Having ordered way too many plants from way too many sources, and having
had differing experiences with each of those sources, I thought that I'd
put my impressions down, just in case it would be helpful to others.

Wayside Gardens (www.wayside.com) - Good for roses, bad for perennials
(Overall Grade, B-)

I had promised myself that I'd be good and not order anything from them
this year. Hah! Their 75% off roses sale got me, and while I was
there, I ordered some perennials as well. The bare root roses (Austin's
Tamora and Graham Thomas) looked wonderful, and I got them into the
ground right away. They are pretty slow to leaf out as the weather has
been a bit too warm for their liking, but I'm pretty confident that
they'll be fine eventually. The perennials (columbines, Iris
foetidissima) OTOH, are a different story. It looked like pretty much
everything had been in storage for entirely too long, and most of the
leaves had rotted away. Two of the columbines are making a valiant
effort to live, but I am not at all sure that they'll pull through.

Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com) - Great plants, great
prices, great service (Overall Grade, A)

I have been ordering from Bluestone for about 3 years now, and have
never been disappointed. The plants have always been healthy, and any
failure to thrive have been due to mistakes on my part (with assists
from deer). Out of the over 30 varieties (183 plants) I ordered, they
made one mistake - sent me Centaurea instead of Centranthus. One call
fixed the problem, and I got some lovely Centaurea for free. For the
first time however, some the plants appeared to have dried out. They
did fine once I watered them, but they did have me concerned for a
little bit.

Plant Delights Nursery (www.plantdelights.com) - Terrific perennials,
iffy shrubs (Overall Grade, A-)

First time ordering from them, and I will admit to having quite high
expectations, given the rave reviews I've read, and the prices they
charge. The perennials were gorgeous, my ferns and shade tolerant grass
were in great shape. If anything, they had slightly outgrown their pots
a bit, but not badly enough to be root bound. The Hibiscus I had
ordered was a tiny stick with an inch long growth on it (about 1-1 1/2
inches of root growth), and at the price they charged, seemed really
expensive for what appeared to be a recently rooted cutting. The
Caryopteris looks fine, although again a bit smaller than I expected,
and quite a bit smaller than my neighbor's plant that she received from
Bluestone (same variety).

Munchkin Nursery (www.munchkinnursery.com) - Beautiful plants, packaging
needs work (Overall Grade, A-)

I had posted here earlier, but I ended up having to take substitute
plants instead of the ones I ordered. Gene was nice enough to let me
know that he had run out and to suggest replacements, but I wish he had
let me know sooner so that I could have investigated other options. The
plants looked freshly dug (Dicentra, Cimicifuga), but the packaging
needs some more work (the dicentra came in plastic sandwich bags), as
they both suffered some degree of damage to the top growth. I am not
really concerned about the plants themselves, as they did look generally
healthy with nice root systems.

Crownsville Nursery (www.crownsvillenursery.com) - Gorgeous plants,
Beautiful packaging, Reasonable prices (Overall Grade A+)

Can you tell that I LOVED this one? They sent their shipments promptly
at the date I had requested; the plants were in fantastic shape, with
good top growth, and wonderful root systems; I have never seen such good
packaging as the plants arrived with NO damage to the top growth
whatsoever; and while not inexpensive, the prices were quite
reasonable. Their Hydrangea selection is terrific, the plants were at
least a foot tall with plenty of top growth, and I know that similar
looking plants go for much more locally. There is only one negative
here - they had crop failure and lost one particular plant I had
ordered, but didn't let me know prior to shipping to see if I would like
something else instead. Turned out to be no big deal as I had ordered
way too many plants as it is, but it could have been a bummer.

Suja