For what it's worth, styrofoam in the soil (recycled peanuts it looks like) would be a disqualifier for me. I would never buy plants from that source again. Personal taste, and desire to have an effect on the market, and desire to keep plastic out of the soil. It's not like rock, gravel, aggregate, whatever you want to call it would be expensive as a substitute. Are you sure there's no other local source for this kind of plants, Tiffany?
I do quite a bit of gardening in landfill (a partially refilled arroyo) and have discovered all sorts of interesting surprises in there, but it's not something I chose and it's definitely something I would choose to avoid.
