The Daphne arrived in the open air to me but was whole - no damages in spite of the very long transportation to Bulgaria. Obviously it being open gave the Daphne light which seems very necessary to this plant. The plant had been in a smaller pot and had not had time to develop new roots, so half of the potting mix was out of the pot. There was a plastic bag around the pot but as it was loose it had not stopped the soil coming out of the pot. Filling the pot with potting mix to the top and applying fit plastic foil (as the one used in the kitchen to wrap food, or sending in the original smaller pot would have been better in terms of keeping the moisture better, may be. The soil was close to dry but not completely and considering the very long transportation from Eire to Bulgaria, I think it was just ok and that we were lucky!!! This plant is new and rarely found and the price offered by Johnstown was lower than most other in the UK. Also, i was made very happy I was given the winter discount even though I missed its deadline by several hours. So all in all my experience was very good!!!