Lellie I also had the pineapple mint in NY and Mass. When I moved here, that is one herb that I was looking for. I found it in Just Fruits and exotics, when I went to get some fruit trees. If you are planning to be around the Orlando area, you are invited to my house and you can get any cutting that you want.:o) Silvia Here is a link that might be useful: pineapple mint

Its good to see that there is Help out there for sick people..

How many hours is "a few" and where in Delaware? I'm with salonva. Longwood Gardens is ~30 minutes from Wilmington and ~40 - 45 minutes from PHL. There is also Winterthur, another one of the DuPont estates, is ~20 minutes from Wilmington, and ~30 minutes from PHL. I think trying to go into Philly proper would take too much time, plus parking is expensive.

I actually teach horticulture, so one of the best principles I teach is "right plant right place." Plants aren't all ubiquitous. Native or not, they are adapted to certain types of growing conditions and if you plant them in the wrong spot they won't give you the performance you may be looking for. Also they have growth patterns and a lot of people are dissatisfied with a plant because it doesn't stay the same over time. As a plant matures, it might be very different from the way it looks as a cute baby at the plant nursery. On the flip side, that small sapling will often take off and grow gangbusters out of its bigger non-native cousin if you put it in its happy place. I work with native plant nurseries all the time, many native landscape designs are stunning, but just as in decorating, for most folks the nuts and bolts of using native plants gets watered down and sold over simplistically to the public with the latest "hot" trends. Native or non-native tells me nothing particular about a plant in terms of how it will perform in the garden . . . kind of like "organic" which has totally become overused and meaningless. But I'm a details gal so it doesn't bother me, just background noise. Ironically, there are some wonderful native plants that never get planted or used just because they haven't had their "hot" moment in the sun, and other plants that are absolute crap (I'm talking to you Bradford Pear!) that everyone loves. But everyone loves them just because they are seeing them all over the place. When I was younger, I loved the native river birch tree, but you never saw it in any plant nurseries, European white birch was all the rage. Everyone had a decorative birch in their yard. Enter birch borers and all kinds of other diseases that this non native was susceptible and people grew to dislike them as they matured. European birches were only more popular than our native paper birch because the native takes a while to develop the papery bark, unlike the European and Asian species that are white early on. But then they peter out and end up looking sadder than sad just when the natives are coming into their glory. So river birch got discovered and now it is ubiquitous in suburbia. Another example is shademaster honey locust. Honey locust was a scraggly, pretty unattractive tree that one would consider a "weed" tree growing in the back or along an old fencerow, etc. But when the modern aversion to having to rake up a lot of fall leaves, and people wanting fast growing shade trees with almost no debris, the breeders got busy and now these trees are everywhere. Piet Oudolf is hot right now in landscaping, he creates gardens evocative of native grasslands, he's done a lot to popularize grass plants as a landscaping element, something you almost never saw mainstream 20 years ago. But his style is not for everyone, nor every situation, nor should it be. Much like "open concept" the question is what makes sense for your needs and the functionality you need for your home. LOL Jo, I feel your pain. I double dug my small SE PA yard garden with topsoil and peat. Suburban PA clay is a challenge, but it takes well to amending. Well, all soil does. Long live compost.