Stevia in San Francisco

Richters was referred to me by a Mr. Jim Brandle who has written a lot about stevia on the internet.
Would you please be kind enough to answer a couple of questions regarding "stevia." I live in San Francisco and have a patio where the sun shines in the morning. The temperature is mild here - usually in the 60s. I would like to grow stevia for my family's use. Mr. Brandle said that it would grow beautifully in San Francisco.
Is "stevia" a hardy plant?

There are two meanings to the word "hardy". In horticultural parlance it means the plant can overwinter out of doors in the area the the plant is "hardy" in. In everyday parlance "hardy" refers to how much wrong care the plant can survive!
Stevia is certainly winterhardy in the San Francisco area, but it needs rich, black, sandy soil with at least 2 cm (one inch) of rain or irrigation per week. If the pot is small it may need to be watered more often. The plant likes full sun.

What is the difference between ordering a "plant" versus a "plug tray?"

A plug tray contains about 120 little plantlets while the order of one plant gives you just that(Any plant order has to consist of at least 6 plants-don't have to be identical, and any plug tray order must be for at least two trays-again they can be different varieties, but we cannot mix plants within a plug tray.)

How do you care for the "stevia" plant?

If the above information is not enough, go to our web-site at www.richters.com, click on "Q&A", then on "Search Q&A", then type in "Stevia" and lots of questions and answers about culture will come up that you can peruse.

Would there be shipping charges on six plants to San Francisco?

Yes there will be a $8 shipping charge and if the plants totol to less than $40 there is also a $4 handling charge. (all in Canadian $-at present quite a bit lower than the USA $)

I am originally from New York, and have not had much experience with taking care of plants, so I want to make sure that "stevia" could deal with someone who does not have a green thumb!

As long as you follow the directions you will be amazed how green your thumb will become!