Aridandtropical, if you see my username, you would see and know that I am WELL AWARE of my zone. Also, Palm trees are native only as far north as extreme SE, North Carolina. They will not grow in DC without protection, except for Windmills, which are marginal, and Sabal Minor and Needle palms, which are almost fool-proof here. Bananas, well, Basjoos can be grown much much farther north than here with no protection other than a pile of mulch. The only difference between here in Michigan is that our winters are considerably more mild, and we need to protect stuff less. We still have winters, just like you though, and sometimes, as witnessed by our record all time lows, and some winters snowfalls, can be just as brutal as they are far north. 77" of snow in the winter of 2010 was nothing to shake a stick at, even by the snowiest places in the country standards. yep, we had that here. =o) One of the biggest differences is DURATION of bitter cold here is much much shorter on the infrequent occasions we do get down near 0F. I was giving mr banana dude back just what he was putting in. Nothing more. I found it much more hilarious than anything else, and if you think someone typing words on the internet is getting to someone or makes someone angry, well, I'm not sure you know too much about the text only form of communication. In stead of presenting his "opinion" in a constructive manner, he was nothing more than arrogant, rude, and down right insulting to almost everyone here. I might expect that of someone age 8-10, but most people by the time they are 17 usually have a grasp on what being opinionated is, and the difference between that and just being down right rude and insulting. Glad you are having successes with your tropicals so far north. Oh, and thanks Hunter M. It was mainly meant to be FUNNY, and I think it kind of was. ;-) Personally, I think Hunter M, for being his age, participated in a much more adult manner here than did mr banana dude. you'd think that would be the other way around now wouldn't you?

Well, the old blonde here forgot she'd recently recieved her Fire Mtn bead catalog in the mail. Looked up the 4 and 6 mm Swarovski bi-cone beads, they are the most sparkly in my opinion. You can get packs in different sizes but just for example, the 4mm in a pack of 48 is $2.25 for up to 14 packs. If you order more, the price goes down. The 6mm come in packs of 24 and they are for $2.42 each pack for up to 14 packs. The minimum shipping is $6.70. Otherwise it's approximately 10% of the order's cost. Hope this helps. I try to not look at their catalogs as I buy. Great deals and neat stuff, including charms. Karen Here is a link that might be useful: Fire Mountain Gems

www.firemountaingems.com www.bluemud.com www.auntiesbeads.com www.shipwreckbeads.com www.ebay.com good luck, ginger

Hi, we can help you with this. We carry York as well as Trane, Carrier, Goodman, Day and Night, Payne etc. Please email us if you need more info. admin@gsistore.com