There are people here who have (I'm not one of them).

The only nursery I've been to in Florida is Tropic World. If you like caudex-bearing plants (a few species they have) it's awesome. I've never seen Adenium arabicum so large.

Dirtygardener73
I have ordered from here in the spring. I got Easter cactus. The plants came wrapped really well, good communication with the company.I was pleased and was thinking of ordering again.the plants were on the smaller size ,but were ok.
Sharon

I have ordered from him many times, though not in a long time. Plants are always in excellent condition and relatively large. He also hasa pretty good repetoire of jungle cactus and Epiphyllums which are hard to find some other places.

But that is all there is good I can say... (which is enough for most people). On the down side, a LOT (and from my experience, MOST) of the plants are misidentified (or have completely fabricated names). The species spellings are so bad on his old web site (which I see has finally had an upgrade) that even if they species might have been correctly identified, they were so badly mispelled, I sure couldn't tell. VERY unprofessional.. NOT the place anyone who cares what they are actually getting would want to order from.

And expect delays! First time ordered I got my plants promptly (relatively)- in 6 weeks. Last time I ordered in summer (July) and got my plants in early November!!! That was after the previous year of ordering in September and getting them at the end of November when it was too cold for some of them arleady. But the more I complained, the longer it took to get my plants, so best to probably prepare for the ridiculous wait and be patient.

Compare this to ARidlands.com which has close to the perfect web site: photos of the plants you are getting, and a shipping turn around of about 4 days. And these people know their plants! So I order almost exclusively from them now.

If you can go there in person and buy , then one doesn't have to deal with their disorder and inept shipping processes.

I've read his site. He does this all by himself with no help, evidently. I used to sell plants online, but I stopped, because once I got popular, then people start complaining. I'll probably arrange to go there in person. It's not that far.

You must remember that Bob Smolley is a hobbyist turned grower and then shipper-seller. He grows a wide variety of plants. It is difficult to have every single item in every single items listed at all times. If you're seeking something rare, get a start (that is what he sells) and grow the damn thing out yourself. Hey, aren't you hobbyists as well? Perfectly grown plants like Aridlands needs to be transferred from one perfect growing environment to another. If your growing conditions match Arid's, then you're fine, but if they're not, well I hope you have deep pockets then. If I had a choice, I would buy from Bob Smolley. I have had issues with Aridland's stuff not growing, just sitting and not doing anything.

Exactly, RG. He says on his site he does this all by himself. I love getting starts to grow by myself! I'd really love to go just to see all the things he has that he isn't selling. I bet his place is amazing!

I have always been satisfied with Bob Smoley's Garden World, if you want to pay for large plants the postage will be more. The only complaint I have that they are slow in coming. He has great collections of some species that I collect. Other nurseries specialze in other species. Now I'm doing this from old memory, I believe
Arid Lands has a large collection of Haworthia, which I don't believe grow well in desert conditions, I have never had problems with their plants living. I have had problems with Glasshouse Works, however 20 yrs ago, with plant that were sent with a virus, money was not returned after I returned the plants, but a T shirt size extra large was returned. I wear a size extra small. Most private nurseies are former hobbiest. Then they buy a business and have a hard time makeing a living, but they are doing something they love. Norma

There have been many growers over the years some are good and have a consistent record, others are really new and even though they believe they are running at lightspeed, to us it's a slow progress.
There used to be fantastic sellers like Rainbow Gardens, a grower in Bernadino, CA that escapes me now, and many many more. Many have stopped selling because of factors that makes their task of sending plants by mail difficult. It once was a thriving business that one can just pack plants in a box and ship it reasonably anywhere. Today it is a different story. Now with Unibomber, anthrax in the mail, and terrorists activities sending by mail is difficult yet alone costly and time consuming.
For those who do buy from these sellers, you should send them a thank you letter every chance you get. By email and share the wonderful plants you received. Some day these sellers will be a talk of the past.

Norma, I had a problem with Glasshouse Works, too, as have several people I know. I ordered a very rare plant, $20 for the small cutting and $8 postage, and it came to me with all the roots rotted off in soaking wet peat moss. They swore it did not have root rot when it left the greenhouse, and told me how easy it was to root, so I should just root it myself. I swear, that's what they guy said! I did know it was easy to root, so I took off the dead roots, stuck it in half perlite/half peat and rooted it. It's still alive, but it has never thrived like my original plant did many years ago. I bought that one for $1 from a home store garden center. They did offer to replace it if it didn't make it. If I had been dishonest, I would have called and told them it didn't make it just to get my money's worth! LOL Plus, they shipped it at the wrong time, and it sat outside my house all day in the heat. Maybe that's what killed the roots, who knows? I won't order from them again.

I've been to Bob Smoley's once and he is a vendor at our club's sales. His wife does help him some (notice he doesn't give her any credit!). My friend bought a bunch of epi cuttings and most were not named correctly.
He has a nice collect of sansavieria and I've bought some nice ones...some mail order some at a sale.
He is generous with our club.
I'd like to give him a glowing review but I have to remain over all...neutral. not too bad, not too good

Bob passed away several years ago. I got some nice plants from him. His business then passed to his wife. I ordered a dozen Echinopsis hybrids from her. The next spring when they started blooming, they did not match the names/descriptions on the tags. I wrote her and explained the problems I had with the order. She said she didn't know the plants and she was new at all this nursery business. I asked her how to rectify the problems. She told me to ship all the plants back at my own expense because she couldn't afford to do it. I told her that would be expensive and besides that, no nursery had ever asked you to do that. You send them photos of the problem and they replace them (if they are an ethical business). I asked about a refund and she gave me a flat "no". So buyer beware.