I purchased a 6 ft tree spring 2011 and it arrived in a few days. Unforunatey, the tree was totally bare root. That said it has grown over 2 ft in a tree soil mixture. The bamboo stake would not support the tree without a root structure. I emailed Pam a question regarding foilage but did not receive a reply. Im optimistic it will become a beautiful tree and one which I was unable to locate locally.