FAQ

How will my cuttings be shipped? How experienced are you with shipping cuttings across the country?

We have done extensive research and done test shipments of many cuttings. We’ve received a lot of feedback and hope to be able to get your cuttings safely to you. Potted plants will be shipped using a variety of packaging methods depending on size, as well as rooted plugs. All manners of sizes, the plants will grow as long as you follow the care instructions included with your package! Please reach out to us within 24 hours regarding any damaged plants.

What are your pest management practices?

We employ a variety of different pest managements. Including organic sprays, and beneficial bugs. That being said, bugs and fungus are an unfortunate reality of gardening and raising live plants. We send out plants that are visibly healthy, but cannot guarantee our plants to be bug free, or fungus free. It is advised to have all new plants kept in a quarantine observation if there are concerns. We unfortunately cannot afford to accomodate any replacements or refunds due to bugs or fungus.

Below outlines some solutions to common issues that may pop up.

Aphids: Deploy lady bugs, green lacewing larvae, or Safer’s end all. Remove any heavy infested plants, spray with water or even squish with fingers.

Thrips and spider mites: We deploy predatory mites, swirskii and spical for thrips and spider mites specifically. for small spots of thrips, removal of affected leaf or plants is a good preventative. Craz-e mites are also a great predator that consumes all sorts of pests.

Fungal (powdery mildew): we deploy a rotation of preventative Copper fungicide, Mammoth canncontrol. Baking soda and dish soap spray to deactivate active pm spots (90% effective) and of course removal of affected foliage. This is usally for indoor management, once plants are outside, the increase airflow is usually enough to stop powdery mildew.

What is your stance on viruses? Do you cull suspicious plants?

We cull any plants that have obvious symptoms of viral infection. However, we do not virus test. As with most online dahlia literature, majority of dahlias carry one or more strains of virus in their DNA, and it is not economical or possible for us to virus test all our stock. We keep visibly healthy plants, and propagate our cuttings from those plants. We sanitize between snips and keep clean work stations. Furthermore, plants can easily be infected by insects once they leave our care. By purchasing our cuttings, you are agreeing and assuming any risk involving viruses. There will be no refunds or replacements given.

What is your policy if the mail carrier takes longer than expected, or other mishaps happen during shipping?

Once the cuttings leave our care, the travels and treatment of packages are outside of our control. That being said, our goals would be happy customers- send us an email immediately upon receipt and document the condition of your plants upon arrival, we hope to work with customers on a case by case basis to ensure all parties are satisfied in the end.

I received a mislabel and did not receive a response, why?

As outlined clearly in our terms and conditions during purchase, any new to us varieties have a chance of mislabel- buyers will assume this risk by making a purchase from us. We are not a large operation, therefore do not have the time to respond to inquiries where answers are given in our terms and conditions. If mislabels is a large concern for you, please do not purchase from us. We are transparent with what we offer, there is no intention to mislead customers. We try to source our varieties from only the most reliable sources, but mistakes do happen. No refunds or replacements will be offered.

I received a cancellation, what is the reason?

While a rare occurrence, occasionally there will be cancellations. We do not tolerate any negative behavior, as this is a hobby gone wild and not our career, we hope to spread joy and avoid any unnecessary drama and stress. With this preface, we at Summer’s Dream Garden reserve the right to refuse service to any customer, to our own discretion. Please be kind.