There are some things that local nurseries won't carry due to cost/demand constraints. Either their distributors don't give good pricing for certain things or maintaining them at the nursery isn't cost effective for them. Many nurseries around here will help you order online things they don't carry, or at the very least will point you towards some good online suppliers. Yellow Knockout Roses are an example of something you can't get at my local nurseries and can only get online. And look for coupons and discount codes--a couple of minutes of googling can save you a significant amount of money!

http://www.hallslandscapers.com

Adding 2 cents... Best to stick with local nurseries for most LANDSCAPE plants. Specialty plants may require that you purchase online, but these would not be what the bulk of your landscape consists of.

Best to know what a quality plant looks like as well. Certain big box companies with nurseries have contracts with growers and basically long story short, get whatever the grower ships, even if there are quality problems. So, buyer beware on a few levels.

Forgot to mention, with plants via mail, usually you get barely a rooted cutting for $20. Whereas same plant, much larger, local, will be $5 or $8. It's only practical for those difficult-to-find things that the gardener must have.

all very useful and practical information. this helps me immensely in educating myself on this topic. i recently spoke to a local designer who was very frustrated at the dwindling local supply in South Florida. He said he would design things and his clients would end up with all the same species b/c the landscapers hired to do the install were too lazy to travel out of the area where they are carried. (which makes it even harder for me to find a designer who will create a master plan and allow me to do the work.) My worry is that only the very easiest and more expensive plant/tree varieties will be available to me and so mail order seems to be a practical solution. however, all the cons listed above are good things to look out for.

hall's landscaping: by the way, the yellow knockout roses is something that i saw online that they do not carry locally. Roses in general do not do well in south florida but i'm tempted to try given the reviews. and i wouldn't have thought to look for coupons! good tip.

Yaardvaark i agree about sticking to local nurseries for MOST of the stuff. it's the rare and pretty stuff that i was looking at online.

Have any of you ever heard of the "fast growing trees company"? i promise i have no affiliation with them but was curious if anyone knows if they are reputable in the industry?

http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/Knockout-Rose-Tree.htm

^ i did not find them listed in that garden watchdog site that was mentioned by hall's landscaping.

That is a sketchy sounding name for a reputable nursery. Fast growing trees are also weedy.

Puremichigan: i'm usually so suspicious of online companies but this one had so many buyer reviews on each plant/tree.

How long have they been in business?

I did find them on garden watchdog with more positives than most as Fast-Growing-Trees (formerly Empress Tree Nurseries, Paulownia Supply & fastgrowingtree.com) at this link: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/3298/

They sell a lot of trees that are not well-regarded by many horticulturists - like flowering pears, Paulownia (Empress tree), hybrid poplars and willows and Leyland cypress. Trees that grow fast tend to be weak wooded and often come apart in windstorms. Or have a host of other problems that make them not so great in the landscape (like invasiveness in many areas).

And again, they are offering a very broad range of plants, many that will not thrive in a Florida climate.

As I stated in my previous post, you need to do your homework on appropriately climate-suited plants before you look into ordering anything online. Then see which, if any of those, are offered locally for the best size and the best price. Only when you have eliminated all local sources should you resort to mail order.

Recommended landscape trees for south Florida.

And to help to get you started on actually locating the plants, check out this listing. Seems rather comprehensive to me :-))

thank you for the feedback garden gal. that link is very helpful as well.

Thank you for asking this question OP. I was thankfully saved from placing an order at a shady company. Will be reading through Garden Watchdog carefully before I order my new Lilac bushes.

Depending on what sorts of plants you seek, sometimes the best source is garden friends who love similar plants. Join a club or society that studies a certain plant group or garden style and you will pick up plants at meetings, making contacts with others who share your interest and may share their plants too. Most of my bromeliad collection was acquired this way, and I used to buy lots of palms at auction at palm society meetings. These common interests spilled over to orchids, aroids, anthuriums, and other ornamentals, providing good connections to backyard growers and nurseries alike. Best of all, it's fun.

Also, many large local nurseries will be able to source plants for you if they don't have them. I deal with a large nursery that is about an hour away, and also one locally, and if I want something they don't have, they can oftentimes get it for me eventually.

TN Wholesale nursery has been great over the years! Highly recommend!