Sticking it to the hop shortage

Okay, so we've been thinking of doing this since before the hop shortage, but this year we're hoping to finally start growing our own hops. We're currently considering Northern Brewer, Hallertauer and Spalt for our hop varietal of choice. If anybody has suggestions on what grows well in Chicago or where to get some rhizomes locally, shoot us an email.

On a side note, I came across this link while checking my gmail account. I love how they don't actually say what varietal of hops they're selling, as if they're all the same. Well, they do note that the vine "[p]roduces pale yellow hops that give home brews authentic Old World flavor" and that "[v]ariety is 3-4 times more bitter than most hop vines." Of course, when I think "Old World flavor," I think of noble hops, and when I think of "3-4 times more bitter," I think of Pacific Northwest hops. So what varietal would be both? Beats the hell out of me. Anyway, the bottom line is I can't imagine any homebrewer would buy hop vines not knowing what kind of hops they actually are. Then again, somebody recently sent me this link which features a 1-lb. bag of unspecified hops on sale for only $9.99, so maybe I'm wrong.