Thank you everyone for your input! Sorry I was MIA and didn't respond. Houzz was having issues the day I posted and thought it was lost. I did see Cattelya's at the flower show and my hubby pointed it out as a favorite. I'll get to looking and checking out the local shows too. Thank you for your time!

Dee, I had the same experience with Bluestone. I used to buy something just about every season. The small 3 packs were reasonably priced. You were getting a smaller plant than you would normally find locally and it would take longer for it to mature, but for the price they were great. When they switched to their ‘ecological’ pots. I tried them, but was very disappointed with them. That was then and this is now. The way they used to sell their plants in 3 packs and the small 4” pots of shrubs, enticed me to buy a whole lot more than I planned to. And I have gone back here and there when they had their Friday sales, if I needed something, but even then, sometimes they were only reducing prices by 10 -20% which didn’t really put a dent in their prices and I bought a minimum. But the kicker for me, was when I noticed that after a visit to their site, if I added something to the cart to come back and think about later, then every site I visited after that, one of the plants I had in the cart would show up as an ad on the site I was visiting. I find that very invasive and unnecessary. A very odd business practice. I’m not actually buying a lot online any more either. I guess I started with an empty garden and bought a lot and now that I have an established garden, I buy less anyway. I end up buying at local plant sales in the spring, one or two local nurseries. I always like to buy natives and I like the New England Wildflower Society’s nursery locally. I don’t think they do mail order. I’ve bought a lot of Epimediums and I buy from a specialty nursery for that, Garden Visions, which is a Massachusetts based nursery and they do mail order. I do buy bulbs, either from Scheepers or Brent & Becky’s. I buy Lily bulbs from The Lily Garden. I’ve bought bare root roses from Palatine. I’ve been happy with all those companies and should probably take the time to go write a review on Garden Watchdog. Which, by the way, is a great place to check out reviews on nurseries and garden related companies. Garden Watchdog - The Watchdog 30

I second Ida's suggestion of https://www.dailypaintworks.com. This is a splendid site! Aside from its great selection of artists, its other feature is that you can have an original painting for a very affordable price. So a beginning collector can test his/her taste for not a large investment. I have purchased from several of the artists. They are most accommodating; some of them will alter the size or color spectrum of a work that you like. One painting that I loved was sold just before I contacted the artist. She volunteered to paint another similar to it, even asking me if I would like anything changed. Yes, said I, could you make the woman's dress a deeper pink? And she did! A word of caution: this site is highly addictive if you are exploring your taste and wanting to collect. There is so much to look at! Another excellent source of art works are the many artist co-ops that dot the country. I've purchased pieces in Port Townsend WA, Tehachapi CA, and Green Valley AZ (just to let you know how ubiquitous these co-ops are). Don't be intimidated! Buy what you like and keep on looking, looking, looking! Sable

UPDATE Rachel was unavailable when I called, but I got an email from the other (?) Rachel today. Hopefully I'll be able to get Menja eventually. Here's the email: Hi John, I have added you to our waiting list for Menja for this season. That would be a beautiful thing to have to remember Lynnette. I'm unsure if we will have it in next year's line up as I don't have that list right now. Hopefully, one plant will be available to you this season. -Rachel A on behalf of Rachel Phone: 905 468 8627 | Fax:905 468 8628 sales@palatineroses.com|https://palatineroses.com 2108 Four Mile Creek Rd. RR#3 Niagara on the Lake, ON, L0S 1J0 Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 - 3:00