I got this from Chester and thought it was interesting: And about some carcharodons...notes by Chester Skotak, Costa Rica Neoregelia 'Tiger' was found in Rio de Janeiro state, Estrada Marica, Itaborai on the road to Rio Bonito at the 10 km marker. The true location was first discovered by Rafael Oliveira de Faria and Chester Skotak in 2004. These plants grow on rocks or as epiphytes. When I first saw this plant growing in a very tall tree I remember thanking God that goats cant fly but in the end it didnÂt really matter. That road has now been paved and the forest severely cut, as last I heard. Neoregelia 'Macho' was grown and collected by Luiz (Luis) Correia de Araujo. He had them growing in giant clay pots around the restaurant he owned at the time. Several people brought back pups in the 90s, including me. The plant was found in Vargem Grande, Rio de Janeiro state. Neoregelia 'Silver' was being grown at Pedro NahoumÂs nursery. I spoke with him recently about this Neo and he told me he acquired the plant from Roberto Menescal. It was collected in Vargem Grande also. Neoregelia 'Rainbow' was found near Santa Maria de Madalena around 1995, Rio de Janeiro state. It was growing on rocks at the garbage dump. I was traveling with Rafael Oliveira, Pedro Nahoum, Jorge Gastin and Giorgio Croce. On this same road 2 kilometers further along we found Vriesea croceana, named in honor of Giorgio Croce. These four Neoregelia species (16 plants total) were sent to the U.S.A. by me in the 90s to: Michael Kiehl, Dennis Cathcart, Wally Berg and Harry Luther. They each received four plants, one plant of each new species. Since they were all being called carcharodon at the time, I wanted to distribute these neoregelias in hopes of getting a valid species name on them and also get them into collections. Maybe one day this group will be sorted out. It should also be noted that these species are usually not found in colonies but as individuals or only a few plants and seem to be quite rare where they are found, leaving one to wonder how they even manage to propagate in the wild.

Thanks for the link. Very good prices.

Personally, I just dont think that VB, or anywhere in that general area along the immediate cost is going to suffer that kind of super killing cold snap. The power of the ocean and the gulf stream is just too great. Even areas of the Chesapeake bay coast are suitable for naturalisation of S. Minors and R. Hystrix, as are areas of the large cities of the mid Atlantic. As I said, and Brooklyngreg has also apparently seen, they are naturalising in the DC area, and not just downtown. In fact, the windmill and the S. Minors and Needle palms in front of the Air and Space museum are doing SO well, and naturalising so much, that it appears ( based on what I saw last summer) that the flower/ seed stalks are now being removed, and there are literally hundreds of volunteers beneath all of these palms. There are now 3 needle palms in the national arboretum that I could count on my trip there last weekend, and it appears that two were offspring of the 50 year old palm, and have been moved to other areas. I do remember there were more than just the big one in the asian valley section, and now there is just the big one by itself again. at the very minimum, S. Minor and R. Hystrix already are ( and probably will) naturlise in the mid Atlantic & DC and quite possibly so will some Windmills. That said, I just dont think that Sabal Palmettos will ever be able to naturalise this far north / indland. Perhaps on the lower coastal areas of the delmarva peninsula but I dont seem them going much further than that. They just are not hardy enough IMHO. In very protected locations sure, they could survive, as does saw palmetto here, but just out in the open, probably not.

The furniture industry refers to it as the "North Carolina problem". Local dealers feel that NC offers buyers an unfair advantage over local dealers. Large NC dealers who cater to out-of-state buyers deal in such volumes that they can typically offer large discounts. Several years ago, bending to pressures from their local dealer network, many furniture companies implemented a Minimum Retail Price (MRP) strategy which forces all dealers to sell furniture for a minimum price. Fortunately, not all mfg. have this policy and great discounts are available. Two retailers are mentioned frequently here. Boyles is located in the Hickory Furniture Mart in Hickory, NC. Boyles sells a lot of furniture and owns and operates their own fleet of delivery trucks as opposed to contracting out to delivery companies. Delivery is a recurring problem with members on this site and Boyles has, for the most part, negated such problems. I say most part because there is much involved in mfg., delivering and setting up furniture and things can go wrong. I have bought furniture from Boyles several times and they have been excellent. A number of members here recommend lexfurniture.com which is based in Lexington, Ky. They are aggressive with their discounts. I have never bought furniture from them but would based on feedback in this forum. There are a few to avoid in NC and I can mention one. Southern Designs in the Hickory Furniture Mart. We had problems from the beginning and their customer service was non-existent. Knowing which companies to avoid is as important as which ones to consider and that is true whether you are speaking of local or NC dealers.