Seems like a difficult business to be in some days. :-) I did a quick search on amazon and came up with this link and another at the bottom of my post. http://www.amazon.com/Operate-Financially-Successful-Landscaping-Business/dp/1601382286/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1279400638&sr=1-1-fkmr2 I would say find a business that is successful and see if you can pick their brain. We seem to be seeing a lot of nurseries going out of business, isn't that true? I would think it's expensive especially if you have to keep greenhouses going. I know Lexington Gardens went out of business a few years ago, and you could see it coming for quite a few years. I was told by someone in management that the cost of fuel to run the greenhouse became outrageous. I know the owner was older and started to have health issues too. As a potential customer, I like that you are inclined toward natives and would love an organic direction as well. I travel a distance to make purchases that are in line with those two basic ideas. I drive 50mins to the NEWFS to buy native, mostly organically grown plant material. I drive the same distance to purchase organic vegetable starts in the spring, in years I don't start my own. I travel to Maine and combine a day trip to justify doing it, to purchase popular perennial and annual 'plugs' once a year in early spring, because so many nurseries that are close to me don't offer a plug size and have just about stopped offering the old '6 pack' size. I buy tiny shrubs from Bluestone Perennials because no one local offers that size and it makes it really affordable. I think a lot of people buy from them because of that and their frequent sales and great customer service. I was going to suggest that if you could model your business on one that didn't need heated greenhouses, you might be ahead of the game. Don't know if that is possible. It would certainly cut your costs, but limit what you offer. Anyway, maybe others can offer their own reasons why they shop at one place or another and what they are looking for in a nursery. Here is a link that might be useful: So you want to start a plant nursery

OkPrairie: The best blooming hibiscus for me so far, with the longest lasting blooms has been the Texas Star. It is open in the morning when I leave at 8:00 a.m. and still open in the evening when I get home at 6:00 p.m. The other hybrids' blooms don't open until after I leave for work, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll see one open right before it declines in the evening. I'm so enjoying this long weekend. We need some more rain, but I also enjoy getting out and watering in order to check on the plants (for bugs, diseases, deadheading, whatever). Can't do that if I rely on soaker hoses and sprinklers all the time. I love having them for back up, but true gardening to me, is hands on. I'm waiting for Gulf Fritillaries still! Got plenty of passiflora. My new aster is putting forth new foliage and appears it will be a vigorous plant - to about 4' with purple flowers, blooms in late summer, and is supposed to be a grand nectaring plant for butterflies. Time will tell. Oh, it is aster tartaricus 'Jindai'. Ordered it from Lazy S's Farm. I love those folks there. Plants are small, but they will return your e-mail, make suggestions if you don't know what you are looking for, but know what you want it to do for you. I have plenty of milkweed seeds for next year (will start indoors early), asclepias curassavica. I've heard the Monarchs really like it best. Weeds, weeds everywhere. Too many to try to play catch up with now, so will just have to weather the weed storm until next year. I really need to put in some tough ground cover that will grow at the base of crowded plants, enough to stay the weeds. Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe Bugle Weed will do the trick, or money wort. I have that, and can put plenty of starts out there. Tomorrow, I'm cutting back the Joe Pye Weed. The Morning Glories have taken in over so they will go with it. I expect I'll get some more growth out of the eupatorium before frost sets in. Datura is blooming, and I am to get some seeds of the yellow flowering datura. Am looking forward to that. Of my 3 hydrangeas planted in the back yard, H. Frau Reiko and oakleaf hydrangea are the best. I love the hot pink blooms on H. Merritt's Pride, but it demands so much more watering than the others. Does anyone know when Elderberry blooms? My Goldilocks ivy is growing well. It really brightens up that shady corner, and doesn't seem as overwhelming as the regular ivy. Two of my elephant ears are blooming! 'Illustris' and 'Fontanesii'. Actually, the bloom sets the foliage back a bit, but I wanted to see what they looked like. I'm going to get tiny tubers off my Hitchhiker EE; will try to bring to the trade. Can you guys tell me some nectar flowers that I can winter sow? Tomato_Hornworm - if you get on this forum, I know there is a sphinx moth that uses sweet potato as a host plant. Do you recall which one? Is anyone planting anything this fall? I am not going to get my lindera benzoin until the 1st week of October. I hope it will be okay to plant then. What do you think? I know, so many questions, but you guys are so helpful. If you weren't so helpful, I wouldn't be so inclined to ask! LOL! Susan

Tropicalgrower89 I contacted a guy that commercially grew avocados and he told me that he used a method to induce flowering, he would feed it with high phosphorus fertilizer and bang a few thick galvanized steel nails (20 pound ?)into the trunk about 3-4 feet above the ground and this was successful. I never followed up to find out what time of the year to do this so by the time I got my head out of the sand it was already February. That is when I did the nails and did the high P for the second time (1st time was in Nov/Dec.) The tree is pushing meg new growth but I don't see flowers :( Maybe next year...it is only 5 yrs/4 mo. in the ground so I guess I have to be more patient :) I really wonder how long the cherimoyas will take to flower?? Anyone have an idea????????

Halloween Hangman Day 2: In case you missed it, here are the rules: 1) Each person can guess one letter per day (use GW time stamps -- EST). Once the body is complete, there will be no more letter guesses allowed. The hangman has 7 body parts, so choose letters wisely. First come, first served on letter guesses. 2) Each person can take one guess at the word per day. You do not have to guess the word at the same time you guess the letter. Words will all relate to Halloween. Sometimes it will be a garden/Halloween mash. Ex. Ghost + Ghost Pepper = Ghost Pepper. 3) This game will run Mon - Fri. I will post at different times each day to give everyone an equally random shot. By Fri, the person with the most points wins. Your prize will be sent out in your seed pack. (Due to GW's weirdness I had to use a dash to represent a space). Current Point Total: pmb2005 -- 1pt _______ I.............) I............ I............. I............. I............ I _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _