Bloombuddies, I would set them in a bucket of water over night to remove as much of the dirt you can. As AlexUnder stated find a plastic bag for the roots and either put peat moss/sawdust or wrap in damp paper towels or newspaper. I would either cut the top to a few leaf nods or strip the leaves off before sending. Then take another plastic bag and slide it over the top. We here ship priority mail, less postal time handling is a good thing. Post Office has free shipping boxes or order online. Hope this helps.
