Plants (L to R) Alocasia Regal Shields from Leafy, Alocasia Ebony from Leafy, (on shelf): (top) Calathea Beauty Star Leafy, Anthurium from Pigment, (middle) Philodendron Heartleaf Bloomscape, (bottom) Pilea Trader Joe’s
If you follow my Insta and/or my weekend updates, you know I’ve been on quite an indoor plant shopping spree. I’ve always loved houseplants and have had orchids and succulents for awhile (mostly received as gifts). But maybe because it was springtime and the fact that I’m at home all the time, but I just wanted to be surrounded by greenery. I started following a ton of plant Instagram accounts (there’s soooo many you guys), and then got sucked into some online plant shopping. And whether it’s for yourself or someone else, houseplants make the best kind of gifts. They’re the gift that keeps on giving (and if you are good at propagating, they’re free gifts you can give your friends). Anyway here are some of the sites I checked out that delivers plants:
The first one I checked out was The Sill. Their plants and pots are gorgeous and all, but let’s be honest, they’re expensive as heck. I chalk that up to being located in NYC. But $65 for a plant that I can get for $35 on Bloomscape, or $20 on Etsy is just paying too much for plants, even if does come with a fun and nice looking planter.
Bloomscape
Bloomscape plant
So then I checked out Bloomscape (<—referral link for $15 off your first purchase of $50). Their prices are a tad more reasonable though not the cheapest on the Internet. But they’re definitely one of the big players in the plant delivery world so I thought I’d try them out. I got the Philodendron Heartleaf plants (for $35+$7 shipping) because I’m a sucker for any plant with heart shaped leaves. It shipped about 6 days after I ordered and arrived at my doorstep several days after that. And it came very well packaged:
If you’re a plant newbie, Bloomscape is great because they give you so many instructions on how to take care of the plant (on the plant stake, on a full page flyer, and on their website). The plant that comes is a fully mature plant that if you wanted to, you could start propagating baby plants from (which I did). The planter that it comes in is plastic but looks great (I read somewhere it’s recycled plastic but I couldn’t confirm that on their site). I actually prefer the plastic planter since it is so lightweight compared to all my ceramic ones. The planter also comes with it’s own saucer to let water drain. Also if you’re looking for full sized floor plants, Bloomscape is one of the few places I’ve seen that deliver large plants. And if you’re looking to send a plant as a gift, I think Bloomscape is the best option because of it’s presentation (with the planter and how they ship it), plant care info, and timely delivery.
{Update: I ordered from Bloomscape again and got the Happy Trails set. They come in terra cotta pots and again very well packaged. I also recommended Bloomscape to a friend and she ordered two extra large plants and a medium size plant. Her two large plants were delivered fine but her medium came pretty much dead, but she was able to get a refund.}
California Tropicals on Etsy
The first two plants I ordered from California Tropicals
my second order from California Tropicals, repotted
How California Tropicals pack their plants
{July 2021 edit: So I just wanted to mention that after this order I didn’t reorder from California Tropicals again because the value just wasn’t there. The plants were pretty small baby cutting but you’re paying for a small-to-medium sized plant. Instead I highly recommend the next Etsy seller on the list.}
Then I did some searching on Etsy for houseplants and found California Tropicals. They have ok prices ($20-$30 from some really sought after plants and no shipping charges). They are also the fastest at shipping (they usually ship out 2-3 days after putting in the order and since I’m in Cali they come in a day or two after that). But they don’t come with a planter or any instructions (I just googled basic plant care for each type of plant). They do come really well packaged and so far all four of the plants that I got from them are thriving (I already have baby leaves on my first two plants). Oh, but they are also baby plants that might be a bit more fragile and need some extra care. They’re probably a year or two away from being the maturity of Bloomscape plants. But I love watching baby plants grow into adult plants, so I’m a huge fan of California Tropicals.
{Update: After having gone plant shopping for a bit, I now see California Tropicals prices aren’t the best for what you get. Also my almost $20 baby monstera is not doing well and you can get a more mature monstera for a bit more at other places.}
Groovy Plants Ranch via Etsy
I hiiighly recommend Groovy Plants Ranch if you’re looking to get a healthy small-to-medium plant at really the best prices online. The plants they sell are definitely a season more mature than the ones sold by California Tropicals, and they do a great job of packaging. I especially appreciate that they use all biodegradable packaging. The use wood shavings unlike the plastic peanuts used by California Tropicals. Also shipping from Ohio was super fast!
Pigment, San Diego
After ordering from Bloomscape, I asked for plants for Mother’s Day and so I helped my husband put in an order at Pigment, a San Diego plant store. I first saw them through an Insta ad (I’m heavily marketed to on Insta now by plant brands lol). Their prices for plants are very reasonable (sub $20 for a lot of them) and you can also purchase relatively inexpensive planters from them (they have some of the best prices on planters!). But their shipping times are very very slow. I ordered on 4/26 and received the plants on 5/26. They do send automated emails to let you know they haven’t lost your order and that the delays are due to covid. They are also shifting from being a brick and mortar store to online deliveries so they have more growing pains than the brands listed above who have been shipping plants even before corona times. Out of all the deliveries, the plant from Pigment was the most poorly packaged and came with dirt all over and some leaves bent. But the plant itself is healthy and large (it was so big that later I was able to split the one plant into 5 smaller ones). If you’re willing to wait, I think Pigment has the cheapest prices for planter and plant deliveries. I got this huge anthurium and beautiful planter for about $60 (the same price for a small plant on The Sill or a medium plant on Bloomscape).
{In response to my question about the ethics and values behind their company, I received a thorough reply from Amy, the owner of Pigment. I have to say, after reading it I’m more in love with their business, and I plan to purchase more from them in the future!
We started our business in 2007. For the first two years we were a team of two and in 2009 we hired our first employee. By year three we’d hired our second and we remained a team of just a few until year five when we moved our location from a 1500 sq ft space mid-block to a 3000 sq ft building on the corner. We’ve always paid fair wages and in year ten we were able to offer health benefits, 401K’s and paid vacation to every employee, salaried or not. We were advocates for raising the minimum wage, we voted for the measure and were public in our support of it. Implementing and sustaining such pervasive wage increases for our salaried team in particular put a major strain on our business, but we understand how important the adjustment is, not just for our employees, but for the working class at large. Our employees are Pigment and we would give anything to protect them. Our first employee was with us for six years and it’s been a steady stream of talented, dedicated individuals ever since.
For those who don’t know us well, it might be relevant to note that for us the adventure into retail was sparked by a love of the arts. I’m an artist and have been teaching at the local colleges for eighteen years. Retail for me, is a means to an end. We’ve channeled our earnings from the shop into the purchase of a building where we plan to have art classes, workshops and other community events. So, when it comes to our vendors, my mind goes first to local artists and artisans. Your post focused on plants, but artists are the backbone of our business. Discovering new talent and the opportunity to invest in them is one of the most gratifying aspects of our business.
Since your post is specifically about plants, I’ll comment on the growers too. Our growers are all located here in San Diego or in the cities adjacent. We have personal relationships with almost every single one. Most are small family owned operations, a handful have passed one generation to the next. From what we know and have observed most are small crews of just a few employees. I’m not aware of their wage structures or benefits, but I can attest to seeing the same faces over years and years.
We try to partner with sister brands and other like minded businesses, but we can’t always know the inner workings of a company. I’m writing in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at a time when the BLM movement is front of mind. We’re in the process of auditing our portfolio of vendors to see how many are BIPOC owned with the goal of increasing our investment in more brands with BIPOC leadership. We’ve also denounced working with several brands as we’ve discovered they are not aligned with our values. We understand we have a choice in who we work with and a responsibility to our team and to our customer to be discerning with our buying choices.}
She also apologized profusely for the slow delivery and poor packaging which is definitely due to growing pains during a challenging time (eek hope I wasn’t too harsh in my review!. But if you’re local and can shop in-person I would definitely support Pigment!
Leafy, Bay Area deliveries only
But my plant shopping spree didn’t end there. The last place I shopped at was Leafy, a local Bay Area plant shop with storefronts in Palo Alto and San Jose. Again, Instagram ads got me but I’m not mad about it. They had the decent to high prices for plants (mostly sub $20 except for the Alocasia on the right, which was $28—but so worth it cuz it’s gorgeous). I also purchased several planters from them (the terracotta eggs were $15 and the larger black and white planters with saucers were $25 which is around the same price as Target planters for that size). If you spend over $100, it’s free delivery within the Bay Area. Because these plants were hand delivered, they were left at my doorstep in pristine condition and super healthy. If you live locally in the Bay Area, I think Leafy might be the best bet because of its prices and easy delivery.
{In response to their ethics and values as a company this is the reply I got:
We believe that individual monetary benefit should be correlated with employee's performance and thus we have launched several bonus programs. One of them is the good review bonus program - we give a cash bonus to our associate if we receive a good review from our customer mentioning that the associate provided excellent customer service. If the review does not mention the associate's name, we would try every way possible to identify who the associate is. Everyone on the team has gotten this bonus many many times. Go team!
In the case when an associate goes above and beyond to take on responsibilities or show leadership, we have a spot bonus program which gives a one-time cash bonus to the associate who demonstrated extraordinary performance.
Besides the bonus programs we also provide unlimited drinks and snacks at work. The team loves the bubble tea, dessert and the coffee! XD
Leafy team members come from diverse backgrounds. We as a whole team defined the company culture together. We appreciate all the fresh and diverse ideas that are brought in by our associates. We also recognize and embrace the strength and weakness of every team member.
As a small business our goal is very simple - we want to provide the best quality plants as well as the best customer service to the plant community. We love to share the experience with all the plant lovers. In the meantime we learn something new every day from the plant community.}
{Update: When California opened up indoor retail, I was able to shop in person at their San Jose location (photo below). It was plant heaven!!
So in summary which place should you order your plants from if you want them delivered? I’d probably go with Bloomscape if you’re looking for mature plants and the easiest set-up (just take it out of the package and you’re done). I’d go with Leafy if you’re in the Bay Area and I’d go with California Tropicals if you’re more of an experience plant parent. And go to Pigment if you want more bang for your buck but can wait. But now that nurseries and garden centers are open, you might rather shop in person. {Update: for the absolute cheapest plants, go to Trader Joe’s ($5.99 for a small houseplant with pot) or for a little more Whole Foods ($12 on sale for an alocasia that I see go from $20-25 online). Both markets can be a bit hit or miss on selection but the prices are the cheapest by far. Other places recommended by friends include Costco and Amazon. Either way, you can’t go wrong with adding more plants to your life!
P.S. As a new plant mom, I’m still a novice when it comes to watering (I tend to overwater) so I rely on these Blumat watering spikes. They work super well and I love it because now the plants are self-sufficient. Also if you travel a lot, these come in handy so you don’t come home to dead plants.
{July 2020 update: If you take a look at the comments, Lia asked a really good question about the ethics behind these companies. I sent out an email and received replies from 2 out of the 4 companies: Leafy and Pigment. I added their reply to my questions in the sections above.}