Contributions for the Bx

[Wylie]

I have been repotting bulbs that haven't been touched in awhile, and I would like to contribute the excess to the Bx (EU) coming up soon. So is there a minimum that should be included, and in packaging them should it be in one envelope or in several envelopes. I couldn't find any guidelines for contributions, either bulbs or seeds. I understand about everything being cleaned and free of dirt and husks, it is just how to package them and make Martin's job easier.

[Uli]

Hello @Wylie,

Thank you very much for thinking of the BX.
We do not ask to pre-pack bulbs, so if you label each species clearly with your name and the plant name it will be fine.
For seed we ask (on a voluntary basis) to pre-pack 5 individual portions each sufficient for a good potful of seedlings, provided there is enough seed. If seed is scarce, the minimum number of seeds per packet should not be less than five seeds except for the super rarities.
If there is plenty of seed you can add a larger portion to the five pre-packed ones so that Martin can use this to fill more envelopes if demand requires. But five pre packed portions are already a great help. Martin will supply free seed envelopes on request. (garak@code-garak.de)Your postage will be refunded in form of a bonus for your own order.
If possible, please wait with sending material to Martin until the donation time window will be open, all fully paid EU members are in a mailing list and will receive an email in due course apart from the announcement in this forum. We plan to run the next BX in September, so the donation should open about the end of August.

Please feel free to ask if there are more questions.

Bye for now 

Uli 

[Uli]

P.S. there is no minimum number for bulbs, whatever you can spare is welcome.

[Wylie]

Thanks @Uli for the info. I hope the summer isn't being too bad for you. It finally hit here mid-July and I was worried a lot of the bulbs wouldn't get a dry summer rest. But now it is around 26° and very little wind. I have a strong orange xHedychium that is starting to open.  I crossed H. rubrum x H. gardneranum.
Wylie

[Martin Bohnet]

I'll ad a little explanation why we prefer not to prepack the bulbs: Excess seed is (cold) stored for another year and offered in the subsequent EXs, but bulbs are always completely divided (not with a knife, mind you!) between those who order them - storing spare packets wouldn't work for them. There's a bit of a grey area with the mostly 2 two phases of EX per season, but even then I prefer to not store them longer than necessary.

[Uli]

Thanks @Uli for the info. I hope the summer isn't being too bad for you. It finally hit here mid-July and I was worried a lot of the bulbs wouldn't get a dry summer rest. But now it is around 26° and very little wind. I have a strong orange xHedychium that is starting to open.  I crossed H. rubrum x H. gardneranum.
Wylie

Hello @Wylie,
The Azores must really be very different. I wish we could share and split in half our worries....... You seem to have too much rain, we in the Algarve and in the whole mainland of Portugal have too little. The water reserve is almost depleted. There were some wildfires in our area but the fire brigades got on top of them fairly quickly. They seem to have changed their strategy and arrive with maximum presence both on the ground and by air if the latter is possible. We are prepared for evacuation but so far we have not been directly affected.

Your Hedychium Hybrid sounds amazing. Do you have a picture? The parents are excellent plants. The trouble with Hedychium here is that the plant itself needs a lot of water and in hot and dry weather the flowers wither very quickly, unfortunately.

[Wylie]

I'll post a photo of my Hedychium when there is a really good display, which should be in the next week. Here is a photo of just up the street, it was taken on the 13th. Today it is overcast and about 25°