Since you are in the northeast you might try the New England Forum for nursery suggestions in your area.

Also, you can check out most vendor's at Dave' Garden Watchdog. Had you known, you would see Breck's is rated quite poorly.

tj

Thank you both! I'll, check that out tsugajunkie

Most perennials, trees and shrubs can be grown from seed via winter sowing so long as you're willing to give them time to mature and bloom. They tend to be vastly healthier than nursery-grown specimens since they're grown in the climate in which they'll be planted. I've winter sowed apple, pear tree as well as perennial seeds that are now growing in my own and my neighbor's gardens. BTW--the apple and pear trees are now taller than I am.

Once I discovered the winter sowing method of growing from seed, I stopped buying plants from online nurseries altogether since I had similar experiences/complaints as you identified above. Nursery grown plants are targeted to what I think of as 'weekend warriors' rather than serious gardeners. I wanted to grow organically and plant things that sustain pollinators--bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. I designed my garden beds for curb appeal only as a side benefit after sustaining pollinators.

I can offer no help with your online woes. I can only suggest you find the patience to grow from seed or seek out nearby farmers markets where established plants may be offered for sale.

Check out the Gardenweb.com forums: https://www.gardenweb.com/ for more resources.

Nessdizzle, have you tried the perennial plant sales in your neighbourhood? Hands down the best resources because gardeners are dividing from their own garden. Some of my best stuff has come this way. Yes, get thee a good nursery, and try to support it, because, lord knows, they are closing in droves. Mail order - I have purchased from a few places, but am by no means an expert - often it's just to try some of the more far out things I like. Usually it's for something like bulbs - easier (cheaper) to send than full out plants.

Bluestone perennials has always been a good source for me. The plants
are decent size and healthy. I am going to try Annie's Annuals and
Perennials out of CA because they have a lot of really unusual plants.
The youtube videos should give you an idea of what they are about.

So, Nessie, I might suggest you hedge your bets by trying a mixed strategy. Check out local plant sources for plants you can simply pop in the ground and enjoy the show...look online for a couple of special plants you are willing to pay $$$ for in a 2-3 litre pot and yep, Gardenweed is right - there is much joy to be had from growing a few from seed. Annuals such as red flax, coreopsis, larkspur, cleome, phlox, sunflowers, nasturtium etc. are easy from seed and can be started from now until late May. Either use 4inch pots or, for larger seeds such as nasturtiums, plant into modules. Tender annuals such as zinnia are guaranteed to give you a glorious showing...and can be sown directly into the soil in May. Yes, you may well fail with a few (but this is how we learn) but I promise there will be enough success to make the effort worthwhile.

Another tip - by and large, the huge nursery stores such as Brent's and Becky's can be cheaper because of economies of scale...but the quality may well be iffy. Better to pay for a reliable independent (and there are various garden watchdog sites which have reviews). Local farmer's markets, boot sales and such can often yield cell packs of cosmos, for example, very cheaply indeed...and right now, in the UK at least, many garden centres are offering plants in the full range of sizes - from tiny plug plants to fully grown shrubs and perennials. Choose across the range - the first year is always hard for the impatient (such as myself) but then there will be new and surprising things happening every year afterwards.

Enjoy yourself - it is not a competition or a race.

In defense of Brent and Becky's Bulbs, I've never had issues with their quality and they often rate quite high on Garden Watchdog, but there are many others that are fairly poor in quality. I always check Garden Watchdog before ordering from a new source. I would second TJ's suggestion that you ask on the New England forum for local nursery suggestions as well; just add a bit of info about generally where you are and what type of plants you are looking for. It's a fairly active forum with helpful people. There have been nursery threads there in the past, but it's been several years, and I know that several have closed.

"Nursery grown plants are targeted to what I think of as 'weekend warriors' rather than serious gardeners."

I'd take exception to that statement. In fact, I'd consider just the reverse to be true! Many independent nurseries (not box stores!) and the wholesale growers that supply them are the primary source for many unusual or less common plants that cannot be easily grown from seed, if at all. And personally, I have no intention of waiting years for a seed-grown tree or shrub to get to a size where it has any presence in the garden or become mature enough to flower!!

Nurseries in my area are excellent - there are very few plants I want that they don't grow or sell or can't obtain for me. And I would consider myself to be a very experienced and serious gardener!! I have ordered by mail order but very rarely - a few uncommon clematis vines I couldn't find locally.

Spring sales held by local horticultural associations, Master Gardeners or garden clubs are also an excellent source, if those are common in your area (a huge deal in mine). And two mail order sources I can recommend for a great selection of less common plants - mostly perennials - are Plant Delights and Far Reaches Farms, both of which have excellent ratings on the Garden Watchdog.

As someone that works at a local, independent nursery, I totally concur that checking out your own local nursery is the best course to try first. The nursery I work at specializes in native plants, but we also carry herbs, a vast selection of perennials, both native and adapted non-native, and your basic landscape shrubs and stuff. I'm coming off sounding like a commercial, and I apologize for that, but my point is that your local nursery, as someone else pointed out, may very well have stuff you won't find elsewhere, or thought you'd only find by mail order. That being said, local nurseries are limited by space, so that can inhibit quantities of any particular plant.

I really like the exchange idea. Also, in my area, there are various plant sales by different societies, garden clubs, and public gardens. I know for a fact that there's a place here in Dallas called Discovery Gardens that has an annual plant sale of native plants that is extremely popular. You can get plants there that you can't find anywhere else. I don't know, though, if they're big juicy plants. But maybe your area has plant sales like that.

Have you, or anyone here for that matter tried an intermediate like Amazon or Walmart? They both have good return policies and Walmart, trying to break into the shipping business, has a lot of inexpensive stuff.

I'm not disparaging either Amazon or Walmart but they're large corporations that don't tailor their products to local consumers. Perennial plants grown in New England won't necessarily thrive/survive in Texas or Oklahoma and vice versa. I carefully designed my garden beds based on (1) hours of full/part sun knowing my soil was slightly acidic sandy loam; and (2) the sun exposure based on my garden beds' orientation with the compass. Likewise, plants that thrive in Texas will be killed by our frosts whereas Hellebores/Lenten roses start blooming in February here. Hellebores/Lenten roses aren't cheap but they're evergreen and in our northern climate they're welcome additions to a perennial garden.

I understand having to pinch pennies but for those who can squander a few, there are rewards that justify the expense.

I second the recommendation of Bluestone Perennials and Plant Delights. Both will send you viable plants. Also Lazy S's nursery in Virginia.

My all time favorite online nursery for perennials is Santa Rosa Gardens. They offer an amazing selection of perennials and great discounts. I've purchased so many plants from them. Would highly recommend them.

I agree with Bella. Santa Rosa send nice size and they are reasonable. For bulbs I use Gilbert h. wild. I have not received any plant the size I get locally.

I love Bluestone perennials. My favorite is probably Almost Eden, best customer service ever. I ordered a lot from Plant Delights before, but it seems to me they have gotten more expensive lately.

I have 'Party Girl' in my garden and I ordered it from Bluestone Perennials many years ago. It's done well and seems to be making seedlings. It looks like they still sell it:

https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/SIMI.html

Or if you happen to be passing through Denver I'll dig one up for you! :)

Definitely, check out ratings on the Garden Watchdog to get an idea of the reliability of online perennial nurseries.

In general, i'd be wary of or outright avoid sellers who:

1) identify plants poorly, mostly using common names instead of botanical ones, so that you can't be sure what you're getting.

2) have suspicious return policies, i.e. requiring that you prove your purchase by keeping packing labels, or that you must ship back sick/dead plants in order to get refunds/exchanges.

3) do business under multiple different names (generally, this is a dodge to prevent buyers from realizing that a nursery is run by the same people that earlier sold them bad plants under another name, or to keep operating when one of their divisions is shut down for bad/illegal practices).

4) emphasize contests or promotions instead of their plants.

5) have prices that seem too good to be true. You get what you pay for. Let someone else gloat over their "bargain" that consists of tiny, moribund or dead plants.

Garden Crossings and as most have stated, Bluestone Perennials are great. I've purchased from both of them.

I used to think Bluestone Perennials was the go to place, but that was back in the day when they sold in six packs, or half six packs and the prices were so much more reasonable. Now everything is sold as a single plant and has become much more pricey. I still think their quality is good, but I've not bought from them in years because of the cost.

I've recently discovered Santa Rosa Gardens and am very impressed with plant size and shipping quality. They often have discount coupons. My only complaint is their selection could be more extensive in Perennials.

I just ordered from Bluestone for the first time, will get my order in a few days, but I expect it will be more than adequate. They had a half price sale on a bunch of plants so to me those prices were reasonable. They seem to be having constant small sales.

From what I gather, it is now 'second generation' and maybe the new generation is just having new ideas about pricing and sales, you know how youngsters have to try out new stuff, but I think they will return to the perennial combination of quality plants and competitive prices.

I love the idea of perennial six packs, perhaps a concerted effort by customers will convince them to bring that back.

My first choice is always a local independent nursery. Always. Note I didn't say "store" - I spend my money at nurseries, not a supermarket or box store. Concur with above comments re: quality of local nurseries, availability of less common plants, etc. I am very fortunate to have many top-quality nurseries within driving distance here in SE Michigan, and like gardengal, there is little I can't find locally that is appropriate for my zone at appropriate times/seasons; I do realize others are not as fortunate, though.

I have ordered plants in the past and, in fact, recently placed an order for a variety of evergreen azaleas that I've never seen for sale locally from Rarefind nursery. I've never ordered from them before, but comments on the board were good as well as on Gardenwatchdog. I've gotten great plants from Forest Farm in the past as well as Lazy SS.

In defense of Breck's: I have actually had very good experiences with them. They always send good specimens to me and the rosebush package of four that I ordered this year came in a large box with all of them every bit as big as average store-bought although they were bare-root. I potted them up immediately. They sent the two phlox I ordered separately but those were very healthy as well.

On the other hand: I do usually place my order extremely early and I think they fill the orders in the sequence they receive them.

But there are companies out there who send potted-up leafier specimens such as Annie's Annuals and Perennials. Although those are medium. To get giant plants you usually have to go local.

Something to consider: Some species are slow growers and some are fast. Fast growers are generally worth buying via mail-order even if you do want instant color. My point being that it is worth looking into whether a plant will rocket skyward or take its sweet time before you dive into the purchase.

I also highly recommend King's Greenhouse for anyone in the Carolinas. It isn't giant and sprawling but they still carry hella variety and things that are in the peak of health. This is just a shoutout for them because I really like what they've got going on.

Got my Bluestone order, I am definitely a fan. Incredible packaging to keep the plants safe. The plants themselves were a nice size and there were plenty of roots, these were not just plugs newly potted up, they have been growing for a while.

Out of curiosity, I checked out Bluestone...and damn near fainted at the prices. Twice as much as plants in the UK. An average plant supply house such as Crocus (glossy catalogues...expensive) costs around $10 for a 1-2litre perennial. I can buy 9cm perennials for under $4 and named varieties for double that - $7 from a nursery such as Plantsman's preference or Place for Plants...although we do not really have the equivalent cheapies in box stores (apart from the usual bedding plants - pelargoniums/petunias etc.)...which are as expensive as nurseries and garden centres. I would definitely have to grow and propagate my own plants at those prices.

I am a (very) longtime gardener and have tried so many online plant sources only to give up on them unless it's a rare or very obscure plant that I'm looking for. I find that the big box stores esp. Home Depot are getting the new and popular plants now in large containers for immediate gratification. I don't know about you but I'm too old to be waiting for years for a plant to look good! Plus, you have the huge benefit of being able to return anything if I doesn't do well or dies, for up to a year. Just save your receipts. The plants in those 3" pots are just silly!

In addition to what claire c notes above some live flowering plants at Home Depot for example are near the price range of cut flowers at the better supermarkets. They last for weeks or sometimes all summer and may then be composted or perhaps over wintered should you be so inclined.

Campanula, if you think the prices are high just think you have to add shipping to those high prices of $10-$20 added. Some even add something called handling fees. I only buy online if I cannot find it local and look for free shipping sales.

Thank you all!! You guys gave me some great information..I bought a few Bluestone perennials at my local nursery last year..tbh I don't rem which ones though hahahaha I'm so bad, I'll remember when they come to life this year. I'm in Central MA and the nurseries I go to typically have all the same stuff in stock, with one having a bit more variety than the others..but they're not open yet and I don't remember seeing anything like the ones mentioned in my OP. But I also wasn't looking for them then so maybe they do carry them. The one nursery I like out of all around here is Sterling Nursery in Sterling MA. They have a great selection and they seem to really take care of their supply. I just like to find stuff to put in ground now(well within a week or so) so it can have time to adjust prior to weather going straight to hot hot hot everyday. Which happens in a blink of an eye around here.

We order our flower bulbs at https://dutch-bulbs.com