Hi Ann; Yes, I was there yesterday to give a talk for the presale. They have A. incarnata (swamp), A. syriaca (common), and A. tuberosa (butterfly). All have been legally collected from seed at ohio sites. I would recommend the incarnata personally. We have lot's of discussions on this site about milkweed. I think it takes up about a third of our posts :). However, studies (of which some are available on-line and some summarized at monarchwatch)indicate the following; monarchs lay preferentially on incarnata, caterpillars grow slower on tuberosa due to the lower water content, up to 80% (I think, don't remember the exact percentage but it is high) of first instar caterpillars are lost on milkweed often due to latex. Syriaca has one of the highest latex contents so I don't recommend it. In addition, it can be a thug in the garden. If you have a prairie area it's a great plant but not for the suburban back yard. Get there early. The sale starts at 8:30 but you can come a little early and look. I will be there till lunch time. Milkweeds always sell out. They are popular. Alternatively you can download a form from their website and send in a pre-order. They are very nice there. Hope to see you there, Elisabeth

I live in Columbus and maintain a decent sized cacti and succulent collection. I move them inside in the winter. I have about 2/3's of my collection here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mscholl/sets/72157600305706193/ I have more Jade plants that I don't have pictures posted for. As well as some other random cacti that I haven't taken pictures of.

Hi folks! Since you're on the east coast, another vendor that I have used and gotten very respectable trees is McKenzie Farms. This is my second year with citrus and I decided to buy some from here due to positive reviews on the citrus growers f o r u m. Shipping was very reasonable, well packaged and the trees were very nice. I got a 1 Gallon Meyer Lemon, Eureka Lemon, Key Lime, Kaffir Lime and a 3 gallon Moro. The 1G trees were about 12" tall. The 3G Moro was fantastic, about 4-5 feet tall and still had 4 small green oranges on it. The 1G trees were $20 and the 3G was $40. I repotted all into a 511 mix. I had used CHC+Peat last year, but decided that it dried out too fast inside over winter. I'll post a picture when I get home. Here is a link that might be useful: McKenzie Farms

Hi, Ohio Valley-ers! http://cincinnatibirds.com/mwnp/ I am wondering if anyone here plans to attend the Native Plant conference in Dayton starting Thursday evening? (see link above) I understand they are offering a reduced price of $130 for all three days or you can sign up for single sessions (I think)for as little as $25. I would like to hear Judy Burris speak on Butterfly Gardening. And also the sessions about how to plant a wildflower garden on your property. So, is anyone planning to attend? Maybe we can meet up if its not to late for sign-ups? Here is a link that might be useful: Midwest Native Plant Conference 2009 info