Carolina Biological

PS- thanks Daves' Garden- for adding this company per my request! :) Carolina Biological is an institution that provides living (and not living) things for schools, so you can imagine their stuff would be good. I ordered Duckweed and Gambusia fish from them. It ended up costing a bit, considering the shipping, but wow- talk about amazingly packaged & cared for! the fish were so healthy they were literally schooling in the bag as I pulled the bag out of the shipping box they were shipped in, and the biggest Gambusia I'd ever seen. The live fish were double bagged in some blue liquid and not ONE dead. In the box they use a very thick batting, then more bubble wrap etc, great big box for just one Ziploc bag of fish. The Duckweed, "live plant" I thought were dead- dried up parsley-looking stuff wrapped in a folded, brown school issue paper towel then in a tiny plastic thing, a tiny amount. OK.. whatever.. I sprinkle the duckweed in my pond- it spread out like 3 feet! and, within days it had all rooted. Apparently, duckweed is some special plant that lives again if the pond they're in dries up totally, the duckweed even if dried out- re-lives again once it's hydrated. A good thing for me, bad for where duckweed is a pest- in AZ it is not. Anyway-Carolina has a lot of live plants- including, not limited to: Coleus, Ferns, SUNDEWs, Mushrooms! Mosses, even Lichens- and of course quite a selection of Aquarium Plants. They also have live beneficial insects, and even non-beneficial ones (roaches and fruit flies ew) I am not affiliated with them in any way. I was so thrilled with the fantastic quality and care I received with my order, I wanted other garden people to be aware of it, especially water gardeners like myself who have a hard time finding good water plants & living things and at a reasonable price. If it's mosquito-fish/ Gambusia sp. you want, try this place- but try your own City too- a lot of cities have the fish available FREE to the public as part of mosquito control- mine does, and I am in Phoenix AZ. Anyone who has water features in their garden should be diligent in controlling mosquitoes. Thanks guys- love the site.