question about waiting for plants ordered online

Assuming plants are in stock how long do you think it should take for a company to ship the plants you ordered? I'm not asking about the time spent in transit just the time for them to actually pack and send the shipment. I haven't ever ordered plants online before and I wonder if I am expecting too much.

It depends anywhere from 3 days to 8 weeks.
That has been my experience.

Lavina

It depends on what you ordered, what season you ordered it in, and lastly who you ordered from. Some places may have to propagate the plants you ordered if it is "special" or they don't carry a lot of inventory. Some sellers blame their shipping on weather (that may be legitimate but some growers in the same zones have no problem shipping right away). The last point is some nurseries are on top of the ball and can get an order out in a week or less while other nurseries can delay shipping for months.

If it is bulb orders then these may take months - for instance pre-ordering tulips in summer or spring won't be shipped until fall.

It's up to you to decide on how long you want to wait. If it is too long then cancel the order. If you do wait, then you can decide if you would ever order anything else from the same place in the future. Slow shippers aren't necessarily off my go to list but they aren't on the top of it either.

Thank you LavinaMae and hcmcdole. :-)
I'm happy to report that the ordered plants are on their way - I received a UPS notification last night... It has only been 12 days since I placed the order. I guess my personality isn't suited to ordering plants this way. Only 12 days and I felt like the plants were being held hostage, lol.
Now I'm nervous as a kitten about what I'm going to get for my money. Earlier this spring we traveled about 80 miles (one way) to get plants from a nursery. I've learned that is the way to go for me & I will only order online when I can't find the plants I want in person.
(I think I need to cut back on coffee!!!)

Don't worry about worrying! LOL I was the same way first time I ordered online. "It's been thirty minutes already! What's taking them so long?!?!?!"

rofl kwanjin, thanks for making me feel better about myself! :-)

Any time! LOL

I had an order that was over 3 months. I ordered in winter and was patient knowing they did something similar last year. So I emailed them that it was close to 3 months. I got a phone call later the same day and they said they were out of some of the plants I ordered. I wonder when they figured that out. Then I got an email from someone else that said the east coast weather was the reason they hadn't shipped earlier. I am thinking what? Do they ship by a slow boat from China? How can their competition ship the same week and be in a much colder zone?

Anyway I agreed to pay for second day shipping (lots of money) and within 3 days I got the shipment. Would I order from them again? Probably but they aren't my first choice if another vendor has the same plants and it cost more.

They have arrived! I live in the same state where the nursery is located. Not as great as I hoped but no where near as bad as I feared :-)

On the plus side: Very green plants. Packed very nicely. Only one plant had minor breakage. There was a slip in the box saying one of the plants might have breakage but it was for a different plant.

Minus: Plants are pretty small. One of the plants was advertised as 2 year old blooming plants but they are the smallest of all. I'm curious if the roots will look like they are 2 years old when I un-pot them for planting. I expect the blooming meant they will bloom this year. I bought 3 and I don't regret it as they are fairly rare and a plant that comes from Turkey where I lived for 3 years when I was a child. I expected the plants to be small because that is what some people commented on in the Garden Watchdog so except for the plants from Turkey - not a big surprise.

Here is a picture of my 14 new plants. Not a lot of green for $93 before taxes and shipping but I'm still smiling.

Glad to hear your plants came in. I've found on mail order plants it is best to treat them as baby plants for the first few months or year(s). A nursery bed helps put on the extra growth before moving the plants to their final spot in the garden.

Mail order usually means small plants due to the expense of shipping. If you can find it locally you will usually end up with bigger plants for less money and you get to choose the best of the lot. When you can't find it locally then mail order comes to the rescue.