It all depends on how badly you want it, the difficulty you have had sourcing it, and your disposable income. I had tremendous difficulty locating a specific Kousa Dogwood that I had my heart set on and had one shipped in from a distance, lost it, and then replaced it the next year. So I bet I have $100 in the one (still quite small) tree, but I have it and am very happy.

Only you can decide if it is worth it to you or not, but $37 for a much wanted plant does not seem like too much to me. Lord knows I've done it 100 times :)

Exactly. That's why I posted the question, hoping to learn if there are other more reasonable sources for bottlebrush buckeye.

Yes, that is ridiculous. Particularly since this seems to be a slow growing plant. If you were asking about spending $100 for a 5 gallon, that would be a different question.

More after the cat moves.

Cat has left, so I am no longer dealing with the Orange Screen of Death, and can see what I am typing.

It is going to show up locally. It has been a couple of years since I looked at them, but at that time the prices were about $40 for 3 gal. Because of the weather, the nurseries are being slow at bringing plants in. Early May is usually when the selection is largest around here.

"Bench time" is the biggest determinant of plant price at the point it gets sold. Someone up yonder mentions this is a slow grower. Bango-that's why it is expensive.

But if a plant suckers easily, can't they get good head starts calving them?

I see someone on Craigslist selling kousa dogwoods up to 10 ft tall in pots for $10-30. I think he is just potting up seedlings from his own tree. Is there any reason that they wouldn't be good?

Seems ridiculous to me, I have a mental limit of $20 for mail order plant plus ship. That is not to say I haven't been stupidly extravagant in the past. Don't know how rare your plant is but it seems like the "rare" plants become HD inventory in 2-3 years.

It is a native shrub, not rare, but not commercially hot yet, as say, clethra and viburnum now are.

"I see someone on Craigslist selling kousa dogwoods up to 10 ft tall in
pots for $10-30. I think he is just potting up seedlings from his own
tree. Is there any reason that they wouldn't be good?"

Seedling grown kousas can take a number of years to flower. Other than that, if they look good and have not become potbound, that's not a bad deal.

But I personally have major issues buying significant plants (trees, most shrubs) sight unseen, especially from somewhere like Craigslist........who knows what they are trying to pass off!! Fortunately, unless it is an extremely rare plant, mail order is not a necessity in my area. Nursery plant selection here is enormous.

Buying on CL means picking it up in person to me (unlike ebay). But if the plant is not flowering, is it possible it might never?

And if yours gets too wide, now you know who would gladly buy an offshoot!

Are you set on the white? The red is much more readily available and attractively priced and excellent performer

http://davesgarden.com/products/ps/go/2606/

I found 9 online sellers of white buckeye. Perhaps one of them has s more palatable price

My memory is that Lazy S's has the same shipping price per box, and that a box holds something like 6 or 8 plants. The website does describe this. So if there are other plants you want from them, the shipping cost per plant goes down. I have bought from Lazy S's and been quite pleased with both the quality of the packing and the plant quality, and though they aren't huge they do take off and grow well.

Whether a price is ridiculous depends on you . . . your disposable income, strength of desire for the plant, its appropriateness to your situation, and its availability via other sources. Where I live, there aren't many nurseries within an hour that have unusual plants, so I often buy mail order to find what I want, but buy common things locally. I do try to size my order to make the most of a given size of shipping container so I am not paying for empty space.

I like lazy s

I'd just take a trip to Kerhonkson in a few weeks. It is possible Catskill Native Nursery would have small ones for cheap (and no shipping). Natives are 'in' around here.

You can get a seedling in a 3 1/2" pot on Amazon for $6 + shipping.

"I see someone on Craigslist selling kousa dogwoods up to 10 ft tall in
pots for $10-30. I think he is just potting up seedlings from his own
tree. Is there any reason that they wouldn't be good?"

What variety?

What variety pollinated it or did it self pollinate?

If it was pollinated was it controlled or via insects? If insects, what other varieties are in that particular insect's range?

Seedlings on craigslist would be a crapshoot- you would have no way of knowing what you are getting.

As an avid collector of Kousas, if I want a specific variety for a specific use then that is the variety I want and no NOID will cut it. If I need small and white variegation and want a Snowboy then no, a much larger Golden Shadows with yellow and green leaves is not the same thing, nor is a random bred seedling someone found in their yard.

This would be a situation where I would mail order and pay more money than usual. It's like the difference between a five year old's finger painting and a Rembrandt.

If I'm buying liriope, then no.

I only remark I will make is this, I have regretted every time I passed up on a plant I wanted, due to pricing. I waited to long for a specific tree, and ended up having to wait an entire season before I could get them. Sometimes, you need to just bite the bullet, and go for it.

Last night I paid $24 for a pound of Chesapeake Bay backfin crab meat. That's more than I've ever paid. I'm glad I got it, those crabcakes were sooooooooooo good.

Now that puts it in perspective!

13 bucks for a pound of Cali walnuts. Hey, can't make chocolate chip blondies with no nuts!