Every day for the last week, mail-order plants have been arriving at my door - sometimes twice a day. I really cut my orders to the bone this year, and tried very hard to select some really choice and/or unusual things. So far most everything has arrived in good to excellent condition (thank you White Flower Farm, for sending a potted rose, not a bareroot!), with the exception of 3 'Black Cat' petunia plants from Burpee's. They came in a 3-pack. One was fairly robust, one is currently hanging on by a thread, and one flat-out died the day after it arrived. Even though it annoyed me initially to have to buy 3 of them, I guess it was a blessing in disguise, because now I'd have none if I'd only bought one plant. Not worth making a stink about, on the whole.
Most of the catalogs I deal with are highly reputable and eager to give good customer service. No complaints there. The only problem I still occasionally have with catalog operations based in the South is their eagerness to get me out there planting. This causes difficulties because, while they can be out there planting their fool heads off in early April, I'm crazy to try to do much of anything before the beginning of May. They don't always look at zone maps, apparently. Fortunately now, just about everyone gives you the option of choosing your ship date when ordering online, so it's almost a non-issue. A couple don't, so I have to call them and patiently explain where I live and why they simply can't send me my plants before the date I'm telling them. Oh, well....
There are still some orders yet to come, so every day is a surprise. My husband typically orders the most stuff, so it's a real pleasure to go into the house with a box or two and see his face when I say that they are MINE, MINE, MINE! It's just like Christmas, only better - it's a damn sight warmer than it is at Christmas....
