Gardener's Choice?

[your_comforting_company]

Neighbor got a catalog a few weeks ago, and I'm thinking of ordering a few plants. In particular, I want to dig up the paper mulberries (they are male and do not bear fruit) I planted, and replace them with Asimina Triloba, A particularly hearty tree bearing the familiar paw-paw fruits.

We have a nice, large pecan tree on the south side of the house for shade in summer and sun in winter, and I want to plant these on the west side of the house for the same purpose, as they are deciduous. The west side of the house gets particularly hot in the summer afternoons.

The question, have any of you bought plants from this place? are they as reputable as they appear? Do they have any sort of guarantee of survival (like lowes and HD offer)? I am a bit cautious because 6 of these trees only costs $20..

Seems like the catalog we used to get was from a different company, but I can't remember the name for the life of me.

[Rick]

I've never dealt with them. Paw Paw trees are pretty cheap. I have one that is hearty and growing and another that I've replaced twice and will have to replace again this year. The outfit I ordered from had a guarantee but when I contacted them they said I had to send them the original sales receipt on the order. Like I had that after a year. So I'm looking for another place. I may try these guys.

[your_comforting_company]

I went ahead and ordered 6 of them. Guess we'll find out.

Also of interest to tomato lovers, they have the old cherokee dark tomato plants. Heirloom variety. Might be worth getting a plant or two, just for the seeds. Hey Crash!!

[crashdive123]

I've never used them either. Got some good heirloom seed stock growing as we speak (only about half the mater plants are heirlooms).

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[Rick]

That's disgusting. It's 44F here.

[your_comforting_company]

71 at dusk here. But Easter hasn't come yet so there's one more good cold snap. Then it's on.

[Justin Case]

Hey, I live in California,,,, I can grow POT ! I think ????

[your_comforting_company]

Still no confirmation email on them being shipped..

Planted two blueberry bushes, a few red stachys for hummingbirds and a tea olive in front of the west window for shade in a year or two (and good smell).
bushes already have berries on them, and were planted just in time for the soaking rain yesterday.

Hopefully the pawpaws will get here before winter...

Looks like BOTH of my mulberry trees are males, so they are probably coming up and being replaced by the pawpaws. Gonna try to seed a few this fall of the A. pygmaea, and maybe have regular and dwarf pawpaws in the same place.

So far, I'm not pleased with GC.com.. they could have let me know at least an approximate ship date??
But I haven't been billed yet, so I could cancel the order and buy them somewhere else for 3x the amount..

[your_comforting_company]

Stevia plants arrived today, almost completely dried out. Hopefully they'll survive the trauma and transplant.
So far I'm not impressed with the company.
Will see how the pawpaw trees look. They should arrive in another day or two.

[crashdive123]

Good luck with them. Hope to start harvesting squash and peppers in a few days. Maters in another week or two. Eggplant has lots of blossoms but will take a bit longer (probably shouldn't have put them in the same container with the squash).

[Winnie]

Crash, I can thiink of few words that are pg13 to reply to that last post, my tomatoes, peppers and aubergines haven't even germinated yet!

[Rick]

Go ahead, Winnie, he deserves it. We still have freezing nights forecast for this week!

[Winnie]

Go ahead, Winnie, he deserves it. We still have freezing nights forecast for this week!

Ditto, Rick. There's Mr aren't I clever picking Squash! But Look on the bright side, when we harvest ours.....oh wait a minute, he'll probably have a 2nd crop by then.

[crashdive123]

Cooler weather would be nice. 90's for the last few days.

[your_comforting_company]

Pawpaws came in and they looked like they were just about right for making friction fire with the hand-drill. One of the six doesn't even have roots on it, like they broke it off even with the top of the ground to send to me.
Stuck them in a bucket of water to see if they'll start growing again before I go to all the trouble to dig holes.

I'm not impressed at all with this company. One of the stevia plants doesn't look too good and the other is making a comeback, but still in sad shape.
30 bucks for 6 dead sticks and two sprouts. Next year I'll just drive down to the nursery at Ty-Ty and pay a little more for healthy plants.

[Rick]

Paw Paws are sent bare root stock. I don't like it either but that's how they are shipped. It's not just that company that does it.

[your_comforting_company]

So the stevia I got from Gardeners choice came back and doing good, but the pawpaws, I'm afraid are just kindling. After however many weeks it's been, theres not a green spot on any of them.. So that's $20 thrown away... I wont be doing any more business with GC. I'll go to a local nursery and pay more money to get good healthy plants. I guess it's true "You get what you pay for"... perhaps I should take lessons from that tidbit. (smacks self on forehead *%$@!)

[Curt]

My father has always had luck with Gurney's. I think they are out of Indiana. He (my father) doesn't drive much or get out and does most of his dealings over the internet so I am guessing this must be a good company.

http://gurneys.com/pawpaw-/p/69591/[/URL]

[oldtrap59]

Over the years I have done business with several seed companies but the 3 that I have had the best luck with are Johnny's Select seed, Gurneys and Shumway. I'm sure that there are other good ones too but these have done the job for me so I stick with them. I do feel however, when buying plants or trees that buying local is the route to go. It will cost more usually but you can see what your buying which I feel makes it worth the extra.

Oldtrap