Impatient Gardener: The right plant at the right size

I have ordered both perennials and shrubs through the mail to get exactly the plant I wanted. My experience is that I have to sacrifice size for obtaining my preferred plant. An example: Four years ago I mail-ordered two compact viburnum bushes so they would not eventually reach 8 feet and outgrow the space alloted for them. Now, four years later, they are almost 2 feet tall and have developed their first flowering buds this past fall, 2011. I believe I could have looked hard and long at local garden centers without finding these particular small viburnum which will max out at 4 feet. Most of the past three years, I have referred to them as "my babies" but really I should have called them "my infants". Are there any resources unlike such catalogs as Bluestone Perennials or Wayside Gardens that offer other than ordinary mainstream plants at more than "infant size"?

If you want larger plants, your best bet is to go to a local nursery. Mail order places for the most part sell smaller plants because otherwise the shipping charges would be outrageous. There are some places that sell plants that are a little bigger than what you get from Bluestone, but they're still going to be on the small side. Forest Farm is one place that does sell some trees & shrubs in larger sizes--look for things that come in 1 gal or 5 gal size instead of tubes.

Ecrane is right as regards the way different sized plant are priced at such different scales, apart from the tips she gave about going to a local nursery to get larger plants and the different cost from mail order.
Conceder the care, trouble and time it has taken a good nursery to get their plants to grow to the size you want to buy them.
They normally start their plants off, either from cuttings or seeds depending on type of plant, a cutting can take more than a year of care to fill a small pot, then the grower has to re pot into larger pot with more compost, then feed, water, nurture etc, so it could take 4-5 years care and attention before he can get it to marketable size AND in good condition.

Now you understand the difference in cost between a healthy plant that has been nurtured for you AND a small mail order plant that few of those growers really care if you have the plants still growing after 2 years as they expect you to carry out the care and attention the nursery grower has done for you. SO the nursery grower has to be paid for all the work, care and attention he has lavished on his plants so the customer has a good healthy plant that has grown past the worry stage of a small plant. I don't include you but, I meet gardeners who have absolutely no idea how much work a nurseryman will put into his plants to earn a few bucks profit.

The best advice as always Violet is go for the largest you can afford and you learn how to care for it from the guy at the nursery, he is normally the expert on the plants he grows. They are normally very happy to answer any questions you might have. Good luck. WeeNel.

I concur about getting your plants locally if you want larger plants, but the larger the plant the more likely it will have transplant shock. I may not always happen but does happen more the larger the plant

Garden Crossings does offer larger pots http://www.gardencrossings.com/
so does Lazy S'S http://www.lazyssfarm.com/plants.htm

Thank you all. I do appreciate the extensive plant care over a long time period that contributes to a nurseryman's higher price. I hadn't thought about transplant shock related to larger plants; I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the two websites also. Now I am longing to hop in my car and make a day trip out of plant shopping. Come on Spring! Today is Baltimore's first winter day of light snow.