Ordering and Shipping

Plant Lust helps horticulture-lovers find plants at multiple independent nurseries.

Since 2010, plantlust.com has been helping gardeners find fantastic plants from multiple independent nurseries in a single place.

Our business office is in Portland, Oregon. Plant Lust joins forces with nurseries with stellar reputations for selection, plant quality, and shipping reliability. We match your order to a nursery with available stock, and that is best situated to ship to your location.

HOW MUCH DOES SHIPPING COST?

Our nurseries each have their own shipping calculations-most often a combination of the number of plants in your order and shipping distance. Our system calculates shipping costs during checkout. You can preview your shipping costs before finalizing your order.

If you’re new to mail ordering plants, you may be surprised to learn that it’s quite expensive to ship one or two plants. However, the shipping price doesn’t rise much as you add more plants to the same box; the best economy comes from placing a larger order. We humbly suggest that plants look great planted in groups of three.

If you decide to place a second order before we have shipped one of your open orders, we can adjust your shipping costs accordingly if you drop us a line.

WHAT ABOUT ORDERS FROM MULTIPLE NURSERIES?

Our sales operation is new, and our system not yet smart enough to show details if you order plants from multiple nurseries. Shipping charges are calculated from each nursery, which can add up in a hurry if your plants are coming from more than one location.

If you have any questions or need help optimizing your order for the best shipping prices, feel free to get in touch at hello@plantlust.com and we will be happy to help.

WHEN DO ORDERS SHIP?

Assuming no extreme weather during the appropriate shipping season for your plant, our nurseries ordinarily ship within 1-2 weeks. Peak season delays can impact some nurseries. Check our Order Status page for any known delays.

Our suppliers ship via USPS, UPS, or FedEx, depending on the best service and pricing available. After plants ship, we pass along tracking numbers to let you know when to expect delivery.

Shipping plants is more complicated and unpredictable than shipping durable goods, so get in touch if you have questions about timing. If weather conditions risk the health of plants, or other complications arise, we may recommend delaying shipping. Some nurseries will ship outside their normal shipping windows if you want to waive their usual guarantee of safe arrival. Inquire if you need a plant delivered during a specific time period. We will work with your schedule when possible, or refund your order if we can’t accommodate your delivery window.

WHEN IS PAYMENT COLLECTED?

Payment is due at the time of your order. Your payment reserves your plants. If your plants are on seasonal/weather delays, your plant will be cared for by nursery staff until the time of shipping. Given the labor involved in reserving a plant until the delivery time, we do not hold plants without upfront payment.

Just like in the garden, our nurseries sometimes experience weather extremes, equipment failure, pests who unexpectedly eat the plants. Should your reserved plant become unavailable, we will do our best to locate a replacement. If we can’t locate a replacement, you will be issued a full refund as quickly as possible.

HOW BIG ARE PLANTS?

Plants may be measured by the size of the container they grow in (usually the case for herbaceous plants and young trees), or the plant height (usually the case for larger trees and shrubs). Some nurseries ship in containers, while others remove containers and place the soil and rootball directly in a bag for shipping economy and sustainability. Bare root plants are wrapped without containers. You’ll see which options are available when adding a plant to your cart.

Many mail-order nurseries ship smaller plants than you would find at a local retail nursery. We have some suppliers who specialize in shipping larger plants. It is something of an art form. The heavier the plant, and the larger box size required, and the costlier it is to ship.

WHEN YOUR PLANTS ARRIVE

Plants need to be freed from packaging as quickly as possible since a delay of a day or two can easily kill the plant. Unpack your plants promptly, and offer some TLC, including water. Let them get used to the elements in a sheltered location.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING PLANTS

Before placing an order, check the conditions a plant requires, including zone, water needs, soil needs, and sun requirements. If you’re an avid gardener, these may already be familiar to you. If not, we are happy to answer questions that come up as you shop.

We stand behind our plants being correctly identified. Minor damage can take place during shipping. In general, you can expect to receive a healthy root system that will fully rebound from shipping stress.

IF THERE’S A PROBLEM

Some plants show some normal shipping stress, from which they will recover in time. If there’s any question, send us a photo within the first 24 hours of delivery, and we will offer advice or determine if a plant is doomed and needs to be replaced.

In shipping living things, occasionally there are issues. UPS/USPS/FedEx sometimes lose a package or get delayed, which kills a plant. In that case, we will offer to refund or replace the plant, depending on individual supplier policy.

We do ask that you notify us within 24 hours of delivery if it appears that there’s a problem with an order. There are many variables that affect a plant’s health after it gets delivered, so we can’t guarantee plants beyond the initial delivery time period.

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS

We currently ship in the US only. Our suppliers will occasionally make an exception for a very large order, but ever-changing customs requirements and shipping delays are par for the course, and we are unable to guarantee safe delivery, even though shipping can get quite expensive.