This is an advertising post! Shame!

What???? What do I advertise? People discuss this catalog all over the Hosta forum! This is well known reputable online company, it does not need advertising.
I posted messages about later sales (Brent & Becky's) on Bulbs and Perennials forums because I always looking for a good deal. I received many grateful responses. I guess I was advertising Brent & Becky's as well. And John Scheepers, and Park's and some other my favorite suppliers... I learned about good online companies from the Garden Web myself. Do you really think that saying good words about a seller is always advertising?
Did you read my post at all???

Advertising on GW is described as offering your own products or services for sale. The mention of a vendor or vendors, in which you have no vested interest, is and has always been permitted. In any case, iVillage staff are the gatekeepers and will delete any posts that are in violation of their stated guidelines or is of a suspicious nature.
Tally Ho! :Rb

Thanks Rb,
It is very easy to make a search using my user name as a key word. Such search will clearly show that I am a home gardener with stupid questions and willing to learn. Also, since I posted many feedbacks (good, bad and neutral) on online vendors I dealt with, it is logical to suggest that I am not affiliated with any of them.
For iVillage staff it is also easy to check my IP addresses.
Alina.

P.S. I still believe in informative posts, so I try to provide my messages with some supportive info.

I'm not sure why someone would consider your post an advertisement. I post about good deals that I've seen at different nurseries often. BTW epimediums aren't orchids. They might look a bit like an orchid. Though there is an orchid called epidendrum or reed stem orchid which are very hardy and can be grown in soil.
Karyn

Karyn, I know that they are not Orchids. But some of them have really Orchid like blooms.
Do you know if I can find Epimediums locally next spring? I just discovered this genus for myself. I do not remember if I have ever seen them in local nurseries. I will probably order a couple of rare varieties anyway, but maybe there is no need to order common ones?
Thanks in advance,
Alina.

Alina, I didn't realize that Naylor Creek had such a nice selection of epimediums. They are very very nice, sturdy plants that thrive on little care and put up with substantially dry conditions and root competition. Also, deer don't seem to like them. I pick mine up on sale at Merrifield. Their "attractive" period is pretty short (early blooming, not very long, flowers are not huge, althouh in clusters; for me, the foliage is a bigger selling point), so they end up on the sale racks fairly quickly. I would love to get some of the variegated ones. Unfortunately, those prices cannot be justified. Let me think about this for a bit.

Ooh, Trillium! Wow, look at those prices! Okay, you may have a victim here. Email me. spanaval at yahoo dot com.

Suja

Suja,
They have one more attractive offer, I'll email you.
Thanks,
Alina.

Still sounds like advertising to me. Steve in Baltimore County.

You can buy epimediums mail-order from lots of places, but I haven't seen them in our local nurseries here in Va. You can sometimes find them at multi-vendor plant sales, though -- at arboretums, River Farm and such.

The blooms are teeny tiny, smaller than any orchids I've ever seen, and don't last long. But the leaves are pleasant and the plants are very drought-hardy after establishment and very very disease resistant, so a great garden addition. The leaves are often bright, almost chartreuse green in spring, which can be a good lightener.

I suggest buying them as if they were "bones" of the garden, like evergreen shrubs even though epimediums aren't evergreen and they aren't shrubs -- get them for the foliage and to lend dependable structure to the garden (they won't die on you), not for bloom.

Julia

The sharing of information, ideas, and enthusiasm is what these forums are all about. Just want to say thanks again Alina for the tip you gave last summer about the great deal on tree peonies at Parks!!!

Don't let the ungrateful get you down. Your posts have lots of fans!

Thanks Rian for your kind words! I am very happy with the unnamed TP I bought from them in 2006. It turned out to be pink, so I bought 2 more (red and striped) from Garden Crossings when they had the 30% off sale. Excellent plants for the price, at least 2 years old with 2-4 eyes for about $18 each. I admit, I love good deals...
Julia, a couple of new varieties bloom from April to October. Others (grandiflorums) have flowers up to 2" wide. Also, some of the E. are reliably evergreen. I am not an expert, but I read a lot about them recently. It is a very diverse genus! Thanks for letting me know that they are not available through local nurseries. I am afraid that I will not be able to attend multi-vendor plant sales, so I'll go with mail orders... I think using them as "bones" of the dry shade garden is a great idea, thanks!
Big flowers
Great foliage
Flower (close up)

Aren't they beautiful?

But epimediums ARE available locally - they can be found at Merrifield Gardens, Behnke's, Sandy's Plants down in Richmond VA (well worth a trip for a hundred other reasons) and especially Thanksgiving Farms up in Buckeystown, MD, just south of Frederick. You may not find the cutting-edge cultivars available on line, and most places will be low in stocks for the winter, but I have found a reasonable selection.

Juliat is right that the flowers are small and short-lived; I'll bet the "continuous-blooming" ones are too -- I am cynical enough to expect one or two tiny blossoms at a time, scattered through the summer. I grow them for the foliage, which is pest-resistant, drought tolerant and a nice contrast to hostas, Gladwin iris, and other edge-shade plants.

Juliat is also right that a wonderful source for these and other rarities is the spate of local plant sales, starting with Londontown Gardens in April, running through Green Springs, the William Paca House in Annapolis (great source for cheap heirlooms), the VA Native Plant Society sale, and local garden clubs (Beltsville MD has a particularly nice pair of annual sales). Did I mention Green Springs?

LynnT

Here is a link that might be useful: Thanksgiving Farm

Thanks Lynn, I am ordering only relatively new/rare varieties online. I hope I will be able to find common ones locally. IMHO, nursery prices are very high. For example, I often prefer ordering online over buying plants for the full price at Behnke's. I bought some shrubs there (again, on sale), but their perennials are way too expensive. I do not mind waiting for smaller plants bought online to grow - part of fun for me. And I will definitely not go to Richmond VA for plants :-( Thanksgiving Farm is not that far, thanks for the link!
Could you tell me how I can find out about local plant sales?

According to Gary (owner of Naylor Creek) there is only one "everbloomer" for them:

E. rhizomatosum Flowers are large, bright yellow in color and borne in a compound infloresence numbering 40+.
Has proven to bloom steadily from April to October in the Northwest.

I got an impression that this one is a prolific bloomer all season long. I am ordering it, so I will share my experience with it.
Anyway, a plant that will grow in dry shade is a winner for me. I am sick of looking at huge bald spots under my Maples. I do not expect that Epimediums will thrive close to Maples' bases, but if they will grow within a drip line I'll be happy.