Ordering from SBOE Notice: Plant-orders to be shipped to Florida and Louisiana need to be held in quarantine for one month prior to shipment. We request that you email, call, fax, or write to us with as much of the following information as possible so that we may process your order.
Your Information
1. Your Full Name
2. Billing Address
3. Shipping Address if different from billing (see below for gift shipping details).
4. Phone Number (required by FedEx to deliver, and useful if we have questions).
5. Credit Card Number and Expiration Date: We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. If you have ordered before and requested that we keep your card on file, just note, "on file". You may wish to email an order but phone or fax your credit card number for privacy. We also accept checks or money orders, and will ship upon receipt of payment through the mail. Please write checks payable to Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.
6. Note whether or not to release the package at the door in case no one is home; otherwise, FedEx requires a signature. (In below-freezing weather we advise not to release; if you have a release on file with FedEx, please keep this in mind.) Also note any special instructions for your deliverer.
7. Indicate if you need the order filled by or after a certain date. If the order is time sensitive, we recommend that you call for confirmation.
Your Order
1. The plant's full name, as listed, and date if featured on Orchid of the Day. If you are not after a specific named variety but a general type or color, we can select or recommend plants for you. If you are new to orchids and are not sure which plants will suit your conditions, indicate where you live, if the plant is going to be in or outside, if this will be your first orchid or what kind you already grow, etc.
2. What size plant. We will assume unless otherwise noted that you want the basic plant at lowest listed price, with one spike when in season. If you prefer a larger plant (multispike, specimen plants are priced higher accordingly), indicate such, as well as if you would accept the basic size if a larger plant is not available.
3. Indicate whether you want the plants only if they are in spike, or even if they are not in spike or bloom. In most cases, the price is the same with or without flower spikes, according to the size of the plant. If you are requesting plants only in spike, keep in mind the time of year you are ordering and try to order ahead of the plant's natural bloom time.
4. The price you expect to pay, or a spending cap if you would like us to look for larger plants. Also, whether a spending cap should include the price of shipping. (California residents also add 7.75% to the price of the plants.)
5. If the plant you are requesting is not available, would you like us to look for substitutes?
Note: We put a great deal of time and effort into pulling orders. Please, serious inquiries only. Orders with complete information will be given priority over orders or inquiries that are more open ended. If you are asking something on the obscure end, or if your list is long, please give us time; we may take as long as a month getting back to you. Not all listed plants are currently available.
Gift Orders In addition to the information above,
1. The Recipient's Full Name
2. Their Shipping Address
3. Their Phone Number (required by FedEx to deliver; if you don't have it we'll put yours on the package.)
4. Note whether or not to release the package at the door in case no one is home; otherwise, FedEx requires a signature. (In below-freezing weather we advise not to release.)
5. A message to be hand-written in the gift card. (We do not include gift cards with brown box shipping. See note below about gift versus brown-box shipping.)
6. When you would like the gift to arrive by. If the order is urgent, we recommend that you call for confirmation.
Our Policy We do our best to see that the plants we ship are accurately labeled and that they are disease-free. We guarantee that you receive a healthy plant, packed carefully and securely for the best possible arrival. We do not, however, guarantee the flowers, buds, or spikes on non-gift orders. In most all cases, plants arrive beautifully, spike and all. Whenever possible, we recommend shipping plants before they have bloomed; both for safer arrival and for you to enjoy a longer bloom time. Further, many of our plants are grown outdoors and may have normal weathering and imperfections. If your concerns for the plant are cosmetic, call us for a description of the plants' condition. Nor do we guarantee the blooming or the life of the plant after it has left our care. We are glad to provide any information we can to help you succeed in your orchid endeavors, but realize that your growing conditions probably differ from ours. It is normal for some plants to need repotting after they have bloomed, and we generally ship them in the condition they have been growing without potting them up before shipping. If you have questions or complaints, we need to hear from you within ten days of your receiving the plant. If you are not satisfied with the plant itself, or if it is unreasonably damaged in shipment, as by frost or heat, contact us and we will arrange to replace it free of charge, upon return of the original plant. Our liability is restricted to the original purchase price of the plant only.
Send Mail to: Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
1250 Orchid Drive Santa Barbara, CA 93111 U.S.A.
Phone: (805) 967-1284 Toll Free: 1(800) 553-3387 Fax: (805) 683-3405
E-Mail: sboe@sborchid.com
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Checks or money orders may be written out to Santa Barbara Orchid Estate and mailed to the above address.
Shipping in the United States(with exception of Alaska and Hawaii - see below) Notice: Plant-orders to be shipped to Florida and Louisiana need to be held in quarantine for one month prior to shipment.
The delicacy of orchids requires that they not be left long on doorsteps during harsh winters and summers. Cymbidiums and cymbidium flowers can suffer at temperatures below 30°F. Phalaenopsis can stand temperatures of down to 40°F for brief periods of time.If the recipient is unlikely to be home to receive the package, we recommend shipping to work (unless the building is highly secure) or the address of a neighbor. During bad weather, we recommend shipping standard overnight, in conjunction with insulated packing and a heat pack to allow immediate shipping of your gift. During severe weather we hold shipments Shipping days are generally Monday through Wednesday, with packages going 2nd day Federal Express and arriving Wednesday through Friday. Most orders, when they are straightforward and we are able to fill them, go out the same or the following week. Orders may take longer at peak times such as the Spring Show, Orchid Fair, Fall Open House, and gift-giving holidays.
Shipping outside of the Contiguous United States
Hawaii
The recipient in Hawaii needs to obtain an import permit from their local department of agriculture (at no cost) and to notify us of their import number. Then we are required to obtain a PHYTO* permit, for a fee. Also figure higher shipping rates than those quoted.
Puerto Rico
We are required to obtain a PHYTO* permit, for a fee. We typicaaly ship EMS express mail.
OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES
Our CITES permit has expired, so currently we are unable to export plants. We hope to apply for a new CITES soon.
*The PHYTO and CITES permits are two different permits (the quoted fee covers both); Phytosanitary Certification states that the plant meets standards of cleanliness (from pests and disease) for export; CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) regulates the international trade of species in order to protect those that are endangered. Each permit lists all of the plants in your order and is required whether you are ordering one or several plants.
NOTE
ON PICTURES: Although we try to represent the
flower color as accurately as possible, due the inconsistant nature
of computer monitors, and the various difficulties of digital photography,
the colors represented on our website are not always exact. Please
consider these pictures approximations, and give us a call if you
would like a verbal description of the flower.