making another coleus run- Atlock Farms, NJ- anyone want in?

Kell,

you're in;)

Sprry for the long delay folks. had some appointments today which were supposed to be back to back but the first got delayed and screwed up the next one. so i am 4 hours behind time! give me a few minutes to catch up with all of you.

typing furiously....
joy

Lulabelle1,

Because some had to drop out, I have room for your alternates if you'd like to order all of them. Please let me know if you'd like them.

If you do, and they're all available, your cost would be:

$86.01

$66.78 for 18 plants
$3.11 for gas
$15.40 for shipping*
$0.72 for extra wrapping supplies**
$ 2.88 Paypal fees

(Shipping may come to more than or less than this, I won't know until I ship. I'll reimburse you of it's less, you can reimburse me if it's more.)

I did have to add a little extra for wrapping supplies, but not alot.**

Let me know for sure and please send your paypal asap because I can't cover that amount.

Edited 6/17/08; Sorry Lulabelle1! I forgot you d-mailed me for my addy and are paying by check. I'm assuming just for the 10? let me know.

Thanks,

Joy

This message was edited Jun 17, 2008 5:09 PM

Ok, just checking in folks. I won't have internet access after I finish this message until after I come back from Atlock tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for sending payment;)... I haven't received your check yet Lula but that's USPS for ya... I just today received the flat rate boxes... FINALLY!

I'm all set to go to Atlock tomorrow and get your beautiful plants. Just figuring last minute logistics with Ray...

I will post to this thread and d-mail as I get packages out to you so you know to intercept them.

Until then, take care!

Joy

OOO-goody!! Thanks JHoy:)

Hello everyone,

An update. I made the trip to Atlock Farms yesterday. It was a delight to see Ray and his beautiful coleus collection, and Atlock's other plants. He has some real beauties in the experimental coleus "ark" that he's testing for stability and habit. I took a few pics and will post after sending to Ray to verify ID's.

I received almost all cultivars ordered. For those who chose alternates as suggested, if your original order wasn't available, I was able to choose from one of your others. For those who did not choose alternates, I will refund you for the price of the plant (s). More specifics to go to you by d-mail after I finish packing. Still alot to do to get them out by Tuesday. Off the top of my mind, these are the ones in particular:

Ray made the decision to substitute Red Coat for Brilliancy, which was not looking so good. The two cultivars look identical (and it's quite possible that they may actually be the same cultivar.) More details of that in Ray's book, if you're lucky to have it. If not, I suggest you do get it. A lovely and informative book with gorgeous photos of coleus. I absentmindedly forgot to bring it in for him to sign.

- Black Magic also was not available, sadly. I so wanted this one again! A few of us ordered this one.

- Odalisque was not available (one person ordered this). I think my Odalisque for Baker's acres may be large enough to take a 2-3 node cutting, so I'll send that along, if I remember... if that's on your list, d-mail me a gentle reminder LOL.

Another issue, and not a bad one. A few of the plants, especially the larger growers from the first crop, were so tall I had to lop their tops off in order to fit into the boxes- e.g. lemon chiffon, some of the flamingo. Some stems were over 3/4" thick! If I tried to ship them original size they'd have to go in a long tube separately- they're that big, and that heavy. One or two were too wide and had stems too thick to be wrapped without breaking, so I had to cut off one shoot to prevent the plant from breaking during packing or shipping. Some were slightly taller than the box, and I had to cut them off at the highest available node that would fit into the box.

These plants have great number of side shoots and a dense root ball so they'll fill in quickly, don't worry. I mention this because I don't want you to be shocked if your plant has been cut down. I didn't want to send you a plant that would break upon shipping. I also want to assure you that the cuttings weren't taken as "pinches". I have a pretty sizable order from Atlock, probably more than I can handle, and DH has given me enough dirty looks about my out of control sunroom, so I'm not trying to do that at all. I'm about 2 coleus away from divorce. I might have to move in with Brinda after her DH and my DH divorce us because of plant overload.

If I have room in your box to ship the resulting cuttings, I'll try to do that. I haven't

Keep in mind also that some of the slower initial growers or plants from the second crop are not nearly as full or large as the ones from the first crop. But they look really healthy, so should grow on fine.

*** An FYI regarding tooth or consequences- which I mentioned to Ray I had trouble planting out this year, despite successfully overwintering and rooting several cuttings- this one needs to be coddled a little before it begins to really take off, so keep this in mind when planting. Mine grew in full sun last year and it was beautiful, but not one little plant (out of 6!) has survived transplant (after hardening, of course) into the full-sun area it occupied last year, while many of my other coleus did.

I am squeezing the plants in as tightly as possible without damaging- I've only partially done one order and there's no room to fit anything else without compromising the plants. They're individually wrapped in a corrugated paper roll the way Rosy Dawn Garden packages. The fit is snug- the plants won't budge or get crushed. I'm wrapping the rootball in moist paper towel to keep them intact and protected from steaming in the plastic press 'n seal, which is needed to keep the rootball hydrated. I'm notifying you as soon as they're shipped, so please be on the lookout for them so they don't sit outside for too long. Someone suggested not wrapping the rootballs in plastic because of the heat, but with the size of the plants, and the heat, it's necessary. I quick experiment with 3 of my well-rooted plants with wrapping on Friday, leaving them in a box in our sunroom, which gets really hot, and the one with rootballs wrapped in sphagnum looked worse that the one in plastic, which looked a little wilty, but was fine when watered. The one just wrapped in paper towel looked really bad- the Plus, the sphagnum is messy and made my hands and throat itch. I'll keep that stuff for lining baskets.

BTW, I checked USPS to see if I could ship in a larger box, but the prices were surprisingly exorbitant when calculated by dimension and weight. 9kittymom, I haven't packed your order yet, so I still have to consider another box for yours.

I don't want to knock too much of the soil off, or the plants may die when transplanted. Lastly, I don't want to hold off on shipping if I can help it, because it's only getting hotter, and I'm tired of watering my indoor coleus LOL.

Anyway, congrats if you've read to the end of this post. I have to get back to packing before both munchkins wake up.

I'll post more updates later and d-mail and/or post individually when your order is packed and when goes out.

OK, back to the coleus!

Happy Sunday!

Joy

Joy,
OH HOW MUCH FUN!
I would have loved to join you on this adventure. Maybe next summer???? I hope so!

...and I'm now eagerly waiting to see the photos from Ray's coleus paradise.

I hope you got most of my darlings.
(((Hugs))))))
from Alice

Hi Alice!!!

I got quite a few- they were out of some of the ones we wanted... not necessarily sold out but not looking good enough to sell. I have to go over the lists though.

My eyes were bigger than my wallet. good thing they only take cash or check or i'd be in big trouble!

i started an e-mail to you, but it got long and it was getting late and my packaging operation was a mess... newspaper, corrugated paper, tape and leaves everywhere. next time you HAVE to go with me!!!

;)

Joy

Hi Joy,
Hope that all is going well. How is the packing? I am so excited, I can't wait!

Anne

Robert, Kell, ZZsbabiez: your orders were shipped yesterday.

Fairy, Lulabelle1, 9kittymom, yours are shipping tomorrow.

I tried to schedule a pickup for today, but (*^$(*&#%^*(%^# USPS wouldn't let me schedule a pickup online this time and i can't go to the PO since I leave for work at 6am and don't get home until 6pm. I would have used paypal's service with USPS, but for some reason, you can't ship a large flat rate box- only a regular flat rate box using their service.

So when i get home tonight i will re-open the boxes and check for hydration (I packed lulabelle's on sunday night and fairy's and 9kittymom's yesterday. and then i will reschedule for tomorrow AM. i keep checking the forecasts in your areas and for some it's 90's. but if it makes you feel any better, i received coleus plugs yesterday in the mail and they sat in the USPS over the weekend and they are gorgeous.

gotta jet. i'm trying to formulate healthful muffins to fit children's nutritional requirements without serving sawdust, and it's driving me crazy. almost there though...miraculously.

i think i'll be as relieved and excited to get them out as you will be to receive them...

;)
joy

Great! Thanks for your efforts, Joy. I'll go check for it tomorrow.

Thank you! I appreciate all you have done to get us healthy coleus!

edited to add.. I used PayPal to ship flat rate box.. you don't have to give the size of the box.. just click on flat rate.. and it gives the option up to 70 pounds! I just put that tag on the large flat rate boxes and they went through just fine.. I believe there is only one flat rate.. I think it's $9.60 no matter what flat rate box you use. I'm not 100% sure.. I could be wrong.. I am sure I know it worked okay for me to use it!


This message was edited Jun 24, 2008 2:49 PM

There is also a large flat rate box and the postage is over $12. The box supposedly says large flat rate on it.

yeah, i thought of just using the flat rate offered by paypal, but there's a disclaimer on the site that any insufficient postage will be billed either to the shipper or the recipient, like C.O.D. i would hate to do that to someone...

I did find a question thread on ebay regarding this issue. Looks like Ms. Meg (ebay's CEO) needs to vamp up their service contract or setup with USPS:

http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=900122659&mod=1205558475015

annoying...

joy

You can go directly to usps.com and print them (both sizes) and still get the discount for using online.

https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do

Susan
=^..^=

Wow.. I didn't know there were different sizes.. I'm sorry.

That is crazy.. it should be easy... Oh well.. thankz for clearing that up for me..

My package is here! Wow.. they are BIG.. over the top perfect packing! Thank you so much!
I will try to get time to get a pic later..

I got the notification mine were sent-I think it is just 1 though since they were out of Black Magic...

fairy-

actually, i sent you three- the smallwood's driveway from atlock, and two from my own collection- superduckfoot and zesty zucchini... i know you wanted tooth or consequences, but my remaining overwintered plant is still too tiny to share, as is my wine country.

OH-goody:) Thanks:) I can't wait to get them!!! I am getting some pots and doing a tipsy pot thing to flank my front door to put all my coleus in as well as some pots to do a kind of waterfall thinging by sitting one pot inside another:) I will have to take pics once they fill out:)

Shoot me an email Joy. :-D

Mine arrived yesterday. They are wonderful. Great packing job.
THANKS,
Anne

Well, what do we have here?

Now my mom is bringing plants INSIDE the howse?

and putting them in my favrit spot

Mercky

=^..^=

she sed they came in this box, so I am making sure it is properly marked for her.

she had to keep them in the howse cause the sky was leaking and making loud sounds that skared all the other kitties and the pepper dawg had to go in her cage cause she was so skeered.

Now I am making sure they smell OK. I have to pertek my mom.

Oh those were wrapped with a true chef's touch. They look wonderful. I was so hoping someone could would take a picture.
Your love of coleus shows.
Sidney

OK, all checked out. I will now gard them from the other kids.
=^..^=

Aww, so cute! Two of my most favorite things, kitties and coleus!

Those are adorable pics-my kitty does the same thing except she then jumps in the box and hides from the dog and smacks her when she walks by!!-It is one of the funniest things I get to occasionally see!!

Joy -

Wow, you done those Atlock coleus proud! Your packing shows an artist's as well as a chef's touch.

Ray

I wish I had taken a picture of them in the box before I started unwrapping them. I have never seen such a professional, simply great, protective wrapping in my life!

You can see some of the wrappers in the box above. Fantastic!!!

Susan
=^..^=