Van Engelen will sell to anybody, no wholesale license or resale number required. On their current 40% off sale, there is a $50 minimun order. VE and John Scheepers are two separate entities, but they are owned by different members of one family, so are called sister companies, a term which has no actual legal meaning in this case. VE is the older of the two, and they have always catered to the wholesale market and those who buy bulbs in larger quantities. Apparently they received many requests to sell bulbs in smaller quantities for the home gardener, and a sibling then started JS to accomodate that market. The bulbs are higher in price at JS because it takes more handling to break down a batch of wholesale bulbs into smaller units, costs more for packaging, and is much more time consuming to pick and ship smaller orders. And frankly, because they can charge more, and their bulbs are still generally cheaper than what a nursery would sell for, and almost always larger and better quality. I used to make my living selling beads on the internet, and the same principle applies. I catered to the 'not quite wholesale but definitely not retail' market--those beaders who were willing to buy 100 of one color of one type of bead at a good price, but did not want to buy in the standard wholesale unit of 1200 of one color of one bead. But I also had people who requested smaller amounts of one type of bead, and I raised my prices accordingly. For example, if someone wanted 100 of the 4x6 Czech glass teardrops in Montana Blue, the cost would be $4. If someone wanted only 15 of that style and color, the beads would be 6-8 cents each, because of the added time in breaking up a unit of 100, and the added cost of repackaging, and labeling. Those people who wanted 2 of every color of a bead style, say the 3x11 spearpoints, were charged 10 cents per bead, again because of the additional labor and materials. Bulbs or beads, it's the same basic principle. Those of you who would like to buy from Van Engelen but don't quite have room for large quantities of bulbs do have several options. First, you can do what I do and give early Christmas gifts of bulbs to all of your gardening friends. Either pick something you think they will like, or let them pick whatever they prefer from what you plan to order. The second option is to find others who would be willing to split an order. This is a particularly good option if you have a local garden club or have many maniac gardening friends. The third option is to buy in the larger quantities, then either resell the extras, or donate them to a charity such as Habitat for Humanity and take a tax write off. The forth option is to buy with an eye to potting up a bunch of bulbs for indoor forcing. I used to do this every year, and it was a real joy to have blooming bulbs inside all winter long.

I haven't ever purchased anything from them, but I have seen the owner posting on Gardenweb. Her typical contribution was something like promoting invasives as natives in the Native Plants Forum (I'm not sure she ever understood what the word native means). Then, as you said, there's the fake reviews she posted for her own company on Dave's. The many, many different names they do business under is another sign of trouble. With all the bad Garden WD reviews on top of that, I wouldn't consider buying from this company.

My sister and I went there many many years ago and there were herds of nurseries. I've never seen so many in one place before. It was awesome! Needless to say we were in flower heaven! lol I bought a fatsia plant there and now that thing is huge!!! I planted it beside out 3 ton AC unit to hide it and it's done it's job! lol

Aridandtropical, if you see my username, you would see and know that I am WELL AWARE of my zone. Also, Palm trees are native only as far north as extreme SE, North Carolina. They will not grow in DC without protection, except for Windmills, which are marginal, and Sabal Minor and Needle palms, which are almost fool-proof here. Bananas, well, Basjoos can be grown much much farther north than here with no protection other than a pile of mulch. The only difference between here in Michigan is that our winters are considerably more mild, and we need to protect stuff less. We still have winters, just like you though, and sometimes, as witnessed by our record all time lows, and some winters snowfalls, can be just as brutal as they are far north. 77" of snow in the winter of 2010 was nothing to shake a stick at, even by the snowiest places in the country standards. yep, we had that here. =o) One of the biggest differences is DURATION of bitter cold here is much much shorter on the infrequent occasions we do get down near 0F. I was giving mr banana dude back just what he was putting in. Nothing more. I found it much more hilarious than anything else, and if you think someone typing words on the internet is getting to someone or makes someone angry, well, I'm not sure you know too much about the text only form of communication. In stead of presenting his "opinion" in a constructive manner, he was nothing more than arrogant, rude, and down right insulting to almost everyone here. I might expect that of someone age 8-10, but most people by the time they are 17 usually have a grasp on what being opinionated is, and the difference between that and just being down right rude and insulting. Glad you are having successes with your tropicals so far north. Oh, and thanks Hunter M. It was mainly meant to be FUNNY, and I think it kind of was. ;-) Personally, I think Hunter M, for being his age, participated in a much more adult manner here than did mr banana dude. you'd think that would be the other way around now wouldn't you?