Ordered 6 pieces wire lock from them on Sept. 9. They charged my credit card on Sept. 12, but more than a month later I still have not received the full order. Apparently the first shipment was damaged by UPS and returned to the sender. When I inquired about delivery date, they discovered the return and shipped them out again. But only sent 4 pieces instead of 6. Were supposed to send the remaining 2 ASAP on October 5th. As of the 14th, they are still not here. Also, they quoted "around 12 dollars" for shipping. Didn't know until I got the credit card statement that the actual charge was $20. Never again!

Ali, if you go to UCR's CC PP site, you can see what budwood is being offered. I am planning on ordering Ugli Tangor, Valentine Pummelo and Xie Shan Mandarin. And haven't decided on other varieties yet. I have two other folks that want to split the Xie Shan with me. I have to place a minimum order of 12 budwood per variety, so I was hoping to split some of what I was planning on ordering so I didn't end up with 12 of one variety, since I really only want 3 or 4 budwood of each variety to graft with. I'd rather have more varieties and less #'s of budwood per variety since I'm a backyard orchardist and not a commercial grower. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: UCR Citrus Clonal Protection Program Budwood Ordering

I feel so conflicted reading this thread. I've been yelled at by a plant vendor... I misread an email about plant availability and my subsequent response was perceived as pushy/insistent/entitled, when really I just completely misunderstood. I tried to immediately follow up and correct it, but my correction wasn't seen. I'm very conflict averse so after I got that super hostile response I was so shocked/hurt/mad I never went back, even though I'd been a loyal customer for years. So, I think we're entitled to our feelings and sometimes just need to walk away. I'm sorry you had to go through that. That said, I think that, when you are collecting rare plants, the situation (for good or evil) is that the vendors have self-selected into the industry due to their love of the plants, not because of their love of business and customer service. And people in small businesses tend to wear a lot of hats and not all are in their strong suits. Sometimes you have a plant vendor who is a super professional organized sweetheart, but usually one of those variables is missing. Generally you have to shoot for "has good plants" + "is honest" and that is a hard enough bar to cross as it is. Your post freaked me out, because at the time I read it (yesterday) I had a VB order sitting behind me unopened, that was shipped during snowy weather and had had to sit in my work office for a week after it arrived, due to an unforeseen event in my travel schedule. I have taken hits of >$200 losses, as has anyone who collects plants (somewhat) seriously. And it is absolutely horrible horrible horrible. I don't think vendors should accept responsibility for transit death. Although a plant replaced here and there can be a good customer relations policy, it's a slippery slope to promise a replacement for every loss unless you are a mega nursery. I definitely think they should remove the "guaranteed" language from their website. "Express shipping in winter is highly recommended and usually successful" ... or "We only ship via express mail in winter" would be more appropriate, and it's language like that that most Hoya vendors use. Can I ask if you are trying to save those Episcias in the picture above? I don't consider myself an expert on Episcias, but it seems like if you put them somewhere humid and warm, like a terrarium, you've got some good stems on them still and they might surprise you and bounce back. My VB order did come through okay this time. I've ordered probably hundreds of plants from VB over the years and some have arrived DOA. I never asked for a credit or replacement because it was such a small percentage that I didn't hold them accountable. The 100% DOA orders I've had have been Hoya orders (from other vendors) and of course part of me was like, "They must have done something wrong/different... why didn't it work this time?!" But then after a few days the rational part of my brain kicked in and I realized that they processed the order like every other order and I just drew the horribly unlucky straw. I try to think of it like how sometimes you go out for drinks with friends and spend a lot of time/money/energy and have 0.0000% fun. I've definitely wasted more money on failed social events than failed plant events. That probably says something about my personality limitations. @xmahini I applaud your attitude. I do think the first few orders you make with specialist vendors can be very rattling, because your expectations are almost always wrong, not quite being an insider yet. But obviously you did the right thing, taking that risk, since your husband ended up very happy. I have to say it's so sweet listening to you praise him for his hobby and skill. He's a lucky man. :)

I know I've seen that name in one of the peony forums, local lady raved about their roots. I don't know if it does any good at all to get bigger, mature roots. Most places say 3-5 eye divisions are the best to plant but is that because that's what they sell? I did get several larger roots from Fina last fall, most had over 10 eyes and were enormous. They didn't bloom any better than the 3-5 eye divisions I planted at the same time. That's only 1st spring after fall planting though, we'll see if it's any different next spring!