Jessica, April 2 is a bit late to order dahlia plants from dahlia specialists (tubers might be OK but most suppliers would be sold out of many varieties of tubers....), but still acknowledgement would be nice, just to know that 'THINGS ARE WORKING OK' ...... I have ordered from Buddy Dean - HILLTOP GARDENS for the past 3 years. In fact i usually make 3 orders, one in November, another in late December (when his Web site has usually be somewhat updated ...) and again in early February (when surely his website ha been updated, usually ) ........... Buddy and Kelly seem to "automatically combine these orders" as I have received all in one shipment .. .BUT never get an acknowledgement, although the first year they did phone me with a question on my order. I ask for April 15 delivery, as need that in i Rome, GA so that the plants get well rooted and growing well before hot weather comes along in mid-to-late May ... BUT 2 years ago thought they had 'forgot" and then surprise the box of plants arrived the first week in May. Last year the box of plant arrived about April 17. THIS YEAR I AM STILL WAITING and WONDERING - as it is MAY 10, and I should have had these no later than May 1, so that they could have been potted in 4" pots to develop a solid root ball, before transplanting out to open garden. BUT I have gotten QUALITY - DISEASE FREE ( Virus Free) plants from HILLTOP and some varieties that just cannot be found anywhere else these days. Specialty Dahlia Growers do it as a "labor of love" - normally as a "hobby" while supporting themselves with another regular full-time job. BUT - the other 3 dahlia plant suppliers I order form (think the only ones currently shipping plants) all COMMUNICATE and honor SHIP DATES or let one know if a variety is having difficulty rooting in a particular year- so COMMUNICATION is IMPORTANT in EVERYTHING ...... This year I've spent several hundred $$$ on plants order from HILLTOP, but if they do arrive withing the next week or two, I'm afraid it will be "too late" for our hot weather and will have to toss them, as too late for the growing conditions of my climate in Georgia ..............

Joy: The seller's name on the LA is Wormman20030, his actual name is Marvin Wilkins and he is from Falkner, Mississippi. I bought from two different vendors in February and March. Remember, I am in Texas and in February I am out in the garden while some of the rest of y'all are looking at snow. I knew they could not dig daylilies in snow and asked when they did ship, and they told me mid April which was fine with me. The other vendor send a beautiful shipment in April but I heard nothing from Marvin. I believe is was the beginning of May I sent him and email and he replied that he was a one man operation and would try to get to it the next week. Weeks went by, and nothing. I sent another email which was ignored. I finally got fed up, left negative feedback, and later took advantage of the mediating service at LA to request a refund. It is extremely hot here in Texas, too hot to plant. I continued to hear nothing from Marvin and wrote again to the LA. They said that Marvin had written them (but not me) and told them he was going to process a refund and all I had to do is provide a Paypal address. (Let me put in a plug for the LA mediating service here, I was upset, they were patient and understanding) I sent him my Paypal address and again, heard nothing. No emails, no explanation, no refund. I feel that from February to June is an unconscionable wait without explanation. If something was wrong, he could have emailed, he was well enough to email the LA, but has ignored me. The money is not a lot to some people, I understand that some people spend thousands on daylilies and I wish I could, but it is enough that I can't afford to buy more daylilies this year and of course even if I could, it is too hot to plant. I felt that since I have been talking about this incident it is only fair to mention the vendor's name. I would more than welcome him to come here and offer an explanation; as of now I have no explanation, no daylilies, and no refund. Some very nice people have taken their time to email me with the names of vendors who they feel have integrity; after getting over my initial hurt I think I will use the DA again but under the guidance of some of those more experienced. Some points were made that there are good, hardworking vendors that sell quality plants and I agree because the other vendor was like that, so my beef is not with the LA, it is with Marvin.

Pug I would keep it sealed. If you saw how steamy my Hoya rooting tank is you would faint but still 100% success rate. LOL I have my Hoya imbricata and Hoya hyplosia rooting in a plastic storage container similar to yours that has a piece of plexiglass as a top and I am concerned that there is not enough humidity so I mist the cuttings every day. I would much rather have them in the heated and very humid aquarium/rooting chamber but it is completely full right now. As long as you have enough light then the cuttings can take the humidity but if it gloomy and wet in there you can run into problems. The David Liddle order for Eastern Canada was shipped today so I will have eight more Hoyas hopefully by the end of the week or early next week. I don't quite know where I will be rooting those cuttings but I am excited none the less. I think I need a greenhouse. Mike

Despite contrary reports, their website (Happy Holler) is NOT closed and remains operational and still accepts orders. So buyers beware! BUT, their eBay store (1001 Flower Bulbs & Perennials) now got ZERO items for sale. Probably eBay took their items off for sale or got penalized because their ratings are dropping faster than the waters falling off the Niagara Falls within the last few weeks. I purchased $40 or so worth of canna and lily bulbs April 17th on eBay and they had as close to, if not, a 100% positive rating. Back then I didn't know they were the same people as Happy Holler Gardens. As what I said, the last few weeks they just got bombarded with negative feedback. Mostly about products not received. From almost 100% positive, then down to 90%, and I just checked, now they're down to 88%. I have not received my bulbs yet, but for now I remain neutral because stupid me did not read the 'fine and very light gray print' that says shipping will take 17-18 business days USPS Priority Mail (that usually only takes 3 max days). Also in their eBay policy they said PayPal holds their money for 21 days before they get it and they require to have the money to ship the items. Why punish your customers for a long shipping time? That is just bad business. In their Happy Holler website they claim to grow their own products, yet in their eBay store they admitted to have the same supplier as Brecks and American Meadows or something. How come that was never mentioned in their Happy Holler website. Also I'm suspecting they don't have the products on inventory and they just try to get as many orders and then buy them in bulk from their supplier. In their own words: "Also, please understand that when a buyer orders one of an item, we have to purchase an entire case and pay shipping costs to the supplier." So why offer a product(s) for sale when you don't have them. And if their supplier is out of stock they just keep their customers in the dark. Poor communications. I think these people were getting too ambitious with no idea on how to run a business. Started out as a flea market business and trying to make it big out there in the mail-order or eBay business. Yet not realizing, customers trust is what makes a business grow. I'll give them another week, and after that I might as well just file dispute with PayPal as what everybody else is doing. I lost my job for a few months now, and whatever little money I have exta, I spent it on gardening to keep me both physically and mentally busy. So here's hoping they will send me my bulbs.