Thanks Jackie -- That IS a help. Our climate has definitely altered here. Used-to-be, we were pretty dank much of the year, only really drying up some in Fall. No rain, but a little fog much of the time. The upper part of the garden, near the house, could lack sun, as the sun often did not burn through the fog until 4 p.m. The hillside was warmer, catching all the sun, and was a great rose home. Now, the upper part of the yard makes a good rose environment, while things on the hillside may have to tolerate too much intense heat. Roses that have bare stretches of cane are subject to sun burn. To survive down there, a rose may need some afternoon shade, and enough foliage to make its own shade. Jeri

Semerau in Eastpointe, on Gratiot between 9 and 10 mile...good prices and fairly good selection Arrowhead Alpines in Fowlerville. If AA does'nt have it, you will not likely find it anywhere (including online if you are looking for perennials or alpines). Their catalog is almost 100 pages with no pictures (you need to know the official names of what you are looking for in the catalog). A true plant-geek's paradise and well worth the drive. ~Chills

Seems like a difficult business to be in some days. :-) I did a quick search on amazon and came up with this link and another at the bottom of my post. http://www.amazon.com/Operate-Financially-Successful-Landscaping-Business/dp/1601382286/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1279400638&sr=1-1-fkmr2 I would say find a business that is successful and see if you can pick their brain. We seem to be seeing a lot of nurseries going out of business, isn't that true? I would think it's expensive especially if you have to keep greenhouses going. I know Lexington Gardens went out of business a few years ago, and you could see it coming for quite a few years. I was told by someone in management that the cost of fuel to run the greenhouse became outrageous. I know the owner was older and started to have health issues too. As a potential customer, I like that you are inclined toward natives and would love an organic direction as well. I travel a distance to make purchases that are in line with those two basic ideas. I drive 50mins to the NEWFS to buy native, mostly organically grown plant material. I drive the same distance to purchase organic vegetable starts in the spring, in years I don't start my own. I travel to Maine and combine a day trip to justify doing it, to purchase popular perennial and annual 'plugs' once a year in early spring, because so many nurseries that are close to me don't offer a plug size and have just about stopped offering the old '6 pack' size. I buy tiny shrubs from Bluestone Perennials because no one local offers that size and it makes it really affordable. I think a lot of people buy from them because of that and their frequent sales and great customer service. I was going to suggest that if you could model your business on one that didn't need heated greenhouses, you might be ahead of the game. Don't know if that is possible. It would certainly cut your costs, but limit what you offer. Anyway, maybe others can offer their own reasons why they shop at one place or another and what they are looking for in a nursery. Here is a link that might be useful: So you want to start a plant nursery

I grew a Julia child last year. Fantastic taste, low production. I also had brandywine that was very productive for me. My other brandywine from a different seed source was not as productive. Go figure. I saved seed form the productive plants but I did not bag blossomos so hopefully they are pure. I will probably know shortly after sprouting because they were grown away from any other potatoe leaf type. I have two garden plots, one in my yard and a community garden. I grew these in the community garden and no one else had potato leaf plants. So if the seedlings are potatoe leaf then they are pure.