PBS Forum

Marc,

Do these need to be from wild-collected seed or from a botanist who has at some point collected seed in the wild. I'm thinking of one of our writers in England who has done research on Scadoxus...

Robin

While I saw very few slugs and snails this early spring through mid-summer, as I'm potting up a lot right now, I'm finding baby slugs in and on the bottoms of pots which are watered regularly. An unusual situation because normally, I find a lot of adults in spring and early summer.
 
 My questions are about your experiences this year, perhaps as compared to last year, what species you have seen, which plants you find the most vulnerable, and what control methods you use. There are some of us a bit squeamish about disposal methods, so may I suggest only brief descriptions of methods of attack without details, if that's possible??? Remember, many of these little animals are imports so please distinguish between what you know to be native slugs and their habits, and European or other slugs and their habits.
 
Methods change, the chemicals we are allowed to purchase changes and our gardens change. We may stop growing some vulnerable plants and find others that work better. Please tell us about those also.
 
10 degrees warmer than last summer on the Oregon
 Southwest coast. Not a drop of rain since May

I'm sorry, I think this man is on another planet. His remark about nothing available to eat in the winter is nuts. This might possibly be true in some areas of the world but mostly not. Diversity yes, including natives, but ignoring natives that are adapted to the area where you live requires using up more resources than are needed or even essential, certainly more water.... And it requires garden practices that may be detrimental to the soil, i.e. pesticides and herbicides, among others.

I'm sure this flower (Amorphallum) has its attractions but dividing Thalictrums provides me with a rotten-enough smell that I don't need to search for any more! As a design of mother nature though, it is exquisite in form.

Many thanks to David Pilling, our PBS web site manager, for making the Bulb Garden issues searchable!. I think this will make it much easier for everyone to find specific information in our journal.

Here's the link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/TheBulbGarden 

I'd appreciate some feedback. If you have any difficulty searching let one of the board or especially David know what your specific problem is.

Happy searching!

Marc,

It's also used for other needed changes such as changing Ports of Entry as I did, successfully.

I did kill a rose that simply grew faster every time I tried to cut it back out of the way. What kind it was I have no idea but I cut it off at about three inches and painted every cut surface with undiluted Lily Miller Brush Killer. I so far have not had to repeat. It was not in the best location, afternoon shade and no water much of the year but it refused to quit blooming and was no deterrent to my dog who persists in barking at the pit bull he cannot see on the other side of the fence.

Next step, a row of Mahonia along that fence. I need to increase their fertilizer though or it may take longer than I'm on earth! Too bad cactus wouldn't grow there.

I have a Dragon but have not quite managed to develop the necessary techniques and in summer here it gets too dry to use in some areas.

However, one remedy for horsetail I do use (anti-chemical users - go hide) a brush killer undiluted in a small squeeze container, nitrile gloves on. I squirt a drop or two into the stem when I cut off the horsetail at ground level which I do immediately after cutting. So far, it's working well, but is incredibly time consuming so I only do it when I'm fed up with the things. Am trying this on cherry tree shoots this year but have doubts about effectiveness. We'll see.

But yes, thanks for the Dragon reminder which I can use in the driveway and the rock garden, very carefully.

Rob, tired is allowed. And I found the site, because when you deal with govt. agencies, you learn to dive into multiple rabbit holes; otherwise you don't get what you need!

Robin

Well, your suggestion worked in a convoluted way. Apparently I signed in in the sort of wrong place but ended up where I was supposed to be and discovered I could get labels for any port of entry I wanted...who knew? So i switched to Atlanta on Joyce Fingerut's advice (she's the APHIS liaison with NARGS who has been helping me and I successfully printed new labels for Atlanta. I'm done with SeaTac POE.

I will let Joyce know so she can spread the word.

Many thanks!!!

If you review the APHIS website you will see references to an amendment form for PPQ 587. However, in all my searches I have not found said permit.

Does anyone know if there is such a form or would it simply be easier to file for a new PPQ permit. (Small Lots of Seed Permit for those unfamiliar with this USDA-APHIS form.

Thanks,

Congratulations are in order for two successful applicants for the MSI grant funds:

They are $500 each to Dr. Guadalupe Munguía Lino for field explorations on The Mexican lirios (Iridaceae: Alophia)
and Carlos J Jimenez, MSc, for electron microscope studies of Allium paniculatum.

Just a reminder that applications for grants are available on the PBS website and the deadline is usually about March 31 of each year.

As required of successful applicants, each is required to provide an article on their research work for The Bulb Garden when their grants are finished.

Martin, you mentioned the difficulty reaching a human at UPS. Welcome to the club. Mind you I've been shipping with them for 30 years, not huge amounts, but I have an account that discounts my rates.

You mentioned previously that after this you would stick with DHL. Probably best. DHL backed off from being everything to every customer and seems to be doing well. UPS is just the opposite and their customer service has suffered because of it. However, in the US at least UPS is the only land carrier allowed to carry volatile freight, i.e. chemicals, certain batteries, etc. down to the retail level. For instance, I ordered Mace pepper spray and it had to come UPS, not through the post office.

Keep us informed. I want to know how this resolves.

Greetings, all PBS members,
 
The PBS board met on Sunday and is excited to announce the appointment of several board members. For the first time I recall, we have more volunteer applicants than positions available. Some time ago the board voted to increase the number of board members from 9 to 11. Although we've had 8-9 in the past, we decided to fill several positions. We can't say enough for the great response from PBS members who volunteered and the qualifications listed. It was a terrific turnout!
 
The positions of secretary and vice president were filled by Emil Friend (California), as secretary, and Bridget Wosczyna (currently Bulb Exchange Director) as vice president. Two other positions for members-at-large have also been filled: Kathleen Sayce from Washington state, and Kristen Henty from New Zealand.
 
In an effort to increase the geographical diversity and range of experience such as we have with PBS members, we are, for the first time, welcoming a southern hemisphere member. The time zone challenge has been met (who knew how significant that could be for countries down south) and we are excited to have such a range of board members with widely diverse gardening education and experience, and as all members are – crazy about bulbs!
 
Please join me in welcoming the new board members. We will in the coming months include brief biographical sketches of each new board member so that you can become acquainted with their various interests and experience. These will appear in the Bulb Garden so that all members can read them.
 
Best regards,
 
Robin Hansen, President
For the PBS Board

I'm glad B&T was removed - there will be other bulb sources to be updated as well. I'm going through the list, emailing sources to verify current activity and will shortly provide a list for updating on the web. If you want it in a particular format, i.e. font, etc., please let me know.

Robin