In response to Josh: I knew I'd sound like a curmudgeon when I wrote what I did. Of course (I hope!) nursery owners love plants. But "loving to help other people in their quests" stretches the truth a bit. There's still a bottom line, labor is almost always in short supply, profit margins are always tight. That's why nurseries standardize their pot and box sizes, have minimum orders or minimum shipping costs, and things like that. Activitiers outside those established boundaries cost real resources. You can't be everyone's friend or buddy. As in other walks of life, you choose your own friends. Not everyone who wants favors from you is your friend. Trust me, I spend many happy hours trading plants and seeds with several people I've never met, but to whom I've taken a liking. I don't keep track of the trades - they don't have to balance - they're just people whose enthusiasm I truly do enjoy. Some are people I'm trying to help get into business, some are old friends, some are strangers. The essential thing is that it's my choice to send them things. The contrasting case would be, e.g., the perfect stranger who wrote recently because I was mentioned in Martha Stewart Living as a source of the author's info about some cultivars of Convallaria majalis and a RETIRED nursery owner; this person wrote that she saw on the website that the nursery was closed, but could I just send her a few of each of the selections I grew, for the garden she was putting in at her new house? Answer: no. What I was tempted to add is "what is it about "closed" that you don't understand?" Bottom line: being "wanty/needy" isn't the same as being driven by a true passion for plants. Over the years, I have probably gained appreciation for the latter, but I sure as heck have lost my patience with the former. :-) Ellen Ellen Hornig Oswego NY 13126 USA USDA zone 5b