Plant shopping online can be both exciting and stressful. The thrill of locating a Wishlist Plant can quickly turn to nervous anxiety, as I’m sure most plant parents can attest to after they click the “Purchase” button. Will my plants arrive alive and healthy? How much rehabbing will I need to do? Did I purchase from a reputable and honest vendor? What if it gets lost in the mail? Confiscated by Customs? Run over by a delivery truck?
Ok, ok, so the last one might be a bit overly dramatic (although…you’ll never know). While there’s not much you can do once your plant purchase gets handed over to the courier service, you can at least ease some of your anxiety by ensuring you make your purchase from good vendors. In my “Plant Haul” posts, I will provide my opinion of the vendor that I make my purchases from.
The name of this vendor, which I’m sure you’ve realized by now, is Secret Garden Rare Plants. I placed an order with them on eBay, but they do have their own website. On eBay, the vendor’s username is “CowboyFlowerMan.” How cool is that? I want me a cowboy that loves flowers!
; P
But, I digress. This vendor has been on eBay since 2001 and has a 98.8% positive feedback score. You can’t get more reputable than that.
As I was browsing online, I noted that they have a collection of frequently-found to uncommon plants. Most of the prices are decent and pretty affordable.
I found two of my Wishlist Plants here: the first is Anoectochilus chapaensis(a.k.a. The Golden Jewel Orchid. It is occasionally, but not commonly, found in cultivation) and Alocasia reginula “Black Velvet.” I also purchased an interesting Peperomia that caught my eye, but which was not already on my Wishlist; it’s called Peperomia “Peppermill.” The prices for each of these were well under $20.
Of course, there were a couple of more expensive plants, one of which was a drool-worthy hoya called Hoya pubicalyx ‘Pink Dragon’. The flowers look amazing. Unfortunately though, I had to pass as the price was a little steep. One day though! Maybe when I strike it rich? Uh huh…
I placed my order on a Friday and it was delivered the following Wednesday. No complaints about shipping! It was very prompt. The plants were well-packaged, wrapped in paper towels and newspaper, and secure throughout shipment. They are young plants though; all of them were potted in 2 inch or 2.5 inch pots, and not much more than 4 inches in height. The vendor does disclose their pot sizes for their listings.
As of this post, it has been almost a week since I received these plants, and the baby Alocasia reginula “Black Velvet” has begun to put out a new leaf! There has been no die-back or acclimation stress, which I’m very happy about.
The interesting Peperomia that I mentioned earlier is pictured above. I have never seen this plant before but its color patterns are quite unique. It kind of makes me think about the color-changing and mottled skin of a chameleon or iguana. I look forward to seeing how it turns out as it grows!
And again, there was no indication of stress from shipping or acclimation. Not a single leaf has turned yellow even a week later.
The last plant is the jewel orchid pictured above, Anoectochilus chapaensis. It looks a lot like a Ludisia discolor, but with more lightning-bolt like striations that are less red and more of a shimmering orange-gold. Maybe that’s why it’s called the Golden Jewel Orchid? Hopefully you can see the velvety sheen of the black leaves from the picture. It is a gorgeous plant!
In conclusion, I would recommend Secret Garden Rare Plants for their healthy stock and prompt shipping (US only). If you want to place an order with them, do remember that most of their plants generally are on the younger side, although very healthy. I will definitely be keeping my eye out on their website for any new and interesting plants. Especially that Hoya pubicalyx ‘Pink Dragon’…
Hope this review was helpful!
Always Keep Growing,
Heather (a.k.a. The Botanical Chick)
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