" I got a Dawn Redwood from them in the Spring of '10. It was about a foot tall and the top half died. Nonetheless the tree survived and is approximately 19' tall and looks great. I'm not sure I'd go back and buy from them again though as I'd rather get a more advanced specimen than what they send." Aw man, no pictures?!?! Neat tree. What made you decide on it? My metasequoia came from them a decade ago. Best $10 I ever spent. Honestly for these fast growing trees I dunno if I would risk the transplant trouble and shock of buying a 20 gallon tree. Musser sold me 100 of them a few years back. All were just slightly larger than my Arbor Day single tree and every one of em leafed out. For fast growing easy transplant species with a good story Arbor Day is really ok. Dollar for dollar they MIGHT even compete with for profit nurseries. You just have to have realistic expectations what $10 is going to get you. And yes, be aware big government may help fund the department of conservation trees I have ordered by the bundle.

hype? coverage? "they"? thoughts: Earth Day was "kicked off" on April 22, 1970 as an environmental "teach in" and is now observed in virtually every country on the planet ... a community oriented day that allows everyone to "think and act locally", learning more about their local environment and it's global connections - water supply, quality & distribution - conservation and recycling - etc,etc,etc - providing a vehicle for the "masses" to show their concern about the planet .... our area had presentations, discussions, displays in conjunction with the first Farmers Market weekend of the season ..... I learned that there's a small alternative energy business in town that I hadn't heard of, which is meaningful to me, and the area .... large groups of volunteers did things like removing invasive species "weeds" from important habitat areas, and cleaning the flotsam of "civilization" from local beaches the "masses" need to come to the "message", not be handed it by the news media Bill Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Day is every day

Jeanne, I have very good memories of my teachers from that time... most were new hires that were very young, so it was easy to relate to them -- and aspire to be like them (especially thinking of Miss Baumgartner with her miles and piles of hair. :) And good luck with your corkscrew willow!!! A friend bought one and it was awesome (very pricey!) luvs, I don't have any delusions about my little fruit orchard. lol! I don't have much room at all (25' wide side yard), so they're being planted a little too closely. :O) One of the reasons I ordered more fruit trees was actually precipitated by the Arbor Foundation! I ordered a 'Prairie Fire' flowering crab from them many years ago... it turned out to be some ordinary apple tree, so I decided to get another apple tree, hoping for cross-pollination. :O) I used to grow out their saplings for a year or two and then give them away to friends and relatives... it's really neat when I see how large they all are now. slinkey, your inherited orchard must have been WONDERFUL! I'm planning to just let my trees take care of themselves. ;^) If I don't get fruit for myself, that's alright. I'm hoping to at least have some privacy/interest, nice spring blooms, and food for the birds/wildlife. I share and still get plenty of the elderberries and blackberries that I planted several years ago, so figure I have nothing to lose.

From "Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have A Ball", a film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25'th 1987. Very beautiful slide.