In this guide, we will learn how to ship a tropical water lily. *This process must be completed without delay and you should work in a shaded location–live plants!

Part 1: The box that we will be using is a USPS Priority Mail (12″ x 12″ x 8″). This box is ideal because of its dimensions and its also available free of charge directly from the United States Post Office (online or at your local Post Office)!

Part 2: Flip the box so that the bottom faces upwards. You’ll want to fold the inner flaps and then the outer flaps to and finally seal with tape. In the photo, you’ll notice that there are two blue stickers–those are simply Priority mail stickers that I use to hold the outer flaps down so I can tape the box with ease.

Part 3: Next we will flip the box back over and place newspaper to pad the bottom of the box.

Part 4: Here we have a tropical water lily (N. ‘Midnight Embers’) that has just been pulled from a pond. You will want to remove decaying foliage, blooms and finally pull the plant from the pot and rinse the roots.

Part 5: After completing part 4 you will have a bare-root plant. At this time, you’ll want to tag (label) the plant.

Part 6: Now you will take the tropical water lily and place in a bag in a circular manner. In this case we used a simple clear plastic bag. I usually also place a moist piece of newspaper over the tropical water lily–in short it regulates moisture.

Part 7: Next place the bag in the box and then push out excess air and finally tie the bag to seal it.

Part 8: Pad around the bag with newspaper. Over fill the box with more newspaper. Essentially you are creating a cushion to keep the plant secure.

Part 9: Next you will want to seal the box similarly as you did in part 3. You’ll notice that it says “perishable” and “fragile” on the box. This were done with stamps. You may also simply write that on the box with a marker or your local Post Office may be able to stamp them for you. Finally complete the address section and bring to Post Office.

You should keep the package in a cool location until it can be taken to the Post Office. We recommend shipping early in the week so that the package may arrive before the weekend. You can also enjoy a small savings off postage costs by printing postage online.