I don't know what other people's beef is with big box stores, but here's mine: Two years ago I went to Lowes. I was very new to the flower gardening thing (still am, but learning quickly) and saw blue hydrangeas, rainbow KOs, and wine and roses weigela on sale. I bought them and planted them. The blue hydrangea: Might be hardy up here, but you'll never see a flower. Mine died, but HAD it survived the only thing that would have lived would be the roots. They would grow every year into a measely bush with no flowers. From what people have told me, the flowers come from the previous year's growth - which would die each winter. The KO: Dies to the ground every year. Slow to grow back and only produces less than a handful of malformed, non-scented, unattractive roses. I only bought it because a lot of people were bragging about them on a (different) gardening board. I'm giving the durned thing away this summer. The weigela: Love it. Luckily I planted it somewhere that gets lots of sun and is somewhat protected by the porch in the winter. I get a lot of die-back, but I also get a lot of blooms. Other locals can't seem to get anything out of them from the die-back. So, the lesson is - unless you REALLY know what you're doing you'll probably wind up buying things that are "technically" hardy for your area but will likely die. And if you are a seasoned gardener you will probably be turned off by the things they have in stock. Local nurseries carry what they grow - meaning it will grow, and well! It's been tended to by a handful of local gardeners that didn't unload them from an overheated stock truck where the plants have been sitting overcrowded for days - probably collecting mold. However, truth be told, if I can get a pallet of near-dead annuals from Lowes for a couple of bucks - I think it's money well spent. :-D But I'd never buy anything full-priced from them. When I called one of the local nurseries and asked a question about what they had in stock that could do this, that or the other thing, the man on the phone told me that they landscaped a local place with (name of plant here) two years ago and when they made a service call to fertilize and clean up in the spring that everything was still growing beautifully. Local places stand by their products. They have to. They don't have the resources or money to re-do jobs.

Hope you have a great trip...I also recommend foxfiregardens, it will be a special visit. I'd like to get over there myself in June while all the foliage is still nice and fresh! Marshfield is very close to Steven's Point. They may not take credit cards, you might want to check before you go. Here's a link from a WI hosta shopping discussion which may be helpful. Northern Grown Perennials is near LaCrosse and does mail order, but a year or two back, I had contacted them and they were willing to make an appt for a visit. Give it a try! I think they are in Ferryville... http://www.mwt.net/~ngp/index.htm Here is a link that might be useful: wisconsin hosta shopping

I highly recommend Venero Gardens. See my post of a couple of weeks ago with lots of photos. You need to call ahead, but they seem to always be there. Check their website. Idiothe has invited you to visit his gardens in Plymouth. They are great, and you will find a gracious couple with tons of hosta information and lore. Hideko Gowen's garden at highways 7 and 41 just west of Excelsior is a delight. I've gotten lots of great plants at Kelley & Kelley in Long Lake just a couple miles off Highway 12. Almost everything is growing in the ground and will be dug for you.

Korean Giant ripen around early-mid Oct in zone 6 a. It probably will ripe around mid to late Oct for you. Should not be too late. Very good and productive tree, worth a try. Not sure why the northern ridge nursery does not carry northern peach varieties. Flordaking as the name implies is a southern peach!!! Of the 4 that nursery carry, I would choose Red Haven or Elberta over the other two. You can't go wrong with either. They are good peaches. I do not know if they will produce peaches well in your zone. They may if your winter is not too harsh on some years. When you buy on line, it does not matter where the nurseries are located as long as they can ship to you. Many nurseries are in WA. Those in warmer areas may ship bare root trees to you by March. That's OK, just keep them in the box, in a dark place, make sure the roots are moist (not wet), they will keep until April when you can dig the ground. Otherwise, you can tell them to ship trees to you when you can work the ground. Burntridge Nursery is good. Autumnridge is bad. Whenever you come across any on line nursery, just google "Scoop on + the name of the nursery", info about that nursery will show up. It's done by a garden watchdog, Dave's Garden. Avoid the one with a lot of negatives. Nurseries like Cummins, Adam County Nursery, Grandpa's Orchard, Burntridge, One Green World, Raintree, Vaughn, Stark's Brothers are reputable.