I'll send it by regular mail and she'll just get a wet box.
Here Walmart has them in early March so I'm guessing it would be early February for your area. They always carry Nelly Moser, Jackmanii, Ernest Markham, Belle of Woking and their version of Ville de Lyon, which they call City of Lyon - exact same plant. They have also had Venosa Violacea many times in the past. I grow them indoors, cut them back as they reach about 18" and keep them cut back. They go outside in mid May and still get cut back over and over again.
I did allow these two to bloom since I had wanted this one for years and had received others, in place of it, numerous times. I had to be sure it was the real thing!
Last year I bought two City of Lyon and they've been outside (potted) through this miserable winter. That should be a great hardiness test for them. They were purchased 3/12 and the other photo in the collage shows their growth by 4/12.
