I only ordered from Bluestone this year and they are shipping out in Mid May. July??? Thats crazy!!

Well, I wish the Arbor Foundation had a clue. They sent 2 orders during the freeze we had, a month ahead of their May 1 promise and commitment to watching weather for correct shipping. All was frozen. Mid May I could deal with, but July is...yes, crazy. Am beginning to wonder if plants are really ready or they have far too many and need to get them out of what may be over planting. Guess it depends upon the seller, but I'd call Bluestone and set things straight.

I do NOT think it hurts to complain, Hialt. One year, I had seed orders with a good number of companies (can hardly remember when that wasn't true). Stokes was amongst the group.

After 3 weeks, I asked the inevitable question - "When?" The next message to them, a couple of days later, was comparing the dates of orders received from other companies. A few days later, I'd received all of my orders even those placed weeks later and I ran thru a comparison again. Stokes is now very prompt - probably because so many people complained.

Look, we've got options and we shouldn't be shy about both loyalty and exercising our options. These corporate bodies are competing for our business. If they do not act responsibly, people should be held accountable. If they cannot honor a purchase in a proper way, either they shouldn't have made the offer or they should extend a timely apology. And, we have a personal responsibility to ourselves and family.

DigitS'

Good news! Got an email from Park's today, and they are claiming in was a computer glitch, and my order will ship in early May.

You are right Digit, it is our responsibility to hold them accountable, and I'm glad I did.

Mine will be here in a week! I lost my Princess Kay plum to that late frost last year so I'm keeping everything in pots and inside until after Mother's Day. Okay, probably not, but it would be nice... :) Do you all plant this early and then just cover on cold nights? Or do you wait until the last frost date has passed?

I planted my lilac a month ago. We had a hard freeze a week later, but it came through like a trooper.

I have another lilac on order, Sensation, and I told them to ship it May 1. I just put in orders through Gurney's and Gardeners, but that was for supplies, not plants.

It's a beautiful day today, and I spent a lot of it out in my back yard. Unfortunately, then I noticed how many weeds had popped up, so I spent a lot of time pulling them. Oh, my back!

My tulips and daffs that I planted last fall are blooming, so the yard looks pretty if you studiously ignore the weeds and the bare spots on the lawn. I went with a pink and white theme. My tulips are coming up true to their labels, but of all the daffodils I have blooming, not a one of them is pink! They're very beautiful, just not pink.

I found out that one of the items I ordered from Big Dipper, a couple of Gaillardia 'Oranges and Lemons' will not be included in my shipment. Their policy is if anything is not ready when your order is scheduled for shipment, they delete it from your order and just don't charge you for that item. They won't ship it later, or hold the rest of the order. Of course, this was the main thing I placed the order for, so I was disappointed.

I went to the local garden center to see if they were carrying it this year. They weren't, but of course I had to pick up a few things anyway, just to console myself, LOL!

I've started planting out some of my winter sown things. They've been outside from the beginning, so I think they will be able to handle a frost or two. I also planted out the things from the local garden center, since those were already hardened off. I'll probably harden the mail order stuff off for a few days, then plant them. It's all perennials that are harder for this zone, so they should be fine.

My orders from Bluestone and Big Dipper both arrived today! Yippee!!! Everything was in good condition, only a couple of broken leaves, which is to be expected with mailorders. As I mentioned before, the gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons' was left off the Big Dipper order. I discovered today that the agastache 'Apache Sunset' I ordered from Bluestone was deleted from my order. Bluestone sent a merchandise credit for the cost of the missing item. I wouldn't be as disappointed if my agastache rupestris seeds I planted had germinated, but now I won't have ANY agastache at all! (sniff, sniff)

Everything is in the garage right now, as the winds are howling once again. I have chased both garbage cans, the recycle bins, and my new trellis all over the neighborhood this afternoon. Do you think the vines will be strong enough to help hold the trellis down? Or will they be ripped right out of the ground? That trellis is not exactly light either!

Hialt, are you talking about the little pyramid trellis in your veggie garden? If that blows over once you have something growing on it, it would probably break the stems or possibly rip them out of the ground. I recommend driving a piece of rebar or something equally sturdy into the ground, sit your trellis over it, and attach it with wire or something strong enough to keep it in place and upright once youÂve planted around it. Once somethingÂs growing up it, itÂll hide both the rebar and whatever you attach it with. That thing looks heavy. CanÂt believe youÂre chasing it around the neighborhood. Well, I can, but you know what I mean!

Batten down the hatches! It's blowin here in DEN too!

Skybird

Being near the foothills, we get strong winds.
I use 12 inch long "staples" made of a very stiff fence wire. My spouse (I'm not strong enough) bends the wire into a U shape and I use it to pin my bottle gourd cages to the ground.
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We have the metal staples that are used to hold metal edging into place, and they are pretty close to 12". I may have to take Skybird's rebar suggestion. It's going to take something heavy to hold it down around here!

Highalt, You should go to Ebay for the Gallardia. Their is a store called " perfectplant " they have 'oranges and Lemons'. I've wons some plants from them and their very healthy. Just a thought Prime.

Prime, thanks for the suggestion. I have bought other things off of ebay before, but never thought of looking there for plants. Actually, I found the gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons' at High Country Gardens for $5.99, which is a great price. Of course I had to order a couple of other things to reach the $25 minimum, and I had to pay shipping, but I still think I got a good deal! The local garden center was able to order the agastache I was looking for, so everything is starting to come together. Now if the weather would just cooperate, so I can get all these mail order plants in the ground.

Highalt, Thats a much better deal anyway.