I have sent potted small plants by mail successfully. I used plastic 4 inch pots. First I wrap the pot in Saran wrap to keep the soil from falling out(with the plant). Then I place the pot in a US postal service priority mail box. I perfected a technique by trial and error of using cardboard strips as 'seat belts' to keep the pot from moving. You are doing it right when you can invert the box and the pot will not drop out. This is because the Post Office cannot be relied on to keep the box upright. I sent dozens of plants this way and maybe 5-10% of the shipments did not reach in good condition. Hope this helps.

Moist soil is heavy and if you are sending anything more than tiny pots the mailing cost might be quite costly. There might also be regulations about shipping something alive/in soil so check into that.

Other than that, bagging the pot and securing the pot so it doesn't move in the box would be key. Oh yeah, don't forget some type of express shipping.

FataMorgana

Thanks! I wondered about the regulations too fatamorgana, but it sounds like pvel hasn't had any issues. I guess I will give it a shot. I just want to break out my new lights. :) Last year my rosemary never came up, hopefully it will this year.

I'd carefully bag up the plants and soil...then package your ornamental containers separately. Your mother will simply need to pop them into the containers when she receives them.

Newspaper and bubble wrap should do the trick. Pack them so that the soil won't budge and the ornamental pots won't break when the box is flung from one end of a truck to the other.

I've gotten mint and oregano in the mail from other forum members. They were basically bare roots. Just a bit of soil aroun the root, wrapped in damp paper towel and aluminum foil, shipped with the priority but not overnight shipping and they all did very well, even when I didn't get them in the ground right away.

What about weather conditions between you and the person you are shipping to? If the plant will be going through too cold or too hot conditions, could that limit when you ship it?

How can I ship cut herbs like tyme in the mail. I have already dried it

Put them in a baggie and then put them in a bubble envelope.

I've sent dried herbs USPS with no problem. I'd put them in a box instead of an envelope to keep them from getting crushed.

I dried and bagged some herbs and stuffed the bags into coffee cans. Drove through the night, dogs didn't catch a whiff. Got there no problems from DEA. The rabbit stew Bessie made was exquisitely aromatic that night.

Sorry I could not resist... Herbs is slow of late. Maybe I should post pictures of my biggest potted rosemary.