The plant is not upright I'm wondering if that might be because it is living in a pot. Might it be Asclepias Tuberosa? Butterfly weed... Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Asclepias Tuberosa

Mxk3, I fully understand your point. I'd spend MORE at the locally-owned nurseries in my area if they got plants in earlier. I live in a "banana belt" in my area--my zip code runs from hardiness Zone 7 (my neighborhood) to hardiness zone 5 less than 5 miles away. That's true of the entire Reno-Sparks area. The result is that I want cold-hardy annuals like pansies and snapdragons far earlier than most gardeners in this town because I *can* plant and enjoy them earlier in the year. Locally-owned nurseries, quite sensibly, don't carry them that early. They bring the plants in once most gardeners in the area can safely plant them out. That's a full month later than I can. So I turn to the big box stores, where plants are brought in only as loss leaders, early enough for my planting needs, but far too early for most. I don't rely on big-box nurseries, not by a long shot. They simply don't carry enough "cool plants" to satisfy my compulsive need for chlorophyll. Once the growing season is well under way, my buying shifts from the big-box stores to the local nurseries. I'm an equal-opportunity buyer. Yes, I have a favorite nursery, and I make a point to stop there first on plant-purchasing expeditions. Then, even if I found and bought what I set out to buy, I go on to the other nurseries, just as long as I'm out, and just in case there's something else I'd like to have. The big box stores get included in my rounds, but they don't constitute the bulk of my purchases at that point. I also buy a lot of my plants via mail order, because in spite of good variety at local nurseries (taken in aggregate), there are still many plants I can't obtain locally. An inventory of plants I'd consider "fairly complete" would run to the entire Forestfarm catalog, an old (pre-Burpee) Heronswood catalog, a Plant Delights catalog, and a Bluestone Perennials catalog, all in one location. I'm sure I'm forgetting several vendors in my wishlist, but I think you can see how I crave far more variety than the local nurseries (even including big box stores) can reasonably supply. The other shortcoming (and again, it's a perfectly sensible shortcoming) of the locally-owned nurseries is their heavy reliance on plants proven completely hardy in my area. I tend to be an experimental gardener, perfectly content to accept a fair amount of winter kill, and content to accept far more failure than the average garden center customer. Selling plants hardy only to Zone 7 would tend to result in a great many unhappy customers at the local garden centers. So again, I rely on the big box stores, with their clueless buyers and loss-leader philosophy, to supply me with quite a few "experimental" plants. Some of the experiments have been splendid successes, but most have ended up in the compost heap after the second killing frost. I don't expect local garden centers to cater to a lunatic like me. In the end, I'd love to shop exclusively at the locally-owned nurseries in my area, but that would limit my choices of plant material and delay some of my spring container plantings. It isn't fair to expect those nurseries to cater to my quirks and risk tolerance. The locally-owned nurseries can't afford to take the risks I can, and I don't expect them to do so. I shop at the local independent nurseries as much as I can, and I'll have to leave it at that.

I think you're talking about OSH. Out local OSH had Aloe Speciosa, Aloe Hereroensis (sp?), Aloe Buhrii, Aloe Littoralis, Aloe Pluridens and several other large aloes in 5 gallon pots for that price. I bought the A. speciosa, A. Pluridens and an unnamed variety that looks like Reitzii. A. Speciosa has about a foot of clear trunk and is about three feet to the tip of the leaves. A. Pluridens is about the same size. I'll try to post a picture soon! Those are great finds if you ask me!

Nell, First let me say that it's GREAT to have you posting again. You were missed during the loooooog winter. While I certainly have a LOT of "unknowns" in my garden, for the most part I enjoy having the "named" varities. Which is why I mainly shop at local nurseries or order from reputable catalogs. (not ALWAYS a sure thing, as Annette says!) I have had pretty good luck buying perennials at the homeimprovement type stores EARLY in the spring, before they are too beat up or buggy. I try to get something with a blossom on it to help confirm that I'm buying the name on the pot. You bring up a very good point about mis-labeling in the local plant sales too. I will add seed-swaps to the list where the offspring may not be like the parent plant. "You pays your money, and you takes your chances". The bottom line is that you usually get what you pay for and if you're looking for a certain plant of a certain variety, your best bet is to pay extra and go to the reputable source. Either way, it's all FUN! Patti