ParkSeed

've had excellent experiences (many) with Park Seed Company for many years. I've been gardening since I could toddle out with my family -- 70 years ago now, although where that time went, who knows. At any rate, especially since the gold packets came out, I do not ever remember getting poor germination. On the contrary - everything from geranium seeds (last year's spluge) to exotic Hens and Chicks (an annual event) to African Violets and then normal seeds like lettuce and carrots have been true to name as well as healthy and well grown.

They went through a tough patch with the Park family squabbles -- it's sad to see a family degenerate like that.
It was good to see the employees care enough to finally get hold -- the power players who like to grab up companies and run them into the ground have been doing a number on many seed companies.

With that history, I'm not surprised that there have been some bad experiences. I would still recommend giving this company a chance. I'm getting ready to do exactly that myself.

I ordered some seeds from Park Seed as they offered some things that I had never seen sold locally. I ordered a pack of Astra Double Mix Balloon Flower Seeds (supposed to have double blooms). When they bloomed, they were not Astra Double Mix Balloon Flowers, they were single flowers and much more common variety than advertised. I emailed them to inform them that the seeds they sold me did not produce they flowers they advertised. It has been over a week and I have not heard back. They appear to just ignore emails that aren't about shipping.

I actually did contact them when half of my order was not received. They just kept telling me 'it was shipped today' no matter when I asked. And this was weeks after the site said that the whole order was shipped.

So, considering I have dealt with poor customer service, and lies, as well as being sold the wrong product in the right packaging, I am very unimpressed with this company. It seems like they are trying to scam people into buying common seeds by saying they are a rare variety. I can't see me ordering from them again. I will stick to Veseys and local shops for my seed and plant requirements in the future.

The plants were supposed to ship on 4/11. I purchased with a gift certificate. In May I checked the status and it was set to AUTHAUTH. When I spoke with support they said the order failed because there was no credit card with the order (of course not I used a gift certificate). I didn't get an email or any contact to let me know the order failed.

When I called support said they would bump priority so it shipped out in a day or two. 8 days later it still hadn't shipped.

I called to cancel and support said they couldn't cancel because their supplier used a P. O. and said although it's not my fault they could not cancel. I could refuse the package when it was delivered and they would refund LESS a 20% RESTOCKING FEE - FOR AN ORDER THAT THEY MESSED UP - go figure! I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told they would call back and guess what - No call. Oh well I will spend some time posting reviews on the internet and never order from them again.

I purchased some heavy duty 1020 perma nest seed trays on parkseed.com and they arrived damaged. My error was that I did not inspect the package within 48 hours. My initial thought was, I have ordered these trays through Fedco seeds in the past and Ive never had an issue. On seed planting day, I removed the trays from the box and noticed they arrived damaged, but still usable. The box it arrived in was large and filled with bubble popcorn. The trays had enough room for movement during shipment. I called customer service, and i alerted the customer service clerk that my order exceeded the 48 hours. She had me go through a long process where I was on the phone for over 15 minutes. She then tells me that there is nothing they could do. She stated "The trays were still usable so there is no need to refund you the money and you exceeded the 48 hour time limit." I understand not reimbursing the full amount for the trays or replacement but I shouldn't have to pay full price for something that arrived damaged regardless If the 48 hour mark has been exceeded. There motto should be " If we send you items that are damaged its okay because you can still use it."

A few years ago I had bad results with seeds from Park. Signifcant non germinating seed numbers. I swore off them for 2 years and decided to give them another chance in 2019. Well, once again, most of the seeds I ordered (flowers and vegetables) did not germinate, and NONE of the calladiums, and half the live plants were alive. These were parts of sevrral orders I made and they WILL NOT answer emails, ever. I sent 5 emails over 3 weeks, and filled out two or three web forms. Finally called in and was told this is their busy season and they were unable to answer emails. I received a partial refund and an explanation that this was probably my fault. YES, MY FAULT FOR ORDERING FROM PARK SEED. NEVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN.

Last spring, I ordered multiple seed packets. Planted some outside, some in seed trays indoors. NONE of the seeds, not one, germinated. Chalked it up to... disappoint ing, moved on. Then in mid-August, I ordered 10 plants (2 sets of 3,2 sets of 2 others). I waited... weeks passed. Called and customer service told me that zone 6 ships the week of Sept 11. Oh, no one told me that, but okay. Again, I waited... called customer service 2nd time Sep 18th, and was told there's a shipping delay due to hurricane season (NC to CT?), and that one of my sets of plants was on back order; should all be shipped Oct 2nd. I said ship what you have, send remainder in Oct. Customer service said they cannot do that, must ship together. Frustrated, I agreed to wait AGAIN. On Oct 2nd I called asking for the status of my order (by now nighttime temps are in the 40*s). I was told a DIFFERENT set of plants was now on back order. I told them to forget whatever was on backorder, asked for a supervisor-- now I want my order expedited. I was told they would accommodate me. Ha! On 10/13 (2 full mos after I placed my order) I received my plants (some tiny, half dead), minus the 2 on backorder, SENT GROUND Ship after all. (AND it came with a note on the bill saying if anything was missing or on backorder, they will ship it FREE!) Are they kidding me?!
I will NEVER, EVER do business with Park Seed Co. Again.

I've only bought a few types of seeds over the last couple of years.
Quick shipping w/o any problems

I have been growing vegetables at home, in my garden since 1989, and I have been very successful until last year (2023). Last year (2023) I ordered 20 + different types/varieties of seeds from Park Seed Company. The following seeds were ordered:
* Cucumber Diva & Cucumber Sir Crunch: did not produce except 6 cucumbers.
* Tomato Better Boy Hybrid, Big Beef Hybrid, & Early Girl Hybrid: (All did well, produced good # of tomatoes).
* Water Melon Mini Love Hybrid & Harvest Moon Hybrid (did not produce a single one).
* Pepper Park's Whopper Jalapeno Hybrid, II Hybrid, Pepper Hot Pathfinder (Serrano), Pepper Sweet Rainbow Blend: (the only one produced was the Whopper Jalapeno nothing else).
*Cantaloupe Park Whopper Hybrid: Did not produce a single one.
* Carrot Berlicum Berlin F1: Production was very week/Poor production (the sizes were around 2.5-3.0 inches each carrot.
* Lettuce: Very week/Poor production.
* Beef Detroit Dark Red: No production at all.
* Cabbage Katarina: Poor production (did not mature).
* Cauliflower Candid Charm Hybrid: No production at all (not a single one).
* Eggplant Amadeo Hybrid: Did good (produced good).
* Squash Smooth Criminal Hybrid: Not good, only a few (4 were produced).
* Zucchini Black Beauty Organic: Did not produce at all.
* Green Onion Parade: Did not grow at all.
* Artichoke Imperial Star: No production at all
As I stated at the beginning of my review that I have been growing a variety of vegetables since 1989 VERY SUCCESSFULLY. The whole (2023) season was wasted.
This was my first time ordering from this company (Park Seed). Very Disappointed