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Every
so often, we have an early Spring in some part of the country. When
that happens, we frequently get requests for earlier ship dates. It
probably seems like a simple matter to the customer for us to slip their
plants in a box and get them out early! Alas,
nothing could be farther from the truth! :-) Take a peak at what
happens during a
shipping week if you're curious! Our
Shipping Schedule, by necessity, is set up a year in advance and is based on
averages. Weathermen can't predict the weather a week ahead, much less
a year in advance, so we have to work from averages. This
schedule is based on a number of equally important factors, not just the
weather where you are: 1.
The average temperatures where the customer lives factoring in
the average last frost date. It does not, nor can not, factor in that
you have a greenhouse, etc. Our plants are grown in a heated greenhouse and
we have to take in account..... 2.
The average temperatures through the areas where the plants must travel
including temperatures here in Virginia because first they must travel by
truck to Richmond, VA where they get on a plane and travel, often to a HUB
airport, including such freezing possibilities as Minneapolis and Detroit. 3.
Our production schedule. We start shipping the 3rd week in
March. In July of the previous year we start potting, doing cuttings,
etc. all geared around having plants ready at that time. As orders
come in, starting in January, we constantly monitor what's selling and
change production to match what's being order AND when it will need to ship.
Our plants are grown to be ready to start shipping mid-March. 4.
An equitable way to get plants out to all parts of the country starting
with the warmest areas first which is only fair! If we try to
start juggling orders, moving orders from colder parts of the country up
into earlier ship dates, we invariably have a week that is over-booked and
we can't get all the plants out that week. Then comes chaos because
those plants have been pulled to a packing area that isn't a good place for
them to be for 7-10 days if they can't be shipped and have to wait until the
following week. Basically, moving orders out of their assigned week is
asking for a disaster. If we were shipping 100 orders, it wouldn't be
a problem. But when you're talking about 1000's of orders, it's just a
necessity to assign a reasonable week and then adhere to it. 5.
West Coast shipments require their own special consideration because
we know the plants are going to change planes, usually in a northern airport
Hub. Just because a customer is in zone 11 in California doesn't mean
that we can ship in March. Quite the contrary. We have to wait
until it's safe for the boxes to travel through the Northern Hub Airports
like Detroit and Minneapolis. That just doesn't happen until
mid-April. Our
schedule really just isn't flexible unless you're traveling, etc. and need a
later ship date. The few requests we get for later dates are always
easy to accommodate. It's the requests for earlier shipments that
really just aren't possible. We
even go so far as to put the schedule on the check out page, so there's no
guessing on the customer's part about when their order will be
shipped. We
hope you understand but we simply
have to adhere to the following schedule unless you need a later shipment:
| Most
of the country: (All but AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA) |
| Zone
9 & 10 |
March
17th |
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or
as soon as the plants are ready |
| Zone
8 |
March
24th |
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or as soon as the plants are
ready |
| Zone
7B |
March
31 |
Zone 7A |
April 7th |
or ASAP thereafter |
| Zone
6B |
April
14th |
Zone 6A |
April
21st |
or ASAP thereafter |
| Zone
5B |
April
28th |
Zone 5A |
May
5th |
or ASAP thereafter |
| Zone
4B |
May
12th |
Zone 4A |
May
19th |
or ASAP thereafter |
| Zone
3B |
May
26th |
Zone
3A |
May
26th |
or ASAP thereafter |
| West
Coast States of AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA |
Due
to federal regulations, plants to these states require dipping in
special chemicals to prevent the spread of Japanese Beetles to these
states. This chemical makes plants more sensitive to heat in
transit so we don't ship in June,
July and August. |
| All
West Coast Zones |
April
14th
thru May 26th |
No
shipping in June, July, Aug. |
Sept.
1st thru Nov. 10th |
Spring
West
Coast Orders must change planes in
Northern Airport Hubs so they cannot be safely shipped earlier than
April 16th even though you could plant much sooner.
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We
use ONLY the USDA
Zone Chart. (We and most of the industry do not go by the new
Arbor Day Zones, which have moved many people up to a warmer zone because
they're based on the last 15 years which many people believe was a cyclical
high when looking at 100 years of recorded weather.) We have to go by
some standard system. The USDA chart is the industry accepted
standard, so while you might feel that you're in a different zone, our
shipping is set up by zip code on the USDA chart. It's a fair system
-- and we have to have system, otherwise, shipping would be utter chaos!
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