We ship our orchid and plant orders to the USA twice a year; once at the end of March, and a second time at the end October. The deadline for orders placed (so that we can get the appropriate paperwork, inspections, and documentation required prepared in time) is the end of February (for March shipment) and the end of September (for October shipments). The prices listed include our costs of international shipping (air cargo, plant inspections, broker fees, CITES paperwork, shipping from Miami to San Francisco, etc.). They do not include the cost of domestic (within the USA) packing and shipping to our customers.

How your plants get to the USA: Plants are first inspected and clear phytosanitary and CITES inspections and paperwork by the Chinese government authorities. After clearing this, they are packed carefully and shipped air cargo from Chengdu to Miami (by the most direct route possible) where they are inspected again, and cleared by the USDA. They are then shipped via air cargo to San Francisco (and inspected again by the California agricultural authorities!). Finally! Once we get them to San Mateo, Mary Gerritsen and I (Wenqing) pick them up and repackage the individual orders. It usually takes 4-5 days to pass all of these hurdles just to get to San Mateo! But, this is what is required to legally important orchids, including those on CITES Appendix 1, to the USA from China. Orders are then shipped out as soon as possible. Local customers (San Francisco Bay area) often pick up their plants at Mary's (San Mateo). This can be arranged, just send us an email.

Your orchids and other plants will be stressed from the unpotting, packing, phytosanitary treatments, and shipping, so its best to deal with them as soon as you can. For bare root orchids, see our culture information elsewhere on the website.

If the item(s) you ordered were not in stock, we can either refund you or provide you a credit for a subsequent order. Items not in stock (or damaged and removed from your order) are indicated on your packing slip by a line through the item. Please contact us when you have received your order to let us know your wishes, comments and questions. If something is damaged or rotted during the shipping, please send us a photo.

If you are going to be traveling or are away from home when we will be shipping (last week of March/first week of April, first week of November), let us know as soon as possible. The last thing we want to happen is for your plants to freeze on your doorstep! We can either hold your shipment for a few days, send it to an alternative address, or cancel it and either refund or move it to our next shipping period.

All packages are sent using our shipping service, with automated tracking information and updates sent both to our customers as well as to us. So make sure the email address you provide to us is one you use! This will be the one the tracking information goes to!

After multiple years of experience shipping at these times of year, we have learned that time is of the essence. We do our best to avoid problems with your plant material freezing, overheating, or getting lost. For this reason, orders are sent out either as priority mail (to addresses in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona) OR priority mail express (all other USA addresses). Additionally, if a big storm is predicted, we may hold the shipment for a few days. We will contact you if there is an anticipated issue. Our shipping policies mean your plants should get to you within 1-2 days of our packing them up and sending them out. We avoid priority mail in states other than those on the west coast as it is now sent surface (not air) and thus risks problems with weather etc.

If you have special shipping requirements (e.g. insulated boxes, heat packs, ice packs, hold at post office) or alternative shippers (e.g. FEDEX, UPS), please let us know as soon as possible.

Most importantly, PLEASE, double check the address and contact information on your order. This is the ONLY address we have to ship to you! If there is a problem with your order, we may need to contact you, and calling you by phone is the most efficient. Thank you!