Tulipomania nouveau?

[PEAK]

I have been offered to buy 5 seeds of the "holy grail" of Amaryllidaceae Worsleya procera the blue Hippestraum from Brazil. The price including postage is 28 USD!! It is from a reliable source (in Australia) I do have the money and I want to have it! So forum members please help me to decide what to do (don't say that I have influenced the jury)? Would you pay this much for seeds of a plant that you really wanted?
A pic if you prefer photo evidence

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Worsleya/Worsleya-procera-BD.jpg

Cheers

[mark smyth]

I saw plants of it in South Africa the last time I was there. They are stunning. I would buy them

[SueG]

Cape Seeds and Bulbs have plants for £60 each - seed seems like a very good deal indeed - go for it!! Mind you in the picture it wasn't very blue. . .
Sue

[Lesley Cox]

I notice that the photo on Per-Ake's website link was taken by Bill Dijk. Bill is in Tauranga, New Zealand and it was most likely his own plant. It was offered here a while back for around $12-20NZ I think (that's about 7-11US) by Terry Hatch of Joy Plants at Pukekohe near Auckland. It can't have been too dear as I bought one myself. Lost it in heavy frosts soon after though.

I guess spending the money is a matter of how much you want the plant and if you're willing to spend that much, why not? Better than smoking or gambling it. But remember it is VERY tender.

[Maggi Young]

I know I have been very scathing elsewhere in this forum about folks paying large sums of money for snowdrop bulbs but, when push comes to shove, as we say here in the land of the colourful phrase, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping! I would buy those seeds, Per-Åke, then keep my fingers crossed in hope of success. I feel that seeds always offer you some chance of success and if they germinate, grow and survive, they have demonstrated their suitability for your growing situation and that is half the battle! Good luck, we look forward to seeing your pix of the flowers in a few years time. I imagine it will take a few years to get a flower, even in the most optimistic scenario?

[PEAK]

Thank you all for your encouraging replies.
Lesley, you actually owned the holy grail and then left it to freeze to death Well you did kill the moa so why not Worsleya
I am well awere of it's tenderness, I will keep it above 10C (50F) all the time.
Since I just did pay for the seeds I can only hope for milder temperatures during the mail delivery (-12C right now) and all of you should start preparing for some stunning pictures about six years from now!

Cheers

[Maggi Young]

Should I make a note on the forum calendar now, do you think?

[PEAK]

Since today is the birthday of my daughter i will probably remember this! 2013 (don't that sound far away) she will become 28 on the Worsleya flowering day! As many other years today is the coldest this far with morning temperatures down to -20C (-5F) in Stockholm.

[Maggi Young]

Ah, I remember being 22 ! I don't think my father celebrated by getting exotic plant seed though!
Wish your daughter many happy returns from her father's mad garden friends!

[Lesley Cox]

Now come off it Per-Ake! I personally DID NOT KILL OFF THE MOA!!!  It was gone long before my Scottish ancestors arrived here. There were several moa species and I think they were all MUCH too big to let loose among the snowdrops.

So far as the Worsleya is concerned, perhaps I didn't take sufficient care just BECAUSE it was not so very expensive and I didn't have a greenhouse at the time - still don't. I suppose it was the picture that got to me and gave me a moment of total stupidity. I wish you much better success than I had.

[PEAK]

OK, Lesley you are no longer a suspected in the moa case
Thanks for the wishes, I will probably need them!

Cheers

[Luc Gilgemyn]

6 years minus 1 day to go Per Ake ! 

[PEAK]

I sure feel the pressure here Luc, now how will I feel when there is only 4 years to go

I will deliver your greetings Maggi, in fact she also has a bit of plant interest. She is growing witches plants: Mandrake, Belladona, Datura...
This is the reason I don't argue with her, I just fulfill her wishing list!

Cheers

[rob krejzl]

Re Worsleya

Mine (a Kosh clone) flowered a few weeks ago for the first time. It spends most of the year outside, coming under cover during the winter. It handles sub 10C temperatures without any check (certainly down to 6-7 C overnight).

the person who gave me mine (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/alpines_and_bulbs/104284) believed that excellent drainage and a deep root run was the real issue.

[PEAK]

This is interesting news Rob! My seeds are also said to be fron Cosh origin, but I must admit not nowing what that mean?
The temperatures given by you are promising, then I will be able to keep them together with South African bulbs. How many years did it take you to flower it and do you water it all year round?

Cheers