I only remember one loss in all my years of purchasing from the BX. It was just 4 months ago. I bought a Griffinia bulb in the midst of a hard freeze in January. I decided it was my fault for ordering a tender bulb at a time of year I would have NEVER bought it from a normal mail order source, for obvious reasons. For a PBS policy on perishables my recommendation is simply not to transact them during killer cold weather. And if you can't resist the gamble when something like a Griffinia comes up? Well, then it really is caveat emptor. Even in the dead of winter there is occasionally a week or two with temps in the 40s & 50s. I should have had the foresight to ask Dell to hold my shipment until warmer weather moved in. Next time, I will. Just my two cents...