No I don't have any comparison picture, but if you have ever seen a hosta that could be a poster child for hosta virus X it look just like that.

This is a previous post from ken...credit goes to ken_adrian hosta that are out of the orinarily slow may be planted too deep .... dig up the whole root ball .... heave it as high as you can ... right back into the same hole .... and make sure the top of the crown is right at ground level .... it will take off like a rocket ... or you will find out it is dead ... the near death experience is said to trigger hormone release.... a growth stimulant ... banyai told me [pauline of gold standard fame's son] that he would scrape puny hosta across cement to scar the roots ... thereby stimulating it ... he walked around my yard one summer and pointed to 20 hosta that were underperforming ... and told me they were all planted too deep ... he was right ... lift them up .. and they will take off ... do NOT be gentle ... Contributed by ken_adrian

If he shipped it Monday, you should receive it Friday. USPS didn't really update anything until it said it was on it's way to Customs. Don't be too surprised if it doesn't get updated either. Just have pots, soil, and plastic ready. Remember to only use a pot large enough to contain the roots...don't go bigger than that for now. And watch your watering. If the humidity is way up like it should be inside the plastic, you should not have to water many times. Too many waterings can cause problems that will be hard to reverse. Just pay close attention.

The agent was basically the warehouse storage. Customs does not (as far as I could tell) store your package when it comes in, rather they send it to a warehouse nearby where they charge to "hold" the package until you arrive to pick it up. The first time I imported plants it cost $80 for that service, this list time it was a little less. That is all they do. (I wish I had that contract!) Also if your shipment is worth over $2000, then you must get a bonded carrier to move the plants from the warehouse to USDA. I have no idea how much that would cost, but most of the people waiting for packages at the warehouse appeared to fall into this category. I agree with Jay that the USDA people I have encountered have all been extremely nice and very helpful. The Customs people have been hit or miss. Some have been very helpful and others I can only guess either didn't know their job or didn't give a damn. If one were in business and doing this every day, then it is probably a pretty smooth process, but as a hobbyist, it can be a confusing process. Hats off to Jay for beating them at their own game with the seed shipping! That was very impressive!