Please pay by check or money order, payable to The Desert Northwest. We ask that you enclose payment with order, unless previously arranged otherwise.

Please fill out the order form completely. (It doesn't matter which you use; they are all the same.) Please provide your e-mail address on your order form, in case we have a question concerning your order. If you opt to be excluded from my e-mail newsletters, we will honor this, and your privacy is assured.

We strongly encourage listing alternatives/substitutions in case an item you requested is out of stock. If you would prefer a credit, please say so. If you do not, we shall choose an alternative(s) we hope you will like, according to your other selections.

We accept and ship orders throughout the year, weather permitting. Occasionally we may exercise our discretion to delay shipping for plants if the weather is excessively cold or hot, either here or where the plants are going. On a rare occasion we may be away from the nursery for a long period of time. Thanks for your understanding if there is a delay in our reply to your question, or in shipping your order, during such times.

Plants are shipped only within the US. (We do not ship to Hawaii.) Shipping rates for plants are as follows:

• If your zip code is 80000 or higher, add 20% of the cost of your order, minimum $12.
• If your zip code is below 80000, add 30% of the cost of your order, minimum $15.

Most plants are shipped with soil, but no pots, and wrapped in newspaper and/or plastic to protect the roots and keep the moist. For certain plants with more delicate root systems (including all Proteaceae), pots are included. Please be prepared to pot up the plants into containers, or plant them in a prepared bed, immediately upon receipt of your order.

We guarantee all plants to be healthy, robust, and well-rooted when we send them, and carefully packed. If they arrive in poor condition, please let us know right away. Please don't refuse a damaged box that may contain perfectly healthy plants.

Although we ship year-round, we suggest late summer/fall as a great time of year to place an order for the best selection, as many plants that are small and undeveloped in the spring may be ready then. Also, as we all know, fall is a great time to plant!

How big are the plants we ship? Everyone wants to know. Well, as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." So here is what our mail-order plants look like:

The standard mail-order size we send may be any of the sizes pictured above. Basically it's anything smaller than a 1 gallon pot. We try to ensure that the plants are full and sturdy with well-developed root systems before we send them. It's impossible to generalize about the dimensions of the plants themselves, since this factor is dictated by the natural growth habit of each species.

We also ship some "1 gallon" plants. Above are two examples of what those plants look like. We use both "square gallons" and "round gallons." (It should be noted that what are called "1 gallon" pots or "#1 pots" in vernacular usage are in reality somewhat less than a true gallon.)

Again, we ship most plants without pots as described above.

We'll fill seed orders at any time of the year. Orders under US $20 containing seeds only, please add $3 for handling. Shipping and handling are free for orders over $20 within the US. Shipping of seeds is free if you order plants simultaneously.

For overseas orders, a $3 shipping charge applies regardless of the size of the order. You assume the risk for seed not getting into your country without a phytosanitary certificate. This is seldom a problem, however. Please advise us if we need to write the name of each species enclosed on the customs label. A money order is the best mode of payment. If you would like to pay via Western Union please notify us in advance, and add a surcharge of $10 to your order since we are not conveniently located next door to a Western Union hub. Please do not send cash.