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Carnivorous Plants

Warning: Beware of ordering from Hirts Greenhouse

16 years ago

It saddens me to have to report this, but I couldn't just let it go.

Hirts does a great deal of mail order and ebay auctions and their selection of CPs is the best that I've seen in a general nusery, but there are some problems that I felt needed to be mentioned for the protection of the CP buyers.

I've stopped in looking for the N madagascariensis that they advertise and they have been out of stock. Today, I found a plant with a label saying "Madagascar" in the SOLD area awaiting shipment but it was one of the other plants with it that concerned me.

Somebody ordered a few plants from them including the madagascariensis and a N. ventricosa. The problem is that EVERY SINGLE plant labeled as a ventricosa is NOT a ventricosa. Ventricosas don't have wings up the front! They're smooth!

The madagascariensis looked a bit like the many raffelsianas that they had, but I can't tell for sure.

Their selection is rather nice, but not cared for nearly as well as they should be. I don't want to slam them too much, but the olders CPs are not looking so great (some were aphid ridden)and are kept under woefully inadequate low wattage shop lights.

The web site's section of "seeds" claims:

A most fascinating, insect eating plant with 'Pitchers' of purple, lime green and heavily veined pinks. There are five principal species in the mixture and grown well, constantly mesmerize the beholder, including the unfortunate insects. A frost tender perennial. 6-24".

Proper name: Sarracenia purpurea (Mixed species)

The pic shows a great deal of Sarrs, but certainly not purpureas as the "common name" implies.

The new shipment has some very impresive clumps of S. "Scarlet Belle" among others, but the vendor's mislableing of the ventricosas has me concerned. This was probably not Hirts' fault, but some of the other problems just don't make for a great buying experience.

They obviously have an interest in CPs which I admire, but the specimens just aren't up to par with some of the other specialty nurseries. The inconsitancies on their web page alone are troublesome.

Order at your own risk.

Featured Answer

hunterkiller03

16 years ago

Visited there site today, IÂm not surprised how they labeled their plants. It looks that it is a wholesale nursery. ItÂs better to stick with specialized nurseries that sell CP like Peter DÂAmatosÂs California Carnivores, or Hortus Botanicus, LeeÂs Botanical Garden and CookÂs Nurseries.

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Comments (16)

ignatz713
9 years ago
Amen, ilbasso. Here is my experience:

I thought my experience was unique. Thanks to the internet, I find it is not.

I don't have very much luck ordering plants online, but my experience with Hirt's Gardens has been one of the worst. I ordered through Amazon, thinking I had their backing if all went bad.

Well, it went bad straight off the bat. I ordered 14 - yes, stupidly, 14 - Hibiscus and when the plants were delivered in June, they were sad looking indeed. No, they were NOT cheap, and for their size, should have been 1/4 of the price. I immediately sent a note to the seller, saying they did not look good and doubted they would make it through the winter. I should have at that time sent them back and gotten a refund. Big mistake. Hirt's Gardens said nothing about a refund and said they would make it through the winter.

Well, here is it is, 5 months later, and the plants have not grown one iota. They barely flowered, and are stunted. No, of course they will not make it through the winter. I again contacted the seller and was told to file a claim through Amazon. Amazon denied my claim and told me to send back the plants.

So, let me see, I paid a great deal of money for 14 sick plants, and now I am being told to send them back (Amazon offered to comp me the shipping) and wait for a refund from a disreputable seller, who may very well deny my refund.

I decided to thank Amazon, even if they let me down this time, put up a horrid rating on their site, and let Hirt know what I think of his company. THEN, I find out there are others who have been duped by this disreputable seller.

Thank you for the moral support. Doesn't help with the money lost or the poor 14 dying plants, but misery does love company!

Moral of the story: DO NOT BUY FROM HIRT'S GARDENS!!!
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StarGazerOH
9 years ago

HIRTS & AMAZON DO NOT PUT THEIR COSTUMERS FIRST-

Neither Amazon or Hirts Nursery can figure out what their return/refund policy is on dead plants. I ordered and then received ten 4" Boston Ivy plants that where delivered over 2 wks. ago. Upon delivery I promptly opened the box and the potted 4" plants looked... weak. I planted and watered the plants the same day, there where no return instructions or planting instructions with the shipment. Four days later the plants where dead.
I called Amazon told them about my problem -Amazon said that they would contact Hirts and Hirts, would have 2 days to reply/respond to the problem (turns out Hirts did not). Almost 2 wks. later and 4 more phone calls (of which I was told 3 times there would be a replacement of product or refund) I discarded the shipping box and 10 planting pots.
AS OF TODAY Amazon changed their position- Amazon told me I HAD to now dig up the 10 dead plants and ship them back to Hirts- and see if I could get a refund from Hirts. When I checked Hirts web site (which is a Co. Amazon is representing ) Hirts has NO return policy posted under returns. See: www.hirts.com
After all the time and inconvenience this has cost me I would have been better off going to Home Depot Wal-Mart Sears etc. Where the employs can clearly speak to you, and tell you what the policy is. Where the costumer is treated with respect. Better Business Beauro Rating : F. Check: http://www.bbb.org/akron/business-reviews/florists-retail/hirts-greenhouse-and-flowers-in-medina-oh-190612653

This post was edited by StarGazerOH on Thu, Sep 25, 14 at 3:45
centralpa
9 years ago
I bought few plants form Hirt's, all came fast and well packaged, but when I had a problem and asked as a grower for advise, they gave me turn around and said look up online. That is NOT standing by their product. They said go to Amazon and ask for refund. They were NOT customer oriented, they did not give me not one suggestion. NONE ! I asked what THEY would do, if THEIR plants would have same "symptoms" as mine had, they said - it could be many things. I asked them to name at least one, they said sorry, they can not say nothing more.

I assume they do NOT grow their plants. They are distributors.

Even they have nice selection of plants and prices are fair, and shipment is 2-3 days, I doubt I will take a risk purchasing from them again. How sad.
Tarah Spencer
9 years ago
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for good, reputable, online carnivorous plant stores? I just ordered some Nepenthes from Bug Biting Plants, and now I'm seeing some negative reviews. I thought that they would be okay since I've seen their plants in stores.

I've ordered from Herbaherp on etsy, and the nepenthes I got from him was gorgeous, healthy, and a very vigorous grower. I'm beginning to think that I should stick with etsy.

It's just so hard to find good variety in stores.
junglemel
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hey Tarah, you'd be better off starting a new thread rather than re-resurrecting a zombie thread from '07. Things have changed a ton in the past few years, the hobby lost some very good vendors, and there are very few places I'd recommend buying from in 2015.

Native Exotics Good selection of mainly HL Nepenthes, but a little on the pricy side for the size. Healthy plants though.

Natch Greye's Store Not a ton of selection yet, but someone you can trust to send you healthy plants.

Flytrap Care Store Great for VFTs!

Mike Wang's Sarracenia Great for Sarracenia.

and a few smaller one's for rarer stuff, but you didn't specify what you are looking for, so these are just a few.
Tarah Spencer
8 years ago
Thanks! I've placed a couple orders with Native Exotics now, they've got some gorgeous hybrids!

Honestly, it seemed kinda dead here, so I joined another forum. I'd forgotten about this one lol. :)
Sally Brown
8 years ago
I have to defend Hirt's, just received my new set of plants today. I now have four plants from them. They all came well packed, healthy and were mailed real fast.
peonygirlmd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

Hirts are horrible to deal with. I brought two tree peony at April 27 through their website, got an email for shipment at April 28, and then April 29 received another Email with a partial refund. So I did content them to find out what s going on, Matt Hirts got back to me said one of the plant is damaged so they give me a partial refund.

at April 30, today 's morning and I received the package for my tree peony, after I opened it, one little dead plant is set in the box. I told two pictures of the poor thing and email to Hirts, and I want me refund back, Matt Hirts got back to me said: The plant is healthy, plant it after the first frosts.

I have grown tree peony for 8 years. I have about 20 different varieties that I collected. I'm not new to tree peony, clearly the graft of this tree peony is dead.

I'm sending this poor thing back and put a dispute with my PayPal.
Joy Bank
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I know I'm a little late to the party but I just wanted to add my own firsthand knowledge about the greenhouse. I live maybe a half mile away from Hirt's. The plants AT the greenhouse seem to be in good condition (aside from A LOT of fungus gnats flying around at times). The employees have always been nice enough and some have been very helpful at other times. Ordering plants online is, in my opinion, kind of a crap-shoot, I personally would not do it. Lord only knows what can happen to things in transit cross country.

I have bought many exotics and even lady bugs from here with great success (again, I live very close). I kinda feel awful that not everyone has access to local greenhouses with great selections, there are many around here.
Kim
7 years ago
There are loads of excellent private sellers as well as companies to order plants from. Most of mine arrived from online orders.

Hirts is an utter crapshoot. They have entirely too many terrible reviews for me to risk my hard earned money on, nice as it may be if you are lucky enough to get a good order.

Always do your homework when ordering online. Any company who can't maintain 4.5 star reviews or higher is not worth it.
chbalo357
7 years ago
I live in Johnstown, PA. so it is close to OH , so for shipping reasons it was good find for me. Once I ordered 18, (yes, 18) Olive plants, they arrived all very big, green, with fruit on, and... infested with hard shell scale.

When ALL leaves started to fall, I desperately contacted Hirts and asked what could be a problem, they vaguely responded that "it could be number of things". I pressed again and again for to give me at least few reasons, at least one - so I could determine myself - the response was same lame - "it could be a number of reasons".

They do NOT stand behind their plants. Sad, as I see something they have that other places don't.

Central PA
Esther Chin
5 years ago
This company is a lie. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM!!! I bought a RED FREDDY GENOVESE BASIL from them but they send a PURPLE BASIL instead. The picture on their website is red and even the tag that came with the plant is red. I was obviously upset and send them an email and the guy kept insisting that the picture on the tag is purple. The picture and the plant look different and they insist on me paying for the return shipping if I want to return it which I believe is not justified since they were the one who send the wrong basil to me. I felt scammed! Very disappointed with their customer service.
mkat21
5 years ago

This is what my box from Hirt’s looked like (dead plant trash) when I opened it. I have tried calling and emailing with no response yet and I’m hoping to file a dispute with my credit card co. This is unreal. Do not shop with Hirt’s under any circumstances!
zteuta
4 years ago
I ordered 10 lavender plants which I received very quickly. Three of the plans did not arrive in good condition. I contacted them and as soon as I sent them a picture of the plants, they immediately issued a refund. I was extremely happy with the speedy response and the way that they handled the refund. I definitely will order from them again.
Ht850 T
4 years ago
I recently ordered two plants from hirts garden.

A peperomia prostrata (string of turtles) and a ceropegia linearis woodii (string of DAGGERS).

The string of daggers is a close cousin of the string of hearts plant which I'm familiar with as I have 3 large plants of the HEARTS variety and one DAGGER variety that I have been growing for a while now (not from Alan Hirts but from actual honest sellers).

For starters, these plants are EXPENSIVE for tiny 2" pots. So my expectations are that they are gonna be good investments.

Fast forward to receiving the goods.

Instead of what I ordered (string of TURTLES & string of DAGGERS), this guy sends me 2 string of HEARTS.

After several back and forth emails with photos, he finally Sends a partial refund for string of turtles only because he says "What a joke.............String of Daggers is the same genus and species as String of Hearts."

Alan you are a joke and a scam artist at best.

Don't buy from this guy. There are a lot of sellers who are honest and customer service oriented and will work with you. I've been buying plants online for a couple of years now and have had good luck with many online sellers including Etsy shops. I've never had quite an experience as I've had with Alan hirts. You should google his shop reviews too, they are eye opening...wish I had seen sooner before my purchase as mid-shipments of plants are a regular occurrence.

If you do decide to take a chance with Alan hirts, don't buy direct from his website. Take your risk through his Etsy or eBay shop because if you do (and you will) run into a problem with this guy, you can dispute it at least without dealing with his shadiness directly. Good luck to whomever decides to try your luck with hirts garden. Didn't say I didn't warn you

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