again for the quick beautiful echinacea! J. via email 4/06 Hi, Tony, Just wanted to let you know that I have received my very first order from your nursery. 4 salvias. They arrived in great shape plus the plants are absolutely first rate! And your packing job was superb. I order from lots of different nurseries and must tell you that you're in the top three along with High Country Gardens and Heronswood. Rescued my babies from their box, gave them a drink (although they were still nicely moist), and let them recuperate on my shady patio for several hours. After the sun had gone down enough to shade the garden bed where they are destined to live, I planted them out and watered them in with SuperThrive and SeaCom. They are happy as clams .. whatever that means. Thanks, Tony, for providing great plants, careful packing, and super service. C. A. via email 4/06 Dear Nurserypersons I have to rave about the hosta plants you just sent me! They are , by far, the best plants I have ever received from mail order(their nicer then a lot of garden centers). I was a little worried at spending that much money, not knowing what the product was like. I was thrilled when I opened the box. I have already told Harriet Lewis, a customer of mine. I'll tell everyone about the different hosta, and the healthy plants you send. Thank you so much!!!! W.T. via email 4/06 Dear Plant Delights Customer Service Staff, I have just received my order for the grasses and salvia. I am thrilled beyond words! The plants look absolutely wonderful and so healthy. The packaging was excellent! I am so happy with your plants and your personal service. I will be telling all my garden friends what a fantastic experience I have had with your nursery. Thank you so much!! Sincerely, L.T. via email 4/06 Dear Plant Delights: I kind of ordered from you guys as an afterthought, after all my seeds had been started and all the budget spent for the spring planting... a little extravagant experiment, I thought. I'd never ordered from you before, I'd just run into your company online while hunting for a dahlia .. "David Howard" .. I read about in a Christopher Lloyd book. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with your service.. and now with the plants themselves! I expected yet another dry, dusty, broken dahlia root, as I've always gotten in the past from other companies.. but I got a PLANT, already growing in a pot!!! And the Canna! Wow, it is huge! What a pleasure to have the plants up and running.. it must take a lot of extra effort on your part, but believe me, it is appreciated! I have just a very small space for gardening, so each item I choose is special to me. I'll really enjoy what you sent! Thanks so much. And happy growing to all of you too.
Best wishes,
Dear Plant Delights: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I received my order on April 7, just as promised. The plants were PERFECT!!!!! I planted them the next day and put a soaker hose on them. I began by watering every day, and since have gradually reduced the amount of watering. The plants did not even appear to suffer from the trip or the transplanting, and they have already started to put on new growth. I don't know when I have ever been so pleased with an internet purchase. And today I received your spring catalogue! What a nice surprise! I am fascinated by all the exotic varieties. I'm sure that it will remain on my coffee table for awhile, since I just enjoy reading about all the beautiful new plants.
Thanks, again,
To All: I just received my plants yesterday evening. They are stunning and I haven't even planted them yet!! These plants were so well packaged and looked so healthy that if they don't thrive I will have no one to blame but myself! I have ordered plants from other very reputable catalogs and while I have never had a problem with any of them, Plants Delight has outdone them by far. I can't wait to write to you and let you know how well my plants do as they grow. Thank you! I am forever a loyal customer. M. O. in NJ 4/06 Hola, I have this mental thing swirling around my brain and I keep calling your company "Planet Delights". Actually this fits because of the variety of your plants. Today I received my order "Web 5017867" and I cannot tell you how beautiful the three Tricyrtis are (well you know, you grew and mailed them). They are the most healthy plants I have ordered on the web and their size is absolutely amazing. They are in the ground as of 20 minutes ago. I will tend to them as I do all my plants, with ignorant care. I am a new gardener (I decided I have a bulb addiction and am going to form "Bulbs Anonymous"), and have over.ordered for all the sunny spaces and then realized I have a few shade areas. Some how I stumbled upon Tricyrtis and have gone berserk!! I just love them. So I have ordered Tricyrtis and Tuberous Begonias. Thank you for send such splendid specimens. When I finish here I am going looking at your Tricyrtis collection to see if I can buy another or two. Yes, I have a little room left!! Sincerely, G. S. via emal 5/06 Hello Plant Delights: I have to say, that having dealt with a majority of the plant nurseries (burpee, michigan, nature hills, etc) online I have found your nursery be SUPERB. I would highly recommend you to anyone who wants to purchase plants either online or from your catalogue. I happened upon your website in my search for a lantana that could survive a zone 7 winter. I lost my beautiful (Monrovia) Sunrise Lantana last year and I was heartbroken! Anyone who has ever owned a lantana can understand what a beautiful, fragrant, butterfly enticing and colorful living thing it is. So in seeking out a lantana called "Miss Huff" which was recommended to me, I found your site. I got 4 plants; the lantana, 2 verbenas and a Lespedeza. Your site not only has an unusual selection of plants (much different than most brick and mortar nurseries here carry, let alone online or in catalogues) but they came BEAUTIFULLY packaged for shipping. The plants were no more expensive than those sold by other nurseries, and they were LARGE and HEALTHY plants. Many times, the boxes I get from those "other" nurseries are damaged and the plants arrive dead and they are very, very small plants. Not yours! I was extremely pleased. I even liked the cute little message on the outside of the box, telling us they were thirsty. The plants are now thriving in my garden and one of the verbenas has already flowered. It is obvious you people love what you do and take great care in doing it. Thank you so much for everything. I plan on using your nursery for my plant needs for many years to come. Sincerely, T.D. in NY 5/06 Dear Plant Delights: I have to write to complain about my order. The plants you sent me are large, healthy and appear to be worth every penny I spent. The problem is now I want to order more! Since I have two jobs in the horticulture field, you know I can't afford to spend all my money on plants! Please keep up the great work! Sincerely, N. Y. on 3/06 Dear Plant Delights: I feel sure people are quick to complain when their shipment is "not right;" I want to say "Thank you." My surprise lillies arrived today in wonderful shape. It was obvious that they were packaged by someone who cared a great deal about the shape of the flowers when they reached their destination. Thanks also for using FedEx, instead of UPS. UPS usually leaves my packages at the gate, while the FedEx person got out of their truck, opened the gate, and walked down the drive way to leave the box at the backdoor. From beginning to end, your service has gone above and beyond. It will be wonderful to once agin have the flowers that remind me of a grandmother that was so special to me. D. D. via email 3/06 To all the Staff at Plant Delights Nursery: Your Nursery is superlative! I just started gardening the past few years [zone 7b {Birmingham, AL}] and feel very lucky to be able to purchase from an establishment like yours. The AMAZING variety of plants and commitment by Mr. Avent is truly inspiring. Plant quality and size is ALWAYS phenomenal and worth every penny. I received a fine example of Cynara cardunculus from your Nursery earlier this year and it grew to full size within the year [thought you may mention this in its description but not sure if its normal either -no fertilizer, just sitting in clay]. I also wanted to pass on that the Trichocereus terscheckii I planted last winter survived perfectly in its raised cactus bed. Even when I thought you let me down with a soon-to-wilter Asphodelus aestivus, I was patient and the next year it sprung to life [not that it wouldn't have been my fault regardless]. All of the palm trees I've purchased are flourishing, and you even responded to a prior e-mail about a seemingly giant Gaura. Thanks for all you do! D. B. in AL 12/05 Dear Plant Delights: WHERE IS MY CATALOG? MY FRIEND D.W. REC'D HIS 2006 CATALOG ON SATURDAY JAN 7TH. AS OF THE 14TH I HAVE NOT REC'D MINE---AND I SUSPECT MY WIFE GOT TO YOU GUYS FIRST AND SAID," WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE DAMNED HOSTAS!!!" ACTUALLY I KNOW LOTS OF OTHER PLACES TO BUY HOSTAS--MOST OF THE GOOD ONES ADVERTISE IN THE HOSTA JOURNAL---BUT MY WIFE DOES NOT KNOW THAT FACT. NOR DOES SHE KNOW WHERE I KEEP ALL THE BACK ISSUES (ACTUALLY I HIDE THEM--AND YOUR 05 CATALOG-- IN WITH THE INCOME TAX PAPERS--BECAUSE SHE WILL NEVER GO THERE!!) PLEASE SAVE MY MARRIAGE AS SEND ME MY 2006 CATALOG SO I CAN START FIGURING OUT WHERE TO PUT ALL THE STUFF I WILL ORDER FROM YOU THIS COMING MAY. THANKS. J.C.E IN OHIO Dear Plant Delights: I just had to tell you... This is without a doubt the most fantastic site I have ever found...not to mention the absolute best plant varieties EVER! Before happening upon your wonderful website, I had no idea there were so many unique and undiscovered (at least by those in my small section of the horticultural universe) plants and flowers. I have been slowly working towards my 'dream' garden since I bought my house in 1994 doing the best I could with plants that didn't really do it for me, ripping them out in the spring and starting over again. I have spent thousands of hours pouring over magazines from every nursery I could find. Living in NE PA, my choices for drive up nurseries are unfortunately limited to the mundane and same ole same ole with the occasional 'eureka' moment in Lowe's. I can't believe I can now actually plant something that came from another part of the world and create my very own nothing-else-like-it-on-the-mountain gardens. As if the selection wasn't enough, the information is unparalleled and the commentary has had me glued to my computer screen for three hours now. (I'll be paying for it tomorrow AM when my 3rd grader won't get out of bed) The narratives are not only full of critical info that I would normally have to compile on my own from several sources and trial and error, but the humorous undertones are priceless. Thank you for reawakening my passion for gardening. Thank you for giving me something to get excited about again. (Thank you for a long sleepless night ahead planning my new escape from civilization) But most of all, thank you for all of the obvious immeasurable commitment and infinite hard work it must have taken to compile all that you put out there for all of us out here who are just hanging on for spring. I can't wait to get started! S.K. in PA 2/06 Good Morning PDN: I just wanted to let you know I rec'd my order and am so very Pleased. Your plants arrived in excellent condition and are more than I expected, all are exceptionally beautiful (Alocasia wentii my favorite)!!! Thank you so much and I look forward to doing business with you again. C.B. via email 11/05 Plant Delights- Received my order today and was so impressed with the size of the plants and how healthy they look. Fantastic packing job also!! This was my first order from you, but won't be my last. My mom loves hostas and I can't think of anything that she would like better than a few new ones.
Thanks again, Dear Plant Delights: My husband and I came to your gardens this summer for the first time, and what a thrill it was for us, in spite of the heat. I found out about your from the Paul James from HGTV web site. I was thrilled to find your were so close to us. We have put in 7 new beds this summer, and each one of them has several of your wonderful Hostas in them. Hostas have become a great passion for us now, and we look foreword to seeing how they do over the winter and next summer. With the heat we had I am hoping they will all return. Most of my summer was spent watering, but well worth it. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone there for a wonderful day. They were all very helpful and eager to answer all our questions. By the way we live just below the Va. border and we centered our day around visiting you there. Thanks again, J. G. 10/20/05 Dear Plant Delights: I have recieved my plants and was extremely pleased. Everything was in order and is now in ther ground. Fabulous plants and great selections to choose from my order was really hard for me. Your catalogue also informed me of a few plants we carry at the nursery I work at and have been selling them as annual color, when indeed they are perennials. I cannot wait until the spring to order a few other plants I am not going to try and plant anything else this year. But will be checking back in with you all in the spring. Thank you for enhancing my garden V.M. via email 10/05 Dear Plant Delights: I'd planned to order some things this fall as I didn't want to stop receiving your catalog, but my town took a bit of a storm, and after traveling 6000 miles to avoid it, I came home to brown ground. I do have elephant ears coming up - plenty! want some?. My yuccas tried but I see this soil is killing them too. My house is o.k. aside from the usual hurricane damage, but this city is brown with black stripes. The Sunken Garden neutral ground along Canal going to Lakeview had huge camellias and crepe myrtles and roses, but they too are bulbous shapes striped by vile liquid. Once we replace the roof and paint the side of the house, and remove enough of this so-called dirt (so lusciously black yet the stench when dug up), I'll be in touch. The hardest part for me was not rolling up my yard, pulling up lemons and ferns and ginger, it was my neighbors coming over to say they were sorry and how much they enjoyed my plants. They would take breaks from gutting their flooded houses to come over, so it's only right I go help them with an even harder job. I was most upset on the road over my plants, laughing at myself when I knew I could replace them, but now, as I watch these people around me forcing themselves to throw away keepsakes, well, I suppose I've been selfish. Anyway, once this neighborhood's houses are back together, I'll be contacting you to give my neighbors a yard they deserve. Tonight I spent a while reading all those emails you've received and laughing, while listening to people caterwauling outside, banging on pots, singing out of tune, almost like before that damned hurricane and corrupt administration of thugs came to stomp on us. Thanks for the catalogs and even the covers. Maybe a hosta will be o.k. in my new sunny back yard, hmm, the palmetto made it, there's still some shade, and then . . . Yours, N.D. in New Orleans, LA 11/05 Dear Plant Delights: Hi. I routinely order from Dutch Gardens, Spring Hill Nurseries, Wayside Gardens, White Flower Farm, and Carroll Gardens. Last week I thought I would give you guys a try since I needed a few more Honeysong Purple Stokesia. I received my order on Monday and planted it yesterday afternoon. I must say I am almost speechlessly impressed. These are bar none the healthiest plants I have ever received by mail order. I look so forward to seeing them in their glory this spring. Thanks so much, and a happy end of fall season to you. M.F. via email 11/05 Dear PDN: Thanks for the update, first of all. But, mostly, thanks for the links. I had never seen your "Hate Mail" and was delighted to be able to enjoy it. Gosh I feel for all those people. Amazingly, they seem to have forgotten a few things:
1. It's a free country. Meaning you can print what you want. As far as price goes, I recently attended the OFA Short Course and saw thousands of similar plants offered for a lot less and by a lot of businesses. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop buying from you. When you shop around you find lots of items, lots of prices and lots of personalities. I enjoy that you can have fun and smile about what you do. Life is too short to take yourself too seriously. G.J. in Indiana 8/05 Dear Plant Delights: I received my order from you, and I have to say that it is the BEST experience that I have ever had from a mail order nursery. We were unexpectedly called out of town so the order was delivered the day before we returned and everything inside the box was still in excellent condition. Great job, Thanks! Thank you again for such a great "shopping" trip S.C. in Minnesota 8/05 Dear Plant Delights: Katrina came through Hattiesburg with winds of 125mph. I had just finished my second summer of establishing tropical beds and 3 rear yard fern/shade beds - what a difference a day makes. We had 8 days with no electricity - my only mental alchemy was to save my plants during the day and make my front yard shine in a sea of rubble...This note is part of that process. Plants are my lifetime passion and I so admire your catalog and your articles. Thanks for keepin' my mind off this mess. R.E. in MS 9/05 Hi NC friends. Having recently moved from Durham to Memphis, I visited your web site and ordered several plants on your "new arrival" list last month. It was the first time I had ordered from Plants Delights and was amazed at how healthy the plants arrived. They looked as good as if I had picked them off the table at a nursery that day. I was leaving to go out of town the next morning so I planted them that night and arrived back last night to discover they had almost doubled in size! Thanks so much and will look forward to your wonderful newsletter and future orders. B. in NC 4/05 Dear Plant Delights: I had bought about 20 hosta from you in the fall during your sale. Of course they arrived, DE-leafed and just a clop of roots. I planted some in late October hoping I got them in the ground before the first frost, and lo I did not. We had temp's in the upper 20's two week later. I had heavily mulch them with chopped leaves and oak mulch and said let us wait and see. Well, here it was mid April and I hadn't seen even a sprout. Disappointed, and thinking they were dead I started digging through the 6 inch of protective mulch. Bingo, large full eyes of hosta were trying to break through the deep mulch. I could not believe the size of the hosta emerging once I cleared some of the mulch. Outstanding size, quality and what a delight. The ones in the basement had not budded either. So, last week, also thinking they had dried out, I watered them heavily and set the containers in the sun. I was out of town for one week and came back and BOOM the hosta had exploded from their dormant state. Large leafs were already unfurling and multiple eyes were poking through. Needless to say I was stunned and overjoyed at the same time. They are truly superior quality plants. Thanks. On another note, I am ashamed to say I had bought some hosta from another mail order company, you know the one, 10 for $29.99 variety. One or two eyes each. What a disappointment when compared to the monster plants you get from your nursery. Sure, your plants are 6-8 times the price, but the plants are 10-15 times the size. The old axiom that you get what you pay for is true. I am now trying to find more room in my garden to purchase more of these magnificent plants from your nursery. Thanks for reading--a devoted Plant Delight fan. K. via email 4/05 Dear Plant Delights: I've always thought your shipping was top-notch, but my latest shipment of hostas, ferns and agaves shows that you can indeed improve on perfection. The customized boxes made just for Plant Delights were great, and the interior packing is the best I've ever seen. I especially appreciated the protective "popcorn stopper" you put on the spines of the most lethal agave plants, as well as the written warning on the outside wrapping paper to "be careful." As always, the plants arrived healthy and happy. Now that I've planted them, they look like they've been growing for years. Congratulations to your shipping department to find even more ways to improve on your already high quality. It's that kind of careful attention to detail that keeps me coming back, and puts you at the top of my recommendation list for my friends and neighbors. H. W. in ALA 4/05 Dear Plant Delights: You have another happy customer...shipment #116909 arrived today and I'm thrilled with the good healthy foliage and best of all pots chock full of healthy roots...thanks! Nice to know your success and renown continues to be well-deserved even on small orders. I know I echo others when I say I wish I could have one of almost everything...but I'm always pleased with what I finally have to whittle my order down to. Thanks again. J. S. via email 5/05 Dear One and All: My plants arrived the week before last along with several other plant orders from nurseries around the country. However when I opened the box from Plant Delights I cried with joy! The plants were perfect but the biggest surprise was that the paeonia ostii was ready to bloom. I must have checked five time a day the next two days. On the third day the flower opened and it was a delight to see. Thank you for the joy you have given not only this Spring but every Spring or Fall when I receive your plants! Sincerely, L. H. via email 4/05 Dear Plant Delights: Last night I realized that the people who don't like your covers are the same people who didn't like MAD magazine. And that pretty much means those people are grumpy old doodyheads who should be ignored anyways. That said, your next catalog should just have glamour shots of your kitties on the front. And if you ever tire of Diamond, just send her off to me. She should get along well with my psycho semi-feral (neutered) kitty Max. They could hate the world together. L. M. in Nevada 4/05 To Whom It May Concern: Please find the enclosed with this letter my order of plants for the upcoming spring delivery season. I have been receiving plants from Plant Delights for several years now, and had meant to correspond with you for some time but procrastinated. Since it's about eleven degrees outside today and there isn't much that can be done in the garden; I decided it was a good time to send off a few thoughts regarding my customer relationship with your company. Your catalog Every winter and fall when I receive your very informational, well illustrated, comprehensive and (due to Mr. Avent) humorous catalog, I'm like a "kid in a candy store", and my first reaction is to order from every page in the publication. When I finally come to my senses and listen to the little voice in my head (that is my financial planner, Carl at American Express Financial Advisors) I try to choose only those that will find a fitting spot in my garden or possible in a pot near the fish pond or maybe a container in the bricked area near the greenhouse. I have two acres under cultivation and have been gardening for three decades. (By the way, I'm a fifty-five year old vice president who sits most of the forty hours a week behind a desk, but I really "kick ass" in the garden when I'm on my own time, and I've been spotlighted on a cable television program) The number of plants that have committed suicide due to my inadequate horticultural knowledge or placement must number in the thousands. Those that have lost my favor or interest are probably of an equal number including untold dozens of roses. Your plant offerings The primary reason that I order from Plant Delights is because of the unusual nature of the plants that you offer. While I realize that this is a critical part of how you do business, you have the most comprehensive listing of rare and unusual genera and species of any company with which I have dealt. Now when the plant and seed catalogs start coming in December, if they do not read Plant Delights Nursery on the front cover, they are immediately relegated to the trash can. I have also been very impressed with the size of plants that you forward to your customers. Although I am a patient gardener and one who has taken twigs and root cuttings and nursed them to adulthood, it is certainly refreshing to know that when my order arrives from you that the plants can go into the garden and will look like something ( a mature specimen) within a short period of time. The alocasias and colocasias that I have purchased from you in the past, needed to be divided by the end of their first summer and we live in zone 5 for God's sake! The hosta plants that you offer affirm your statement that "there can be multiple divisions taken from one plant". I've done it, and the divisions aren't puny. Tropical (or partially hardy) Plants in Containers I have several areas where I desire plants that may be considered a bit exotic and lend a tropical flare to my garden and yard. I've found that the best means of doing this is to plant them in large containers. I have a number of cannas (Valentine is perhaps my favorite), bananas, alocasias, colocasias, and other tender perennials that do fabulously in containers. I use large terra cotta pots (chiefly because of their weight) and paint the inside of them with dry loc to reduce evaporation and water loss. At the end of summer, about October 10th around here, or after the first frost, I cut off the frozen foliage and store the plants, pot and all, in an unheated room in my basement. There, they stay totally unattended till spring, when once again they can go outside to grow and bloom all summer. A few such as my ruellias and a couple alocasias, go into the greenhouse, but most are relegated to the basement for a winter's rest. Some of your customers may want to learn that this is an excellent way to grow some less hardy perennials and still have a bit of the tropics in their gardens. I have probably rambled on long enough, and I know that you have many important things to do; most of all to get my order logged into your computer for spring shipping. In short, I am very pleased to have found your company (actually via the internet) and expect to have a long relationship with you. One day I plan on visiting PDN when traveling in the south. Usually when this snow bird heads south he goes all the way to Key West since that's as far south as I can get and not need a passport. Good luck to everyone at PDN, and if this letter could be shared with Mr. Avent I would appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Dear Plant Delights,
Thank you for all the wonderful plants. I've been ordering for several years now and your customer service is as magnificent as your plant material! I had the pleasure of being a host garden for the annual Green Bay Botanical Garden walk last summer and even though I am a hosta collector my Dianthus "Heart Attack" and my Athyrium Ferns ( I've almost bought them all) were a big hit with everyone along with my hostas of course! :) I do believe I convinced a lot of people mail order from reputable sources was the only way to get new and exotic plant material. I know your busy season is fast approaching but if you ever wonder why in the heck you do this for a living remember your plants bring a lot of joy to a lot of people! I know they bring me joy year after year as well as the 2,000 people that toured my garden. Thank you all at Plant Delights! K. K. in WI. 1/05 Dear Delighters: I love your superb prose style, irreverent attitude, jabs at the establishment, at bureaucrats, even at gardeners who take themselves too seriously. I adore reading your hate mail and twilight zone sections. Most of all, I love losing myself in your catalogue and for a few hours being able to escape a frigid January night, a troubled and desperate world, and, most of all, the fact that politics have divided America down the middle and fixed it so we can barely talk to each other. If there is hope for peace on earth, it's with people who love the earth and its growing things. When I read your catalogue and others not quite like it :-) those nasty bureaucratic trivialities disappear in the complexities of living in Zone 5. So...keep up the jabs, the digs, the irreverence--but please, please, leave out the partisan cheap shots (John Kerry doing his best to destroy Amorphophallus coaetaneus coll.), or at the very least make bi-partisan cheap shots, or even really good shots that aren't cheap.
Your fan,
Dear Plant Delights: I am a mail clerk who sorts 'flats' in a small office. When I sort the catalogs and magazines I look at all the covers of course. I wrote down your website because, first I am a gardener, and second because your catalog was hilarious! I love it! I will be ordering a catalog for myself and injecting my garden with some humor via your beautiful plants. Thanks for brightening the day of this postal clerk! V. V. via e-mail 1/05 Dear Plant Delights,
I just wanted to let you know my above order arrived safely and soundly last week. All the plants
were in excellent condition upon arrival and have all been planted with the exception of Fatsia
japoncia 'Variegata' which I have opted to up can to a gallon size to over winter for a spring
planting. Thank you for these remarkable specimens. My garden is going to be featured on a
major tour in our county next May and I know my various plants from Plant Delights will be
highlights.
Dear Plant Delights:
I just received my second order from Plant Delights and although the container was somewhat
battered, the contents were just as if they left the nursery. There was no damage to the contents
at all. The plants were perfect. It is a pleasure to do business with a plant mail order company
who takes pride in their product. My compliments to the shipping department! If the need
arises, I will purchase items from Plants Delights before any others. Thanx again!
B.H. via email 9/04
Hi guys!
The children have just arrived in the Memphis area and are absolutely amazing. I have never
seen anything packed with such love and care. Everyone is out of the boxes and stretching their
legs as Mom tries to come up with an excuse to miss work tomorrow and put them in their new
homes. By the way, "Elvis Lives" was most excited to be back in the building. Thanks
and I'll be back for more
R.J. in TN
Dear Plant Delights:
Just wanted you to know that the shipment of hostas and heucheras arrived today. They are
fantastic! I've ordered hostas from several different places on the web, but your hostas are by far
the biggest, healthiest, and most delightful hostas I've received in the last few years. Thank you
so much for the fine care in packing these little gems:
L.K. via email 6/2004
Greetings!
I received my bulb order today and almost had heart failure when I unwrapped the order.
The bulbs were ENORMOUS, WELL HYDRATED, GOOD TOP GROWTH...and God help us all...OFFSETS! And a
free present! A toy surprise! Just like Crackerjacks!
I'm hooked...you've got me...I'm a very happy customer. The packaging was beautiful! The bulbs were beautiful! If
you keep this up, I'll go broke and my backyard will look like a softball storage yard. I think I'm actually looking
forward to it...
I ordered a bulb from another source also. That bulb arrived withered, soft, rootless, fungused...I paid almost twice
as much for it. Now, all that is left for me to do is give it a decent burial...le Mort...and erect a tombstone by it. Its only
hope is holy resurrection (difficult to come by), otherwise, its taps and into the bowels of the earth for good, never to
bloom again...
So, its been a kind of bi-polar bulb day.
I''m still recovering from hefting those danged bulbs out of the box...
Anyway, peace be with all of you, and thank you for going the distance. It is greatly appreciated. Really.
Regards,
E. F. in Florida 4/2004
Dear Everyone at Plant Delights:
I am sorry for waiting so long to write after having received the plants for this order. I wanted to
tell you that you have again done a great job. It is a joy buying from a company that gives good
value for the money in addition to outstanding customer service. I have bought mail order plants
for many years and not all experiences have been good ones. The health and size of your plants is
always more than expected. I also appreciate the fact that you send plants on my schedule. I
travel and if the plants came while I am away for two weeks, I would simply lose them.
Thanks again,
K. S. in NC 4/2004
Dear Tony,
I am writing to you for two reasons. The first reason is to tell you how much I have enjoyed and
been influenced by you and your nursery. I moved to North Carolina 7 years ago. After one year I
discover your newspaper articles, which led me to your nursery. While I worked in my gardens
before I moved to North Carolina, I never really appreciated the variety of plants and gardening
possibilities until I saw your garden and read your articles. Once I visited your nursery, I was
truly addicted. I took several classes from you and was always inspired to push my garden to the
next level. I started with cannas, Japanese maples and plants that you could find in any nursery or
home center. After many trips to your nursery I have a collection of many varieties of Baptisa,
Kniphofia, Crocosmia, Epimedium, Hedychium, Helleborus, Crinum, 100's of hostas and many
more plants, to numerous to list. Some of my prized plants include your H. 'Sweet Tater Pie' and
H. 'Tattoo'. I have involved my 70 year old parents in my garden and I believe it has been a great
influence on them as well. My Mom comes with me every trip to your nursery to help gather
plants and point out plants I may have missed. My Dad on the other hand helps me dig the holes
for my plants. After these 7 years, my Dad can now tell the difference between a weed and my
prized plants. Although I suffered many tragic losses along the way. For my job I travel and have
tried extremely hard to make all of your open houses. This included flying on red-eye flights and
driving straight to your nursery and a hosta auction. I thought you should know how much you
have inspired and addicted myself and others.
M.M in NC 5/2004
Dear Plant Delights:
Just wanted to let you know I am so delighted with my order. The canna "Ermine" is already
blooming! The aloe polyphylla was received completely intact. Not a single piece of the plant
had broken off during shipping. It too is growing very well. The products and service you
provided far exceeded my expectations. Thank you so much for making my day!
S.G. in MO 5/2004
Dear Plant Delights,
I just received my package of the (5) hostas below, today. I had to drop you a note and let you
know how very, very pleased I am with each one and just as pleased with your excellent
packaging.
I had all but given up on mail-ordering of plants. I can honestly tell you - you are the only
nursery from which I have EVER received live plants in such wonderful condition! I am also
very pleased that the hostas we not little-bitty "pieces", but REAL plants with up to 28 leaves!
Wow!
Thank you very much for all your effort and for the wonderful hostas!
God Bless!
Dear Plant Delights:
I just want to share my excitement at the wonderful discovery I have made by going to Plant
Delights Nursery. I am a Landscape Architect and I was dazzled by the wonderful plants and the
quality of your plant materials. I arrived with a three page list of plants that I wanted to purchase.
A sales person approached me and helped me go through my entire list! I was very impressed by
this part time 'Plant waterer' as he referred to himself. His knowledge was astounding. I am not
like a great number of other LA's that know little or nothing about plants. I went into the
profession due to my love of plants!!! I have emailed friends and told them of my discovery and
have encouraged them to make a trip to North Carolina during one of your Open House events.
They will not be disappointed!!
L.W. in NC 7/03
Dear Plant Delighters:
I could not help but respond to your 'Hate Mailers'. Y'ALL CHILL! How up tight can you be? If
you cannot see that Plant Delights' catalogue is done with a sense of humor then you are truly
uptight. As for 'How to be a good customer,' I think it is right on. In this ME society that seems to
have lost it's common courtesy I applaud PDN. I have fired several clients for not behaving and
acting badly. Just because the customer is paying does not mean they can treat others badly. Yes,
the customer is right but no one should tolerate mean and condescending behavior as I am sure
PDN will not. As for PDN prices, have you ever grown and nurtured a plant in a pot, and not just
one but 1000s? PDN is in business to make money not for charity besides who is gonna pay for
Tony's trips to China? Where else are you going to find such horticultural treasures? I think the
prices are quite reasonable all things considered. I gladly shop here and pay the prices. I
appreciate that I can have these unusual plants. If they want Wave petunias, then they can run on
down to Lowe's. Y'all keep up the excellent work.
B. G. in GA 6/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I am still in a state of complete shock two days after opening my order from you. I'm an
old lady and have been gardening well over 50 years - in New York State, Vermont, and now in
Idaho. I have over 30 years of mail order nursery experience. An I have never seen such well
grown, well packed, well rooted, huge beautiful plants shipped to me or anyone I know. In fact, I
don't think there's a local nursery (even my favorite one) with plants that could match them -
especially the Hosta 'Fried Bananas' or Sarracenia purpurea.
My daughter and son were here "ohing" and "ahing" as I unpacked them Believe me
when I say that we will provide you with very positive P.R. at every opportunity. Thanks not
only for the humor and great descriptions in your catalogs - but also for providing an example of
the best plants available through any shipping medium. The minimum shipping charge seemed
pretty stiff and was the reason I hadn't ordered from you in the past - it will not stop me in the
future - The plants make it all worthwhile!!
H.P. In Idaho 5/03
Dear Plant Delights:
Thanks so much- the order is here- as always, the plants are in great shape. Just when I was
going to give up on mail-order plant shopping! You guys are truly the best company- the plants
are huge and so damn healthy. Thanks again
P.P. via email 5/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for the quality of plants I just received from you. The
FedEx delivery man walked up to my house with a huge box and I could not believe that this was
holding my plants. I opened it up and saw the size of the two hostas and one brunnera and I was
literally speechless. These are by far the largest plants I have ever received via mail order and
quite frankly I am astonished at the size. I have ordered hundreds of plants online in the last five
years and I have consistently been disappointed with the baby plants I have received. This order
today has made me a believer in your nursery. I am slated to be on next years garden walk in my
home town and I guarantee you I will highly recommend Plant Delights to everyone who comes
through my gardens. Thank you again for being the rare nursery nowadays that truly gives the
customer what they pay for and then some!! Very Satisfied Customer.
J.H. via email 5/03
Dear Plant Delights:
Thanks for running THE BEST MAIL ORDER PLANT COMPANY ON EARTH!!! I am a
customer for life. I saw your spot on HGTV from a few years ago and I d love to come down
from Connecticut on one of your open weekends to see the garden first hand. I m 28 years old
and never cared much for gardening until I came across your catalog and it really got me in to
this gardening thing. I thank you for not only providing a place to buy cool plants but an oasis of
gardening knowledge in the form of your articles etc. Keep up the great work!
J.G. in CT 4/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I was not having a good day yesterday but when I got home last night - there on my proch was a package
from Plant Delights. What a great surprise. I continue to be amazed at the quality of your products. Thanks so much
for making my day.
J.S. via email 3/03
Dear Plant Delights:
We are some nice gardeners in Seattle, and have recently been turned on to your terrific, fantastic, absolutely
wonderful, charming, informative, funny, serious, cleverly opinionated, beautifully organized, colorful, bordering on
the horticulturally insane catalog, and WE LOVE IT! How have we been able to call ourselves professionals while
ignorant of the valuable resource you provide? Thanks a million and keep up the good work.
E.R. in WA
Dear Mr. Avent:
Last year I found your site on the Internet by accident while I was "surfing", looking for new
sources of plants. Then, as well as this year when I received your 2003 cataglo, I was extremely
imporessed with the scope and diversity of hte plant genreea and species that are offered through
your company. Indeed, your catalog can act as a quick reference for both the novice and
seasoned gardeners. When I received my order last year I was very happy to find good-sized
plants in healthy condition. With so many mail order companies in existence today it is not
unusual to find small, dead or dying plants when a person's order is received. I have already
written off most of these companies, but wonder each year how many people will get "taken" by
these establishments.
I do, however, want to congratulate and commend you and your staff for operating a "first class"
company that appears to be on the cutting edge of industry standards. Please continue your
research and development and your offerings of exciting plants to the public. I expect to have a
long-term customer relationship with Plant Delights Nursery.
R. S. in MI, 2/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I'm sure you receive negative feedback from time to time, but I can't understand why. I'm an
experienced horticulturist and I order woody plants, herbaceous stock, tropical plants and
cacti/succulents from many sources every year. Of these outfits, Plant Delights is consistent with
delivery of fine plant material and exemplary customer service. I added plants to this year's order
and changed the shipping date and address. The plants arrived yesterday and look as if I picked
them myself from the hoop houses. More than once Mr. Lee has called or e-mailed
me to iron out a detail, and Mr. Avent himself answers many of my questions personally. Other
catalogs take themselves so seriously and then send out subpar stock. In any case, I just wanted to
brighten your day a bit. I recommend you regularly on the internet horticulture chat rooms I
frequent. Come Fall, I'll be (hopefully) ordering that Aspidistra I've been bothering Tony about!
Thanks again.
J.M.L.. via email 10/02
Dear Tony and Your Entire Staff Of Operations:
Thank you for my recent shipment. I have to take the time to tell you what nice plants I
received yesterday! The entire staff deserves to be recognized as very professional, friendly and
conscientious regarding customer orders! The order call in and communication was excellent as
well as the shipping and packaging of my plants! I appreciate each and every one of you for
your dedication. I know that I am not a "big spender" and my orders usually are spread out
throughout the year. This is based on the old tradition of "limited cash flow in my direction!"
Ha! Smile......True though!
I have to add that your catalog surpasses all others that I receive and it is often kept and used as
reference material for me . I was not aware that you would like feed back regarding plant
hardiness. I keep documentation on all of my "zone stretching plants!" Feel free to contact me
at any time about this. You are certainly right about geographical/ artificial terrain affects plant
hardiness. Keep up the good work and consider me very interested in any new plants
for experimental purposes and hobby!!!
Sincerely and with Much Thanks,
D. P. In Ohio
Dear Plant Delights Nursery Folks:
When your plants arrived we were so excited. they were the first we ever ordered from
your nursery. We had bad experiences from other mail order plants so it was not without
trepidation that I placed the order. But as we unwrapped them, and saw how lovingly each was
wrapped and how healthy they all were, we knew we had made an excellent choice. We planted
your plants, as well as some others from local nurseries and we then sat back to watch the show
unfold. Each day was a new pleasure. 100% of all your plants not only survived, but did exactly
as you said they would. They were/are beautiful. We have received so many wonderful
compliments from our neighbors and complete strangers. Our garden is a pure delight to us and
something that has given us such pleasure. I have thought many times this summer about writing
this note to you and finally decided to do it after this weekend when one of our neighbors brought
5 friends over for a stroll thru the gardens. What smiles they all had. So I am writing to thank
you for producing and making available such wonderful plants. We are thrilled. Today I'm
looking at
your fall catalogue and planning to order a few more plants. I can't wait until next spring to
see it all unfold again only bigger and better. Forgive me for prattling on but it is so nice to be
able to write such a pleasurable letter. Thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful fall and
holiday season. Sincerely, Your number 1 fan on Long Beach Island N.J.
S.B. in NJ
Dear Staff,
We just received our first plants from your nursery. To say we were impressed is an
understatement!! We have order from many companies over the years and yours is BY FAR the
best! In your catalog ad you referred to chocolates. xxxxxx said to tell you that, with a small bit
of groveling, he would make his famous "Fort Knox Brownies" and Fed Ex them to you! He was
completely knocked out by the condition, size, root structure of your products!
Thanks again L.M. via email 3/03
Dear Plant Delights:
Just to let you know that the catalog arrived here yesterday into the hinterlands. The cover reaches a new
high (or is that low) and I predict your nursery will soon change its name to "Weird Flower Farm"
(Genetically modified Amos Pettingill, proprietor) Anyway great pics and plants.
J.W. in Missouri 1/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I have heart palpitations every time I browse online or peruse your catalog.
I think you are one of the best nurseries around. Your inventory is fabulous
and each plant comes well packed and healthy. In all the orders I have made
with you, I have had problems with only one plant. I emailed your company and
was given some advice. It remains to be seen this spring if it works, but I
did appreciate the assistance.
Thanks for being so great!
Dear Plant Delights:
I just received my new catalog and as usual I'm like a kid with a new toy. I love reading through your
catalogs, and never stop reading until.....well, I never stop - I keep reading and looking until the next one
comes out!
I often take it to bed at night and sit up and browse - again and again and again. My wife is always
wondering what's happening when I burst out laughing and wake her up. You are a "hoot", you know? I
can almost imagine your personality!
I really enjoy along with you the entire concept of "new" and "different" and "strange". That's why I'm
always so eager to get the catalog. The only problem is that when I get through it the first time, I have a
check-mark beside every item in there! Any cure for the problem? Don't tell me to order all of them - my
wife would shoot one of us! And I'm so afraid it wouldn't be you!
I love the amorphophallus collection - combining the Latin with the pictures, the cartoons, the comments, it
didn't take long for me to catch the subtle undertones. I might try one of them later, but I'm not that brave
yet. I hear they have one down at the gay bar in town, but I haven't seen it. Perhaps they need one in
each of the prisons - that would straighten them out! I was explaining to my wife what amorphophallus
meant and she said, "We sure don't need two in the family!"
I am in the process of going back through the catalog and seeing what I can do with that second "little
box". I really don't see how I can live without any of the plants in the catalog, so I might wind up on a
respirator when I have to trim the list! Give my regards to your wife - she has to be a real jewel to put up
with you!
W.S. in AK 1/03
Dear Plant Delights:
I see in your new catalogue you have the Amorphophallus titanum for sale. If I would order this beast, just
how large is the bulb that you would send me? I think those plants are way cool.....would love to have
one, but if I ordered one and spouse found out about it, I might also have to get an attorney! Not good, but
I have been able to get things past him on many occasions.....Hmmmm....I suppose I could always let on
like I got it on a trade, which wouldn't be a lie, really......I would trade you $100 for one.
A.Z. via email 1/03
Dear Tony:
I had the opportunity to visit Plant Delights during the 2001 Hosta Convention, and all I can say is WOW! I
just finished reading your catalog cover to cover, and I must say, it's going to take a while before I can
narrow my selections down to what will fit within my garden and my budget.
Thanks for a terrific, informative and entertaining catalog. My order will be forthcoming, shortly.
P.U. in Minn. 1/03
To all the lovely people at Plant Delights,
I received my first order from you guys a few weeks ago, and I am absolutely thrilled with it!
After doing business with 2 other "top" name mail order companies, I didn't expect to receive
such wonderfully healthy and well packaged plants. They are all thriving in my garden, many of
them blooming already. However, I have run into a HUGE problem with your plants...
It was as I was planting the Kniphofia rooperi that I realized I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH ROOM
IN MY GARDEN FOR EVERYTHING I WANT TO ORDER FROM PLANT DELIGHTS!!! I
fretted (and sweated) my way through the rest of the planting, and by the time I had finished, I
had come up with a solution to our problem...Roundup!! The next night, after my girlfriend
started snoring, I snuck out into the yard with my economy-size bottle of roundup and cleared
the way for another order from Plant Delights! I am assembling that order now, and y'all should
be hearing from me again soon. Thanks very much for the beautiful plants!
Sincerely
L.K. in FL 9/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I recently received an order from y'all. i read about you in the 'Horticulture' magazine, they had
an article about the crinums in their column called 'Worth Growing'. I must admit I was
skeptical about the mail order, previous experiences had left me with a rater sour impression of
the mail order plant industry. But still, I had never seen so beautiful a lily so I decided to take
one last chance.
Well, was I surprised, the whole operation was painless. your representative who called
to get a physical address was polite on the phone, although i only got his message, he seemed to
project pride of product in his message. the plants arrived on time and were in beautiful
condition, unlike the shriveled up specimens i had receive from other companies.
and your catalog, what a hoot! At any rate thanks again, looking forward to placing my next
order-
B.R. in CA 9/02
Hello. I just received my order and had to write and tell you how delighted I am with you guys.
I placed my order only two days ago and was amazed when it arrived today. I was even more
amazed when I unpacked it. I've ordered from many nurseries in the past, but NEVER have I
received such beautifully packaged and healthy plants. I was shocked at how well rooted and
big they were. The brugmansia and saccharum barely fit into 8" pots, which was the largest size
I had on hand. All the plants were moist, well grown, and very happy looking when I took them
out of the box.
The first thing I did after I put them in pots was get online and rave about you guys to my friends
on the GardenWeb. So many nursery shipments end with disappointment and so many of us get
discouraged at times. You have renewed my faith in the nursery business, and be assured I will
spread the word. I am one seriously delighted customer. Thank you for a job very well done!
P. R. via email 10/02
Hi Folks,
I have a couple questions about my order/plants, but first I wanted to take this opportunity to
thank all the friendly people at Plant Delights for getting my plants to Connecticut in a happy,
healthy state.
I also wanted to say that Plant Delights is second to none in their offerings of rare and unusual
plants. I live in zone 5b/6a (depending on the winter) and it used to seem that most of the really
strange and interesting plants grew south of here, until I encountered Plant Delights.
I hope you keep up the plant exploration, the wonderfully descriptive (and hilarious) catalog and
more new and interesting plants that can survive zone 5 on up. Lastly, your website is an
excellent resource. I have read all of Tony's expedition logs and appreciate the focused, in depth
articles, not to mention the great plant pictures.
Thanks for your help and best wishes to all at Plant Delights,
J.G. via email 6/22/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I just wanted to tell you how pleased I was by my order I received from your company.
I order from many of the top vendors and can honestly say that your plants arrived the best of I
encountered. They were all neatly wrapped and very large plants and in superb condition.
You also carry a lot of plants that you just don't find in any other catalog or nursery. I am at the
point in my perennial gardening that I now am searching for "different" plants and your
company seem to fit that.
Usually through mail order you open your box and find a tiny stick or stem popping out of the
soil. To say the least when I opened your box, I was absolutely thrilled when I saw the size and
condition of the plants you sent.
I can honestly say this has truly been a rewarding experience working with your company. I
look forward to my next order through your company. Thanks again - and one of these times I
will send a box of
chocolate from our local chocolate store. Thanks again.
D.M. via email 6/24/02
Hi Plant Delights;
We received the plant shipment on Friday of last week. All of the plants look great. I truly
have not seen such vigorous, large plants in 4" pots before. The health and vigor were quite
impressive. The Master Gardeners we have working with us were also really excited. They are
I am sure spreading the word regarding the quality of the perennials from Plant Delights
Nursery.
J.R. in WI 5/02
Dear Plant Delights;
My shipment (aka my babies) arrived on May 17th. I opened the box to find each plant carefully
wrapped in swaddling clothes and needing a diaper change. I am not exaggerating when I tell
you I have never received a plant shipment prepared with such loving care. This speaks a lot
about how you treat your plants as well as your customers. After unpacking, tamping
all the soil carefully in the pots and placing them in the shade they started to awaken
immediately. After several hours it was hard to distinguish them from others sitting waiting to be
planted.
I would not hesitate buying anything from you, confident that it would arrive ready to go/grow. I
have my sights on the Arisaemea and Epimedium in your catalog. As an aside, your edgy
comments in the catalog are hilarious. Keep em coming!
Regards,
I just received my first plant order from your company and I must say I'm
very impressed. They were packed perfect. The plants look great. If they
grow as well as they look, they'll be a fantastic addition to my shade
garden. Thanks
B.G. in VA 4/12/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I wanted to write and tell you how pleased I was with my recent order. My plants arrived
promptly and in the best condition I have ever received from any other mail order plant source. I
also want to compliment you on your very easy to use web site. I will be back and tell others.
Thank you.
G.L. in WA 5/3/02
Dear Plant Delights:
Your shipment was waiting for me when I got home last Friday evening the 3rd. The plants
were all in wonderful condition and I was quite pleased with them. That being said, I will
probably never mail order from you again, because where I came home FROM was your Open
House. I have not had such fun in years-- hundreds of people talking plants, plants, plants, and
willing to include strangers in the conversations-- and such wonderful things to buy
(Who could resist a plant named "Ape's Armpits"?). Went way over budget, and had an absolute
blast. As long as you have your Open Houses, I will pay for your catalogue, but buy in person
for the sheer joy of being there. (Six hours' drive going & six coming, and cheap at the price.)
J. D in MD 5/5/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I just received the order I placed this year. I wanted you to know how very pleased I am with the
plants that were shipped and the care that went into packing them. I have been ordering plants
by mail-order for twenty-five years and believe that this order is one of the best values for my
money that I have received. If I would have known about your nursery in the past, you would
have got all my business. Next year, your web site is the only one that I will review. Please
keep up the good work. I look forward to doing much more business with you in the future.
Sincerely R. S. via email 5/4/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I just unpacked my order and it is beautiful! I have never received plants in such good condition. I
really must insist that you start growing everything that I want so that I can enjoy the thrill of opening
your packages. (instead of the dread that often accompanies mail order plants)
I will be using your company whenever you grow something that I need. The heck with shopping
around for price!
Thank you for the care you lavish on growing and shipping your plants.
J.S. in VA
Dear Plant Delights:
I received my order today, 04/25/02, and would just like to tell you that in the 35 years I have
been receiving mail order plants, the ones I received today are the finest I have ever seen. They
are more like nursery plants than mail order. I would recommend your catalog to anyone
interested in plants.
C.M. 4/02 via email
Hi Plant Delights:
I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the quality of the plants I have received
from Plant Delights. This is the second season I have purchased your plants, and they are by far
of the nicest quality. Very lush and vigorous and showing much more growth than plants from
other nurseries. Just FYI, I ordered agapanthus last year from (name of SC Nursery omitted -ed)
and they arrived in very poor shape -- one did not survive more than a week. I ordered 2
replacements from Plant Delights and there was no comparison. Your plants were healthy and
nicely sized (at a better price, I think, too). I rarely send companies that I do business with this
kind of mail, but I am really impressed with your product. The colocasia and panicum that I
unpacked today also were beautiful. Thanks very much.
K. R. via email 4/02
Dear Plant Delights:
I just wanted to take time to thank you for keeping me on your plant catalog mailing list.
I look forward to every catalog you sent out. It is probably the best organized, and beautifully
illustrated catalog on the market. I can't order much because I am totally and permanently
disabled. My only source of income is my monthly workers compensation check. So, when I
make a purchase, it is after much reading, planning, research, and skimping on money. Please
keep me on your mailing list. I look forward to every issue!
T. B. in NC 11/01
Dear Plant Delights:
It's a good thing I have a birthday and then Christmas coming up after than. At least I can write
off my purchases on those two events... There should be a law against putting out a catalog as
tempting as yours....Now, let's see, in the spring I can go with Mother's Day, even though I have
no children; perhaps Mayday and Easter can also be used as excuses to purchase from the
catalog.
M.S. in CA 10/01
Dear Plant Delights:
Today, I got your catalog - nine days after all hell was unleashed on our beloved USA. I
don't think I have breathed easy or laughed since that black day. I just had to write and say
thanks to you all for your absolutely delightful breath of sunshine, so funny and smart. How
good it felt to laugh - really laugh - during these dark and somber days. I hope to order from you
soon, but for now, I just wanted to say thanks! God Bless you and God Bless America.
D.C. in AL 9/01
Dear Plant Delights:
Thank you so much - first of all, it was a pleasure that you allowed me to visit your place when I
was in North Carolina - I know you had mentioned everyone would be very busy, however,
everyone made it clear that I was welcome, would be happy to answer questions, etc - what a
pleasure it was wandering around your place, although I would have preferred a somewhat
cooler day - I obviously was thrilled with your selection, since I picked out 30 plants that were
shipped and arrived 2 days ago - can't think of a better way to say how pleased I was other than
having ordered 10 more plants today - still drooling over the awesome/weird/funky plants - just
my style - by the way - humor is what keeps us alive, and makes life worth living, so keep it
coming - I like your attitude about customers - kindness begets kindness - anyway, my little
backyard, my own private garden of eden awaits your second shipment - thank you once again -
D.S in NJ
To Tony and the Gang at Plant Delights Nursery:
I just wanted to write to you to tell you how pleased I am with the plants you shipped to me this
past spring (order number 49756). Each plant arrived in perfect condition and has thrived in my
zone 5 Oak Brook garden. The Hibiscus 'Kopper King' has bloomed for me this year: beautiful
huge blooms and fantastic copper colored foliage. The Persicaria 'Red Dragon' got so big, I
pruned it back a bit to get fuller. It goes well with the heuchera 'crimson curls' I have planted
next to it. The Physostegia 'Miss Manners' had prolific blooms and was true to its name, not
wandering all over the garden. Finally, the panicum 'Dallas Blues' you shipped must have been
on steroids. It is over six feet tall and five feet wide. A giant! Had no idea it would get so huge
its first year. So, thank you again for sending me such wonderful plants. I usually hesitate to
order for catalogues, but the quality of your plant material is outstanding.
A. S. in IL
Dear Tony,
I had a total knee replacement on Aug. 6 and was sent to a nursing home for rehab. This place was the medical equivalent of Fawlty Towers. Richard (my beautiful and charming spouse) brought your catalog to the home because he knew I would want to see it. It saved my life.
I have to tell you that I spent 2 days going over every word and it helped me to survive that mad house. When the person in the next room started to bang her rocker against the wall at 2:00 am, I got up and read the catalog. When the woman across the hall started to chant "Ellie, Ellie, Ellie" for hours at a crack, I got up and read the catalog. It improved my humor and calmed my nerves.
Unfortunately I have marked about 50 plants as must-haves but can't order any of them until I can work in the garden again. I suppose I will have to wait until the Winter Study Weekend and make a trip to Plant Delights then to get a fix.
So, your catalog turned out to be the best get-well card I got. I recommend it for any gardener confined to bed. As a member of Garden Writers of America, I ask that you please keep me
on the mailing list. Thanks again for the laughs.
B.A. in OH
Dear Plant Delights:
You guys are so great to order from. Such a clear website, even a novice like myself can work it through so easily. YOU ARE TO BE CONGRATUALTED. So many sites are so confusing. Sometimes I just give up!
The plants I ordered from you last spring are thriving, and just look super. Therefore, I am sending in a fall order, too. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
C. G. via email
Dear Plant Delights,
I'd like to compliment you on the quality of your plants and the condition in which they arrived.
They made a killer gift for my in-laws who, after recovering from "sticker shock", are excited by
the fact that they WILL have the coolest hostas in the neighborhood. [Note to children of frugal
parents, etc.: If you forget to take the pricetag off an exceptionally nice gift, just say, "Don't
worry, It was one of those really good internet deals...almost free when you consider no tax and
cheap shipping! Ha! For the record, "cheers" your new catalog format (pictures next to each
plant name and description). I've just started getting into this gardening thing because my wife
wouldn't let me pave the entire backyard. Hell, I don't even know the names of half the stuff I've
got in the ground, which amuses the M.G.G. (Master Garden Granny] across the street. So until
I know a Muhlenbergia capillaris from a Muhlenbergia filipes, I need the photos
Thanks from Memphis, TN - where we say, "Honk your horn if you voted for Gore - that's the
round button in the middle of your steering wheel."
K..D. in Memphis TN 3/29/01
Dear Plant Delights:
AS an organic-growing tree-hugging environmentally-conscious social misfit, your philosophy
and catalog are unparalleled. I hope your business prospers, and secretly long for "the list" of
businesses to which bad customers are directed.
L.V.D. in Kansas 3/20/01
Dear Plant Delights:
I order many plants via mail, but yours are BY FAR the nicest when they come in! The chunk of
Hedychium is HUGE! The Koreal tassel fern I got is truly the prettiest plant I ever bought (bar
none) - you don't praise it enough in your catalog. I could go on and on - but just let me say;
THANKS (I want to plant these and order more..I had to cut my list down not due to budget..
but to lot size! Here's hoping something else in my garden dies and leaves me room.
L.G. via email 2/16/01
Hello folks! Your new catalog just arrived. Had to write to inform you that we just love the back
cover but find the butterfly ballot much too complicated for our somewhat retarded
comprehension. For gaud sake can't you design a simpler one. We vote for Burning Bush. Now
don't get that confused with Butterfly Bush otherwise we'll probably have to take you to court
and, be forewarned, the judges in Alabama are f.....in' mean as hell. Keep well. We'll be sending
a mega-order soon.
G. M. J. in Alabama
2/1/01
Dear Plant Delights:
My compliments to your company and catalog. In the many years of growing and
executing plants, I have not enjoyed a catalog as much as yours. The plant information, the ease
of selecting plants for purchase, the quality information associated with each one, and most
important the sprinkling of humor makes this publication the best. This is not an unsolicited
testimonial to sweet talk you into keeping me on the mailing list. I have completed my first
reading and will not look at and order for plants we can't live without. Best of luck to you all.
L. A. in Kentucky 1/15/01
Dear Plant Delights:
My order arrived in great shape Thursday! I have never bought a plant from you folks that did
not thrive. You pay for what you get. There are no short cuts to quality plants. I really look
forward to your catalog each time they are sent. Being primarily home bound, it is such a joy to
walk around the yard several times each day to see what has happened overnight with all my
plants. I have five herniated disk in my back with chronic pain, not complaining because I have
too much to complain. Just thought you might appreciate some positive feedback.
R. M via email 10/15/00
Dear Plant Delights:
I just read your "hate mail" section. Ignore the hate mail!!! Hey, I'm a registered
Democrat, but took no offense at the presidential comments, etc., but thought it funny. I look
forward each year to your open houses, and whether or not I really plan to buy plants, I always
leave with some. Your place is different, always a pleasure to visit, you and your staff are
pleasant and courteous, and the number of cars in the parking lots certainly indicate that many
people agree. Your sense of humor is part of what makes your catalog fascinating, so those who
say they are so offended needn't read it. You have plenty of customers without those who
cannot see humor in your remarks - in fact, they probably wouldn't recognize humor anywhere.
F. C. in Garner, NC 8/2/00
Dear Plant Delights:
Your catalog is pure hortisexual pornography!
B.G. in Gualala, CA 6/2/00
Dear To Whom it May Concern:
I just became familiar with your catalog last year and have just made my third purchase.
Your plants have arrived in great shape and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to pick
from the unique variety of plants you offer. I have recieved many plants over the years by mail
order and am not always thrilled with what I've received.
Every time I have called, I have always spoken to someone very pleasant and helpful.
Admittedly, I was somewhat concerned before calling the first time, after reading "How to be a
Good Customer". Frankly, I'm a cop and have a tendency to be somewhat abrupt. I just wanted
to take a moment and say thanks for the service your offering.
S. W. In Stillwater, OK 1/19/00
Dear Goofy Guys at Plant Delights:
I completely love your web site, especially your hate mail section. I've certainly never seen
such a section on any other gardening sites, so I had to check it out - I needed a good laugh and I
thank you for your contribution to my day. I recommend you all to all of my garden friends.
Keep up the fun, good work.
D. O. via email 1/26/01
Dear Sirs:
I think your use of humor to help all of us to get through this at times strange life is
sorely needed. I've always believed that taking your self of any one else too seriously is very
limiting point of view. Arthus Koester wrote a tretise about humor and found about as many
types of humor as there are emotions. Humor may just save us all from self destruction. I for
one think humor and life are inseparable.
L. B. via e-mail 1/19/01
Dear Plant Delights:
I finally got to see the plants yesterday and was most impressed by their size and
magnificence. I am used to the miserable scraps sold by English nurserymen, who divide
everything into single shoots whenever possible! They're all potted and put in the shade to
recover. With many thanks for all your efforts.
J. G. in the U.K. 5/2/00
Dear Plant Delights:
Just a note from a happy customer. I enjoyed looking at your catalog - the irreverent
humor was a refreshing change from the dull, blah, boring gardening catalogs. The catalog was
full of unusual plants - I have a very small budget, and I only wish I could order everything I
liked. You promised to ship the order April 3 - and it arrived April 5 in beautiful condition. The
order was complete, even though I had phoned in a change, and everything was in remarkably
good condition - soil damp, leaves and stems were greeen and firm. You did a great job packing
- thank you. I will order again next catalog - thank you so much!!!
J.P. in Kings Park, NY 4/7/00
Dear Plant Delights:
I have been ordering plants/shrubs from catalogs for years (and more recently over the
internet). I have never received such healthy, mature looking plants as just arrived at my door
from you folks. I love your catalog; beautiful pictures forcing me to add onto my prior order;
great descriptions and more than a touch of humor in the writing. And I enjoyed my phone
conversation with the guy who took my order additions. Everything arrived promptly and in tip-
top condition. I'm passing your name, internet addresss, and phone number to all of my
gardening friends.
K.H. via email 3/16/00
Dear Plant Deligths:
Wow! My order just arrived and it is outstanding! Both the quality and the size of the
plants are way beyond what I expected. And they were also very well packed - no damage even
to the flowers and buds that were on some of them. Thank you for such a "delightful" mailorder
experience! I'll be sending for more, I'm sure.
A. E. via email 3/15/00
Dear Plant Delights:
I want all of the arisaema you offer, but my husband will not consider spending the
grocery money on inedible plants. The Mars Chocolate Factory is nearby, maybe...oh no, I just
got to page 32 - the hosta!!! How much "time" would a 50 years old, wife, mother,
grandmother, nurse, avid gardner get for knocking off a chocolate factory? Bartering with
stamps is out of the question...a federal offense.
C.J. in NJ 2/20/00
Thank you for my recent shipment of order # 44927. I have to take the
time to tell you what
nice plants I received yesterday! The entire staff deserves to be
recognized as very
professional, friendly and conscientious regarding customer orders! The
order call in and
communication was excellent as well as the shipping and packaging of my
plants! I appreciate
each and every one of you for your dedication. I know that I am not a "big
spender" and my
orders usually are spread out throughout the year. This is based on the
old tradition of "limited
cash flow in my direction!" Ha! Smile......True though! I have to add
that your catalog
surpasses all others that I receive and it is often kept and used as
reference material for me .
Keep up the good work and consider me very interested in any new plants
for experimental
purposes and hobby!!!
D.P. in Ohio
Dear Plant Delights Nursery folks;
Last fall and winter my husband and I, mostly my husband, worked very hard
to design beds at
our new home. Finally we were ready for the plants. When your plants
arrived we were so
excited. they were the first we ever ordered from your nursery. We had bad
experiences from
other mail order plants so it was not without trepidation that I placed the
order. But as we
unwrapped them, and saw how lovingly each was wrapped and how healthy they
all were, we
knew we had made an excellent choice.
We planted your plants, as well as some others from local nurseries and
we then sat back
to watch the show unfold. Each day was a new pleasure. 100% of all your
plants not only
survived, but did exactly as you said they would. They were/are beautiful.
We have received so
many wonderful compliments from our neighbors and complete strangers. Our
garden is a pure
delight to us and something that has given us such pleasure. I have thought
many times this
summer about writing this note to you and finally decided to do it after
this weekend when one
of our neighbors brought 5 friends over for a stroll thru the gardens. What
smiles they all had.
So I am writing to thank you for producing and making available such
wonderful plants. We are
thrilled. Today I'm looking at your fall catalogue and planning to order a
few more plants. I
can't wait until next spring to see it all unfold again only bigger and
better. Forgive me for
prattling on but it is so nice to be able to write such a pleasurable
letter. Thanks again and I hope
you have a wonderful fall and holiday season.
Sincerely, Your number 1 fan on Long Beach Island N.J.,
S.B.
"I have never written to a nursery before. Never, but never, have I received such healthy plants by
mail order. I was speechless. I wish I had ordered a dozen more." - A.J. in MA
"Keep up the humor! Do you know that you can always tell a dogwood tree by its bark! Boy, that
was really cornus! Thanks for the humor." - B.J. in FL
"Your nursery exceeded my highest expectations!" - P.K. in CO
"What fun! Where have you been all my gardening life?" - J.P.S. in RI
"I once knew of a great underwear catalog from Raleigh - do you share the same writer, or does that
part of the world just naturally produce great funny catalog writers?" -R.L. in OR
"I am delighted with my plants! The plants I received were huge, especially the two hostas. I will
be ordering again as soon a I get the money together." K.C.L. in Ohio
'You outdid yourself again with your catalog, outstanding! I am feverishly revising my perennials
book, but with your catalog, there is probably no need." - A.A. in GA
"Having spent a lifetime reading and writing catalogues including the Hillier's Manual of Trees and
Shrubs, I have to tell you how much I have enjoyed reading yours. I particularly like your sense of
humor." - R.L. in England
"Have often thought about writing to thank you for the great hostas. Really appreciated the nice
starts which quickly become beautiful plants. A friend was admiring one of your great specimens.
He could not believe it when I told him I received it in the mail last week. I have tried other
nurseries, but none compare. Have determined to use your plants even when they are a few dollars
more - though they are usually not. Your great hostas and great prices are a winning combination." -
T.K. in IN
"What a joy to read your catalog! I laughed so much & had so much fun. I took it to work the next
day and shared it with my team members." - R.K. in NC
"I know you probably think I really need a life...getting so excited about a plant catalog, but it's just
so rare to find another person with such an outlandish sense of humor and the freedom to express it."
- C.L.P. in FL
"When I opened the box, what a very pleasant surprise! I can't begin to tell you how pleased I was.
Each plant had a least three eyes!" - B.A. in IL
"I just wanted to express how thoroughly I enjoyed your catalog. Your catalog is wonderfully
detailed and informative, and the photography is beautiful. It makes me wish I had more money." -
A.D. in CA
"I wanted to thank you for my order I recently received. The hostas you sent were the nicest I ever
purchased through mail order." - S.F. in PA
"I placed two orders with you recently and was quite pleased with everything, except for an arisaema
which did not recover from the shipping trauma. I am writing to express my gratitude for you
sending me a replacement plant which arrived in perfect condition and is thriving with such speed.
Your staff was most courteous and helpful. Also, I must sing the praises of your asarums. Once
again, thank you for the great plants and fine service." -A.D. in CA
"I'm absolutely delighted with my first plants from Plant Delights Nursery. They were masterfully
packed and much bigger, healthier, and realer than I expected. I can't wait till tomorrow to plant
them. Thanks for a great catalog. Everyone I've dealt with at Plant Delights has been unfailingly
friendly, helpful, and HUMAN." - L.L. via email
"I received my order on Wednesday. Everything was great! I don't know how you managed to wrap
everything in the shredded paper so that it all came out without a big hassle or even a bigger mess.
Very generous and healthy divisions." T. E. in CT
"Instead of returning the reply card I received with my recent order, I am sending this e-mail to let
you know how pleased I was with the condition of the plants I ordered. I've browsed the catalog for
the past two years and finally took the dive and ordered some plants. The plants arrived in great
condition thanks to the packaging. The hosta has three large eyes, and in definitely not the puny type
I've gotten from other companies. The rest of the perennials were large, healthy, and in good shape.
Thanks very much for the great service. I'm already making-up my next order." -T. M. via e-mail
"I received my plant order yesterday, and I was so impressed by the quality and size of the plants.
This was my first order, but it won't be my last. You'd better believe my friends will hear about your
great nursery." - L.O. via e-mail
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