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

Yup, Seawrights takes checks.

thanks for the tip.

EO, I think you'll like the Nikon a lot. One of the people I used to work with had a similar camera. I have two digital SLRs, both Canons, a D30 and a 10D. I also have a new 300mm IS lens, replacing an older one that did not have the image stabilizer. IS makes a world of difference as it makes up for a significant amount of camera shake, which you're bound to have, especially with a long lens, especially if not using a tripod. One big difference I find between photographing hostas and photographing bird... autofocus works great for hosta, not so great for birds. Most birds are too small and move too much for autofocus to work well. You tend to have trouble making it focus on such a small quick moving target and it will often go in and out of focus repeatedly. I use manual focus for the birds. Unfortunatly when using manual focus, I have to depend on my not so great eyesight so I often end up with slightly out of focus (you could kindly call it 'soft' focus) images. At any rate, the Nikon SLR should do a great job for you! And eagles are even big enough to use auto focus :-) I'll have to post an eagle pic or two in the conversations side some time! Maybe you can do the same. Janice, the trees were one of the highest items on my 'must have' list when I was house hunting. I'm not a heavy pruner. I like lots of cover for my birds. And it will be beautiful. It feels like a cabin up in the north woods of MN to me. I love that. Add some hostas, and what more could you ask for? :-)