Greenthumbz, those are gorgeous pics! I've heard that there are a couple of trees that are not native to North America but are used by significant numbers of native insects. 1) Malus/Crabapples - native, hybrid, or exotic, Douglas Tallamy's book stated that the leaf chemistry is so similar that North american insects will use all species. This certainly bears true in my experience. I've got lots of crabs, a few specimens and a crazy wild thicket full of them in back,and they are bird magnets, not just for the fruits in the fall but for the nectar and insects in spring and summer. 2) Picea abies/Norway spruce - don't have any personal experience, but was told this by an ornithology student at Cornell who was doing a study on the subject

Thanks

APHIS is the division of the USDA responsible for the interstate movement of plants. They probably have guidelines on their website. A phytosanitary permit from them might be required.

Hi Carol, I live in Kannapolis, NC (Cabarrus County) just a brief drive from Mooresville. I go there every few months or so and I've taken classes in Mooresville. They have a bigger thrift store that I go to (same co. not a big in Kannapolis). It's a great small town and GROWING close to major cities, like Charlotte. Davidson is just a few miles away, a lovely college town. Right now, the prices for homes are still low and if I could move, I would probably move to Mooresville. It still has much of a small town feel to it. The downtown area is lovely and quaint. I don't know about the property taxes, you will have to refer to Iredell County. I've been here 30 years, moved to Charlotte at first. Got out of there, had more crime happen to me than all my 20 yrs. in S.Fla!! The surrounding towns are much better, cheaper taxes, less traffic, and it's a quick trip to Charlotte for theater, symphonies, plays. The wonderful aspects of North Carolina are varied. There are a lot of small towns to travel. You would be right in between the mountains and the ocean, about 6 hrs. away from Wash.DC, 8 hrs. away from Kentucky. I used to live in S.Fla. so I am still amazed that you can get somewhere in just a few hours. Virginia on the west side is just gorgous! Lake Norman property taxes are going up up up, so I would avoid that area. I just read that in the paper. I was talking to a new employee at work, she was born in S.C. but lived in N.Y. for 13 years. She is now South again in N.C. She said that she had forgotten how "friendly" the folks are here in the south!! And of course, she does NOT miss the snow and dark days. Just had daylight savings, and it will get dark around 7:30...stays light till almost 9 in the summer months!! I am enclosing a link from the PBS TV stations that show North Carolina Weekend. I think you can watch the shows online. I have learned a lot about NC by watching these shows. It really shows the history, cities, out of the way super good restuarants, the outer banks, the mountains. It's all good. This is a good show to watch also : http://www.unctv.org/exploringNC/ And the link to the PBS channel is: http://www.unctv.org/index.shtml Hope this helps! Keep me posted! If you click on my name you can send me an email and let me know. June Lynn Here is a link that might be useful: NC Weekend