Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located?

We are located in Washington State, just outside of Poulsbo, WA on the ancestral territory of the Suquamish Tribal Nation - "people of clear salt water." You can read more about Farmer Carissa and Creative Green Gardens here.

When will my order ship?

Books

  • Books ship on Friday and Saturday. If you place an order for a book on Monday, it will typically ship the following Friday. Book orders placed on weekends will typically go out the next day.
  • Due to media mail regulations, books almost always ship separately from plants.

Dahlia Tubers

  • Dahlia tubers have two shipping windows: fall and spring.
    • Fall orders ship in October and November.
    • Spring orders ship in April and May.

Iris Rhizomes

  • Iris rhizomes typically ship in August and September. This gives the mother plants time to make big, juicy roots for you and give you the best chance of success once you plant the roots in your garden. 

Peony Roots

  • Peony roots ship right away once they are available for sale in fall and spring unless you combined your order with another item that cannot ship right away such as dahlia tubers or iris rhizomes.
  • If you would like the peony root portion of your order to ship separately from the rest of your order, please contact us at carissa@creativegreenliving.com with your order number for options.

Seeds

  • Seeds ship on Friday and Saturday. If you place an order for seeds on Monday, they will typically ship the following Friday. Seeds ordered by 5pm Saturday will go out the same weekend.

Swag

  • T-shirts, mugs, bags (etc) that are printed in house are processed on Fridays and Saturdays and typically go out in the mail on Saturday or Monday.
  • Items that ship directly to you from the printer typically arrive in 7-14 days after you place your order

Need something in a hurry? Email Carissa to find out about rush shipping options: carissa@creativegreenliving.com

Can Farmer Carissa come teach a class/speak at an event/host a workshop?

Maybe! Carissa teaches classes and offers garden consultations, mason bee mentoring and chicken keeper coaching both virtually and in-person throughout Western Washington State.

Carissa specializes in these topics:

  • Dahlias

  • Bearded irises

  • Mason bees

  • Native pollinators (North America)

  • Chicken keeping

  • Growing large amounts of food in limited space

  • Gardening on a budget

  • Natural and organic pest management

  • Crop rotation

  • Composting

  • Replacing grass with gardens or meadowscape design

  • DIY Irrigation systems for home gardens of all sizes

Before shifting to farming, Carissa created project tutorials and hosted live demos for companies like Plaid Crafts and Lowe's.

If you would like her to talk about one of the above topics or to put her live demonstration and teaching skills to use helping your group create garden art, bee houses, planters (or something else?), shoot her an email with more details at carissa@creativegreenliving.com.

I need help! Can Farmer Carissa come look at my garden and tell me what to do to make it awesome?

She sure can. Carissa offers both on-location and virtual garden consulting, mason bee mentoring and chicken keeper coaching.

Her service area is quite large. Scroll down to "Consulting" on this page for more information about her primary service area and how to get in touch.

Are you a real farm or just some lady selling books and plants?

We are a licensed and inspected farm/nursery registered with the State of Washington. Our registrations are under our parent company name Creative Green Living Media Group, LLC.

Which farmers markets do you participate in?

We are not currently signed up to participate in any farmer's markets in 2026 - although we plan to continue participating in Poulsbo Pride events as we are able.

Have a cool event coming up that you think we should know about it? Contact Carissa by email at carissa@creativegreenliving.com or by text message at (503) 683-2489.

Can I come visit your farm?

For a combination of safety and privacy, our farm is closed to the public.

Do you sell fresh cut flowers?

Yes! We typically sell fresh cut flowers from June through October. Flowers can be ordered on this page (when in season) or by texting Carissa at (503) 683-2489.

Can you provide fresh flowers for my event?

Maybe! When in season, we offer flowers by the bucketful - which is a great way to get lots of flowers for DIY purposes. We can alternatively coordinate with your florist to provide locally grown flowers instead of or alongside imported flowers. 

We also have limited openings to bring our "Build Your Own Bouquet Bar" (shown below) to your event between June and October. 

For more information on custom flowers or a "Build Your Own Bouquet Bar" for your event, contact Carissa by email at carissa@creativegreenliving.com or by text message at (503) 683-2489.

 

What is Creative Green Living Media Group, LLC and how is it related to Creative Green Gardens?

Creative Green Living Media Group, LLC is our parent company and the entity officially registered to do business in Washington State. 

Creative Green Gardens is a "DBA" and part of Creative Green Living Media Group, LLC.

If you see an invoice or payment and "Creative Green Living Media Group" appears on it instead of Creative Green Gardens, don't worry! They're both us.

 

FAQ about Refunds and Returns

What if there is a problem with my order?

Please let us know about problems right away!

We always want you to be pleased with your Creative Green Gardens plants!

Please inspect your live plant order right away when it arrives. If there are any problems or questions, please contact us within 3 business days of receipt of your order. 

Not sure how to care for your new plants? We are always happy to help! Email us at carissa@creativegreenliving.com.

How do you handle out-of-stock dahlia tubers?

We know how carefully dahlia growers choose what varieties to add to their gardens and how disappointing it can be for a much-anticipated tuber to not arrive.

We will never swap your ordered tubers out for another variety without asking you first.

If we are unable to fulfill your order for a specific dahlia tuber, we will reach out via email to offer your choice of a substitution or a refund. If we do not hear back from you before your order is scheduled to ship, a refund will be issued for any tubers we cannot ship.

How do you handle out-of-stock roots or plants that aren't dahlias?

Due to their nature, the kinds of hiccups we might run into with dahlia tuber inventory and storage are nearly non-existent for the rest of the plants and roots we carry. For this reason, it is extremely unlikely that we will sell you a plant that is not a dahlia that we cannot fulfill. (It hasn't happened yet!).

In the unlikely event this happens, we will reach out via email to offer your choice of a substitution or a refund. If we do not hear back from you before your order is scheduled to ship, a refund will be issued for any plants or roots we cannot fulfill as-ordered.

What is the refund policy for in-person pick up orders?

We get that life happens - if you cannot pick up your order, we will make every reasonable effort to work with you - including offering alternate pick-up times and locations or the opportunity to pay to have your order shipped instead. 

That said, if you do not respond to our attempts to coordinate an alternate pickup or pay for shipping, we will consider your order forfeited 21 days after the originally scheduled pickup date and no refund will be issued. 

What happens if my plant blooms and it isn't the variety I ordered?

We are meticulous about labeling to prevent this from happening. In the unlikely event this happens to you, please contact us as soon as you know that your plant is not blooming as expected.

We typically correct this by saving a cutting/tuber/rhizome/root of the correct variety for you the following season to replace the tuber that bloomed incorrectly.

Please note that dahlias sometimes do something called "sport" which is when all or some of the flowers bloom in a different color (or rarely a different form) than the mother plant. While there are things growers can do to induce sporting, this is generally considered a random act of dahlia genetics. To see an excellent example of dahlia sports, check out this page from The San Leandro Dahlia Society about different sports of Spartacus dahlias: https://www.sanleandrodahliasociety.org/uploads/2/5/9/3/25933017/sports_of_spartacus.pdf

We can't control sporting but if a dahlia you purchase from us sports, we will exchange it for a non-sported tuber of the expected variety.