I'm not sure I really follow Strobiculate's last post, so this is kind of in response to things in the post (and what I think his point is) and kind of not (because I'm not really certain of the point being made), but.... I think that nursery owner's (many at least) use their profit margin, or lack thereof, as an excuse not to train or hire reasonably trained people, but I don't think it's a good excuse. Reasonably intelligent workers could be trained FAR better than most of them are with only a minimal amount of effort. Now, I know things like seasonal turnover and ebbs and flows in business account for some challenges in getting and keeping people trained, but I think a little more effort on the part of many nurseries could pay off big time in the long run. With the big-box stores taking a bigger and bigger bite out of the nursery business, I think many nurseries are going to be forced into giving better service in order to stay in business. Maybe they feel like they are fighting for their life now and saving money by not training, but the big box stores are going to be pretty hard to beat and the only way I see for most nurseries to win is through better customer service. Many customers are going to choose the cheap way no matter what, but some of us are fine with paying a little more for knowledge and helpfulness. As for why people work for nurseries, it depends on the person. I see many people that work for nurseries only because they need work and can do the physical work required. I see others that just really enjoy working with plants (those people can be trained!). And, I see a very few that are horticultural experts who are willing to work for the enjoyment they receive from what they do and for what they can receive at better nurseries with sharp owners who consider the payoff over time.

Ken, It is not your computer, there is definitely a scrolling issue. Bill, I believe you're using frames on these web pages, and the frames are not large enough to hold all the information, so they produce their own scroll bar. If you program the frame to auto-size to content, you should not get scroll bars. Or turn off that function in the frames. A few other suggestions: 1.) It would be nice to see the name of the cultivar in bold at the top of the page in a header that is always on top. 2.) I would like to see additional botanical info, such as: a.) needle length, number, persistance (in years) b.) cone description, color, length, persistance c.) bark and twig descriptions, color, etc. d.) any other general propagative info e.) natural range of the species(where applicable) 3.) Additional cultural info, such as: a.) soil / nutritive requirements (i.e. preferred soil PH, prefers sandy soil, etc.) b.) light requirements c.) moisture requirements d.) special considerations (i.e. tolerates wet soil, is sensitive to windy conditions, etc.) e.) major pests and diseases Hope this helps! K4

Howdy.....When you say plant database, do you mean like Floridata or Hortiplex? I use both occasionally, but I'm usually more intrigued by the online germination tables! Thompson-Morgan's can be found on-line. Plus Tom Clothier's garden site has loads of info on getting things started. Missouri Botanical Garden's search engine comes up in posts frequently (www.mobot.org). There are also some huge daylily databases online if you're willing to wile away hours drooling over the pictures!..... Some of the nursery catalogs are great, too, for info. Plants Delights is often mentioned, especially for unusual varieties. Of course, I usually head first to the GW forums if I've got a question, and then scoot to the other sites if I can't find what I'm looking for here. Fine Gardening magazine has a forum set-up ("Over the Fence" at www.taunton.com), much smaller than GW, but I check in there, too, if I'm looking for hands-on advice. They have some regular, very knowledgeable posters who can often nail a question pretty quickly.

Maybe the Duch Conifers Society are intersted by your photos,Please contact the web master .Arie Lautenbach. Myself I have sending some photos used on the web site. Clément. Belgium.