Frank (Bud) Green, who oversees the Grand Prairie, Tex. warehouse, relies on local truck drivers charging 25% less than national carriers.

FORBES: Easy Pill to Swallow

He helps produce about 60 varieties, starting with a dark green bud called "Mighty Mite, " a plant for urban window boxes that grows to the size and shape of a corn dog.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Sledge described the operation generously: the rooms teeming to the scrolled plaster ceilings with bud-heavy green stalks, the floor cabled with sprinklers, the walls lined with foil reflectors to maximize the ripening effects of the solar-spectrum lamps, the stereo chattering NPR talk radio to cover the drone of the daytime light banks, and classical music to give the plants a cultural heritage through the cool damp night.

NEWYORKER: Lostronaut

No one is certain that this spring's green shoots will not likewise be nipped in the bud--or prove to have sturdier roots.

ECONOMIST: France