Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time finding pine bark mini nuggets. Perhaps the attached link might help. Many of the local (Michigan) landscape suppliers are also sold out of the small pine bark nuggets, probably because it's late in the growing season up here. The local retailer I get mine from (Meijers) changed suppliers this season and their "mini nuggets" were much larger than they were last season. It took a lot of work to get the right size bark from the new bags this year. I'll have to find them elsewhere next year. Are there any bonsai stores in your area? If so they might be able to help you locate some pine bark fines. Also, if you need only small quantities, I read somewhere that pet stores sometimes sell fir bark (similar to pine bark) for use in reptile cages. I've never looked for that but it might be another option. Most of the larger lansdscape stores/nurseries carry some size of pine bark mini nuggets, sometimes in bulk. Again, the size of the mini nuggets vary quite a bit, depending on source. Ironically the large pine nuggets we use in our gardens for mulch says right on the bag "from the southern pinelands". Let us know if you find any in your area. Good luck! Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Pine bark link

Cupshaped, We lived just south of Daytona for over 20 years. We hadn't discovered OGRs, but gave up on the HTs that were sold at garden centers because they were too much work--the constant spraying required was a nightmare. Especially in the heat of summer, when you'd come in needing a blood transfusion from all the mosquito bites. We were on a barrier island, so the "soil" was almost pure sand with a thin layer of leaf litter and pine straw on top. Water & nutrients ran right through it. We found gardening with Florida natives to be a very satisfying, enviromentally friendly way to go. If you want a Florida native that will attract butterflies, get a firebush (Hamelia patens). Wonderful red-orange tube-shaped flowers are great nectar sources for most butterflies, and hummingbirds like them, too. Being a native, it should perform well--there may be a little freeze damage once in a while in Daytona, but it's good to whack the bushes back once in a while, anyway. Another great Florida native for butterflies is Wild Coffee (Psychotria nervosa). Makes a beautiful rounded bush with shiny leaves, small white flowers, and red berries. Zebra longwing butterflies LOVE it. Citrus trees act as larval food for Eastern Swallowtails (the caterpillars look like bird poop, and put out scary red antennae-type things when alarmed, but the butterflies are GORGEOUS.) The caterpillars don't eat that much, so just ignore the few chewed on leaves and wait for them to emerge in all their flying glory. And you can eat the citrus, too. Passionflower vines are larval food for zebra longwings, and have great flowers. Muhly grass is a lovely ornamental native grass that has pinkish blooms. And some of the spartina grasses are also great native ornamentals. Green Images in Christmas, Florida is a WONDERFUL native plant nursery that's not too far from Daytona. Worth a trip over there, and they should have a bunch of natives that will perform well and bring in the butterflies. Depending on your friends' soil, amendments can be tricky. If they're in a real sandy area, the soil is so coarse that it has tons of air & oxygen in it, and organics burn up so fast that you almost can't add them quickly enough to make a difference. Other places are muck (basically swamp bottom) and have much richer soil. The Florida Native Plant Society is a wonderful organization and a great source of information if you want to "go native". Natives are so much easier to grow, provide food and cover for birds and butterflies, and low maintenance to boot. Water rationing is becoming pretty common in Florida, and planting things that will deal with normal rainfall is a way to have a beautiful garden in spite of water restrictions.

Got this add on Craigslist...I'm not far away and always wanted to ck it out myself....let me know..It's in davenport...next down on 17-92...so very close Craigslist Orlando listing : Thompsons Nursery is having a Sale on a variety of landscaping plants. We are a licensed nursery and state inspected. Skip the high prices at the stores, and come by your local nursery and Save. Azaleas Formosa in 3 gal $4.50 Arbicola Trinnette in 3 gal $4.95 Boxwood in 3 gal $4.95 Hibiscus in 3 gal $4 Gold Mount in 3 gal $4.95 Mexican Petunia in 3 gal $4.50 Gardinia in 3 gal $4.50 Lantana in 1 gal $2.35 Roses in 3 gal $8 Dwarf Mondo Grass in 1 gal $1.85 Mondo Grass in 1 gal $1.85 Aztech Grass in 1 gal $1.25 Jasmine in 1 gal $2.25 Juniper in 3 gal $4.95 Loropedlum in 3 gal $5.25 Viburnum in 3 gal $4.75 Liriope in 1 gal $1 We are easy to find, just 2 miles from i4 in davenport. Call jc 407-729-8505 or email. Thanks for viewing

Basil, Holy Basil, oregano, and sunflowers.