Anyone else from NM Sacramento Mountains?

When you order from catalogs, how do you get them to ship at the right time?

I have ordered a number of plants online. Most of the better companies will ship Monday or Tuesday only so that the plants don't sit in a warehouse over the weekend. Some companies have extended their courtesy to providing the ability to specify a ship date on the online form (nice). Many companies also use or give the option to use Next-Day or 2nd-Day shipping. It costs a bit more but your plants aren't sitting in a box for a week or more. There are a few that just ship whenever and with the cheapest delivery without concern for how the plants are affected. This has certainly been a much lower percentage of companies that I've ordered from as most companies don't want to get back complaints of dead plants arriving that they have to re-send.

If in doubt as to the company's shipping practice, give them a call. If they are not willing or able to work with you on a shipping date and delivery speed, then I would not do business with them. Their lack of concern for the plants probably extends from the shipping all the way back into how they grow them.

Welcome to the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum RedAuCaDo.

Welcome RedAuCaDo to the RM Forum ^_^

Welcome, Red! I agree with the "call and discuss" recommendation for when to ship.

Howdy, Red.....

Hi Red, I used to live in the Sacramentos, Ruidoso and then just south of Mescalero near Bent, now I'm in the Rio Grande Valley. Our temps are warmer than yours but still New Mexico! I never can get the companies to ship when I want... the day before I place my order, LOL!

I don't live in the Sacramentos but I share the problem -- those cheapo midwest companies (Gurney's, Field's, etc.) have no understanding of or interest in the problems we in the West face. I no longer order from them. They seem to believe that my climate is the same as Flagstaff (it is NOT), and ship in what to me is practically the middle of summer -- so the plants go first to Phoenix where it is REALLY the middle of summer, and by the time they get to me they are usually dead. I have had arguments with them but the refuse to ship when I want them to. I'm packaging up three dead shrubs to return to Field's right now. Never again!

RedAuCaDo - used to live in the Sacramento Mountains (Weed, NM precisely.. my father still owns his house up there) and graduated from Cloudcroft High in the 90s. My mom used to order from Michigan Bulb back in the late 80s & early 90s, but it's gone straight downhill. What exactly are you looking for?