Canadian mail-order
Ann DeVito
companies. Are there any that you recommend highly for their service and
products? Are there any that you have vowed to avoid like the plague?
It would be nice to have something other than glowing promises and glossy
pictures to go on...
Thanks,
Ann DeVito
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Zone 2
Connie Cho
problem I had was that some of the lilies weren't what I had ordered,
but that was a minor point for me. The shipping was quite fast, and
the plants were healthy and well packed. It is a good idea to compare
shop, since the prices can be a fair bit higher in one than the other.
If you like lilies, daylilies and peonies, Honeywood in Saskatchewan
has a pretty good selection, and letters are answered promptly; that
is a nice touch. McMillen's Iris Garden has a huge selection of
irises, but I found them expensive, so I did not order from them.
There are actually a lot of mailorder places in Canada.
Irwin Naumann
Ann, I have ordered from Stokes, McFayden, and McConnell.
Stokes Seeds based in St. Catharines, Ontario has always been thorough with my
orders for seeds. If the entire order cannot be filled, partial orders are sent
until the entire order is filled. I have not had any substitutions for my
seed selections except for unavailability due to devastated seed sources.
McFayden based in Brandon, Manitoba has been excellent. I have ordered
seeds, plants and bulbs from them.
Their plants are guaranteed 100%. McFayden will replace plants that do not
grow or survive. Some plants did not survive and McFayden gave me a credit
towards future purchases. It was too late in the growing season to get new
plants.
McConnell Nurseries in Port Burwell is on my avoid-like-the-plague list.
McConnell substituted plants for popular items. Their plants were pathetic.
Some plants had rotted in their plastics containers by the time I got them.
Others had weeds growing in the same containers. One container had a weed
instead of the clematis I ordered. The size of the plants were 1/4 to 1/2 the
size of comparable plants from McFayden or local nurseries.
Their bulbs were of poorer quality than those from the other mail-order houses
and local nurseries/garden centres I frequent.
I had to write a couple of letters to get replacements for plants that did
not survive the trip through Canada Post. It took over a year to get replacement
plants.
Irwin Naumann
Peter Smith
good success with 3 companies: Stokes, T&T and Vesey's.
Everyone is aware of Stokes' size and selection. Their quality has
been top notch, though they have made mistakes with my orders (they
admitted it was their fault). Excellent info from catalogue, and
their germination rates are great.
T&T from Manitoba and Vesey's from Prince Edward Island have also been
good to me, and a bit more personal. I have attached minor queries to
order form and these two companies' reps have responded; Stokes
didn't. With the smaller company size comes less variety, of course.
T&T has a lot of bulbs and rootstock in addition to vegetable seed.
Vesey's is primarily vegetable/flower seed, with the claim that all
their seeds are for "short season" gardeners.
In my opinion, you can't go far wrong with any of the above.
Enjoy
sj...@bnr.ca
I've had good success with their seeds.
As for plants, I've ordered from Cruikshanks -- expensive and good
quality and Rockwood Gardens -- cheap, but quality still OK. The only
problem with Rockwood is the vast amount of absolutely horrid "you may
already be a winner" mail they send and the lack of quality info in their
mailings. Still, though, their prices are excellent and the plants all
grew for me.
cheers,
Jane
--
sj...@bnr.ca It's not irrelevant; it's a hippopotamus. -- Flanders&Swann
botanika
Avoid Rockwood Gardens in Rockwood, Ontario. They have to be the worst
supplier of plants anywhere, even if they do guarantee them.
"Once bitten twice shy"
Sandra P. Hoffman
Richter's in Goodwood Ontario for herb seeds and plants. Their service
and the quality has always been good. They have an excellent selection
of herb books also.
Stokes, as has already been mentioned.
I also ordered from Vesey's and William Dam Seeds this year. I was pleased
with what I got from both.
sph
--
Pat & George Kiewicz
dev...@cs.usask.ca (Ann DeVito) writes:
>I'd like to hear from people who have had experience with Canadian mail-order
>companies. Are there any that you recommend highly for their service and
>products? Are there any that you have vowed to avoid like the plague?
>
>It would be nice to have something other than glowing promises and glossy
>pictures to go on...
>
>Thanks,
>Ann DeVito
>Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Zone 2
I live in the States, but I have ordered from one Canadian Nursery --
Corn Hill Nursery in New Brunswick (hardy roses). The plants arrived
in excellent condition, very nicely packed. I can only assume that
the rest of their nursery stock is of the same quality (roses were all
they would ship to the US).
Corn Hill Nursery
RR 5 Petitcodiac, N. B.
EOA 2HO
TEL (506)756-3635
I'm also a Stoke's Seed customer -- though I send my orders to Buffalo NY.
Springtime -- won't be long before I'll be heading south to Canada to see
the birds at Pt. Pelee National Park...
--
//Pat Kiewicz\\
"Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn."
-- Garrison Keillor
Monica Kreiner
: I'd like to hear from people who have had experience with Canadian mail-order
Weldon Bona
(Sandra P. Hoffman) wrote:
>
>
> In a previous article, dev...@cs.usask.ca (Ann DeVito) says:
>
> >I'd like to hear from people who have had experience with Canadian mail-order
> >companies. Are there any that you recommend highly for their service and
> >products? Are there any that you have vowed to avoid like the plague?
> >
> >It would be nice to have something other than glowing promises and glossy
> >pictures to go on...
> >
My experience with ROCKWOOD was awful I'd never order from them again.
Don't order from these guys. Not one of the plants I ordered last season
survived. And I have 2 green thumbs.
Rainforest Gardens has a great selection and plants arrived here from BC in
great condition.
CORNHILL in N.B. has a great selection of roses, trees, etc. Excellent
service and great pllants.
Hortico has a great selection but are late in getting orders out (the last
to arrive) but their prices and variety may make them worthwhile.
Hardy Roses for the North give excellent service and very reasonably priced
roses.
My favourite mailorder perennial place though is Sterling Perennials in
Ont. They have a small, but excellent catalog, excellent prices, healthy
plants and give free bonuses. I love em!
--
Weldon Bona
7 Park Street
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Canada B1P 4W3
Phone (902) 562-7675 Fax: 902) 562-9869
eMail: wb...@fox.nstn,ns.ca
Janet Wilson
very happy with both companies.
--
--:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---
The above comments attributable to: Janet_...@mindlink.bc.ca
--:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---:---
Ann DeVito
Thanks to all who answered my query about mail-order sources
in Canada. Below is a summary of companies that were and
were NOT recommended.
******Recommended********
All of the following companies received effusive praise for excellent
service and quality. The catalogue prices that appear are the
latest I could find, but may be out-of-date.
Stokes Seeds
Box 10
St. Catherines, Ontario
L2R 6R6
Wide selection of vegetable and flower seeds; informative
catalogue.
Lee Valley Tools, Ltd.
P.O. Box 6295, Station J
Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1T4
Phone: 1-800-267-8767 (Ottawa residents call 596-0350)
FAX: 1-800-668-1807
Tools, books, assorted gardening paraphenalia.
Cruickshank's
1015 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, Ontario M4P 2M1
1-800-665-5605
Bulbs and plants. Excellent quality and service, but expensive.
($2.00 for first catalogue?)
Gardenimport, Inc.
P.O. Box 760
Thornhill, Ontario L3T 4A5
Tel 905-731-1950
Fax: 905-881-3499
Flowering bulbs and perennial flowers.
($2.00 for 4 catalogues over two years.)
Honeywood Lilies
Box 63
Parkside, SK S0J 2A0
Perennials, esp. lilies, peonies, daylilies.
McFayden Seed Co., Ltd.
Box 1800
Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6N4
Seeds, plants, and bulbs. Plants are guaranteed 100%.
Richters
Box 26
Goodwood, Ontario L0C 1A0
Herb seeds and plants; also herb books.
Gardens North
5984 Third Line Road N.
RR3
North Gower, Ontario K0A 2T0
Seeds for hardy perennials, grasses.
William Dam Seeds
Box 8400
Dundas, Ontario L9H 6M1
Vegetable, herb, and flower seeds.
Prairie Grown Garden Seeds
Box 118
Cochin, SK S0M 0L0
(306) 386-2737
Mainly vegetable seeds, cultivated organically on
the prairies.
Vesey's Seeds, Ltd.
York, PEI
C0A 1P0
Primarily vegetable/flower seed, with the claim that
all their seeds are for short-season gardeners.
T&T Seeds Ltd.
Box 1710
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3P6
(204)-956-2777 (order desk)
(204)-943-8483
Bulbs and rootstock in addition to vegetable seed.
Alberta Nurseries & Seeds Ltd.
Box 20
Bowden, Alberta T0M 0k0
403 224 3544 (voice)
403 224 2455 (fax)
"A very reputable supplier of seeds and plants suitable for our
[chilly] part of the world."
Corn Hill Nursery
RR 5
Petitcodiac, N. B.
EOA 2HO
TEL (506)756-3635
Hardy roses, trees, and other plants. Highly praised. Catalogue
$2.00, refundable.
Sterling Perennials
RR1
Morpeth, Ontario
N0P 1X0
Hardy perennials at a good price. (Catalogue $1.00?)
****Recommended with reservations******
Hortico
723 Robson Rd.
RR#1
Waterdown, Ontario L0R 2H1
Roses and other perennials. Good selection (they claim to have
the widest selection of David Austin English roses in North
America) but one correspondent complained that they were
comparatively slow in filling orders.
******Avoid like the plague*************
McConnell Nurseries in Port Burwell
This is mail-order nightmare material.
The correspondent who reported this loser complained
of receiving dead plants and weeds. It took McConnell
more than a year to replace the dead plants.
Even the surviving plants were of poor quality.
Rockwood Gardens
A number of correspondents reported bad experiences with
Rockwood.
****Thanks!*************
Thanks to:
Louis Schmittroth, Linda L. Carr, Connie Cho, Irwin Naumann, Peter
Smith, Brenda Shular, Gail Metcalfe, Sue Madill, Jane at BNR, Geoff
Tobiasson, Sandra P. Hoffman, Pat Kiewicz, Weldon Bona, Janet Wilson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ann DeVito | Internet address:
Dept. of Computational Science | dev...@skorpio.usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan |
Saskatoon, SK S7N 0W0 |
CANADA |