Hirt's Gardens

[jackb]

As I wanted a few unusual fragrant flowering tropical plants to grow this winter I purchased a few gardenias and jasmine plants. This week I received a Vietnamese gardenia, purchased on eBay from Hirt's Gardens. As I was in rush to meet Ava's school bus when I received the plant, I simply removed the soil from the roots, potted the plant and placed it in a tent with several other tropical plants. Upon close inspection the following morning, to my horror, I discovered that the plant was infested with aphids, and, had several dime sized brown holes in the leaves. As a precaution I sprayed ALL of my plants with insecticide soap, and then with Neem oil, and wiped the leaves of the Vietnamese gardenia with paper towel soaked in Neem solution. I wrote to Hirt's, but received no reply, so needless to say I will never buy anything from them again. There is an section for vendor review on the Dave's Garden site, and I see that over the past year Hirt's has received more negative reviews than positive reviews. I am sure that some folks have had a positive experience with Hirt's, however, I thought I would do a post to warn buyers to really inspect anything purchased from Hirt's. Had I seen this plant in a garden center I would never buy it.

JackB

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i'll just warn you, Hirt's has a few other names floating around on Ebay you'll want to watch out for. i saw them in the past but haven't noticed it lately. i try to avoid those that have the same appearance or the same address selling the same items using the same pics. Ebay is not always a reliable source for plants. though i have had some luck with few i've used in the past to buy trees from. my Moonglow pears and some peach trees have come from one lady in TN that they will look like sticks, but give them a few weeks and they will be sprouting like crazy! one pear i bought i thought it was dead for good. had it planted in one spot for over a month and the little bit of growth it had started dying back to the trunk. so i dug it up and instead of tossing it out, i planted it in another spot. a few weeks went by and i noticed it had started regrowing! not sure why it looked like it was dying in the other spot but figured there was probably too much shade from older overhanging trees to let it thrive at that time of year.

 

[jackb]

This is my first purchase from Hirt's, and my last. I knew they have been business for almost a hundred years, so I thought they must be OK to be around that long. There are a few excellent growers on eBay, but you are right; "you pay your money and take your chances. We have a few high end greenhouses locally, but I could not find any unusual tropical plants, mostly they sell the same old plants, but real nice quality.

JackB

 

[jackb]

On the other hand, I had a nice experience with a grower this week; I ordered a Crepe Jasmine from almostedenplants.com online. My PayPal payment did not go through and I received a call from John McMillan, the owner. John and his wife Bonnie also own Bonnie plants, which I have seen in several nurseries. John held the phone and I tried the payment again, and again it did not go through. I told John I was ordering some tropical plants so Ava and I could grow them during the winter, but I was going to give up on the Crepe Jasmine, as I was afraid if I did the payment again all three would post. John said: "I'll tell you what, I am going to ship you that plant on Monday morning, because I don't want that little lady disappointed. I know an honest man when I speak to one, and I am sure you will find a way to pay me, one way or the other." John shipped the plant as promised, and by Monday I had worked out the problem with PayPal. The packaging of the Crepe Jasmine was the best I have ever seen, bar none. John is a real southern gentleman.

JackB

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i have one guy i like on there for his seeds and have been buying from him the past couple years. he goes by the name Ohio Heirloom Seeds. i noticed this year he has his own website.

 

[jackb]

i have one guy i like on there for his seeds and have been buying from him the past couple years. he goes by the name Ohio Heirloom Seeds. i noticed this year he has his own website.

Thanks, that is good to know. I have purchased quite a few tropical plants from Wellspring and have been happy with what I received.

JackB

 

[ninnymary]

Chickies, a couple of years ago I also ordered from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. I thought they were reasonably priced and the seed did very well.

Mary

 

[Smart Red]

Two (tropical) mail order companies that I have had good success with are Logees and Trade Winds Fruit.

 

[jackb]

Two (tropical) mail order companies that I have had good success with are Logees and Trade Winds Fruit.

Thanks Red, I'll check them out, however I am getting short of space. That is what I keep telling my wife, but I always seem to manage to squeeze in one more. I have only been at this a few weeks and have cloned four of the plants I purchased already.

JackB

 

[Smart Red]

Two (tropical) mail order companies that I have had good success with are Logees and Trade Winds Fruit.

Logee's is mostly tropical plants. Trade Winds Fruit (tradewindsfruit.com) is almost all seeds. I just mis-spent too way much time at TWF! I have been wanting a couple of smaller palm trees to keep in containers, and their current sale had quite a few fruits and veggies that I probably will HAVE to order. Jackb, you just might want to un-thank me once you see what they have available. Drool!

AND, digitS, they have an early tomato called Manitoba that sounds pretty good as well.