Brent and Becky's and Van Engelen prices are good to begin with--the sales just make them better. Dan, you would be entirely correct IF bulbs could be held in saleable condition from season to season like wood screws or aspirin. But they can't. They go bad, just like any other fresh produce. What hasn't sold at full price during the season might as well be marked down just to clear the warehouse so that the next season's stuff can be put on the shelves. But then, I'm a plantaholic. The "correct" price is whatever I'm willing to pay for a given plant. Six dollars for one tiny Allium bulb? Not a problem. Four dollars for an Erythronium bulb the size of a piece of candy corn? Okay. Six dollars for a comparably sized rare Fritillaria species? Twenty-six dollars for ONE rare tulip bulb? Absolutely! A bargain in my book--and none of those were Brent and Becky's offerings. I use Brent and Becky's and Van Engelen/John Scheepers as my "bulk" bulb suppliers, because their prices are comparable to those at the big box stores, and the quality much higher. Lisa

I do own "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden". It is a pretty good book. Traci's style is not exactly mine, but there is a lot of good information. It would be very helpful if the tables in the back were available in electronic format. My biggest complaint about that book is the size. I do 90% of my reading in bed and it is just too big and heavy for that. I see that the local library has "Timeless Landscape Design" on order. I submitted a hold request so hopefully they will notify me when it comes in. I know that a major reason that Gordon Hayward's books have connected with me is because I really like his style. There is something about reading about design concepts and seeing concrete examples that I would love to have in my own garden. "The Welcoming Garden" seemed to be mostly other people's designs with Gordon throwing in commentary. I also could not quite figure out all the plan diagrams that seemed to be randomly scatter through out the book. Do they match any of the pictures? I did not think that it was nearly as good as "Taunton's Front Yard Idea Book" (another book that I need to borrow or purchase). - Brent

Shirley, I think I am still going to order my plants. There is no way in this world you can grow a stuttgart canna in south Texas. They are a bogg plant, that cannot stand any sun. I fell in love with it when Barry posted a picture of his on the brugmansia forum about 5 yrs ago, he was in Md, and had nothing but problems with burned leaves. Since I am not ordering plants, I think I will be ok. They have only positive feedback since January, if I do it now I think it will be ok. Timing is everything, I'll let you know as soon as I get my order. Barbra

It is described on pages 185-6 of The Old Rose Adventurer. That is the book that describes once bloomers, and Stanwell Perpetual definitely repeats, but he has covered it with the rest of the pimpinellifolias.