Hey everyone,
I was in Chicago today for the Mid-America horticulture trade show and a nursery by the name of "Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery" had a booth set up with many trees. They had a few dwarf pines and spruces in containers which would have made some solid pre-bonsai material. I guess if you're in the Chicago/Chicago suburb area, I would suggest checking their nursery out b/c I personally know how hard it is to come across good material in the upper northwestern midwest. If anyone has been here/know anything about this nursery, let me know!

http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/

Great selection of trees, the nursery is a good 50+ miles northwest of downtown Chicago, out in the boonies. There are actual farms that far out.

He has some nice small affordable selections of recently propagated stock. His more mature stock, with several years, if not a decade or more of growth after propagation by grafting or cutting, the mature stock prices reflect the time required to bring these dwarfs up to size. Worth a trip to see.