First and Finest

With our last frost date still four weeks away, our first mail order plants arrived today as planned.  We will re-pot them and spend the next four weeks moving them outside during agreeable days and sheltering them in the basement on cool nights.  When June first arrives the plants will go into the garden.  This order is from High Country Gardens in New Mexico.  Low moisture plants are their specialty but we order from them because of the quality of their stock and the care that is evident in their packing.

Here is the second layer of our order exactly as it was when the box was opened.  A well designed box liner securely holds each pot by its rim edge.  No pot can move in any direction regardless of the orientation of the box.  Each plant is in a plastic bag or paper sleeve with a soft foam inset across the top of the pot to hold the potting medium in place.  Every plant arrived here in excellent condition.

This Iris Pallida division was grown in this deep pot.  Its condition just out of the box is apparent in the picture.  Our success with this plant is a sure thing because of the skill of the plants man in growing it out and the unique packing system.

In my opinion any one that sell plants by mail order should place an order with High Country Gardens so that they can see how to prepare plants for safe shipment.  A part of their success is this box liner.  The tabs that secure the pot rim in place show in the picture.  The liner can accommodate both sizes of pots used.  A strip of transparent tape across the row of pots holds everything in place.  I plan to order from High Country Gardens every year.  This loyalty is a result of the excellence in packing and the superior quality of their plants.  I expect to pay for quality.  My fourteen plants cost just over one hundred dollars delivered. Disappointment free plants are a true bargain.