1. Light
   Usuially 4-6 days in a dark doesn't hurt the plant. Possible problems: dropping leaves (it often happens with bougainvilleas). PLant it according to instructions and allow a few days for buds and maybe 2-3 weeks for new leaves to grow. Don't overwater: no leaves - no evaporation, your plant doesn't need much water without leaves.
   
   
2. Water
   Some plants can stay healthy for weeks without watering, if they are kept in dark. No light - no evaporation.
   
   
3. Roots stress
   Normally we pull plants out of the pots, toss of extra soil and wrap rootball in plastic film to retain water in the soilmix. Upon arrival, you re-pot the plant. All these procedures create extra stress on root system. You should keep your plant in a protected location away from direct sunlight untill it's root system recovers (1-2 weeks, sometimes more).
   
   
4. Physical damage
   It doesn't happen often. We wrap plants in hard kraft paper, secure it to the box walls with tape so it won't move, and fill out the box with styrofoam peanuts. All of these provide maximum safe transpostation. We do our best. Does the delivery service? Unfortunatelly, sometimes they don't, and it is beyond our control. In case of serious damage, only the carrier can be responsible for it. If it's just a broken branch or even part of a stem - just let it grow, take care of your plant and it will respond to your love. We understand your frustration if damage occurs, and usually offer our customers a discount or a free plant with his/her next order.

This Stephanotis took a trip of 34 days long!

...Our customer ordered it and left for a vacation, she completely forgot about her order! After she didn't pick up her package from the Post Office for a few weeks, it was returned to sender (us). We opened the box and of course we saw a dry stick. However, Tatiana gave it a chance, planted back in a pot and placed in shade, and forgot about it again, being sure it won't make it... We found this plant in 3 weeks with new leaves growing!..

These Jasmines Sambac travelled for 3 weeks

...(It was a wrong address case). When we packed them, they were nice and blooming. Of course they don't look as fresh here, but even after losing some leaves they will definitely recover...

4/7/04

...Jean received a wilted Cordia Lutea on April 7 and was very dissappointed, she sent us a photo of the plant upon arrival. We suggested to give it some time to recover, and in 3 weeks we received a positive update from her with a new picture! Congratulations with your green thumb, Jean!..

"You had asked for an update on that Cordia lutea that I had ordered several weeks ago. It seems to be recovering well and looks like a happy little tree. I have attached a picture of it in the small pot in which it was planted (so as not to overwhelm the root system). It will be planted in a larger pot very soon.

Again, thank you!
Sincerely,
Jean Exnicios"

4/29/04

These two plants of Cananga on the photos travelled 9 days because of the wrong address provided. They look pretty much stressed out but still have good chances to survive under a proper care. Even some flowers didn't drop off.

A funny experience

One of our customers ordered Litchi tree plus mango collection (3 trees), but upon arrival she said it was only one plant in the box...
"...I received the Lychee tree yesterday--it looks healthy and beautiful. I ordered 3 other trees with that order, and I'm not sure whether they should've come with that order or not..."
We were confused because our records showed we shipped all 4 trees, and the registered box weight showed 4 plants, we felt like we were crazy... Next day she wrote to us:
"Don't worry, you're not crazy, my husband is. He said the box was small containing only the one plant, then packed up the box and took it to work to recycle the packing material. Around 6 PM tonight he unpacked it, and, yep, there were all of the trees. I'm really, really sorry for causing any concern, and I'll be sure to do the unpacking next time. The plants are beautiful, they shipped promptly, your service was
great, and I'm really embarrassed..."

Please, make sure to unpack the whole package!!!