How We Ship Live Plants Through an Arizona Summer

A butterwort is a small plant with a lot of water in its leaves, and it spends two to five days in a box on the way to you. We ship from Chandler, Arizona, where summer afternoons pass 105°F, so we think about heat more than most nurseries have to. This is what happens to an order between checkout and your door, and what to do when the box arrives.

Why we ship Monday to Wednesday only

Live plants leave here on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A package that ships on a Thursday or Friday can sit in a carrier facility over the weekend, and that is the most common reason a plant arrives stressed. Orders placed Thursday through Sunday go out the following Monday. Processing takes two to four business days, and each order leaves on the next available ship day after that. We ship within the United States only.

What is in the box

Each plant ships bare root. We lift it from its pot, wrap the roots in damp paper towel, and set it in a small cup that keeps it upright and hydrated. The cup is packed so it cannot shift, and the box is sized to the plant. Care instructions go in every order, and the full care guide is on the site.

Bare root is deliberate. A pot full of wet mix is heavy, moves around in transit, and can rot a plant in a hot box. A bare-root butterwort travels light and settles into fresh mix at your end within days.

Weather holds: above 95°F or below 40°F

Before each ship day we check the forecast along the route from Chandler to your zip code. If highs along the way are above 95°F, or lows are below 40°F, we hold the order and email you. You can wait for the next clear window, which in summer is usually a few days, or ask us to ship anyway at your own risk. If you ask us to ship into extreme heat or cold against our advice, the Live Arrival Guarantee does not cover temperature damage.

Summer holds are most common in June and July, when much of the Southwest and the southern Plains sit above 95°F. Winter holds cluster from December to February for northern addresses. Mexican butterworts and Cape sundews are frost tender, so the cold rule protects the plant.

How long it takes

We ship by USPS Ground Advantage with tracking. Most packages arrive two to five days after dispatch. The West Coast and the Mountain states tend to be at the short end and the Northeast at the long end. You get the tracking number by email the day the plant ships. Watch it, and bring the box inside as soon as it lands rather than leaving it in a hot mailbox or on a porch.

Arrival day

Open the box the same day. Lift the plant out of the cup, unwrap the paper towel, and pot it into a 2 to 3 inch pot with drainage in a 1:1 blend of peat moss and perlite. Water once with distilled water or rainwater so the mix settles. For the first week give it bright indirect light rather than a sunny window, and skip fertilizer altogether; these plants never need it.

A few folded leaves, flattened dew, or a leaf that came loose in transit are all normal. A detached butterwort leaf will root and grow a new plant if you lay it on the mix. Dew comes back within days. The care guide walks through the first two weeks.

The Live Arrival Guarantee

Every plant is guaranteed to arrive alive. If yours arrives dead, mushy or crushed, email support@canyonexotics.com within 48 hours of delivery with your order number and clear photos, taken that day, of the plant out of its packaging and of the box as it arrived. We replace, credit or refund at our discretion, and we cover the shipping on a replacement. We cannot process a claim without the photos or after the 48 hours. Full terms are in the refund policy.

Common questions

Do I need to add a heat pack or cold pack?

No. We do not sell them, and we do not ship into temperatures where one would be needed. A weather hold is safer than a pack that runs out on day two in a hot truck.

Can I pick a delivery date?

Not exactly, but you can ask us to hold. If you are traveling or want the plant to arrive after a heat wave, email us before your order ships and we will send it on the ship day you choose.

What if tracking says delivered but there is no package?

Check with household members and neighbors first, then contact us and we will help you file a claim with USPS. We cannot refund a package the carrier has marked as delivered, so a secure delivery address matters more for a live plant than for most parcels.

How much is shipping?

A flat $13.95 per order, free on orders of $75 or more. The rate is shown on every product page and in the cart before checkout.

Where to go next

The shipping policy has the full terms. If you live somewhere hot yourself, read growing carnivorous plants in Arizona. If you are new to butterworts, start with how to choose your first Mexican butterwort, then see the plants in stock.