Spruce...thanks for the idea about asking where a nursery gets their seed. I am surprised that they don't mind telling you. I will keep that in mind. Forest Farm is a catalog I have but I haven't ordered from them before. Thanks for the recommendation, ken...thanks for the gee tree farm idea and arrowhead alpines, girard nurseries, and for pointing me toward the ACS. jaro...Iseli, has some nice photos on their site...thanks for their ME distributor. Once in awhile I get up to Maine. You never know. tsugajunkie...yes, I do understand that white pine is native to Maine and Tsuga canadensis is native to the East Coast. I got the impression that some of the ornamental conifers are bothered by cold weather and frost. Adrian Bloom mentions in his book, not planting some varieties in an East facing location because in the spring, the early morning son would thaw them out just in time for the cold to get them later. mrgpag...Broken Arrow Nursery is a great idea! I have been there once before and they really impressed me with the quality of their plant material at reasonable prices. That was awhile ago and I wasn't looking for conifers then, so I didn't notice whether they had a collection or not. Thanks a lot! Thank you all for the help.. :-) pm2

After spending many thousands on tropical plants, I now found by far the best supplier. The prices are 50%-75% less than anyone else. The quality is many times greater than anyone else. You have to have a $200 minimum order, but the selection is so vast it is easy to spend that. You have to go to a website in Thailand first called Plant Group. You e-mail what you want and they tell you if they have it in the Big Island Hawaii location to ship to the U.S. You can e-mail Trish at Filimoehala@hawaiiantel.net and I can send you more information to contact the manager in Hawaii directly. I was so happy with the plants from them I can't say enough great things about them and I would love to help them in any way I can. They had everything I wanted, cut them nicely and labeled them well.

Direct Buy definitely isn't for everybody. If you're shopping only for cheapest price & aren't concerned about brands or quality, it's not for you. If you only buy a few very specific brandnames and DB doesn't carry them, it's not for you. I read a lot of the negative comments about it online & most of them just confirmed that it would be a good deal for us. Since we're owner/builders and have to source a lot of things ourselves the membership fee wasn't a big deal - we made it back in the savings on our windows alone. (bought very high-end windows that wouldn't have been able to afford to look at otherwise). We have a very tight budget but expensive tastes so I don't know if we've saved tons of money with DB but we have been able to get much better quality than we could afford elsewhere. Keep in mind that they are franchises so the customer service & sales tactics can vary a lot between locations depending on the owner. Another thing that varies is the local merchants who are associated with DB. We're lucky enough to have lots of good ones at our location so have been able to take advantage of the design services at big lighting, plumbing & tile stores & a high-end local cabinet manufacturer while getting great discounts. We haven't bought everything through DB, it's just one more resource for us. I'm always on the look-out & have found some great deals at store close-out & moving sales. Another thing to consider is that if they carry manufacturers you like, you have each company's entire line to pick from, not just the best-selling items that the stores carry. That's important for us because our tastes don't always coincide with what's most popular in our local stores. It doesn't make sense for everyone, and it depends on what your local showroom is like, but I have no regrets about joining. After reading some of the responses, I don't know why people get so worked up about a company they have chosen not to deal with. If it makes sense for you to join, that's great; if not, don't join but why get so incensed about those who do?

Hi Terri, Thanks for the reply. I am living in NE Mississippi. Born and raised in N.H. I have a candle Kit coming as I was not sure How to start. Wax I like soy, jars kinda traditional Def. Think Yankee.(being that I am one at heart still) I have found a soy from Wal Mart that stays fragent to the end but they are so hard to find.This is why I wanted to start making my own. I am retired and have plenty of time to spend on them. Have always been a crafty person but have never done candles. I am really tired of buying candles and no smell!!!