Hi Norma, I'm afriad that I am not as well-connected as you!!! Jerry Wright (from Caudex above) did give me a name in South Africa and I contacted them and they do have the Boophane sp. 'Port Elizabeth' that I am looking for.....he needs to send pics to confirm, but this is one of the species with very frilly, blue glaucous leaves if he and I are on the same page. If it works out I will import a half-dozen of those and he also has some very rare, super dwarf Brunsvigia that I will get for myself. Obviously, if these are of any interest to you I can get some imported for you as well....just let me know off-line and once I find out the prices, etc. I can let you know :o) Dan

Write a note requesting a catalog from Backyard Herbs and Flowers. 8128 Maurer Rd., Apple Creek, OH.,44606. They are an Amish family so you can only communicate by mail or in person. My wife and I visited them yeaterday and were very impressed with their small business. Their catalog is very informative. If you get a catalog, let me know what you think. luke

Amherst sells compost at a great price, and open to anyone, not only residents. It's NOT sewage, so no heavy metals and ok for veggies. I buy it by the truckload - $20 for a full size pickup heaped. Or you get it by the bucket. It's great stuff, however, it is full of little plastic pieces from landscapers who dump all their trash, not just plant material. So you will probably have to spend a fair bit of time pulling all that plastic out. I also buy shredded wood mulch from a place on Route 33 just west of Corfu. Much more expensive ($60 per truckload) but still lots cheaper than bags, and has no plastic in it. So it's good for mulching the top. You may not want to drive that far. $40 truckload for big wood chips. Topsoil I get from a local excavator. They all seem to charge about the same. $20-$25 per yard delivered. Here is a link that might be useful: amherst compost facility

You might do some research on inks too. I got a rude awakening when I printed my wife's Red Hat logo on magnetic paper and placed on our fridge door. In 3 months or so it has faded really badly yet I was using HP inks in my HP Photosmart 7760 printer. I suspect you would find it cheaper to use a photo printing service and possibly find their inks to be of a higher standard than those packaged for consumers. Others may well have a comment on this point. I rarely print photos, being quite happy to store them on my computer.