I am so glad you have much better luck with Rob's than I do hopefulauthor. I love the varieties that Rob has hybridized. But honestly, I don't think the conditions they provide in their greenhouses merit shipping anywhere in the world. I posted in a different thread, that in the last avm, Rob said that they have very alkaline water where they are, and that they use a fertilizer that works well with their water. He also says on his site that they leave the lights on 24 X 7. I order from Rob's because I like the plants, but let me tell you, they ship stressed, small violets. Violetbarn, is not what I would consider a good vendor for beginners at all. I last received 10 plants from them. 4 failed right away. The other 6 went into shock, which looks like overfertilizing, but I think that it's due to getting 6 hours of darkness each day after lights on 24 X 7 since their birth...(and perhaps because I have 6.5-6.9 water here in NJ.) They say they ship healthy plants, but are not responsible after they leave the green house. I personally think there are steps they could take, to help there violets survive once they leave the greenhouse. I love their violets, so perhaps you can understand that I am disappointed with the plants they ship. I always put down leaves when I get plants from them, because I can grow the ones I start myself with no problem. IMO the plants from lyndonlyon.com are much more adaptable, and they are bigger (and a tad more expensive.) I'm not sure I'll order from violetbarn again, it's starting to feel silly paying for plants, when I should be paying for leaves.

Based on what I have seen here the blue cedar will have a stake due to a deformed rootstock being used, and the tops of the box are plenty big enough for their roots to be matted - the magnolia will not be the only one that needs work at planting. With deciduous magnolias it appears you want to be subjecting them to root damage only when they are in leaf. Otherwise they may just sit there and rot. When a potted plant has the correct proportion between top and roots the top looks undersized to many consumers. This and growers not keeping up with potting on anyway results in under-potted stock being the general situation in the retail setting. Loosening up the outside of a matted root system is not too hard to deal with; corkscrew roots, hard woody root turnips and other severe deformities in the center of the root mass, right below the crown - resulting from stock being left in bands, liners or 4" pots way too long at production facilities - is a different story, and just the thing to spoil a woody specimen after it has grown for many years and made a nice big top. Tall, fast growers like cypresses or pines may even break loose and go over, when part of the root system is caught up in going around and around - instead of all of the main roots immediately leaving the vicinity of the trunk and radiating outward to their full lengths and forming a good anchorage. This post was edited by bboy on Tue, Dec 31, 13 at 16:38

Ken: Just forgot to mention that the price we are paying also includes a full landscape design (his wife, conveniently, is a landscape designer). My architect is also helping with color and materials and is designing some of the interior spaces (at least anything that is attached to the house surfaces). He built us a full model of the house so we could see it when we came to see him in August. So all of the above is reflected in the total price. We started in January with him from scratch. We had no idea what we wanted other than an active solar home with European styling. It has been a rather long process as the architect we are using lives near our new home rather than here. (12 hour drive away) So a lot of this design process has had to take place by phone and email. When we did visit with him several times, we ended up being there half a day to cover everything. I will say that he really listens to everything we like and has incorporated it into our design trying to remain with in certain restraints. I am very happy with what he has come up with. Just hope it works as well as it looks on paper! My DH didn't really look at plans well until mid summer after several drafts and we had to do additional changes in August before our last visit. I could have killed him for waiting so long to really look at everything. I am sure that bumped our price up as our architect had to redo a good portion of the design. We are at the point now where our architect has submitted our plans to one builder for an approximate estimate. We asked him to wait until we get the estimate before sending the plans out to a structural engineer who will be finishing them up to blue print format. At this point we are waiting to see how much we will need to spend to build our dream home. In the meantime, I am getting this house ready to go on the market this coming spring. We hope to sell this house first, if possible, move down there and rent another one while it is being built. That way we will have a better idea of how much money we will have to build it. DH may still have to travel back and forth here for a year until he retires. Just hoping our real estate market doesn't tank before then. We have a certain amount that we would like on this home. If not, we will wait until the market gets better and build a few years from now. We already own the land and do not have to build in any frame of time.

To oakleyok - Right now, the website is so complicated because of the set-up, I can admit, it's hard to probably get customers to stay on it. Lol. Heres a quick and easy way to help you. Log in to DOMINIQUESDECOR.COM At the top, there will be a menu - First you'll see HOME and next to HOME you will see SHOP. Click on SHOP. Click on THE WORLD OF PRODUCTS CATALOG - located to the RIGHT. LOOK to your LEFT of the page, you will see "GO TO PAGE" - in that box GO TO PAGE: 30 CLICK FIND. THERE YOU GO! From pages 30 to 41, there are all types of BIRD HOUSES, FEEDERS, and BIRDBATHS. SORRY FOR THE INCONVIENCE. THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST AND PATIENCE. IT MEANS A LOT TO ME. Oh, I do understand you do not want to sign-up but if you do, you will instantly receive a $10 Gift Card. If you request not to receieve newsletters or anything that you are just not interested in then believe me it won't be done. I will stop typing now. Thanks again!