Alyssa Y.
Yelp
I went in person and purchased a bunch of plants at the W'burg location a few years ago -- it was pre-covid, so prob spring of 2019 or 2018. They were beautiful and most got so big, I had to find new homes for them -- one was a parlor palm I'd purchased in a 6" pot that got enormous and even started blooming regularly. So this year when it was time to refresh my collection I immediately thought of Chelsea Garden Center.
This March I made the choice to buy online for local delivery after realizing how much it would cost me to get transportation there and back with the plants anyway. I picked the silver satin scindapsus hb, and the rhipsalis baccifera on the website, set up a delivery date and purchased them, feeling confident after my previous experience w/them that what arrived would be beautiful.
On the day of the delivery, the driver was super nice -- I went down to my lobby to collect the plants from him. Both had been bagged so I hadn't yet seen them at this point. When I got back to my apt and opened the bags, I saw a pretty rhipsalis burchelii, not the baccifera listed on the website. It was really pretty so I kept it, but it would have been nice if someone there had called me to let me know that what they had in stock was a different rhipsalis and ask if I was okay w/that.
The silver satin scindapsus was a shock b/c it clearly had root rot. I mean, classic signs on the leaves, and I had to trim some back. I kept it and rehabbed it, and it looks great now, but I can't believe someone thought it was okay to bag up that sick plant and send it to a customer who payed full price. I treated the soil of the plant as soon as it was dry enough to water, and got it on a proper watering schedule. Recently I finally repotted the plant and had to remove a ton of roots that were dead and had rotted -- they just kind of came off by the handful. Just a complete shock to get a plant like that from them.
I have not been into the garden center yet this year after that, so I'm not sure if most of the plants look sick like the scindapsis I got or what, but lesson learned. Go in person! Pick the plants that you can see are healthy yourself, and don't trust that they won't send you a different plant w/o notifying you, or send you a sick plant.