I give everyone the benefit of the doubt that the advise they give is well intentioned and aims to help the new people who might not know about hosta problems including the HVX virus. It took me years and years to listen to Ken about growing Hostas on the driveway and in the sun. I've been really happy that I finally listened. The adivice and warning about HVX is important to know. The bottom line is that it is a personal choice what we do with that knowledge. I suppose I'm unconventional in my garden because I move my plants around all the time and at the slightest whim. My aim, possibly different than most others, is that my garden look full and pleasing to me this year, right now. I like my plants to grow well but having the absolute perfect conditions and the largest size is not that important to me. I write this not as advice to others but as a confirmation to anyone who might think like I do and choose to go in their own direction. It's your garden - do what you like. As far as HVX goes, I take it very seriously. I had at least one or two that had the virus before I'd ever heard what it was. I destroyed them and the few they contaminated by me not knowing enough to be careful. Since that time I do occasionally buy from Box Stores or local nurseries where I know I've seen HVX plants before. I just try to be careful with those plants. I'm not the most organized person so some day I will no doubt slip and should one of the plants have HVX it might cross to another. I'll live with it. I think HH put it very well and said you should be very, very careful. If you are it's your choice. I think Bkay made an important point about all the other things that can go wrong with the hostas. Right now tree roots, voles and cutworms have passed HVX on my worry list. Neimtodes are a mild annoyance since they don't show up until late in the year. Here are a few of my mislabeled plants and a few I bought knowing I was risking the HVX I 'willed' this plant to become cupped for many many years. It never did and I bought another Abiqua Drinking Gourd. I like this one anyway. The Canadian Nursery was not Hosta Choice Took me a couple years to realize this wasn't Fringe Benefit since I could never find a good picture of Fringe Benefit. Eventually, because of a picture of OBL from hostafreak I identified it. I'm very happy with this mistake. I knowingly bought this plant and took the risk. You can't beat the price and I've keep it in one place, no moving around. So far so good. It's one of my best light centered hostas. The leaves are thick and the it keeps the dark green color even in the sun. This was from a local nursery where I'd seen cases of HVX in the past. I checked that it was from a different supplier than the virused ones were and took the chance. I hadn't bought this plant from mail order because I'd heard it was hard to grow (it's not). Seeing the large size plant in a pot at a resasonable price seemed worth it to me.

Reno has a good summary of the development of CAD/CADD from the mid 80s or so. AutoCad, for example, started as a 2-D drafting program for engineering applications. It was much later that they bolted on programs that would allow 2-D architectural applications (for example, the intersection of intersecting walls in plan view with the intersections deleted). 3-D came much, much later for AutoCad, and initially consisted of an add-on program from other vendors, if I remember correctly. Early 3-D programs were mostly wiring diagrams which were hard to see and visualize, much less solid 3-d pictures. DataCad and other early programs were designed from the beginning for architectural design; the 2-D and 3-D was integrated earlier, but these vendors lacked the financial and marketing resoures of AutoCad. Then European software vendors entered the marketplace for both engineering and architectural users, with advanced features like finite analysis and light-ray applications. As the market developed, and low-cost computing emerged, applications began to focus on data base/relational applications and designing for architect in 3-D, rather than starting in 2-D and merging to 3-D. All of this is probably far beyond this forum for consumers interested in building their own home! The good news for most who visit this forum and thread is that a few of the major software manufacturers of engineering and architectural software have also marketed simplified versions of their software that will do 2-D and 3-D applications ranging from decks, to landscaping to fully integrated house design at reasonable expense. The bad news is that none of the software is "smart" enough to prevent mistakes and errors in the input process. It still takes substantial experience and judgement to make these computerized tools work efficiently and effectively. Good luck!

I will second cearbhaill as I do not have anything remotely local or regional with JM selection. Through mail order I have been able to successfullly plant and grow more than 130 cultivars and 175 total JMs in the hot and humid SE (zone 8b). I have used many online sources and have had a variety of experiences. Since similar threads of this many years ago helped me get started and find sources, I thought doing the same could possibly be beneficial for others. As noted, these are my personal experiences and maybe be different than what others have experienced. Maplestone Ornamentals - excellent website, primarily smaller 1-2 or 2-3 year old grafts. Very good quality and good prices on plants and shipping. Maples N More - small family business, plants on the small size but unique varieties, good prices, responsive to fixing issues Mr Maple - I will no longer use them due to dissapointing issues. They sell lots of liners potted up to 1 gallon that have not come close to filling in the pot with roots. Essentially liners with extra dirt for 50 bucks. Quality has been inconsistent. Have not been impressed with bigger sizes and the shipping costs either. Iconic Gardens - they sell through ebay or their website. Great value, huge plants with the ability to get up to 5 year grafts for a great price in smaller pots that can ship for reasonable amount of money. Quality and selection are good. Maple Ridge Nursery - great website for descriptions of how each cultivar responds to my hot humid SE conditions. I have recieved healthy but undersized plants. Can be expensive both for plants and shipping. Davidson's - one of the most extensive collections both as reference material online and to purchase. Good quality, knowledgeable, responsive. Only downside is very expensive. Whitman Gardens - best value IMHO. Very big plants, healthy, extensive selection, straight forward knowledge and advice, Can get huge plants in smaller pots for great price on plants and shipping. Conifer Kingdom - nice website with pictures of actual plants. Can get larger sizes. Good quality, more limited selection. Pricing varies with some good deals and some quite oddly expensive that does not always match rarity of plant. Good customer care. Oriental Garden Supply - difficult website to navigate. Can get big sizes. Limited availability of many listings with many out of stock. Good quality plants at good prices. Topiary Gardens - excellent customer care with extensive selection of high quality 1,2,3 gallon plants that sell out quickly. Fair reasonable prices and shipping. Japanese Maples and Evergreens - they are on Amazon and other places. There are so many complaints about everything from horrible plants to horrible service I have stayed away myself. Acer1987 (Ebay). If you have the time to grow liners to big trees, this site has massive number of cultivars for good prices. Good customer care. I will otherwise second the opinions above of East Fork (expensive), Essence of Tree, Mendicino. Others have come and gone that I liked (Quality Maples for instance) that still have website up but are closed. Wish I had the opportunities that gardengal has with the range of great NW nurseries to shop from, but in the mean time I will keep Fed Ex busy! Thanks to all who have posted on this site over the years. I have been mainly lurking for more than a decade learning much and putting that knowledge to work.

This is where you have a big disconnect with what you want, what you’re willing to do, and your budget. You just don’t want your complacency with mediocre challenged, even though you want better. You aren’t willing to do what it takes to get better. Which is fatal to design. The kitchen needs help. It was an unfortunate design, and needs attention and changes to turn it into something that will have been worth that expense. You’re not willing to listen to suggestions to revisit the design and improve it. That’s a giant red flag for a designer. What makes the rest of the house different as a project? Will you listen to anything about it? What about this whole home redesign is going to be appealing to a designer to work with you, if you just don’t listen to the suggestions that you’re given? What’s in it for a person who wants to see the joy of something coming together better than the homeowner ever imagined it could be? Because that’s the why behind it. This is not a “portfolio job”. It won’t reflect well on their skills if you’re resistant to doing what it takes to get a result worth having. It’s not even a job where they are going to earn from product sales. And that isn’t about money, although that will rear its head. The communication style and fear of letting go to listen and trust makes for huge frustrations. That’s not fun. If they can’t really make a difference in the home, because you don’t let them, they are not going to be into you and your 2 year plan to timesuck more than they’re actually getting paid. Money isn’t enough for that frustration level. And there won’t be enough money either, because no one would be willing to pay the real time costs for the $500 lifeline 15 minute Zoom to fix a problem that could have been prevented with better listening and more trust. You‘re just are not a good candidate for a good designer. A newbie, who hadn’t yet learned? That you might get. The experienced one that you need will be “too busy”. So, DIY it to death, and just live with the results you create. It seems that you’re happy enough with that, and don’t really care to have a next level home. So why go to the angst and expense of having your worldview challenged for the better? Spend your money on the 1001 suggestions of a crowd sourced plan, and don’t take it up a notch. Why bother with wanting something better and more? It will just challenge your complacency.