So ... got my package from Van Bourgondien today - either my karma is good or I hit the lucky package - everything looked good. The packaging was fine - they bag even their "potted" plants, but they're put in cardboard tubes with tabs that keep them in place. Nice plants, good root systems (this was the Stokesias). The rest were all roots, and I guess I really won't know until spring when they come up (or don't!).
It's so weird to be planting in January.