What kind of perennials do you grow? All nurseries are different and many specialize in certain areas. If you could just give a run through of some of the plants you have bought from them over the years we should get a good enough idea.

I still buy from Bluestone Perennials when they have a sale, but not very often. I find their regular prices high and not fond of their eco pots. I had a hard time finding a nursery online that I liked to order from too. I think what I ended up doing was buying more locally and waiting for year end sales on larger purchases.

In the spring, I have gotten into the habit of going to local plant sales. I have a couple of favorites that I've been happy with what is offered for sale and their prices. And it's a lot more fun as well. :-) There are also local Plant Societies and one Arboretum that also have annual sales. And no shipping costs. [g]

Thanks for your comments!

For some reason, I don't enjoy shopping at local nurseries. It is too difficult to learn about the plants, and there's not enough variety IMO. For example, one project I have for this spring is to turn a roughly 30 yard x 15 yard section of turf that's about 20 yards off my driveway into a tall ornamental grass & tall perennials. The online nurseries' search tool(s) make it easy to search for drought resistant 30 inch+ selections, with blooming colors that interest me. I am growing the grasses from seed from Prairie Moon.

When it comes to shrubs and trees, I like to buy very young selections that are <= $35 Local nurseries around me sell larger specimens that are usually > $65. I have 1.5 acres and filling a yard that size with more expensive shrubs and trees is not an option for me. If I were someone needing to "fill a spot or two" with a couple of new shrubs, I could see how buying a couple of $65+ shrubs is fine.

I'm hooked on GB's Gardners' World. Started watching 4 or 5 years ago on YouTube and then when YT started taking down the posted shows I subscribed to BritBox. They cover a huge array of plants and I am often writing down ideas from that show. I try to get a decent amount of pollinators, stay away from invasives (wish barberry wasn't one- since I have a big problem with deer!) but I don't care about staying native.

I am in Zone 6b Eastern MA.

I'm going to purchase a couple of items from Plant Delights- I know they have a great reputation and haven't ever used them.

I suppose like anyone, I'm a bit "project based". I don't have too many more shrubs to buy, but now I need to begin focusing on filling areas with "green mulch" - ground covers, short perennials which thrive w/o getting out of hand etc. So I need a vendor that offers good selections of those types of items.

I miss them too. Great variety of plants.

I also enjoyed patronizing Lazy S’s. Some folks here like Santa Rosa gardens, especially during their sales. I haven’t used them.

https://www.santarosagardens.com/default.asp

You might want to also ask on the New England forum about local nurseries in your area. For instance, I love Mason Hollow nursery in southern NH. Not huge, but lovely and knowledgeable owners with great prices, some choice woodies, and some really unusual and well grown shade plants. Be sure to check hours before you go because they aren’t open 7 days a week, and if you have a bit of extra time plan to wander through the owners’ stuffed hobby orchid greenhouse just for fun. I realize that isn’t what you are looking for right now, but it is just an example. Or for one long weekend in May, the Sisters’ Plant Sale in Reading MA sells divisions from their gardens. They typically post plant lists ahead of time, and are mobbed, so you likely want to leave the kids at home and come prepared with something to carry plants in. Prices are good, and the sellers are hands on gardeners. There are other locally known, less expensive than many nurseries, but I don’t know where you are in MA. In these smaller nurseries, I enjoy taking with the owners if it isn’t a really busy day because I can ask the kinds of questions that you are investigating using the online tools.

http://www.sisterplants.com/

https://www.masonhollow.com/
I also have found that many New England towns have plant exchanges or local plant sales, so you can check to see if there are any in your area.

Or if you are up for a field trip to just north of Concord, NH, send me a message via my Houzz page to see if I have any divisions or seeds that you might be interested in. Those would be quite budget friendly. ;>)

The Three Sisters Sale in Reading is the one I was referring to. I didn't realize you were in MA.

You can think about the Tower Hill Botanical Garden too. They have an annual sale and usually have choice and unusual along with the tried and true for fairly good prices.

Then there is Garden in the Woods in Framingham. They have a nursery with lots of small size shrubs and perennials for reasonable prices. Lower than the nurseries when I have bought there.

I have never heard of Santa Rosa. I will put them on my list- thanks!

Unfortunately I hate shopping at stores. I like to look at specs, read reviews etc. My idea of "shopping" is to sit in my comfy chair after I get my twins to bed, get my iPad out and start browsing.

I'll pick out specific cultivars of plants and there is no way that brick and mortar nurseries can compare to online nurseries- some of which offer many hundreds or even 1000+ plant cultivars. Most of the time I buy a plant at a nursery for a shrub or tree, I've done my homework BEFORE I go. When I don't do my homework beforehand or do a impulse buy, I leave wondering what I'm going to end up with. Plus, I can usually find things much less expensive (albeit smaller) than an area nursery.

My landscaping budget this year (for 1.5 acres) is a whopping $500. That includes a truck load of compost. That wouldn't go far with $20 perennials and $65+ shrubs with what eastern MA nurseries charge.

I did get into produce gardening 4 years ago and began growing much of that from seed. That has led me to this year to starting ornamental grass and some perennials from seed. So far most have germinated. Out of roughly twenty perennials, only sea holly and globe thistle hasn't germinated. If I find success it should work well with my small budget! I'm hoping to dabble in propagation a bit too. I tried boxwood two years back and had no luck, couldn't get my cuttings to root. I want to try with some sedums later this fall- would love to turn one plant into 20+ for a particular area!

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts!

If you choose not to visit nurseries for another reason such as hours available, having kids tagging along, or just that you hate in person nursery visits, that is another matter, but what I was saying is that not all New England brick and mortar nurseries have that kind of cost which is why I suggested you ask for local inexpensive plant sources on the New England forum. And you will almost always get a more substantial plant at a brick and mortar nursery. When I can get a 3’ specialty spruce for $35 that is several years larger than a similarly priced mail order plant, I am happy because I can chose the plant in person and I am not paying for shipping. And I have seen several nurseries locally where I can get $3 or $5 quart plants or $10 six-pack perennial plants that I will definitely pay more for when I buy mail order. I do buy mail order, but it is mostly things I cannot get locally and so will go looking mail order, but it is typically more $$. You just have to choose the right local nursery to stretch your dollars, just like certain mail order nurseries are less $$. Quite honestly, I am pretty frugal and don’t think I have ever spent $65 on a plant.

Like Babs, I will resort to mail-order only if I can't find something locally, but I'm also fortunate to have several nurseries and independent garden centers within a 25 minute drive that have huge selections. My #1 priority with any new plant purchase is being able to select the healthiest-looking and best-structured individual of any particular plant that I want, and with online shopping, you're at the mercy of whomever is pulling that plant for your order (and their intentions and eye for detail might not be the same as mine).

Regardling online options though: Santa Rosa's prices and plant sizes are are fairly similar to Bluestone's, although the shipping tends to be less pricey depending on where you are. Santa Rosa also really specializes in herbaceous plants, and their selection of shrubs is extremely limited.

Other good mail-order sources in the eastern U.S. with inventory similar to Lazy S's include:

Avant Gardens (Massachusetts: smaller selection, but lots of hard-to-find species and cultivars): https://www.avantgardensne.com/

Song Sparrow (Wisconsin): http://www.songsparrow.com/

Broken Arrow (Connecticut: focus is on trees/shrubs, but some perennials): https://www.brokenarrownursery.com/

Rare Find (New Jersey: focus is on tree/shrubs, but some perennials): https://www.rarefindnursery.com/index.php/

Avant Gardens has a few days they are open each year as well and are in eastern MA.

My favorite is Far Reaches Farms, although it is close enough that I visit in person rather than do mail order. A huge inventory with a great many less common varieties or unusual/rare plants. This is a plant connoisseur's nursery, much like Heronswood in the old days :-) Not necessarily cheap (and I have no idea of shipping costs) but then I am seldom looking for bargains when I plant shop.....I am looking for specific plants.

Joy Creek is another exceptional mail order source with a very wide availablity.

I like Forest Farm in the PNW. They have a very large selection. However, like all west cost nurseries the shipping costs will kill you. When I buy trees and shrubs from them I try and get the tube size; same root depth just a slightly smaller plant and a much cheaper shipping price. Their plants have always thrived for me.

I agree that the better deals are locally, but if you simply can't find what you want, Plants Delight is a good (but relatively expensive option). I too loved Lazy S, and hated to see them go.

Another option (but likely more trouble/cost) might be Frazer's Thimble Farms (link here: http://www.thimblefarms.com/), however, it is in Canada, but is the most I can think of right now, like Lazy S. Also (for me), I have trouble with those darn PNW nurseries (of which I will lump this in), because of lack of suitability of many of the plants to my much hotter climate. Lazy S was much much more of a climatic match, and Plants Delight would also be for me.

Pnkflyd - You said the magic phrase - ‘I get my twins to bed…’ [g]. Completely understandable that you’d rather order online. So, I’m not trying to talk you out of doing just that, I just want to challenge your perceptions or experiences with local vs online just a little bit.

I also like to research plants, read reviews, ask on GW what other gardener’s experiences are with a plant and really know what I want to buy. But at the same time, I want to save money and I want to end up with a bigger, healthier, well formed and cared for plant. I’m not an impulse shopper either. I always have a list when I go local. I just would rather see what I am buying and choose the best plant of the bunch in person. I’m sure if I had twins, I’d change my mind. LoL

But just as an example of online vs local - The last time I was shopping for plants was last fall, and I had a list of plants I was interested in, from research I had done online. One of which was a specific variety of Phlox that was at the top of a list of mildew resistant phlox, from a study done awhile ago. I was able to call around to two nurseries and both local nurseries had every plant on my list. And it was their fall sale and they were 40% off. Without shipping.

In 2017, I purchased a shrub from Bluestone - Hydrangea Little Lime. I probably bought it on sale and it might have cost $20 or less. So that went in the ground in the spring of 2017. It was pretty small, as theirs usually are. Spring of 2018, the shrub came back and performed well over the course of the season. So much so, that I wanted to add another one, but by the time I decided that, it was early October and I didn’t want to wait for it to be shipped or to get the last of the season plants from Bluestone. So I went local and found an excellent, well tended, pristine example of the same shrub, that was 3x the size of the one I bought at Bluestone. It was $50. originally, but during the fall sale, it was half off. So by the time you add in the cost of shipping to the Bluestone order, they ended up costing about the same. But one was 3x larger. So I am very happy with both shrubs bought online and locally and I’ll be interested to see how each of them do over the course of this season.

I do agree that some of the local prices are outrageous. And that it’s not easy to find a shrub in a small size. That is why I shop during the fall sale at many of my local nurseries, because that’s the only time I can afford them. Weston Nurseries has an online list of every thing they offer for the season, down to the pot size, the price and how many they have in inventory. They do offer 3 or 4 sizes on most of what they offer. And you can call on the phone and give them a list to check to see if they have the size you are looking for. And they can have it ready for you to pick up too.

Starting from seed is an excellent way to stretch your budget and propagating as well. And a chance to stretch your gardening skills.

One other suggestion is Winter Sowing, if you haven’t tried it. I did Winter Sowing for 3 years in a row and the sheer number of plants I ended up with was outstanding. I was at a point in my landscape that I had a lot of blank spaces, so that worked out well. And it is good for seed that need a cold spell to germinate. And I found it fun to do.

Prairie Moon Nursery is a great resource for seed, too. :-)

I wish I had a good recommendation for you. I used to like Bluestone enough to order. But the prices have increased again. If a business carries a spacific plant I can find nowhere else, then I will gladly buy it, but shipping has to be reasonable. I found a plant that I wanted from Plant delights. But, since it is a single 3.5 “ potted plant, it makes absolutely no sense to spend around $35.00 just for shipping. I do not care how much I want to get my hands on the plant. Not gonna happen lol.

You might want to check out Middlesex Conservation District. They have a limited selection that changes each sale, but good prices for what they do have. The preordering has closed but the sale is next weekend. If you give them a call they might share the list. Hit or miss, but a couple years ago they had Haas Halo rooted cuttings for just a few dollars each. They are thriving in my yard.

Also check out the Santa Rosa liner trays which are an inexpensive way to get a large number of ground cover type plants. They are small and not guaranteed but with prices that can be $100 for 72 plants it’s a good deal. Graceful Gardens also produces nice plants but doesn’t have tons of choices. Maybe sources like these can balance out the super special selections from the specialty nurseries.

I too am morning Lazy s's right now. I have had good success with the plants I ordered from digging dog-- though the shipping costs are super high so I have only ordered once, and I just tried my first order from joycreek. My problem is that my local nurseries only stock things when they are blooming-- I like to plant in the fall and spring.