Crepis incana seeds?

[gordon julian]

Can any member tell me whether Crepis incana sets viable seeds and is there any supplier of such seed. All previous seeds I have received from various seed exchanges have been infertile being very thin and no substance where as viable seed I would  expect to be firm and plump as per other Asteraceae . Any further information on viable seeds would be much appreciated.   Gordon in Tasmania

[mark smyth]

Mine go through to set seed but all the make is the fluff.

[PeterT]

probably best to find a source of wild seed from Greece....to  get a gene pool.

[Lesley Cox]

There is (perhaps) a single source of genuinely fertile seed of Crepis incana and I have grown it myself and know it to be so. The source is an English nurseryman called Simon Bond of Thuya Alpine Nursery in Gloucestershire. His address is in the AGS Bulletin if not in the Scottish Journal. I can find it tomorrow. My bulletins are out of the house in our attached flat at present and I'm just about to go to bed but will get it in the morning if no-one else does, first.

This is a good reason for listing by number, the donors, beside the seed entries. If Simon's number is beside the Crepis entry in the seedlist, you can bet on fertile seed even if it's mixed with some other, non fertile from a different source.

[Maggi Young]

Simon Bond, Thuya alpine nursery
 Glebelands, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, England, GL19 3BW

Opening times Weekends and Bank Holidays. Open 10am (11am on Sundays) to dusk. Weekdays by appointment.
Telephone 01452 700548

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks Maggi. I'm pretty sure Simon doesn't have any relationship with email or the Internet at all, a rarity these days, especially for a business.

[David Nicholson]

Good old Simon, I usually spend a few hours with him on the member's plant stall at the South West AGS Show in Exeter each year. You're right Lesley he doesn't have the internet and still types his List on a conventional typewriter and runs it through a duplicator. Smashing chap though and very knowledgeable about plants.