Why Winter Shipping Needs Extra Care
Tropical houseplants are adapted to warm, humid environments. Even a brief exposure to near-freezing temperatures inside a courier vehicle or depot can cause cold damage: blackened leaves, mushy stems, or root shock that takes weeks to recover from. The solution is not to stop shipping in winter; it is to ship smarter.
At My Jungle Roots, every cold-weather order goes out with heat packs tucked inside the box alongside insulating wrap. The heat packs are sized to the season and the forecast, so a shipment heading to northern Ontario in January gets more protection than one going to southern British Columbia in early November.
Monday-Only Shipping: Why It Matters
Live plants ship from our Hanover, Ontario shop on Mondays only. That single rule protects your plants more than almost anything else we do. A plant that ships Monday arrives mid-week, which means it never sits in a courier depot over a weekend waiting for Monday morning delivery runs to resume. Depots are not climate-controlled, and a tropical plant sitting in a cold warehouse from Friday to Monday is a plant in serious trouble.
When you place an order, plan around that Monday cutoff. Orders placed after the weekly cutoff ship the following Monday.
What Goes Into the Box
Careful packing is as important as the heat packs themselves. Each plant is secured so the pot cannot shift, the foliage is protected from bruising, and the whole package is wrapped to hold heat. We use materials chosen specifically for live plant transit, not generic box filler.
A few things we consider for every winter shipment:
- Current and forecast temperatures along the likely transit route
- The cold-sensitivity of the specific plants in the order (aroids and tropicals are more vulnerable than succulents, for example)
- Transit time estimates based on the destination province
- Whether a heat pack alone is sufficient or whether extra insulation layers are needed
Where We Ship
My Jungle Roots ships live plants to addresses across Canada. For exact shipping costs, see our shipping rates page, which is kept current as carrier rates change. We do not publish flat rates here because they can shift with fuel surcharges and carrier updates, and we would rather you see the accurate number at checkout than a stale figure in a blog post.
If you are local to Hanover or within a 30-60 minute drive (including communities like Kincardine, Owen Sound, Port Elgin, and Walkerton), you are welcome to visit the shop in person and skip shipping entirely. For everyone else across Canada, Monday shipping with winter packing is the reliable option.
What to Do When Your Plant Arrives
Open the box the same day it arrives, even if it looks fine from the outside. Remove all packing materials, check the soil moisture, and let the plant settle in a warm spot away from drafts and heating vents for a day or two before moving it to its permanent home. Some leaf droop after transit is normal and usually resolves within a week.
If something looks genuinely wrong, such as cold damage or broken stems, contact us right away with photos. Our shipping and returns policy covers the details of what qualifies and how to reach us.
Browsing Before You Buy
Not sure what to order? Our full shop is organized to make it easy to browse by type, and if you have pets at home, the pet-safe collection is a good place to start. For growers who want something unusual, the rare aroids section is updated regularly as new stock comes in.
Winter is genuinely one of the best times to add plants to your collection. The plants arrive ready to settle in, your home is already warm and sealed against dry outdoor air, and by the time spring arrives your new additions will be established and growing.
