Rehabbing Mail Order Plants

16 years ago

I received an order from a mail order company (who shall remain nameless until this is resolved so I don't tarnish their name unneededly) which arrived after several days in transit. Most of the plants just looked a little tired, but 3 are going to need some special help and I wanted to know what everyone thought about how to best help them, and perhaps your own pesonal experiences with rehabbing mail-order plants. The 3 in bad shape are:

1) Campanula "Kelley's Gold" which had several white shoots visible at the top of the pot, but no leaves. Upon inspection of the roots, it appers those white shoots are roots that tried to go airborne instead of down into the soil.

2) Euphorbia "Bonfire" which arrvied with 2 stalks, both totally dried out.

3)Acer shirasawanum "Aureum" which was by far the most expensive of the order, arrived with all foliage wrinkled and dry.

The company suggested I rehydrate them for a few days (which I have done) and trim the euphorbia down to 2 inches. When I planted them out yesterday, the roots of all of them appeared very thin and stringy. I assume with the perennials, I just need to wait to see if they put out new growth, but with the Acer, since the leaves don't appear likely able to recover, is the tree going to die? Putting up new growth from the bottom of the tree isn't exciting since it's such a slow grower and you pay for size.

thanks!

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Comments (10)

lindac
16 years ago
I'd demand a refund and contact my credit card company....and publish the name here. That is totally inexcusable! Any reputable company would have said"Oh! So sorry! We will send replacements today!"
I wouldn't waste anymore time I would call my credit card company and tell them to cancel the charge....then call the mail order plant place and ask for either new plants or a refund. They will shortly realizen you have already gotten your refund.
Next time take pictures of the sorry looking plants before you do any rehabbing.
I recieved 4 boxes of plants in the mail last week...2 shipments of hosta that looked wonderful, one of 6 roses that looked great....a little droopy but they perked up in an hour, and another of hosta sent and packed by a friend from her garden....all looked just wonderful!
Was it Breck's?
Linda C
athenainwi
16 years ago
I'd try to keep them all well watered. I'd water every day this week, and then every other day until you see new growth on them. I'd also try to keep them shaded as much as possible. You can use a lawn chair for this. The maple should be able to put out new leaves from the dormant buds on the branches, and hopefully the other two will regrow from the roots.

Although honestly I think I would have asked for a refund already. I don't buy perennials without leaves at a nursery and I wouldn't want mailorder plants to come that way either.
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mwieder
Original Author
16 years ago
I contacted the company right away, and they asked that I give the plants a few weeks to recover. Seeing as how they are a reputable company (not Breck's :) ) I figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt.
athena - is there any concern if I deply water them everyday that I would flood them? Should I not let the ground dry out before re-watering?
thanks!
athenainwi
16 years ago
I don't worry about over-watering with new plants, especially since it has been so hot lately. I only do the everyday watering for a week and then go to a more relaxed schedule and I think it helps the plants to get over the transplanting. If your soil holds water better than mine you might want to back off a bit, but I've never had drowning problems doing this. In fact, I fried my violets last week because I wasn't watering them enough (they were by the mailbox and were too far for the hose). I ended up moving them to a shadier spot that is easier to get water to.
justmetoo
16 years ago
I don't agree with giving freshly shipped plants three weeks to recover from shipping when they pop out of the box not looking well. What are the poor babes gonna do, struggle and be stressed moving into the summer heat which will stress them more/again. If I wanted plants that needed rehab on arrival I'd save shipping and look at the box store clearance rack. Sorry, just my opinion. Good luck with your plant
leslies
16 years ago
I would expect you can get the maple to recover. The problem is that fall planting a tree that is only sometimes hardy in zone 5 could mean that you lose the tree over the winter. Still, I think that is what I would try to do. Pot it up, keep it in the shade, and plant it out as early in the autumn as you can once the weather cools and it starts to rain.

Consider building a wind break around the tree for the winter out of old pallets or something sturdy.
lindac
16 years ago
You paid for plants in good condition....of you wanted stressed and wilting stuff, you should have shopped at the local box store parking lot.
There is no excuse for that. Demand a refund AND a bonus. Even if they send a wonderful new tree, you still have lost a season's growth.
Linda C
covella
16 years ago
Aren't you the person who was talking about ordering from Park/WAyside? If so, the Wayside rating on Garden Watchdog is only 47% satisfied.
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/advanced.php?search_text=wayside
mwieder
Original Author
16 years ago
alyrics - what does that have to do with anything? I was just letting people know about Wayside's clearance sale in that other thread. This order is not from them...
mwieder
Original Author
16 years ago
Just to update everyone, the company came through in a big way to make it up to me. I learned 2 lessons:
1) Never order mail order plants cross country in June with ground delivery.
2) Ordering from a reputable company is always a good move. Even if initially things don't work out, a good company will stand behind their product.