Kate, I always enjoy Biosphere, too. They have a very small staff and at certain times of the year, it can get quite overgrown and messy looking. But they have a wealth of plants, especially natives, that you can't find elsewhere. And they have a wealth of knowledge as well. Plus it is a MUST VISIT nursery if you have a butterfly garden, for sure. Jim Thomas is a very nice man who is well-respected in his field. He gives a tremendous amount of his time to local conservation projects, clean ups, restorations, etc. I like doing my little bit to help support his business, and I always find cool stuff there that I've never seen elsewhere. I'm planning to go out there in a couple of weeks, myself. I figure I deserve it since I had to miss this get together. Marcia

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 do have to say that every time I see a news story about the latest known case of commercial produce being contaminated with E. coli, salmonella or whatever, I think to myself how lucky we are that we can grow a lot of our own produce and not have to worry about buying contaminated food. For me, the big wake-up moment that I should raise food crops as organically as possible was when I read how many times some kinds of conventionally-grown produce are sprayed. That was probably about 20 years ago. I never used many chemical pesticides, miticides or herbicides prior to that, but since reading that information I use almost none. You couldn't pay me to use a broad-spectrum pesticide of any kind, organic or synethetic in nature, on food we are going to eat. I count on all the beneficial insects taking care of the pest insects, and if I spray a broad-spectrum pesticide, it will kill some, if not all, of the beneficials. When you grow your own--whether it is food, herbs, or even flowers that you are going to cut and bring inside to use in flower arrangements--you get to control how much your plants are sprayed with anything, if they are sprayed at all. Lisa, You're my kind of person. I can find 1,001 reasons, all related to gardening, to ignore housework and to, instead, spend hours in the garden. Housework is not my favorite thing to do. I do it, but I don't particularly enjoy doing it and I procrastinate and put it off as long as I can. Debra, My dad and his family lived in Montague County, TX, which is sort of catty-corner to the western end of Love County, OK. He was born in 1919 and was, I think, 3rd youngest in a very large family of at least 10 or 11 children, some of whom died decades before I was born. I look at how hot and dry the western end of Love County gets, and I marvel that my dad and his family even were able to raise enough food in similar soil and a similar climate to survive. My dad and all my aunts and uncles from his side of the family are gone now, but I feel remarkably close to them when I am gardening or canning. My love of gardening and canning came from them, so when I am doing it, I feel like they are still with me. I garden for the birds and butterflies as well, mixing in plants for them in all my fenced garden plots (fenced to exclude deer and bunnies) and in other places too. It is funny how one person can get so many other interested in gardening. I think that lots of people think that it is hard and that they cannot do it, so they don't even try. When you encourage them and help them understand how to do it, they become gardeners themselves, and then they pass on their love of gardening to someone else. The veggie gardeners I know here mostly all garden for the butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects too, and largely avoid the use of all pesticides. I feel like we are making lots of progress in that area. Kim, I agree. This likely is the first time in my life I've been trendy. And, when this trend has largely passed, I'll still be gardening and won't care that I'm no longer trendy. : ) Dawn

Judith! LOVE seeing you post (someone let me know you had a post here!) I KNOW that area, having lived on the Peninsula for 11 yrs. Virginia Beach (on the other side of the Bridges) IS a very different place! I also remember that the 'decorators' they use there are mostly 'builder's wives' and daughters and it is ALL about price-points! Builders have a different mind-set. The builder that DH worked for on the Peninsula always would get upset and say 'that destroys the price points'! He had to spend the least amount to build so he could profit, BUT his wife 'the decorator' would love to SPEND. Weird combination, but the houses always LOOK LIKE they are pieced together with different what they deem will 'SELL' features. Very different thinking than Custom home building with Architect drawn plans. They have a certain amount of house styles they can purchase such as the 'Southern Living' homes collection, etc. And because the street they are built on is a collection of all different builders, they have to be cohesive in some way or the houses will just not ever look like they belong that 'close' to one another. I was surprised with all the reactions of your photos of some that do not even know the area, nor the people who live in this area. My DH worked on the Port Warwick (Virginia) project and that was built on former C*ra*ck town (bad connotation for it but reality) and DH had to chase dr*ug peddlers on bikes out of the development as they tried to talk to the workers while they were building! His experience with being a Drill Instructor in the Marines really came in handy! He built a lot of homes there in a set back small town layout with housing above the shops and professional offices in the center. But the AREA in that lower part of town (South NN on the Peninsula) perked up with all new positive projects and people and a new shopping small town environment set back off the road was built across the street even. We spent a couple of years going in and out of that development and went to all the events there, what a transformation! The world and LIFE is about constant change and adapting. New replaces old, new becomes old and gets run down... the economy for builders devastated that area a few years ago and that is why we left the area and decided it was time to find our 'retirement, forever house'. I am glad to see that the builders are doing a 'come back' in the area! I love Chesapeake with its country setting and trees. We lived there when we first moved to the state, then we ventured up to the Peninsula when DH started working for a large builder in that area. I am so HAPPY to see you posting and out and about! I really MISS seeing your posts and photos! I also miss hooking up with you for events such as POH and Homaramas there in your area. :( Go to your blog... check out...you have almost 100,000 hits! One word about the 'advertising' in the show houses, kind of a PITN to view but I know they are necessary. I also noticed the plastic covering the rug, but the house was sold. I remember DH having a bad time (with all the rain and cloudy days they had to work in and the MUD on construction sites with that RED clay!!!) He would have to stand guard to make sure no one came in! One time he was called to another house, a worker stepped into the house, and left a spot on a few places on the carpet in TWO rooms! The carpet was cleaned, BUT, the builder cannot sell the house with a 'NEW' carpet once it has been cleaned! Some new buyers will accept and sign off on a 'spot' clean, but most will say 'I WANT NEW' as on the contract. Of course Model homes are always walked through but that is understood at time of sale. We had purchased a model home in one of the first developments DH built with 38 homes. The white (upgrade) Berber carpet was clean... but we were told it was cleaned and not new. No big deal for me since it was flawless. We knew we would replace it with hardwood flooring anyway (which we did do). We are all spoiled by Pinterest, the photos are wonderful, but you and I know that a photo is set up and IRL the furniture might not be in those exact places that the set up for the photo was taken with. Styling and staging is different than decorating and walking through the spaces. Thank you so much for posting these photos, I saved the ones from the last time you posted photos and review them now and then. In this collection, I love the shallow Coffered ceiling molding in one of the rooms. I appreciate the angle you took the photos at so I could see the detail! I remember when I moved up to that area about 14 yrs ago, and NO ONE was building with lots of trim so as not to show that the house came that way! I mean you could order it as special and paid dearly for trim work. And Parade of Homes houses were just an example of what the builder could do or was capable of, they do not represent the whole of the builder houses in the area. And the price of a POH reflects all the 'trim packages and upgrades' in place and the amount of detail to also reflect the level the other houses built on that little neighborhood street they get built on. Thank you again for taking the time to POST these PHOTOS for us to see and experience what is going on in another part of the country from where we live and how markets are so different depending on where we live. :) GREAT to see you posting!!!