Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Seedy Subjects! => Grow From Seed => Topic started by: daveyp1970 on October 15, 2009, 01:48:42 PM
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i found this on an african ebay equivalent,they do international shipping as well, http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/jsp/tradesearch/TradeSearchLinkResultsPage.jsp?PageTitle=Bulb%20Seeds&IncludedKeywords=bulbs&SellerId=390651&tradeListDisplayMode=picture&pageNo=1
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Some of the current prices on the auction seeds are cheap, but many
of the Buy Now seeds have prices that are double what Silverhill charges.
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i found this on an african ebay equivalent,they do international shipping as well, http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/jsp/tradesearch/TradeSearchLinkResultsPage.jsp?PageTitle=Bulb%20Seeds&IncludedKeywords=bulbs&SellerId=390651&tradeListDisplayMode=picture&pageNo=1
i havent ordered from them, but had some acquaintance with the operator on cactus and succulent forums; i got the impression they'd give very good service, but as i said, havent ordered anything..
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Some of the current prices on the auction seeds are cheap, but many
of the Buy Now seeds have prices that are double what Silverhill charges.
And some of the prices are for only THREE seeds or even ONE seed. Read the small print ...
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Some of the current prices on the auction seeds are cheap, but many
of the Buy Now seeds have prices that are double what Silverhill charges.
And some of the prices are for only THREE seeds or even ONE seed. Read the small print ...
although with the rand conversion, thats still not expensive compared to some sources-- at SAR 1.95 , 10 seeds would be 19.50-- only 2.88 canadian; penroc, for example, is USD5.00 per packet, often only 5 seeds or so..
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cohan i agree with rand convertion i dont believe they are expensive.
Diane i did read the small print(which isnt in small print but large print)i didn't post this thread for an argument about how pricey things are i just stated its a cracking bulb list,im not comparing it to silverhills or any other nursery can't a person just be impressed with the list.
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Davey,
I don't think that pointing out comparative prices is a bad thing in this case, particularly when you have "fixed" priced catalogues from places like Silverhill. That is the problem unfortunately with ebay.... unless you're used to it and compare you can really get stung for something.
I personally think that this sort of discussion is useful both from the point of view of pointing out new seed sources (as you've done) and from discussing comparative merits of those sources and prices. It gives more information to use to work out whether you want to invest your hard earned cash. ;D ;D As so many of us do far more than we probably should. ::)
Thanks for the link. I haven't investigated ebay much at all I must admit, but really should do so. 8)
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You're right Davey, a fantastic list all right. I've only looked to page 3 so far but am enthralled by the Gladiolus species as well as many others. I would love to take a gamble here but I suspect that the bureaucracy involved in importing from this source to NZ would put a dampener on it. I have to dream though.
While l.50 or 1.95R is very little, some are at 36 or 50R. That's a bit hard to swallow. ???
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oh to have money ....
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Yes Mark How silly to think money can't buy happiness. Of course it can. Money can buy bulbs/seeds/plants and those make me happy. ;D
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Lesley,
Is it more difficult to bring in seed from South Africa, or are you meaning that the varieties are not on the allowed list? If it is just coming from South Africa that is a problem, then why not get them sent to Australia first so that they can make sure that the even more precise labelling etc required for NZ is in place? I think I'm right in thinking that you guys need to have more information available on seed that comes in aren't you? I'm happy to help out if I can.
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Lesley thats the reason why i posted this thread i grow mainly gladiolus with a few albuca,moraea,and a few others and only been doing this for the past three years after giving up paphiopedilums(for the last twenty years)so when i saw this list i was in heaven! there are glads there that i haven't even seen in photo's.And as far as price is concerned i really dont think 40 or 50 rand after conversion 4 or 5 pounds sterling for the prospect of maybe 20 glads i don't have is ok,like i said before i grew paphs for twenty years and also grew cypripediums and for what i payed for one flowering size plant i could and have started my african bulb collection.(by the way im not knocking people who grow cyps before i start another argument)(and also i am not rich in any way i do not like throwing money away but i have caught africanbulbitis and if anybody would like to send me a dose of moraea or gladiolus to soften the symptoms you would giving to worthy cause ) ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Loved your reply Lesley 8)
8)Yes Mark How silly to think money can't buy happiness. Of course it can. Money can buy bulbs/seeds/plants and those make me happy. 8)
It certainly makes me happy when I can purchase plants, just wish those African bulbs were easier to get.
Loved the link but no use to me I am hopeless with seeds but after looking through all those lovely pictures I must learn more
The only plants I seem to manage from seed is Meconopsis I have hundreds of plants.
But thanks for the link
Angie :)
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The only plants I seem to manage from seed is Meconopsis I have hundreds of plants.
But thanks for the link
Angie,
I think I'm going to have to kill you now. ::) Hundreds of Meconopsis... :o
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Loved your reply Lesley 8)
8)Yes Mark How silly to think money can't buy happiness. Of course it can. Money can buy bulbs/seeds/plants and those make me happy. 8)
It certainly makes me happy when I can purchase plants, just wish those African bulbs were easier to get.
Loved the link but no use to me I am hopeless with seeds but after looking through all those lovely pictures I must learn more
The only plants I seem to manage from seed is Meconopsis I have hundreds of plants.
But thanks for the link
Angie :)
i'm relatively new with seeds myself, angie, and i expect some (more) fiascos ;) but there is a lot of info available on rearing many species--and many skilled seed raisers on this forum--so no reason not to try :)
many of the SA dealers do sell bulbs as well, so if you can manage shipping and paperwork costs, that's another route...
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Angie i was pointed to this chaps(Terry Smale )web site by another forum member(thanks again Alberto) he has stopped selling for this season but its one to keep for next season,also i will have a few spares at the end of this season nothing rare i dont think but your welcome to them anyway.
cheers dave
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Daveyp1970 & Cohan
Thanks for the Terry Smale web page. :) I sat today and read all the older forums in the South African Bulbose plants , it took me hours but boy it was great the only thing is I am so jealous of all the people that are managing to grow these plants, they are fantastic. I have had a good bit of advice and its great to find out about all these web sites. :) Thanks for the offer, will give them a good home. It would be nice to hear how you get on with your seeds, I know they take years to grow but it would be nice to see how they develop. Thanks again for the link.
Cohan
I bet you are a lot better with seeds than me :), I think I will have to go down the road of bulbs. I think I am going to learn a lot from everyones posts.
Its great this way, more intersting than books.
Angie :)
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HI Paul T
Do you grow meconopsis? friends from the SRGC showed me how to grow these plants from seed and its the only plants I have success with. I have been following Ian Young's instructions on when to start seed off so hopefully I will get better.
I must say that I find your post very interesting, Thanks :)
Angie :)
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Angie,
Not a single Meconopsis here unfortunately. I keep trying the infamous blues, but the summer heat here is a struggle for them. I really must try some of the other Mecs one of these years. I've tried seed from a couple of Mecs but always end up damping off or something like that. I will keep trying though. Just the thought of your thousands of Mecs is amazing!! ;D
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Angie,
I can recommend joining the South African Bulb Group (they have a website or possibly Terry Smale's site has some info?). The range of material in their seed & bulb exchange is always fascinating and it is a much cheaper way of getting these plants than most commercial sources. Terry's bulb list has been reduced in recent years but he remains by far the best and cheapest source in the UK for Amaryllids especially.
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Angie, do try some bulb seeds, including South Africans, if you have a little glasshouse or similar. I accept that Aberdeen is perhaps not the best climate for them but some cover will help.
In general, bulbs are easy from seed, it's just a matter of waiting. They usually take longer to germinate than herbaceous species but once they do so, will grow on nicely to flowering. Drainage while they are dormant is often a factor to be considered and Ian's bulb log will be very helpful with all such matters. The species of Freesia, Geissorhiza, Sparaxis and many others just take a couple of years to flower and so are very rewarding in the short term.
I really hate to think of you up there and NOT having some of these colourful plants to appreciate.
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From a South African's point of view I think they're scandalously expensive - and they're using one of my images without permission to market their product! ::) Perhaps they do market Silverhills' seeds as many of the photographs are from their online catalogue (...used with permission?).
Edit : see future posts from Rogan to discover that Silverhills seeds photos are being used without permission.
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Lesley & Darren
Lesley I long to grow some more colourful plants in my greenhouse, today is a grey damp day but as soon as I open my greenhouse door the grey day disappears. I will try some more seeds and a the three species that you mentioned.Sounds worth a try a especially if they only take a few years before they flower. I think my seeds have failed before because I have kept them to warm, but reading all these post helps, so thanks Lesley and to everyone else.
Darren
Thanks Darren I have looked at joining the South African Bulb Group ( Paul from Wisley ) suggested this as well. Its great getting all this feedback 8)
I have been looking back all the old logs and my wish list is getting bigger and BIGGER but l am not a greedy person so I will start with a few bulbs ans see how it goes. But saying this if they grow with me it might be scary to think where I will be in the next ten years, Thanks for your advice.
Angie :)
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Rogan i totally get your point but there stuff is like candy to a kid for me,i did't order on the advice of Alberto who made a vary valid point when he contacted me,he said that this seed is probably not the freshest and thats why its being sold there,the thing is that i have not been growing south african corms and bulbs for that long and have only just joined this forum,when i came across that site the pictures blew me away i did not know they had took yours or silverhills pictures and still there prices did not seem bad to me(still learning)because some of there stuff is like rocking horse manure in the U.K,I do have a couple of friends in south africa who send me fresh seed from there gardens but besides that i bought off ebay,i have taken in everybody's comments and know wish i could remove this thread,but on the upside i have met some fantastic and knowledgeable people.
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There's no need for you to apologise Dave, it's me who's onviously in a bad mood today and tired of being ripped off by my own countrymen, so I must apologise to you all for my various diatribes on this subject - I promise this will be the last! ;)
Dave, I have good fresh seed of various things at the moment and will gladly send them along to you if you'd like to try them. Please send me a private message.
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Daveyp1970
I am glad you posted this topic I like you are new to the forum but agree with you that its a great way of meeting others. I to have paid a fortune for some of my plants (DONT TELL ANYONE) husband might be listening but I to cant help myself its my hobby and gives me so much enjoyment when a plant finally flowers, Its a horrible grey rainy day here but sitting here reading and looking at the lovely pictures that the forum gives us is great, so thanks.
Rogan
Nothing to apologise for.
Angie :)
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To brighten things up, here is a Gladiolus flowering now, grow from seed (silverhills) in an open bed in sunny Scotland.
I have posted on the flowering now pages but perhaps it is more appropriate here. Gladiolus oppositifolius.
Susan
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What a super, soft colour, Susan. 8)
Rogan, since you are "on the ground" so to speak, perhaps you might contact Silverhills to see if they are connected with/have given permission for the use of their photos etc... it would be better to check this and not be giving too much publicity to someone who is cheating...! ??? ::) :-X
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Thanks Susan
Thanks for brightening our day, lovely colour.
Angie :)
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A lovely plant Susan. The more I see of Gladiolus species, the less I understand dame Edna's obsession with the biggies.
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Lesley,
To be seen next to Dame Edna THEY had to be larger than life as well. if she had the little species types of Glad they'd be completely overwhelmed by her presence (as so many people are ;D). I think large and ostentatious is quite fitting when it comes to Dame E. 8)
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You have Dame Edna, we have Evita Bezuidenhout! :-* ;D
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Thanks Maggi, I have followed your advice and contacted Rachel at Silverhill Seeds.
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You have Dame Edna, we have Evita Bezuidenhout! :-* ;D
Bring it on, or her, rather. Can we see some pictures please? ;D
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I can tell you Evita is by far better looking than our, N Irelands, tranny May McFettridge
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Mark,
Geez, you're not wrong!! ;D I must admit I went and looked up Evita after Rogan's reference. I didn't realise that we all had national identities like this. ;)
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Evita Bezuidenhout (aka. Pieter-Dirk Uys) is a wonderfully funny political satirist who rose to fame during the apartheid error (sic!). Now she's turned her attention to the ANC, and nobody gets off lightly either!
I like this portrait of her:
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I can tell you Evita is by far better looking than our, N Irelands, tranny May McFettridge
Surely, none of these species are grown from bulbs ?? ;) ;D :-X
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You're quite right of course Luc, perhaps we should start a new thread under the appropriate heading - it was my fault for leading us all astray... ::) ;D
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Rogan,
All the "subtle" symbolism in that portrait is brilliant!! ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D
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Surely, none of these species are grown from bulbs ?? ;) ;D :-X
Luc, I hope not, imagine "Madame de Coeur Brisé" or "Rosa Vermeulen" sprouting in your garden from a Crocus bulb. I'm certain I wouldn't want that, I'm horrified by the idea alone, think about it, what should you need to feed a bulb like that :-X :-X
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I can tell you Evita is by far better looking than our, N Irelands, tranny May McFettridge
Surely, none of these species are grown from bulbs ?? ;) ;D :-X
Well they certainly aren't grown from seeds. :D
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!!!
my goodness..at least these latest mentioned flowers are not likely to have the rapid expiry plaguing the south african seed trade! (did i say trade?!)
rogan--not surprising to be upset by unauthorised photo use (actually, i think some text seemed familiar as well--pacific bulb society,maybe?...) much less second hand seed! very unfortunate; prices are relative and i can excuse higher prices if the materials are not otherwise available, but one hopes for those prices to be backed up by quality and integrity...
i've been told that Lifestyle Seeds ( http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/usd/ )is among the better outfits for quality, and they do have a nice site, just not the range of species in the particular directions i am most interested in -compared to the folks i ordered from so disastrously last year..lol
i havent looked at silverhill this year, i will have to browse again, as at least one regularly sees people showing actual plants from their seed! (though i did also have non-germinating eriospermum seed from them :(...
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I don't fret about non-germination. I've even had seed from my own
plants refuse to come up, so I can't expect wild plants to make viable
seeds every time. That's one big difference between cultivated and
wild seeds - the cultivated ones have been selected for speed of
germination over many generations. We then get spoiled, and expect
every seed to sprout within a week or two.
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good point, diane,
and the occasional non-performing packet of seed wouldnt worry me too much either, but to come up with a half dozen (maybe 8, 5 of which were one species, meaning most of the species had 0 germination) sprouts for a $50-60dollar seed order (at least 8-10species in a half dozen genera) seems a bit far in the other direction; and these were not woodies with complex germination reputations..
i'd better be clear here, that is not silverhill i'm talking about.. from silverhill, 3 of us tried two species of eriospermum, and not one sprout..
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Cohan, I've sent some wild-collected seed of Eriospermum abyssinicum to the seed exchange if you want to keep a look out for it.
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thanks, calvin;
btw, after a couple of last collecting forays during some nice interim weather, i prob have all the seed i will, and will be sending stuff off, soon..
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I had to go and look up Eriospermum as I was unfamiliar with it. Amazing looking plant. Never seen anything arranged quite like that before, either above or below ground. Must be interesting to grow it with those "plumes" of leaves. Being an arid climate plant I am assuming that it would work quite well in a dry glasshouse over summer? Looks positively fascinating!!
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back to the seeds being sold ... has anyone been in contact with the seller?
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I had to go and look up Eriospermum as I was unfamiliar with it. Amazing looking plant. Never seen anything arranged quite like that before, either above or below ground. Must be interesting to grow it with those "plumes" of leaves. Being an arid climate plant I am assuming that it would work quite well in a dry glasshouse over summer? Looks positively fascinating!!
thats what i think! but hard to get hold of here! a couple of american sources, who dont ship to canada, probably some in europe/britain, also tricky, and seed has not worked out so far :(
managed to get two plants--one via friends in u.s., tiny tiny tuber i managed to kill, and another from europe which grew nicely last year, kept its one tiny leaf nearly a full year; this year it aborted the leaf it started at end of august, and hasnt retried yet...
wouldnt matter too much where you kept them in the dry season, though they can pop up leaves unexpectedly out of season, a friend in florida has the same one as me (dregei) and it seems to have its seasons reversed, maybe...
on another note--anyone have experiences dealing with the McMasters of African Bulbs? i've not ordered from them so far, but they seem good to deal with, and i see material from them on the pacific bulb society site...
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Here's what Silverhill Seeds has to say about them:
No they do not have permission to use any images of ours. They are such crooks! Bid or buy has their website on a site called Silverhillseeds.com, which has absolutely nothing to do with us at all. And the worst of it is that one of the people who sells seeds on Bid or buy, actually buys the seeds from us!!!
If you go to Silverhillseeds.com you will see that the domain name is for sale. Rod calls these guys "pirates" - they find a business that is successful, and then they register a name that is similar and they they try to get you to buy it from them! I won't buy it - I simply put a statement on my website stating that we have nothing to do with them as we often get complaints about them. I suggest that you make a huge fuss about the images.
Please note that here we're discussing Bid or Buy, not the Mac Masters of African Bulbs who are honorable people.
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Here's what Silverhill Seeds has to say about them:
No they do not have permission to use any images of ours. They are such crooks! Bid or buy has their website on a site called Silverhillseeds.com, which has absolutely nothing to do with us at all. And the worst of it is that one of the people who sells seeds on Bid or buy, actually buys the seeds from us!!!
If you go to Silverhillseeds.com you will see that the domain name is for sale. Rod calls these guys "pirates" - they find a business that is successful, and then they register a name that is similar and they they try to get you to buy it from them! I won't buy it - I simply put a statement on my website stating that we have nothing to do with them as we often get complaints about them. I suggest that you make a huge fuss about the images.
Please note that here we're discussing Bid or Buy, not the Mac Masters of African Bulbs who are honorable people.
let me clarify further-- i think bid or buy is the whole site, the ebay equivalent, no? and the seed vendor is Seeds and All; so Silverhill is saying that Seeds and All is using images without permission, and reselling their seeds; but is the entire Bid or Buy site also dishonest? not that i'd have any other occasion to use them, but just to be clear..
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I just popped down to look at my seed pots and can report that of 18 packets bought from Gordon Summerfield in January and stored at room temperature here before sowing in August, all bar 3 are showing excellent germination. This includes two Daubenya species. Also includes a Syringodea, two rare desert Tritonia and (yay!) Romuleas amoena and unifolia. I've NEVER had viable seed of R. amoena before and I trust Gordon to name them correctly.
All I need to do now is not kill them...
p.s. predictably- one of the no-shows is an Eriospermum, but I'm not giving up yet.
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I just popped down to look at my seed pots and can report that of 18 packets bought from Gordon Summerfield in January and stored at room temperature here before sowing in August, all bar 3 are showing excellent germination. This includes two Daubenya species. Also includes a Syringodea, two rare desert Tritonia and (yay!) Romuleas amoena and unifolia. I've NEVER had viable seed of R. amoena before and I trust Gordon to name them correctly.
All I need to do now is not kill them...
p.s. predictably- one of the no-shows is an Eriospermum, but I'm not giving up yet.
thats a more than respectable result, congrats!