Finding the Best Online Nursery for Perennials

Plants that come back every year are called perennials. They add color and interest to your garden. But because you have to replant annuals every year, perennials are a long-term investment that can save you time and money. But there are so many online nurseries, how do you choose the best one for buying perennials? Here are some things you should think about.

Wide Selection of Perennials

A quality online perennial nursery should offer a diverse selection of plants Look for nurseries that carry not just the common varieties like hostas, daylilies and sedums, but also unique and hard-to-find perennials. The best online nurseries will have hundreds if not thousands of perennial plants to browse and buy

Some top perennial favorites to look for include:

• Popular flowering perennials like peonies, iris, phlox, coneflowers, and astilbe
• Ornamental grasses for texture and movement
• Shade-loving perennials like ferns and heuchera
• Drought-tolerant choices like Russian sage and yarrow
• Vines like clematis for fences, arbors, and trellises

The more choices and types of perennials a nursery has, the more likely it is that you will find the right ones for your needs and growing conditions.

High Quality Plants

It is very important to make sure that plants bought from an online nursery arrive healthy and ready to grow. See what other people have said about the nursery and see if they guarantee the quality of their perennial plants. It is best for the roots of many bare root plants to be shipped in the spring or fall, when the weather is cool, so that the plants don’t get damaged. Perennials in pots should look healthy and green, not limp and dry or like they have bugs or diseases.

Quality nurseries carefully package plants to maintain integrity during shipping. Once your perennials arrive, check that the roots are hydrated and intact with no breakage. Contact the nursery immediately if plants appear damaged or stressed. Reputable online nurseries will replace plants that arrive in poor condition.

Ordering Ease and Convenience

The top online perennial nurseries make it simple for you to find and order plants. Look for features like:

• User-friendly website with intuitive navigation
• Robust plant finder tool to filter by bloom time, color, plant type, etc.
• clearly detailed plant descriptions and growing information
• Ability to shop for plants by USDA Hardiness Zone
• Secure online checkout and ordering
• Clear shipping charges and delivery date estimates
• Guaranteed safe arrival of your package

Making the buying process easier will help you choose the best perennials for your growing conditions.

Helpful Resources

The best online nurseries don’t just sell plants – they provide helpful advice and resources for success. Look for nurseries that offer:

• Informative plant care guides and growing tips
• Garden design ideas and plant combination inspiration
• Hardiness zone tool to identify your zone
• Videos on how to plant and care for perennials
• Custom garden planning and design services
• Excellent customer service via phone, email, chat, etc.

These value-added resources help answer your questions and set you up for perennial gardening success after your plants arrive.

Reasonable Prices

While perennial plants are an investment, the best online nurseries offer fair prices for the value. Compare the cost of perennials between different nursery websites. Factor in the plant size – a 1-gallon potted plant will cost more than a bareroot perennial, but provides instant impact.

Many of the top online perennial nurseries run regular sales and promotions, so you can time your purchase around these to maximize savings. Some offer free shipping once your order exceeds a minimum purchase amount.

Also look for bulk discounts when buying multiples of the same plant. For big garden projects, bundling plants in bulk is an affordable option.

Ideal Shipping Timeframes

When plants are shipped at the right time for your climate, they’ll transition and establish with less stress. The best online perennial nurseries carefully time shipments:

• Spring Shipping – Bare root perennials should ship when the ground has thawed but before hot summer weather. Potted plants can ship a bit later after the last frost date passes. Spring is ideal for early bloomers like iris and peonies.

• Fall Shipping – Perennials planted in fall will develop roots through winter and put energy into top growth in spring. Late summer or early fall shipping works well for plants that bloom in summer and fall.

• Year-Round Shipping – Some online nurseries ship potted perennials nearly year-round, taking extra care to insulate pots and roots from temperature extremes in winter and summer. This provides maximum flexibility.

Take your climate and the bloom time of perennials into account when choosing ideal shipping dates. The top online nurseries make it easy to select your preferred shipping windows at checkout.

Satisfaction Guarantee

Reputable online perennial nurseries stand behind the quality of their plants by offering strong guarantees. Many offer a 1-year guarantee allowing you to get replacements for any plants that fail to establish and thrive in your garden. Read the fine print to understand coverage and limitations.

Ideally, the nursery should provide detailed instructions for how to handle dissatisfaction with plant condition or performance. They should make it as convenient as possible to get replacements or refunds when warranted.

By evaluating online nurseries using these criteria, you can feel confident you’ll find a high quality source for purchasing perennials. Investing in perennials from a reputable online nursery will provide you with healthy, thriving plants and the gorgeous garden you imagine for years to come. Let your gardening begin!