i bought an giant grey henon from www.lewisbamboo.com they shipped it and it only took a few days , i received a very health bamboo, lol, and after 6 months of growth in the pot that i put it in, its all ready outgrown it. the other 2 i have came from ebay, and i guess i was lucky since i had no problem with either one..... there is another bamboo grower in Crewe va.-- www.midatlanticbamboo.com i have not bought anything from them yet, but they are close enuf to take a ride and see what they have to offer in person.. hope this helps.

Lots of good information here. Thank you all. I so wish we could keep this thread at the top, or something like this in a FAQ. It seems FL has alot of people moving in and out of the state all the time, and that alot of transplants (people) like myself have no clue on arriving in FL that some of the beautiful plants we see can be nightmares to maintain or remove. I have had my own battles with the box store landscaping the landlady has installed here. Some of what I've cursed includes the purple showers (ruella), a thick underplanting of snake plant, common aloe, and something that looks like a small orange-flowering heliconia (not sure what it is) planted around a hibiscus. The hibiscus is planted a foot from the laundry room shed, so has to be pruned severely and often, to keep the branches from pushing out against the shed and gradually upheaving the root system and laying it over on its side. I can't seem to eradicate the snake plant, aloe, and heliconia(?). I keep pulling and pulling as these keep coming up. My aim is to dig the hibiscus out, re-plant/center it in the bed, and have something tame and well-behaved underplanted. I don't feel that I should have to spend money to re-landscape the landlord's poor plant choices nor her plant locating. It's a heck of alot of work for me to handle all this, with bad joints, bad heart and lungs. But I figure as long as I'm here I have to just have certain problem plants 'die', lol, to make my life easier. Since she does not hold up her end of the agreement as far as her responsibility for the yard and landscaping, I can move (easier said than done, with such high housing costs here), or just deal with what mess I've got myself into. Word to the wise - if I had it to do over, I'd check out the landscaping and maintenance/types of plants, prior to signing the lease. In other words, Renters, Beware! girlsaylor

If you're in Northern Virginia (as am I), then no need to drive to Farmville to GreenFront as they have a new store in Manassas, VA near the airport, right off the Prince William County Parkway. Lots of choices, its large but doesn't show off the pieces real well as its an industrial warehouse. If you've never been to Farmville, pick your day as there is no heating or cooling in any of the buildings down there. Can be chilly during the winter and stifling humidity in the summer in their facility. Greenfront buys closeout deals. Typically the showrooms after the High Point markets. If you can find something on the floor that you like - just as it is - then you can do pretty good on price points. To order from them, you will not find the savings worth the time vs. a more traditional store where you levels of service are much higher. Carolina Furniture is certainly not worth the 2:30 minute drive from N. VA in my opinion, unless you're already headed to Williamsburg for other reasons and just make them a side trip. My suggestion is don't automatically assume that your local stores are more expensive. It certainly makes it easier to check out and return fabrics dealing locally, as very few customers get the right pick on the first visit. Duane Collie

This has been asked before and you will get different answers from different people but here's my $.02. For me, NC was about $1800 cheaper than my local store. I live in a suburb of NYC and although I asked my local retailer if they could come down a little in price, it wasn't enough to justify spending $1800 more (local store was in Scarsdale, NY and tends to cater to the very wealthy) After doing a lot of research I decided to take my chances but the furniture line I was interested in was not carried in the bigger NC dealers (Boyles and at the time, Rose Furniture) so I went with a small place called Alan Ferguson's. The service was excellent, the delivery was perfect and they made a minor mistake (ordered wrong fabric for pillows) which they corrected immedietly (and let me keep both sets of pillows). I was very happy with the quality of service, the furniture I received (sofa, loveseat, 2 chairs) and the price. That being said, I took the gamble and it paid off for me. It could have gone either way and I may have been unlucky (as many people have been) and I may even have ended up losing $ but that's a risk you have to be willing to take. Recently I ordered a bedroom set from a local retailer (they were having a 40% off sale). While NC still came out cheaper, I didn't want to take the gamble twice. I was happy with my salesperson and I know that if anything is wrong with the furniture, they will stand by me and make sure that I'm happy with my purchase. I have read enough on these forums to know that if you order from NC and something is wrong with the furniture, you could be out of luck. Someone here pointed out that the Boyles and the Lexfurniture's of the world can sell cheaper b/c they have no overhead, they basically take orders from people who have used their local store to peruse furniture, take up a salesperson time and pick out fabric all in the retailers dime. But the local retailer will work harder to earn your business. In answer to your first question, yes you will save more than a $100 (how much depends on how much your local retailer marks up the price of furniture but it is usually quite significant). Can't answer 2 & 3 but the most reputable store to order furniture from in NC is Boyles and there is another place in Kentucky called lexfurniture. Be aware that Boyles does charge tax for deliveries to certain states so you might want to factor that in when comparing prices. Good Luck.