W. Atlee Burpee & Co. review

Before I started a vegetable garden, I knew two names in the seed business: Burpee and Park. I have placed two orders with one of these mainstays, Burpee, and received three shipments; two of various seeds, and one of an heirloom tomato plant collection.

I found the Burpee website easy to navigate, but found the information presented on each product to be spotty. Some products gave extensive information on cultivation including recommended planting time, planting depth and spacing, whether the seed should be started indoors or if direct sowing was preferred, problem diseases or pests and how to deal with them, an expected harvest time table, and instructions on how to know when to harvest. Other products gave much less information. Some cultivation helps I would have appreciated include information regarding suitable and unsuitable planting companions and pictures of seedlings for easy identification in the garden. Until now, I have overlooked the “Burpee Library” section of the website which does address some of these issues. Links to these articles from the individual product pages would greatly improve the site.

My seed orders have included peas, carrots, radishes, mixed mesclun greens, cucumbers, and melon. To date I have planted the peas, mixed greens, and cucumbers. As reported earlier, I had great—albeit slow—germination with the peas, but spotty germination with the mixed greens. I suspect, however, that both the slow and spotty germination was due to a bit of impatience on my part in planting a little too soon rather than to less viable seeds. It is too soon to tell how well the cucumbers will germinate. In sum, I have been quite happy with my seed orders from Burpee.

I have been less satisfied with the plant order. Shipping expense was very reasonable, but seemed unduly slow especially for live plant material. To my recollection, no expedited shipping options were available. My plants spent five days in shipping, and arrived wilted and stressed. It did not help that the delivery folks left the plants in the sun; perhaps instructions on the box to leave the shipment in the shade would have helped. I will certainly include a note to this effect for the delivery driver for any future orders.

My impatience in the garden reared its ugly head once again with this tomato order. In a rush to get the tomatoes planted, I overlooked the instructions on helping the plants to recover from the stress of shipping. The plants were certainly not root bound, and following the instructions to water the plants and keep them in a protected location for a couple of days would almost certainly have helped. The plants are doing well despite my more harsh treatment, which may be a testament to the quality of the plants shipped.

In sum, I have found Burpee to be a good source for both seeds and plants that could be improved with better communication to customers through the product information on their website; better communication to delivery drivers through the packaging material; and perhaps an expedited shipping option.