I don't think I'll admit to a total number for a given year, but I will say that I bought and planted over 100 full-sized rose bushes from Cliff last year when he sadly had to close down Eurodesert. And these weren't any little band-sized roses, these were each shipped individually in huge boxes, some with with root balls bigger than I could reach around. Often I had to drag those puppies individually around my yard to get them to where they were planted, and this went on all summer as Cliff kept reposting those wonderful and hard-to-find roses. By mid-August, I flopped myself down in the middle of my yard and literally lay on my back moaning in misery from all the planting, vowing I would absolutely not order any more of Cliff's roses, no matter how tempting. I even emailed him to that effect and it worked - I only ordered 8 more after that (smile). In case you're wondering what bank I have to rob to afford these roses, I actually get to budget rose purchases from some extra consulting work I do now and then. My DH and I agree that our main family expenses are covered by our regular salaries, so if I take on extra work, it's "fun money", and what is more fun than roses? It took a couple of consults over the winter to pay for my five (and counting) Vintage orders, trying to hope against hope that they can stay in business, but it's well worth it! It's nice to be among folks who understand that roses = fun! Cynthia

The clematis I recieved from Brushwood were in quart pots. When I removed the clematis from the pots, most of the soil fell away revealing those peat pellets that swell when you add water to them and most only had 1/2 to 3/4 inch roots beyond them. Now, in my opinion, those were cuttings rooted in peat pellets and placed into quart pots maybe a week or two before shipping. I do not call that a 1 quart clematis plant and think they should have remained in the greenhouse to grow for another 3+ months before selling and been cut back at least one time. To be fair about this, it may have been a mistake that they sent those plants out or they were the only ones left, so they went ahead and shipped them before the roots had a chance to get established in those pots. Now, in case you faithful Brushwood people haven't noticed, I will point out that Brushwood has Perle D'Azur in a quart pot for 22.95. Perhaps that price is a mistake, we'll soon be finding out, but in the meantime, how many people have already paid 22.95 for that plant? Do you think if that price is a mistake, they will take the time to credit the cards and write the checks for all those plants they have sold the past 3 to 4 months. I guess we will be finding that out too.

Thx all for the great advice. I live very near Taps in Mississauga and feel their prices are high. Interesting that no has experience with the company I noted above. I am confused by zfrankle comment about quality and not being such a good buy. These sinks are 16 gauge heavy duty certified 304 series 18/10 CrNi (Chromium Nickel) stainless steel; sound dampened with sprayed sound proof coating and an additional thick rubber sound proof pad, which I understood were professional grade and the highest quality. That's why I thought the price was so good. Hmm...now I'm confused. Is the comment about quality based on the fact that they are not a brand name, or is it based on specs?

I order online a lot, in fact, most of my fabric buying is online. I have had very good service and have been pleased with my purchases. The only one I've had problems with is Hancocks-Paducah.com, seems there is an error in every order, but, they always correct the errors, no questions asked, and, if they send the incorrect item, they send the correct item, and let me keep the wrong item. For instance, a year or so ago I ordered a couple of rulers, when the order came, I received a 6 1/2 X 6 1/2 ruler that I didn't order, they not only sent the correct ruler, but insisted that I keep the one sent in error. I've also had problems with them sending the wrong fabric, and again, they always send the correct one and have me keep the wrong one. I've had very good service and correct and timely orders from ConnectingThreads.com, stitch-n-frame.net, thousands of bolts, and there have been a couple of other places that were so helpful when I was looking for fabrics I ran short on while working on a project.