Dear Sombreros, Kate Lancaster has given us a succint explanation of what peat moss is. I would like to add 2 more facts about it. 1. Most of the sphagnum peat moss sold in North America comes from Canada's wetlands. The population of Canada is somewhere over 25 million. 2. The USA has a population of well over 250 million. If peat moss is popularized even more the result of the combination of 1 & 2 is self evident. I am originally from Argentina (population similar to Canada's) ( Kate says South America is another source of the stuff) I have equal reservations about the popularization of peat moss. Only now are we beginning to take note that the burning of forests in Brazil is affecting our world climate. We cannot bury our head in the ground like an ostrich and pretend the environmental concern is the problem of the next generation. Alex Zone 7/8 but sometimes 6.