I got it done!!!!! No rain today and all the plants are in pots and most are sitting happily in my pot ghetto on my deck! YES! The others I finished on Sunday and they are where they are going to live for awhile in the bright shade out front.

Whew. I'll tell you truly, I was worried, but Anne had packed them so well, they didn't even blink. Except the EEs and they wilted a bit but I checked them this afternoon and new leaves are appearing, so I'm thinking I'll trim back those few that wilted. I waited because I thought they might perk up, but looks as if they just gave up. Not many wilted, just a couple of the biggest leaves on each.

And Anne, the pineapple lilies -- I think that's their name -- I thought you sent 3, but no, today a 4th appeared. Surprise! Popped right up out of the soil.

When they all get a little more settled, I'll get pictures for you.
If the rain stops again someday.

Whew indeed! Glad you're finally at the point where you can sit back and watch them all grow! If for some reason anything croaks or fails to thrive, let me know as everything can be replaced. Ever since I started using Press N Seal for root balls along with the netting for leaves, plants have a much easier time traveling. Also NOT sending bare root makes a very large difference as well. It may cost a bit more but it's worth it considering how healthy and happy plants arrive at their new home.

Can you tell us about the netting Anne? I don't think it shows in any of Sharon's photos.

I could not possibly ship potted plants, such as 2-3' fiddle leaf ficus, rubber trees, or plumeria. The necessary box size to accommodate the pot plus the heavy weight would make the shipping costs prohibitive. I ship out well over 200 tropical plants each summer, and those that go out bare-root do just fine. Experience is a good teacher - I know what travels well and what doesn't. I wrap all my plants in newspaper and also use shredded paper. Paper is a great insulator, protecting the plants from both heat and from cold.

Press and Seal is a very handy product. I have used it myself. I would bareroot the plant, then wrap the roots in moist sphagnum moss and then wrap press and seal around it.

I just use pint, quart, and gallon size baggies to do the same. Quicker for me with the same end results. I buy the thin baggies for this, not the thicker, freeze ones.

In my experience, plants take a lot longer to acclimate and settle down when they arrive bare root because they are put into an 'alien' environment where the soil chemistry is not familiar. By including home soil they seem to settle down and acclimate a lot quicker. Roots incorporate chemicals into the soil around them that tells them they are 'home'.

I've mentioned this Nature Documentary before, "What Plants Talk About". It totally changed the way I handle plants and confirmed a lot of my suspicions. For example, for many years, I had noticed that I got my best results in rooting cuttings of some plants that are particularly difficult if I stuck them next to the donor plant. After seeing that program, it confirmed what I was thinking. The cuttings rooted faster and with better success because the chemistry of the soil told the cutting it was home and not in some alien possibly hostile place.

If you haven't seen it I urge you to watch it:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature...

Lynn I'll be doing an Ideas post in the near future about how I pack and send plants.

Very good point, Anne. However, we should all be aware that in some cases it is not legal to ship plants with soil attached.

You are correct about that .. and I will ship bare root if that is the case.

I just shipped out two, 3-tip 'Celadine'. The weight was just under 3 lbs. (bare root). Just for the heck of it I weighed the pots with soil. The total weight came in at 18 lbs.! Soooooooooooo, instead of a shipping cost to my buyer of $7.95, it would have been approximately $30.

I agree, it's totally cheaper and for larger plants it's necessary .. but you might start incorporating a bit of soil or you could even water the plant the night before and collect the run off and soak whatever you wrap the rootball in the runoff which would at least incorporate some of that "home" chemistry.

I leave soil that the root-ball encompasses. I also try to water the plants the day before boxing so that both the plant and the root-ball are hydrated. Believe me, I go to a lot of extra trouble to ensure my plants get to the buyers in good shape. I think by now, after shipping several hundreds plants out every year, I have a feel for what is necessary to protect the plant in shipment. You might find it interesting to read some of the recommendations that have been posted about Tropical Plants & More. There's not much I can do about the change in soil chemistry though. Let's face it, every time we re-pot a plant, the soil's chemistry is changed. In a "perfect world" perhaps this is not so, but we all have to grow plants in the "real world".......

I too remove a lot of the soil but leave the soil in the root ball intact. I'm not talking about sending a whole pot worth of soil.

I watched the documentary that Anne is referring to some time ago and it impressed me as well. Her little balls of soil and roots went right into my soil mix just as they were, I hardly disturbed them, though if roots dangled a bit outside the soil ball, then they were more distributed into my soil. But the heart of the roots remained in Anne's soil then surrounded by mine.

And except for the outer EE foliage, nothing, even now, has even wilted.

I understand what Doc and Hetty are saying, but in this particular instance, and with these particular plants, Anne did an amazing job.

Lynn, the mesh wrapped the vining or long foliage in such a way that it didn't tangle with any other foliage. It was only around those longer vines or fronds.

I already checked this morning -- happy plants.

Anne says "If you haven't seen it I urge you to watch it:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature...

I wasn’t able to play this video But i will try again and again. It sounds so very interesting. Thank you Anne for posting the link.

Toni

Oops!! I'm late, I'm late, I promised you pictures of the plants Anne sent from the second Acorn Auction, and now that they are settled and mostly happy, here they are, still in pots and I think it's best to leave them there for awhile.

I'm so excited about the elephant ears, so I'll show them first. Here's 'Coffee Cups', love this!


Mojito


And my most favorite of all Illustris:


Double tuberose 'The Pearl' and Pineapple Lily which is getting ready to bloom!! Yes!!!


Rain Lily and Chinese Cucumber


Confederate Rose and Ornamental sweet potato behind Persian Shield with my own coleus cutting in between


Datura, night blooming bush


AND . . . the Moon vine, a large white night bloomer growing up a long dead ficus tree that is decorated with lights during Christmas and now with a moon vine and more pale blue morning glories for summer. Neither the moon vine nor the MGs have bloomed yet, but any day now. I loved the old ficus but it had grown to 10' tall and was so too big. I took a cutting from it and now have another that is merely 3 feet tall, so the old ficus still serves a purpose.


So that leaves the 4 o'clocks which are out in the yard and I missed them with the camera but they are fine; the little Pitcher's Leather Flower Clematis which might not be doing very well, but we'll see. It's also in the garden beside my gloriosas, so I didn't get its picture either. And we aren't going to talk about the Hoya. Yet. Maybe later, or maybe not. We haven't decided whether or not we will be friends.

And that's about it. So far, so good with all the rest of them. They are beautiful and most obviously have grown like they love it here. I surely do love them!!

Thanks Anne. I'll share the blooms when they get here too, and one of the pineapple lilies will be blooming in a day or two.

Sharon, those are absolutely beautiful! They definitely seem to love their new home.

Aren't they pretty? I just have to smile when I look at them, except for the poor Hoya. I think I might have already murdered it. Never had a Hoya before --obviously. But the rest of them are just happy as can be. Me too!

Glad everything looks happy! What's going on with the Hoya? They are very slow growers.

Sharon, everything is so beautiful. The EEs are gorgeous and I can't wait to see the blooms on the moon vine, pineapple lily and tuberose.
They all look so happy and healthy.