Native plants planted - Camera gone

I went to Jim's on Saturday and got a few nice plants from his property. They're a little wind burned from the long ride in the pickup, but they seem to be hanging in there. I gave them alpaca poop and plenty of water.
Here's the list:
Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbassum
Lowbush blueberry
Black Eye Susan Rudbeckia sp.
Fringe Tree Cheanothas virginica
Mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia
Wild Iris Iris virginica

On another subject, the reason there are no pictures in this post is that my camera went missing at work. The last time I remember seeing it was on Friday. It's a Panasonic Lumix waterproof wonder and I miss it badly. I'm pretty sure it was either on my desk in my office or in our lab on a lab bench. I don't set it down any where else at work. Pretty sad. I don't know if I just had a severe brain fart of if it walked. I did report that it's missing and I gave them the serial number. I also discovered that other items have gone missing on campus lately. I'm still holding on to the possibility that I just did something really stupid with the camera but this hope fades with each passing day...

a little Windsurfing action!

I can't remember the last time I went windsurfing. I think it was like...way back in 2008, or some damn thing. With renovating the house, coaching little league, working like dog, fishing, etc. etc. it just got away from me. Well, enough is enough! on June 6, I grabbed my gear and went to a friend's house who has access to the Chesapeake Bay in York. I didn't check the wind data but it was windy, very windy. Anyhow, it was a blast and I want to do it again soon!

I also realized how out of shape I'm in. I'm pretty sure that every major muscle group in my body had some degree of soreness the next day. Beats the hell out of the gym!

Finding native plants is not easy!

I've got to make it to the fall Virginia native plant sale at the Virginia Living Museum on September 18th and 25th this year! I'm finding it difficult and expensive to obtain true native plants for my project.
A couple of weekends ago, I found a page with sources of native plants for Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, N. Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and W. Virginia. The one closest to us, Pinelands Nursery in Toano, VA has a number that is no longer in service.
So with the limited time that we had on that particular Saturday, we trekked on down the the local Ken Mathews nursery. I told them that we are looking for native plants only and they did have a few.
After going through the native plant guide, we decided on the following for the bed in front of our house: Rudbeckia hirta (black eyed susans), Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen chokeberry) Ilex glabra (inkberry), and some Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry).
At the Ken Mathews they did have the Ilex glabra, but they go for $29.99 each in a three gallon pot. We want three, but we also want to eat and maybe someday send our kid to college.

So, I think I've hatched a plan. I want to propogate my own plants. Jim Perry said that all I need to do is get some cuttings, especially in winter, and place them in root tone. Or maybe this is the way to go?? I'll ask Jim what he thinks... Does anyone know about this? I welcome any suggestions. Thanks in advance!