Green Promise Farms SHCSRS03 SHCSRS CLETHRA ALNIFOLIA `Ruby Spice`, 3 gal

I purchased 3 Hummingbird summersweet shrubs. I was so excited to get these! I was waiting on my front porch for the UPS driver and practically sprinted down to his truck to helped carry them to up to the house! Then I came inside as soon as I unboxed these babies to write my review. Lol. Let me just say, I love plants! I would skip Christmas and get all my presents in May and October if I could. My grass quivers in fear every time they see me staring at it for too long, because it knows I’m imaging where I’m going to dig it up and put a new flower bed. In the past few years, I’ve started ordering more from online nurseries when I can’t find a specific plant locally. Some experiences have been okay, others excellent. This company definitely falls into the “excellent” category. The boxes were very sturdy and rigid. Plenty of room to protect the plants from getting crushed or banged up. The pot was wrapped in plastic to protect the soil from being disrupted in transit and they also included a cardboard collar at the base of the plant for extra stability. I could tell they got a nice drink of water before they were shipped, since the soil was still nicely hydrated. Here’s the amazing part: There wasn’t one single broken branch or snapped twig in any of the boxes. Not a bit of spilled soil. Literally zero damage to the plants! The plants themselves were so so healthy! Lush, shiny green leaves. No leaf spot or insect damage. They looked better than plants I picked up from a local nursery last weekend. They were also much bigger than I expected. A lot of times nurseries will really trim back their plants before shipping, but this one is still very full. I’d order from this company again without a second though. The cost was very comparable to what I’d pay locally for a similar sized shrub. And the free shipping through Amazon beats the high prices I pay when I purchase direct from an online grower. Plus, they have a return/refund policy. So if you aren’t satisfied it seems like it would be pretty easy to get it replaced or get your money back.

What a pleasant surprise when this bush was delivered to my doorstep. It was carefully packaged with instructions on where to open the package so not to damage the plant. There was a very ample size, gorgeous , healthy shrub with new growth and many beautiful, white flowers. If I could give you 10 stars I would!

Plant arrived in good condition, I planted and then the rains hit. So for a few weeks after planting I did nothing with it. I noticed the "sticks" still there among the weeds. I was surprised when later in the season I saw blooms! It's still not very big but it grew quite a bit and I'm really looking forward to next summer seeing how it does. Very pleased as I am a struggling gardener :) A nice way of putting I have no clue so if it survives my skills...... it's a good one!!

Nice, healthy young shrub delivered. Nice roots system, but less than half the size of what the pics look like, so quite a bit dissapointed to pay 45 dollars for such a small plant,even if it's healthy. Planted right out of the box and its doing ok.

This Summersweet Shrub was gorgeously healthy and impeccably wrapped!!! It was much taller, fuller and healthy than I expected. Can’t wait to see the color changes this Fall and hopefully beautiful pink flowers next summer!

We received our Clethera 'Hummingbird' today in perfect condition. Packaging was superb and the plant arrived in terrific shape. It's a well-established plant in a 3-gallon container, and ready to plant. Great value. We expect a beautiful addition for our yard.

Update 1 year later- this shrub is still looking great! This summersweet is in a less than ideal location (I live uphill and planted at the bottom of the slope where rain collects and have stony clay soil), but is thriving anyway. When I dug the hole for this bush, I chose the swampiest area. The hole literally backfilled with water as I was digging. I am doing a rather lazy version of an Ohio wetland garden and the summersweet, blue flag iris, swamp milkweed, and red osier dogwood have had the most success, they all look so happy . The plant looks exactly like the picture. I planted around April or May and it formed flower buds in July. The buds turned pink in August and smelled nice and look great even after the flowers decline. I plan on buying some more of these beauties. I really love the spiraling curvature of the branches on the ruby spice.

Bought the same last summer. Great looking and size was great. All three died. Bought the same a couple days ago. plants were smaller and more money. No guarantee. Won’t be buying any more