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  • From: Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] more Canadian nursery experiences
  • Date: Sat, 8 May 2010 11:44:38 -0700 (PDT)

Re haskaps:

I also had a bad experience last year with ordering the two new U of S
haskaps from one of the distributors listed on the U of S website. I ordered
10 each of the Tundra and the Borealis. They were lovely sized plants in 4"
pots especially for the $10.00 I paid for them, usually we pay upwards of
$15.00 per plant and get some silly little thing in a 1 1/2" tube! BUT, the
plants were laid on their sides in a box with pots on top of pots on top of
plants and when they came by bus I had a mess of plants, labels, dirt and
pots to try and sort out! Fortunately for me, they didn't have far to travel
from SK so they didn't dry out and all of them thrived excellently. And
Tundra and Borealis have very different leaf colours and growth patterns so I
was able to sort out who was who and verify that by the few plants still in
their pots with their labels. FYI: Tundra has an upright growth with more
Kermit the frog green colour of foliage whereas Borealis is
more spreading with a darker almost blueish green leaf colour. I didn't
bother to complain as everything still looked fine so I'm also reluctant to
name them, but I do feel bad: maybe they would have changed their shipping
practices if I had contacted them.

Re other nursery issues:

I have my first ever complaint about T&T this year: I ordered a bunch of
stuff from them as usual (including their Sweet Sap sugar maples, more on
that sometime). They are usually so great to deal with and have awesome
sized stuff, but this year I have an unresolved issue. They sent me a 2"
(not a typo there!) Prairie Star grape and that includes the top and the bare
roots! When I called and complained about paying $15-$16.00 for a 2" plant,
all I got back was that their supplier sent them small plants this year! No
credit, no refund. I could have bought the same grape from Vesey's and next
time I will!

Re: Hardy fruit tree nursery

I forgot to mention that they include nice little AL labels on most of their
trees although they are attached loosely with wire which would need to be
removed before they strangle the tree. But very nice recycled labeling.

Sarah
zone 3
Edmonton, AB


--- On Sat, 5/8/10, Joseph Richardson <joe_r_richardson@hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Joseph Richardson <joe_r_richardson@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Another Canadian nursery experience
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Received: Saturday, May 8, 2010, 4:51 AM






My experience has been the same involving cultivars Tundra and Borealis.  The
styrofoam tubes were not taped over the top to keep the soil in. 4 plants
were ordered and upon arrival 2 were out of the styrofoam.  Fortunately, I
now have two healthily recovering plants, 1 of each variety.  Ironically, one
of the survivors was one of the plants that had come out of the tube.

I emailed the company and they said they would review their shipping
procedures and take my recommendations into consideration (tape over the
tops) and they would send me replacements.  So far I have not been notified
that replacements are on the way.

Joseph Richardson
NW Illinois zone 5a


From: mariaschu@vtlink.net
Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 21:10:58 -0400
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Another Canadian nursery experience


Melissa,
can you say who the nursery is?   I'm getting nervous-- I also ordered
haskaps from a canadian nursery, expecting them to arrive any day, hopefully
in good condition.....

On May 7, 2010, at 8:48 PM, John S wrote:
Melissa,  

I have purchased many fruiting plants, bushes and trees via the mail over the
last decade.  There is simply no excuse for plants coming out of the pots as
well as dirt, if they have been properly packaged for shipping.  Most vendors
I have used simple place a layer of crushed newspaper over the soil in the
pots, followed by a generous layer of tape or a taped plastic bag to hold
things together.  Use of bamboo inserted into the pots that extends to the
end of the box will keep the pots from moving.

Unless your package was completely crushed, breaking the bamboo and/or the
pots, you should not have seen what you describe.  As long as we are talking
a shipping time that was not longer than a week, the PO should not be held
respnsible for dryness either.

It sounds to me like the vendor you used does not care much about customer
satisfaction nor values much the plants they shipped to you.  Dave's Garden
Watchdog is a good server to use to check on a vendor before ordering and the
ideal place to post your experience once you are certain the vendor will not
make things right.

Sorry for your bad experience, there are good mail order companies out there.

I have cringed a number of times in the past couple of months regarding
vendors named on this list that have poor reputations that never-the-less are
used as sources for desirable plants. 



--- On Fri, 5/7/10, Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com>
Subject: [NAFEX] Another Canadian nursery experience
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Friday, May 7, 2010, 2:14 PM

Sarah,

I'm sad to say that I've had a different experience, with a different
Canadian nursery. I don't know if I should even name the nursery yet without
giving them some more time to make amends.

There's been hubbub about new improved Canadian varieties of honeyberries,
called haskaps. Shipping and phytosanitary certificates are expensive, so I
found 4 other local gardeners to share an order. The 5 of us ordered 20
plants from a Canadian nursery that shall remain nameless.

The plants were so badly packaged, most of the soil had been shaken out of
the pots, and some of the plants had been shaken out of their pots and free
of soil entirely. 12 of the 20 plants are completely dried out and dead as
doornails, and the survivors are in very bad shape.

Of course, I complained to the company, and they said they were not
responsible for any damage, and I should file a claim with the post office. I
tried, but the post office said it was the nursery's job to file a claim.
This nursery also said that, since they wanted to ensure that I was a
satisfied customer, they'd give me a 25% discount if I wanted to buy
replacements for the dead plants!

Of course, I told the nursery that this wasn't acceptable, but this was a few
days ago and I haven't heard back yet. Is there anything I can do to get this
nursery to send me replacement plants? 4 gardeners are expecting me to
distribute plants to them.

Melissa


     
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  • Re: [NAFEX] more Canadian nursery experiences, Sarah Kehler Ewing, 05/08/2010

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