Unboxing Plants from Winter Greenhouse

Unboxing. It’s really “a thing” in today’s world in which we purchase so much online. In vlogs and blogs, shoppers are sharing their experiences as they open special purchases.

Why Do an Unboxing?

Asked to do an unboxing for Winter Greenhouse, I realized that unboxing is more than just a hip thing to do. Plant buyers, perhaps more than customers purchasing other items, need to know what it is like to receive an order. With plants, packaging makes all the difference in their post-shipping viability. And the quality of plant stock and signs of care are variable from seller to seller.

Now, Winter Greenhouse is my favorite seller. But I can be unbiased about opening a package from their Wisconsin site, for I am no stranger to the offerings of other vendors. I have purchased plants from all the “biggies”, and several small web-based sellers, as well. I have learned what I love, and what I can do without (you know I’m talking about you, messy damp shreds of inky newsprint as packing material… not a Winter Greenhouse method, by the way.)

Opening Up About the Unboxing

So, on to the fun part: The box. My box, like boxes that had carried Winter Greenhouse plants to me in the past, had done some serious traveling. I live nowhere near Wisconsin, home state of Winter Greenhouse, so a long drive and plane ride had been on the itinerary for my box.

As the plants winged their way to my state, I am sure their shipping box may have been tossed around on planes and as it made its way onto trucks. I expect this with all shipments. But there was no sign of this. Seeing boxes in perfect condition on my doorstep is a pleasant sight (welcome, weary traveler… but hey, you look… GREAT), and one I have seen each time something has arrived from Winter Greenhouse.

Opening one flap of my new box, I spied a wrapped item. A clean sheet of newsprint, no shreds and no printer’s ink, covered a plant container top-to-bottom. This first item was the only one unmarked, providing a good measure of suspense as I got ready to open it. All other wrapped packages displayed identification and care tags. I liked the fact that these tags were taped on the outsides of the paper wraps. From other vendors, I have experienced tags that were left in the soil, and this has resulted in torn foliage. There was no such issue with the method employed by Winter Greenhouse.

Inside, a sea urchin-style cushion in burgundy and pink appeared, with signs of getting ready to flower. I had opened a Moon Cactus, well-shaped and colorful. Its top was encircled by a small amount of thin twine—added protection so that the plant’s spines would not tear the paper, I am pretty sure, but also great for making the cactus look like a little gem. 

With anticipation, I reached for the next package. Its tag helped me to know that I would soon be unveiling an Osteospermum. What I did not expect was for this African Daisy to be in bloom. It arrived with several open flowers and buds. 

A few of the Osteo’s petals were bent under as they emerged from their Winter Greenhouse wrapping; trying to unfurl them with my fingers did not help. But time did. I heeded the advice of an enclosed postcard and held back my eagerness to get this colorful daisy transplanted. The postcard had noted that it is best to allow newly shipped plants some time to acclimate—open to the air, a little water if necessary, and no transplanting until a few days have passed. In the case of the Osteo, just one restful overnight did the trick. Morning wake-up for the plant showed that each petal had fallen back into place. Healthy plant, no damage to petals, no foliage drop… despite hundreds of miles of travel.

My third package was labeled Rosmarinus officinalis, a creeping Rosemary. Having a plant description on the label gave me confidence that, yes, this is fine to use in cooking. Stems of fragrant greenery had been piled atop the plant pot for shipping. As I pulled back the paper, the pine-like foliage spread out to show a sizable and full plant.

A sweet Lewisia plant was my next to unwrap. Like the Osteo from Winter Greenhouse, it had arrived in bloom—in this case, with a single flower, peachy, starburst-shaped, and undamaged from time in transit.

The Packaging

My unboxing was coming to an end. As I reached for my last wrapped container, it occurred to me that these tidy bundles had been secured with paper folds more so than with tape. The wrapping was neat and strong. While I had become familiar with needing to pull off lots of tape, elastic bands, plastic rings, and hard-to-handle cardboard boxes from plants purchased from other vendors, I found that Winter Greenhouse had wrapped its plants in a manner closer to origami-style, with paper holding its shape primarily based on the folds made by members of the shipping team. That paper secured the plants and provided a cushiony ride. Under that paper, one small plastic bag was secured around each plant pot to hold in the soil and allow for moisture retention. And that was it.

My last package contained ‘Chartreuse on the Loose’ Catmint. It was fragrant and full. And guess what…? It had begun to bloom, with a pretty lavender flower on it.

I have received shipments of other plants from Winter Greenhouse in the past. As I think back to opening them, what comes to mind are the postcard, the labeling, a good level of moisture in each plant pot… and beautiful plants. 

Adding to the Tally

Now, I know that life throws some curve balls: Maybe I will order plants at one point, have my box delayed in shipping, and face some issues based on that extra time in transit. But this is my experience to date with Winter Greenhouse, with this unboxing adding to my tally of times when I have been impressed by a plant order that has arrived at my doorstep.

I should note that with plants such as Mimosa pudica, shipped to me in the past, blister packs help to provide some of the protection during shipping. And in a big order of Creeping Phlox which I purchased from Winter Greenhouse, packing peanuts helped the order reach my door in good shape. But the blister packs were recyclable. The “peanuts” were made of an organic material that would disintegrate in water.

In this new package, those extras (blister packs and peanuts) were not included, as they were not necessary for the plants being shipped. Responsible packaging. It was effective; it created minimal waste; and I felt good about the amount and type of material used to cushion the plants.

The plants… well, now that is what this unboxing was all about. The plants are healthy. The plants arrived full with foliage, and in so many cases, intact blooms.

For a plant lover, few experiences can top receiving a care-package of plants selected by someone else. I feel rather spoiled even talking about my shipment of this sort. Such an unboxing is suspenseful, exciting. But the key when it comes to opening plants, whether you have chosen them yourself or are gifted with a box of surprises, is to see that the plants are healthy and undamaged. The Winter Greenhouse unboxing revealed this. The plants are beautiful.