I was going to post about R&R also. I love their catalog and the latest issue of The American Gardener makes reference to them in an article on New Plants for 2006. I would not think they would do this for a subpar nursery do you? I think I am going to order a couple of things just to see for myself.

I spoke to customer service at R&R and asked about the negative ratings and why they did not respond. She said most of the complaints were a result of people in the south wanting plants shipped too early and that the plants were damaged by the different temperatures the plants had to go through from the shipping location of Wisconsin to the shipping destination. They do not like to ship anything before the end of March but some customers insist on earlier shipments. She said they made the decision not to comment on the negative remarks because they did not want to take part in arguments on a website. I suppose they would rather handle the complaints on an individual basis. She says they have a very good relationship with AHS so that is enough for me to place a small order. Since I do not want to receive the plants before April 20th there should be no weather related shipping problems. I will place a small order initially though just to check them out.

You might want to post this question on the New To Gardening Forum, too. Perhaps there are some others who have had experience with this place. (I've never heard it them, sorry that I can't help.)

They have beautiful pictures. I'm not really impressed by their comments on southern gardeners complaining though. I get things shipped in March, because if plants go in the ground too late in spring, summer heat and dryness will make short work of them here.

I've ordered from them and been very satisfied.

That is good to know dirtysc8.

While I've not ordered from them, they're a division of McClure & Zimmmerman (a company from which I have ordered, and been satisfied), so I suspect they're okay.

Really, you've gotta take comments in GardenWatchdog with a major grain of salt. It seems a lot of the negatives come from folks unaccustomed to buying plants through the mail, plus, a lot of the negatives are from people who haven't actually done business with the nurseries - they were merely offended by the catalog, or thought the prices too high.

I think they are a good source for those odd plants we can't find locally. I ordered some different-than-the-common Siberian Iris and Kirengeshoma last year and was very pleased with the generous sizes, the packaging and delivery notification. I wouldn't buy Nepeta (Catmint) or Perovskia (Russian Sage) from them, for example, because I can get them locally at a much lower price and not have to pay for shipping.

As a side note - I agree that those high on their horses tend to be the ones sending nasty comments to the Garden Watchdog while those of us who are pleased just don't think about it - because we are happily digging holes for our treasures!

Nancy the nancedar