Let’s face it – rare and unusual plants are not likely for sale at your local garden center. Full service garden centers located in large metropolitan areas may sell one or two.The internet has become the best plant finding source. Some on-line purveyors may carry a rare item, but not sell it in large quantities. High sticker shock may chase you away. If the plant (tree, shrub, vine, perennial, tropical) is new or very rare, the nursery may price it higher. The principle of  “supply & demand” applies here.

Several months back, a reader of “What Grows There” asked where she could purchase pink flowering forms of Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa) for a friend living in northern Ohio. A pink cultivar (listed under 3 cultivar names: ‘Miss Satomi’, ‘Rosabella’ and ‘Heart Throb’) was cited at four rare plant nurseries. Radiant Rose® (maybe ‘Miss Satomi’) was also listed.

Another reader was interested in purchasing one of the hybrid yellow flowering magnolias (Magnolia x). Here are four on-line nurseries where I founded both plants listed:

Fairweather Gardens P.O. Box 330, Greenwich, NJ 08323

Forest Farms, 990 Tetherow Rd., Williams, OR 97544

Gossler Farms Nursery 1200 Weaver Rd, Springfield OR 97478

RareFind Nursery, 957 Patterson Road, Jackson, NJ 08527