Your Guide to Shipping and Receiving Live Annual/Tropical Water Lilies
Whether you are buying tropical water lilies online for the first time or you are an experienced water gardener, we want you to have the best possible experience. Tropical and annual water lilies are stunning, fast-growing additions to any water garden, but they require special care when traveling from our greenhouse to your pond.
Quick Summary for Shipping Live Pond Plants:
- Carrier: UPS (typically 1, 2 or 3 days in transit).
- Season: Shipping Annual water lilies generally begins in early to mid-May for these Annual Water Lilies well after shipping for our other plants is underway to southern areas, depending on your climate and plant size/readiness to ship. We may have a few available earlier.
- Packing: These are wrapped in plastic bags to stay damp during transit. Shipped safely without heavy pots or soil they are grown in to protect the plants from being crushed and save you money on the weight of the packages.
- Action Required: Unpack, re-plant in loam soil in proper pots and place in water immediately upon arrival. Do not let them dry out.
Here is everything you need to know about how we ship your live water lilies, why our process works, and exactly what to do the moment your box arrives.
🗓️ When Do We Ship Tropical Water Lilies?
Tropical water lilies thrive in warm weather! Because of this, we base our shipping times on two important factors: when the plants are large enough to travel safely, and the most cold-sensitive plant in your entire order.
- Our Shipping Season: We generally begin shipping live tropical and annual lilies during the first or second week of May, continuing through the end of the summer.
- Warm Climates: Even if you live in a year-round warm climate like Hawaii, Arizona, South Florida, or Puerto Rico, we wait until May to ship. This ensures the young plants have grown to the proper size for a safe journey.
- Cooler Climates: For northern water gardens, we hold your plants until your local weather is warm enough for safe outdoor planting. Depending on your location, this might be mid-May, late May, or the first week of June.
Important Note on Mixed Plant Orders: If you add a tropical or annual water lily to an order containing other types of pond plants, your entire order will be held until all live plants are ready to ship safely in one box.
Want your other pond plants faster? If you are also ordering cold-hardy plants—like hardy perennial water lilies or submerged oxygenating plants—and want to get them into your pond earlier in the spring, please place two separate orders. This allows us to ship your hardy plants right away, while keeping your sensitive tropical plants safely in our greenhouse until the weather warms up.
📦 How Are Live Water Lilies Packaged for Transit?
We ship our live aquatic plants using UPS. Our goal is for your plants to arrive at your door within two days of leaving our facility. Even with an occasional carrier delay, your plants should be in transit for a maximum of three days.
Our Bare-Root Packing Method:
We send you full-grown, young adult plants, but we ship them without their soil or pots. We use this proven method for two reasons:
- Heavy pots and shifting soil would easily crush the delicate lily pads during transit.
- Shipping heavy, wet dirt drastically increases shipping costs for you!
Instead, your water lilies are carefully packed damp inside sealed plastic bags. This keeps them hydrated, safe, and lightweight.
🌱 How to Care for Shipped Water Lilies Upon Arrival
This is the most critical step for success! Unlike some garden center plants, tropical water lilies do not need time to "acclimate" to the outside air—they just need water immediately.
- Plant them right away: Do not wait. The moment you open the box, get your lilies into the pond water.
- Keep them completely wet: They must be soaking wet from the roots, up the stem, and covering the underside of the lily pads.
- Never leave them in the open air: Water lilies can dry out and suffer permanent damage in just a few minutes if left sitting on a dock, table, or driveway.
🤝 Customer Service, Guarantees, & UPS Support
We work incredibly hard to pack your pond plants perfectly, but occasionally things go wrong during transit. Here is exactly what to do if you need assistance:
If UPS Delivers to the Wrong Address:
Please contact UPS immediately. You can use the online chat on the UPS website or call 1-800-Pick-UPS (available Monday through Friday). You will only need your home address and the UPS tracking number we provided via email.
- Why contact UPS first? When the delivery driver scans your package, it records an exact GPS location. UPS can usually send a driver out immediately to track down your box and bring it to the correct location.
- Once reported, UPS will give you a case number. Please email us at pondquestions@gmail.com with that case number so we can handle any further steps for you!
If a Plant Arrives Damaged:
If a live plant arrives in less-than-good condition, please review our guarantee policy. Email us right away with clear photos of the damaged plant. You must also include a clear photo of your packing slip OR a photo of the corner of the shipping box showing the packer's initials. This helps our team understand what happened so we can improve our packing methods.
If an Item is Missing:
Email us immediately. Just like with a damaged plant, please attach a photo of your packing slip or the corner of the box displaying the packer's initials.
Why Do We Ask for Everything in Email?
We require all customer service inquiries to be reported by email at pondquestions@gmail.com. Having issues documented in writing allows us to keep an accurate, easy-to-read history of the information shared. This ensures both parties can refer back to the details, allowing us to resolve your questions quickly and fairly!
