I’ve been perusing some bulb sites. It looks like I’m a bit late to the party, since most places are sold out of a lot of their selections. I am looking for larger quantities for landscaping/naturalizing (mostly daffodils - 250+).
I am looking for some recommendations and experiences.
Dutchgrown.com - based in PA. Decent prices. I don’t know much about them.
K. van Bourgondien looked good, until I saw the info at the bottom showing they’re a Gardens Alive brand, which turns me right off.
Brent and Becky’s comes highly recommended, but they put a stop on new orders until 10/6 due to high demand.
Breck’s usually has good reviews, but pricing-wise they’re not really set up for large orders. All their stuff is like5 for $11, even for cheaper varieties, and I don’t see much reference to “landscape size” or specials like that.
Colorblends seems good, but they’re out of a LOT of stuff.
Van Engelen and John Scheppers? I haven’t heard much about them, except that they appear to be the same company.
Does anyone have experience with these companies or others to recommend?
My wife put in an order with John Scheppers last week and a lot of things were already out of stock. We’ve always been happy with what they’ve sent. https://www.johnscheepers.com/
John Scheepers is the higher end side of the two companies and is excellent. Did not care for the others, the bulbs were too small. Runty grown and bloom.
Van Engelen is the wholesale division of John Scheepers. If you need huge quantities of bulbs, you can get better prices by shopping Van Engelen, but it is the same bulbs as John Scheepers. I ordered from Van Engelen last year and thought they were fine.
I also ordered from Dutchgrown.com last year, thought they were fine.
K. van Bourgondien isn’t reliable for sending the right variety, but they do have good prices, the quality of the bulbs seems OK for the most part, and if you do have a problem, you can usually get them to refund part or all of your order. HomeDepot.com also carries van Bourgondien bulbs, and you may be able to get them for a better price from HD if they have the kind you want. Be aware, however, that if they send the wrong variety and you don’t figure it out until the bulbs bloom, Home Depot will not give you a refund like van Bourgondien would if you ordered from them directly.
Brent and Becky’s is the best I have ever ordered from, if a bit pricey. They are worth it. Too bad they aren’t taking orders right now.
I agree with you on Breck’s. I have never ordered from them, because I always find I can get the same bulbs elsewhere for less.
I ordered from Colorblends years ago, and they were very good. I don’t know how they are now.
Been ordering from Brent and Becky’s for several years. If you get on their mailing list, they will tell you the best time to order - mid-March or so. I have been pleased with their products and I will continue to order from them.
I ordered from Colorblends and KvB on the same day.
Despite my reservations, the KvB Order arrived first, and the bulbs look damn good for the price. I guess time will tell if they are actually the variety they’re supposed to be.
It looks like the colorblends order will arrive tomorrow.
Garden Gate is one of those slick magaines interested in selling subscriptions and advertising…I wouldn’t consider them as a go-to reference guide. More likely a ‘who advertises the most’ guide.
The only “no“ so far is from a certain orange-themed big box store. I bought a couple boxes of 75 yellow trumpet daffodils, and 60% of them were dried/rotten. No joke.
The ones that did look intact were probably no more than half to 2/3 the size of a typical daffodil.
In years past I’ve gotten decent bulbs from there. So this is weird.
I ordered some paperwhites and hyacinths from High Country Gardens this week. I had procrastinated on buying bulbs and they were one of the only outfits I was familiar with that had what I wanted in stock. Nice healthy bulbs showed up 2 days later! They still seem to have a fair amount in stock.