bougainvillea shipping question

i will be in florida for a week, from wisconsin... if i happen to get the inclination to seek out a bougie stump of some sort, maybe from a landscaping company or something like that, does anyone reckon i would be ok just stuffing it into a box and shipping it home at this time of year... i know it would be subjected to a variety of temperatures along the way and arriving in cold wisconsin, but i guess i am hoping that a stump rather than a plant full of foliage might survive such a journey... (i dont imagine a landscape company would agree to hang on to it for me and ship it in spring, and that is also something i couldnt ask my mother to do for either )

I think if you ask USP to ship it using their 24h service, it should not be a problem?

Of course.. You could ask one of the Florida based guys there to hold on to it for you till spring, if you are worried..

I would be most worried about getting it rooted up in Wisconsing this time of year.

good point re: overnight shipping... i guess i was mostly wondering (and could have phrased it better) if a large-ish stump that has little or no foliage would survive the several days of regular shipping as overnight shipping would probably be cost prohibitive for anything of size (but that makes me think though that i could just stuff it into my checked luggage if its not too big...)

getting it potted up in a warm sunny spot though is not an issue for me as i have an office that is fortunately conducive to tropical material.

thanks

Bouganvillea will survive a frost, say into the upper 20's F. I've shipped orchids in January and February, with success, but you really need to look at the weather forecasts for several locations the night before shipping. For orchids, where temperatures below 40 F can be severely damaging, I use FedEx 2 Day or 3 Day service. If cold in your area you can have it held at the terminal for pick up. There is a major Fed Ex terminal in Waukegan IL, there may be one in Kenosha too. Check their website.

For FedEx check the weather for Memphis - that is the Mid-West hub and where it will be spending a period of time on the tarmac without heat. If it is above 20 F at night in Memphis, you should be able to ship with little worry. If it will be below 20 F in Memphis, I recommend adding a 48 hour heat pack to the box. The heat packs are sold at sporting goods stores as "hand warmers", and come in several time ratings, 12 hour, 24 hours, 48 hours and 60 hours. I have picked up 48 hour heat packs at Gander Mountain. I used to get 60 hour heat packs from a greenhouse grower supply house, but the one I used to use has discontinued handling them. Last years winter forced me to stop shipping in winter, and I continued the practice this year. So I don't have a current source for the 60 hour heat packs.

For USPS Priority and or Ground service - I forget where the hubs are - but for Priority I think you can have it held at the post office for pick up - stop in and ask. Same with UPS.

For a large box, I'll tape 2 heat packs to the lower sides of the box. Be sure to pack the tree so that when you shake the box or turn the box upside down - you hear nothing moving. If you hear movement, open the box and repack. Tape down the surface of the pot so soil doesn't spill out, or it will arrive bare root. Insert a bamboo or wood dowel, into the pot that is just a bit taller than the tree, or the top of the tree will get crushed. Sounds complicated, but really is easy to do.

Even in bitter cold, by using the hold at terminal option, FedEx, UPS and USPS can be successfully used.

good idea re: the terminal hold and luckily, i believe we have terminals for all the majors less than a mile from my house adjacent to the mke airport... re: crush prevention, i was going to tape bamboo rods or such to the inside of each of the 4 corners...

thanks leo !

I recently received a tree shipped from Florida. The picture shows what I found when I opened the box...Worked out great.

Good luck!

whew !
i hate to imagine the shipping cost on that !

I payed $24 for the shipping, not sure what it the seller payed threw Fedex. I just calculated it through USPS and it came to $22.50. Now that was to North Carolina, not sure how much more it would be to Wisconsin.

wow... looking at that crate, i am guessing that it must be about 2' square and have some fair heft to it... correct ?
if so, $24 aint bad at all !

The box is 18x18x18 and it weighed 17 pounds.

Kevin,

Amazing! The US dollar spends like the TT dollar, and down here we have to spend over 350 TT $ to purchase a decent stump imported from Miami Tropical [ from China ]
This was a stump when it given to me as a birthday or Christmas gift by the family [ mostly mom - ]
If I get the chance I will show you the life history, in another topic.

Always remember that Bougainvilleas are not tropical, they are Sub-tropical, probably a zone 9, able to, as Leo stated handle some frost.
The fact that they grow in the Tropics [ lowest temp in winter 55 deg.F ] is an adaptation, but I would be careful of trying to grow one from say here, in Miami or other. Might either need a few years to adapt or it may not adapt at all.

They are trees in Brazil and possibly Peru. Do a google to see.
Hope you get a smasher.
Later.
Khai.....

My joy and memories.Fukien tea, not sure what size leaf ?

When you stop in at "Top Tropicals" ask if they have heat packs, they might have a stock they use for shipping, ask if you could pick up a couple. Likely if they have them at all, they have the 60 hour ones.