Like Bill said, there is a lot to starting and maintaining a nursery. If you are still paying retail prices from local places, than its kind of doubtful you will buy enough stock to warrant getting most plants directly from big growers. We buy tractor trailer loads of containers and b&b stock for our re-wholesale nursery in Southern CT almost exclusively for sale to professionals. We charge retail walk-ins, or landscape service customers more per plant. I have allocated two acres of space for the plants, and work almost year round with a lot of help to make sure they don't dry out, get diseased, get winter killed, etc. This overhead would be ridiculous for you to incur in order to save some money unless you are planning to have hundreds of thousands of plant sales, and know which ones you will need well ahead of time (we ordered in October 99 for March 2000). There should be some middle sized local growers in your area who can provide what you need for a price range between rock bottom wholesale and full retail. If you want more information or specifics, e-mail me directly. (follow a link from one of my web pages)
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Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery
Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider