Plant Delights Nursery order

[Agave_fan]

I am in the middle of a large landscape project where I am greatly extending my xeriscape/cactus areas. I have been doing quite a bit of plant shopping (too much really) and recently saw an item that I wanted on Plant Delights Nursery so I ended up placing an order and somehow eight things ended up on my doorstep. Still not sure how that happened, perhaps I had too much caffeine that day.

I thought I would share my first online order experience with Plant Delights Nursery.
I placed my order early on the morning of April 4th and received the 2 box shipment on April 13th. The largest box was 38x12.

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I guess I should have read their website a little more closely as I did not realize these items would be shipped in containers; I guess I just expected bare root shipping. Not that this would have resulted in me not placing the order, I just mention it as it seems to vary from the norm as far as what I have experienced with cactus shipping.

Each of the eight items arrived in a 3.5” container and most were bursting out (literally bulging sides on some) of the container with roots and/or offsets. I think the quadricolor had 5 pups coming out the sides and bottom of the little 3.5” container and it appeared that most of the cactus had been in the 3.5” container for a while.

The plants seemed a little on the high side of pricing for size but as the saying goes, the right price is what someone is willing to pay so I cannot complain. The shipping on the eight plants was $40.

All plants were individually secured with packing paper and tape.

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The packing of items differed as some plants were wrapped in packing paper with only a little tissue paper wrapped around the entire plant

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Others had thicker tissue paper woven between leaves

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Some had the addition of shredded paper around the entire plant.

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Those with the tissue wrapped around entire plant did not seem to fare as well in shipping as those with tissue woven around the individual leaves. Those with the added protection of the shredded paper seemed to travel best.

I was very careful with my unpacking but 4 out of the 8 plants had leaves that were broken off or cracked from packing or shipping. None of the plants with the tissue woven between leaves with the shredded paper were damaged.

The little mangave arrived with a couple owies.

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Here are a few more pictures of the plants from my order positioned to try to hide the damaged leaves. All the damage was cosmetic, nothing life threatening to the plants. About half the order will definitely be container plants but I have some nice new big empty pots so this works out just fine. I have added a couple description notes from their website on a few.

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Agave Bluebell Giants- Agave x protamericana and Agave x pseudoferox 'Bellville They are suggesting it comes from at least three agave species- A. americana, A. asperrima, A. gentry

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Agave Durango fandango- greg starr A schidigera Durango delight x A. flexispina. The color on this one is difficult to grasp from the photo, very pretty deep blue green and the red teeth stand out more than the photo shows on this cloudy day

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Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor'- this one had 5 pups hanging off it

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Agave x protamericana 'Lemon Lime'- speculation that this is A x protamericana from population where A. americana intergrades with A asperrima.

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Agave 'Snow Glow'- one of my container purchases – thankfully packed well and arrived in good shape

Ok, reached my 12 attachment limit so you will have to use your imagination on the next two:

Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'- states it is a clonal selection from Kelly Griffin stock. Another pretty green/blue color that is better in person than in photos.

Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass'- not sure what I am going to do with this. I love my curvy squid agave so thought it would be fun to have this curvy variegated giant. It will start out in one of my big containers, just not sure where it will go from there as it is too tender for my winters. This one is shown in one of the wrapping/packaging photos.

A few things worth mentioning about my order….. It appeared all the cactus were watered shortly before shipping. I wasn’t certain why this was done, perhaps to limit loose soil? The soil was damp, even soggy on a couple where the tissue was so wet it was falling apart.

I called to ask some questions about my order so I inquired about the wet plants and was told that all plants are watered right before shipping as they cannot verify shipping temperatures or travel time and want to make sure everything arrives ‘moist’ and not dry. There does not seem to be any differentiation between type of plants regarding this practice so all cactus get a nice saturation just like any other plant being shipped.

The plants also had a heavy white spotty residue on the leaves. At first glance I thought it was hard water mineral residue but there were heavy milky streaks and a defined edge buildup on some areas that resembled a chemical spray of some sort so I asked if plants are sprayed with a fungal inhibitor or similar spray before shipping and was told without hesitation ‘yes they are’. I mentioned that after gently inverting the cactus and rinsing the leaves with reverse osmosis water most of the heavy buildup washed off but some of the spotting remained and asked what spray is used before shipping. I was put on hold and told to send photos and the response given was that this was hard water deposits. I reconfirmed that a spray is used prior to shipping but could not obtain the details on what spray is used. While this could certainly be hard water mineral deposits or a combination of some sort of spray and water deposits, I would have still liked an answer regarding the spray used prior to shipping.

On my call to ask questions about the watering and white residue I also asked about bare root shipping. The person I spoke with checked and said that bare root shipping could be done if requested during the original order at an additional cost of $5 per plant.

It also might be worth noting that they appear to use peanut shells in their cactus soil mix so anyone with a severe peanut allergy might want to keep this in mind.

Overall I am neutral on the order experience. I have no plans to reorder but if I lived locally, I would probably be visiting and buying there all the time. If I do ever order online again, I would likely request bare root shipping and ask that they refrain from the mystery spray.

[Gee.S]

Really nice haul! That is quite a collection there. Plant Delights is certainly one of the more respected names in the business, and one of the few that ships in containers, as you've noted. It seems there is almost always some damage involved when they ship, likely due to those very containers. The good thing is that the plants are small and should quickly outgrow that damage. I must say, that really seems outrageous that they would charge $5 per plant extra to ship bare root.

I have comparatively little experience shipping Agaves, but my preference is usually to ship bare root with no packing material at all, provided there are enough plants in the box to comfortably fill it. I've done this several times, with little to no damage. I might ship with containers if the plants actually outweigh those containers, then the containers pose little risk of inflicting damage.

Not sure where you are located, but if you're in a harsh area, as am I, be very careful when exposing east coast grown plants to heat and sun.

[Azuleja]

Congrats on the lovely assortment of goodies. I've wanted to order from PDN many times but as you mentioned, the cost and shipping are a little high, not that the plants aren't worth it. That's a gorgeous mangave, one of the more frost sensitive ones they carry if I remember correctly. Love the lemon lime protoamericana too. All great choices. I've had broken and damaged leaves even on plants packed well and sent bareroot. I definitely prefer when individual leaves are wrapped and cushioned, though that rarely seems to be the case. Thanks for sharing your experience and photos.

[Agave_fan]

Thanks Gee.

I am in central Texas- the Austin area. I think the only ones I will try in the ground will be the agave durango fandango, bluebell giant, vanzie and the quadricolor. I may keep them in containers until they are a little larger and will approach it as a trial and error knowing I could lose some. Right now, I have them all outdoors in a filtered morning sun area. In a couple weeks I will gradually add more light to see how they respond. The way I am falling in love with all these 9a zone plants, might just be easier for me to move.

[Agave_fan]

That's a gorgeous mangave, one of the more frost sensitive ones they carry if I remember correctly.

My favorite mangave came in right after I placed the order, it was a wavy leaf variety. I think they have listed a 9a min zone on the one I have and had a couple that were rated 8a ( I know zoning is not a black and white thing) but I just didn't like the hardier ones as much. Whats a few more huge pots when one already owns a big dolly???

[Spination]

I've had several experiences with PDN over several years, and as others have agreed, I think you did well. Nice plants, and the damage will grow out.

My first order ever several years ago resulted in the receipt of badly damaged plants. I took photos and emailed them, and to my surprise, I received a whole new box of the same plants as replacements. As the originals eventually grew out of their damage, I wound up with 2 of each. That experience left me with a very positive impression of their integrity and commitment to customer satisfaction. I actually did feel a bit guilty for a time having received 2 orders for the price of one, but I didn't ask for it and didn't expect it. Subsequently, they did change their packing procedures in line with how you received yours, a major improvement. Subsequent orders have been much better damage-wise.

Personally, I much prefer bare-root shipping. The problem is two-fold. Why pay for the shipping of dirt? Also, the weight of the dirt is the predominant factor why the damage is caused, due to mass and force and motion of that unnecessary weight and the subsequent damage inflicted on the plants.

The flip side though is the plants tend to be root bound and the benefit here is very often you're paying for one plant, but get the benefit of several offsets in addition, a nice bonus. So, along with the negative (damage), you get positives (typically loaded with offsets). A perfect example I can give of what I consider a hugely beneficial deal for me was the receipt of a particular A. albopilosa. At one time, they were selling for $100 each. When they dropped their prices to $50, I got one. It came with 4 offsets, and from that one plant became 5. Do the math, not bad at all!

Overall, I do like PDN. would consider myself a fan or loyal customer, have come to just be OK/accepting of their shipping methodology. and I would not hesitate buying from them whenever they have something I want.

Congrats on your new additions. I expect they have excellent root systems, and they are primed and ready for fast growth, which will make the damage a distant memory sooner than later. I would wash out that stuff they use to grow 'em, and use your own well-draining mix starting fresh.

[Viegener]

I've ordered from them twice and everything went well, minus a few broken leaves. I have to say that the least damaged (and most minimally packed) shipment I ever got was from Gee.S. Everything was bare root, and basically the box just fit all the plants (all agave offsets, so in a way tougher than other plants — manfreda & mangave have more fragile leaves), and they all buffered each other. I think it is the soil/pot that creates the problem. The additional weight pulls & torques the plant around during shipping & thus breaks the leaves. I've seen a slight growth advantage in plants with soil/in pots, but aloes & agaves in particular are so tough you just need to pot them up right away & know a little bit about what they need. So sometimes the answer is to do less.

PDN often has things no one else has. Three of the plants I got (& are no longer offered) are ones I really treasure: Mangave 'Kaleidoscope', Yucca linearifolia 'Line Dance' (with two plants in one pot), and Yucca flaccida 'Wilder's Wonderful' (ok, I killed this one by oversight). Also two very happy Agave albopilosa (still without pups though!!)

[Agave_fan]

Thanks for all the feedback on Plant Delights Nursery.

I didn't think the cosmetic damage was a deal breaker as far as ordering again. I just think that much of the damage could have been mitigated by bare root shipping or taking the time to pack all the plants with the extra tissue woven between leaves and shredded paper as the ones sent this way did very well, even the largest A. vilmoriniana with its long tender leaves.

Spination you make a good point, a perk to the container shipping is the benefit of having the offsets but I think I will still request the bare root shipping next time and just see how that goes.

Viegener, after seeing some of the limited plants that you mention above that came from this place (especially the Yucca linearifolia 'Line Dance'), I will keep an eye on PDN's future listings.

I have a plant arriving today from another nursery that I am excited about. This place has some nice cactus and automatically does bare root shipping but they are even pricier than PDN. The number of plants ordered does not matter as shipping seems to be built in with the price so I ordered just one cactus to get a feel for the quality of the plants and shipping practice and may order more based on what I see today as they have a couple more things I am interested in.

My landscaper saw my cactus accumulation the other day and said he would need to add another week to my project just to plant what I have acquired so far. I take zero blame in this, it is all of you that have posted photos of cool things on this website that I see and then end up hunting down that are to blame for my 'accumulation'. Even the plant arriving today- this was Viegeners fault for creating a post to identify the little opuntia and everyone else who then ID'd it that are responsible for this purchase. I was a semi-normal cactus person until I found this website.....

[Viegener]

Ah that was Opuntia sulphurea! It's funny how our desires can be fed. This site has definitely led me down the primrose path...

[Gee.S]

A_f, are you familiar with Yucca Do ? Very similar outfit in many ways, and local for you.

[Spination]

Perhaps I was hallucinating, but I would swear last year the word was that Yucca Do was closing. Not?

[Agave_fan]

A_f, are you familiar with Yucca Do ? Very similar outfit in many ways, and local for you.

I have never heard of this, I just looked it up and I see that it is only an hour from me. Thanks Gee!

edit: Wait, perhaps I have heard of this. Is this the nursery Carl Schoenfeld was or is associated with? If so, have heard of it but had no idea it was so close.

[Gee.S]

That's it, the only fellow I know there is Wade, good guy. As Spiny suggests, there have been persistent rumors pertaining to Yucca Do closing its doors, so you may want to give them a call before stopping by.

[Viegener]

Their website says this is their last year & they are slowly winding down. Here's the archival link.

[Spination]

Still not sure which final year they're referring to. The website's copyright date at the bottom is 2015, and the final year announcement that I recall was a year ago in 2016. So, here we are in 2017 and it's still the "final year".
All I'm saying is I don't know.

[KLC]

I've shipped literally hundreds upon hundreds of agaves of all sizes, it is a difficult thing to do without breaking the leaves. It's not out of the ordinary for an order of lets say 10 agaves, several 4" and several 1g, to take a few hours to prepare and ship. I bare root them, wash all of the soil off, let them dry a day or two, then pack them in newspaper and then into a box. (I've never been asked to replace anything yet, knock on wood, although I would in a second if someone was unhappy) I would never ship anything still in a pot, not because of the cost to ship dirt is more or the weight of the pot causing damage but rather from some pesky soil insects we have here in the southwest called weevils. Fwiw, the Dept. of Agriculture frowns upon shipping plants still in their pots. The plants is far less likely to sustain damage when bare rooted and dehydrated a bit.

But I'm not the plant police and you got what you wanted, all is good.

[Viegener]

KLC, I've gotten plants from you in great shape.

Just repotted your Agave asperrima ssp. zarcensis, marmorata, and guadalajarana — all outgrowing their 1gal pots. I killed the vizcainoensis, but I've decided not to try it again. Not the right climate. Overall they look great.

[Ann]

I think the only ones I will try in the ground will be the agave durango fandango, bluebell giant, vanzie and the quadricolor. I may keep them in containers until they are a little larger and will approach it as a trial and error knowing I could lose some.

Be careful about putting the quadricolor in the ground. I'm finding pups pop up over 3 feet away! And it's still young. If I keep it in the ground I'm going to experiment with bamboo barrier.

[Viegener]

Quadricolor is a big pupper. Most of them come up nearby & crowd the mother plant, which looks better when they are removed. Interestingly it seems like a faster pupper than A. lophantha 'Splendida,' even though it's variegated.

[DesertDweller]

I'm normally a big fan of PDN, have done several orders with them (to the tune of nearly $1K in the last year or so) and always been satisfied with the product received and the packing, but this last go around has left something to be desired, at least in terms of their inventory.

I had two particular plants I wanted, which were in-stock. I ordered those, and enough other stuff to fill the box and make the shipping worthwhile, and then waited. The day it was due to ship, I called them and found out that the two plants I wanted most were in fact out of stock, and while this was a full 7 days after the fact, they had only now realized this, despite their process to pull aside and specially treat (for several days) plants going to Arizona. So at a minimum,they could have told me three days earlier, possibly as much as a week earlier.

So I was left with the choice of dropping that part of my order and getting a box of "filler" plants that I only added "just cuz" or canceling the whole enchilada. I opted for the former, and was told to they might have more of the out of stock plants in the Fall. OK, fine, it happens.

Lo and behold, two days after receiving said partial order, as I've been checking the site, sure enough, they are back in stock again. So all this hold up and a 1/3 empty box (shipped at full price!) for nothing, even though I personally verified, twice by phone, that indeed they were out of stock and would not have more anytime soon.

Sorry to say but after that debacle, I won't be a customer of theirs again. They need to get their inventory figured out, because it is way too expensive to re-order now and pay $48 to ship $50 worth of plants that would have fit in the box they already sent me two days ago, and evidently they had the entire time. I can forgive a website error, obviously, but not multiple people giving me wrong information when I specifically ask that they verify stock before I decide to accept a partial order and waste shipping money.

[Azuleja]

I've never been able to justify the shipping, but this seems like the type of customer service error that a reputable company like PDN would be eager to make right. If you were my customer, I wouldn't sniff at the amount you've spent in the past or want to risk losing your business in the future. Maybe they'll send you the original plants, minus shipping?

[Gee.S]

I would be very surprised if Tony weren't willing to remedy this issue to your satisfaction.

[Spination]

The one time I wasn't happy due to damaged plants (although I don't think the exact issue is that important), I sent an email delineating my dissatisfaction. I made no demands, and they went out of their way to take care of me. I got replacement plants I didn't even ask for, no charge, not even for shipping. My belief, unless things have changed, is that they have an attitude to make things right, and keep the customer happy.

I would send an email explaining what all happened, and see what they do.

[Stan]

I think I paid like $8 shipping on the E.lehamnii...bare root it weighed about 3 ounces. They might get more orders if they kept it real on shipping.

[DesertDweller]

I would be very surprised if Tony weren't willing to remedy this issue to your satisfaction.

I couldn't really get any good explanation for the inventory debacle or the 7-day lag between me ordering and them notifying me that in fact they do not have those plants. I say that because the day after I ordered, the site reflected "out of stock" and I assumed I got the last of them, or some such. I was rather rudely told that they don't know exact inventory until they pull an order and that someone should have called me the prior week, but they "didn't get around to it."

To wit, I did ask if I could get my remaining order upgraded to 1-day shipping instead of 2-day I originally paid for, since I had to be content with a 1/3 empty box. My request was obliged, at my expense by way of not fully refunding the aforementioned out of stock plants. How generous.