Last winter I ordered from Lazy S's Farm Nursery, Bluestone, and Garden Crossings (and I always order some fall bulbs from Brent and Becky's,) and I would be happy to order from any of them again. All had some unusual plants and some more common. I think I got the biggest bang for my buck from Lazy S - plants were a bit more expensive than Bluestone, but a lot bigger and incredibly well packed. Garden Crossing was more expensive than Lazy S but they had some things I really wanted and they were lots less expensive than White Flower Farm. (Again, incredibly well packed and much bigger than Bluestone.) Bluestone plants need to be planted pretty much right away because they are in such tiny pots, so you either need to have a bed ready or plan to repot them to bigger sized pots if you plan to keep them for a while before they go into the ground. Mine from Bluestone always arrive looking a bit more battered than plants do from any other nursery I order from, though most of them seem to recover alright. http://www.lazyssfarm.com/ http://www.gardencrossings.com/ Digging has suggested some great relatively local nurseries - even if you mailorder this year, consider going to at least some of them this summer. You may find things that you'll want to buy, either for this year or when the budget (or a kind benefactor) allows.

I think gift giving divides into what I call order takers and dream fillers. Order takers want to provide something that the recipient specifically wants or needs, and that completes the 'transaction'. A subset of order takers just need to check off a gift from the list, and as long as it is an object or GC, check it done. For an order taker, gift cards are a godsend. No more running hither and yon trying to find X or Y, just pick up the card, load it and boom, mission accomplished. Dream fillers want to provide a gift that, as the saying goes, the recipient didn't know s/he wanted until it appeared. For dream fillers, the downside is trying to get into the minds of people to suss out just the perfect item. Not an easy task! For a dream filler, gift cards or cash completely negate the goal, and to boot they kill the dream by making it crystal clear just how much was spent on fulfilling the 'dream'. I used to be a dream filler--it was my perpetual goal to get the PERFECT gift for those on my list. However, as I've gotten older I have come to realize that as with much else in life you can't control or force anyone to feel, do or enjoy gifts no matter how carefully you try to pick something special. And of course gift cards as a product have exploded; you can literally give them for every and any product or service. What I do now is try to combine order taking and dream filling. So, for Christmas I paired a package of sugar free chocolate bars I special ordered for my diabetic dad with a GC for a movie theater. He and my stepmother will be facing an extended period of medical treatment out of town and my 'dream' is that they can have a night out at the movies as a respite, where he can snack on treats that aren't bad for him. I gave my sisters, all of whom like me are avid readers, each a pair of book-themed novelty socks packaged with an Amazon GC. Dream: they can order something they enjoy reading and peruse it wearing snazzy socks. Okay, that one is pretty light hearted dream filling but still, it's at least a start! And that's how I try to combine the practicality of gift cards with at least some attempt at creativity and personalization. Ann

Thanks. Maybe I'll just give the card to him, and tell him if he has any problems to let me know and I'll "make it right." Mrsmarv, I didn't know that providers offered an employee discount. I'm not sure I'd qualify for something like that though, since I'm on what probably amounts to the "Luddite Plan." I went the Go Phone route, where I pay per call and refill my account every three months with a phone card. I rarely if ever use my cell phone, so this is working out nicely for me.

DH and I were married in a suburb of Chicago over fifty years ago. I've never attended a wedding or reception where gifts were displayed. People didn't bring gifts to weddings. Even a registry was open to question because it could be viewed as an expectation of gifts. The invitee was simply being asked to honor the couple by witnessing a ceremony and celebrating with them. Gifts of cash were considered impersonal. This protocol, of course, resulted in newlyweds making many trips to multiple stores to return duplicates and gifts they would never use. We did have a registry, but still had many returns, resulting in...cash. LOL Gifts *are* brought to bridal showers, where they are opened in public. The invitation to a wedding (and reception) is usually extended by the family of the bride or by the couple. An RSVP goes to the parents or the couple. Gifts are sent ahead of the wedding to the bride or the couple. Thank you notes are expected ASAP, although Emily Post gave newlyweds up to a year. If the wedding is cancelled, all gifts are to be returned immediately. Gift-wrapping exists because you are giving *A Gift*! All this formality is in support of what is presumed to be a binding, once-in-a-lifetime commitment.