I've ordered strawberry plants from Gurney's, and Stark Brothers and Henry Field's this year. Usually you get 25 plants, sometimes in one bundle, sometimes two. You may have difficulty getting the variety you want, this late in the season. Plants are usually in good shape, although you can't expect all to survive. If they don't watch the moisture in the bag, sometimes they'll be too wet and you'll have casualties. Sometimes a big chunky plant that you're sure will be a good one croaks, and a little one will shoot up like it's on steroids. I think quality can vary from any of these suppliers...it all depends upon the worker who's packing them. The price is so cheap I wouldn't quibble about losses -- expect to lose about 20%. My suggestion is to plant all extras in 4" pots, so you have replacements if all in the planter don't make it. -Bruce

Andrew, I am no expert either but I will share my experiences with you and maybe it will be helpful. All my strawberry were obtained by Nourse two years ago. I ordered Earliglow, Cabot and Evie 2. Quality plants, timely shipping and 100% survival. I followed all care instructions provided. This was my first bearing year. The Cabots were large, productive and tasted great. Since they are so big, they are great for fresh eating, especially for your kids. They runner well and fill in nicely although the runners seem shorter than other strawberries I've grown. The Earliglow and Cabot seasons overlapped nicely. As one was slowing down the other was just heating up. When the Earliglows were totally fizzling, the Cabots were at their peak. Both beds were renovated a couple weeks ago and are already nearly fully leafed out again. Here is a photo of a bowl of Earliglows. The two larger berries on the top are the first few edible Cabots of the year. For reference, this picture was taken on 6/4/11, I am in Zone 5, southwest suburbs of Chicago. My only complaint about the Cabots is that the first berry in each cluster was very strangely shaped and sometimes had a hollow center. Tasted the same, just ugly. For an ever-bearer, I have had good experience with Evie 2. Here is a photo of a bed of them in the left of the picture. The bed is dense and the leaves are big and glossy which hides them from the birds. They runner well even though I keep them contained in that area. Production has been steady even through this past week of hot, humid days with temperatures in the high 90's.

So are trying to find seed sources ....like companies that carry these seeds? Or just individuals that you can get seeds from? I know exactly what you are talking about as far as what Mammoth King pumpkins are. Sometimes they are called King of Mammoth and they are the old seed variety that has lighter, salmon-colored skin and can grow in excess of 100 to 200 lbs. I have grown them before in my garden and got the seeds from Baker Heirloom Seed Company. Here is another online seed source: "http://www.seedman.com/giant.htm" Here is a link that might be useful: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

We have ordered a lot from Gurney's and have always been pleased with everything we ordered from them. I have never had any problem with any of the seeds that we ordered and last year we ordered four cherry trees and a plum tree, all of which I was very pleased with. All of the cherry trees had signs of life and the only one that I was hesitant about was the plum tree which I did not see any green on it. I planted them in large pots as soon as I got them so that I could find a good spot for them and ready it for planting. Soon after I put them in the pots all of them started to get their leaves including the plum that I didn't notice any sign of life on originally. Once in the ground they all did very well until deer ate them. So we had to rap them to prevent future damage, and they all soon started to come back to life, except for one which I believe was planted in a area that was too wet. This one ended up dieing, when my husband called Gurney's, about six months after we had received them, and told them what happened, they said they would gladly send another one in the spring. I was really surprised by this since I think it was our fault that it did not survive. I told him it would be a waste of his time to call but he called anyway, and I am glad he did. We have also ordered strawberry plants from Gurneys in the past and I was also pleased with the quality of them. This year I think I will be ordering some blueberry plants so hopefully I will have good luck with them also.