Diana , Your statement " Unfortunately, early in my bulb collecting career it was a frequent problem until I learned whom to avoid. Usually the problems have been with virused bulbs, and these days I buy very few bulbs from commercial enterprises, preferring to play it safe and grow as many species as possible from seed. I learned the hard way!" Goes the same for me. Too many sources offered bad material. As an early collector I must have been labled "SUCKER" , or least "GREENHORN", as many folks from the bulb society lined up to swap plants with me, mostly for Griffinias, and in return I got virused hippeastrums and other varipous amaryllids. Knowing what I know now, I find it very hard to believe that most did not know what they doing. I am not sure if it was to rid their collection of virused bulbs, or worse, with the intention of diisseminating the virus into another's collection. One even boasted to me afterwaards that he was going to tissue culture my Griffinias sent to him. He has faded away since then. I had to discard most of my early material. This has taught me, In the past 4-5 years I have to be wary of sources, staying w/ a few reputable folks. Also seed propagation of species is most desirable. This reduces the risk of infection. Plants will still contract various diseases and must be discarded. I can testify to never receiving a bad bulb from Telos, Mainly Amaryllids! Kevin D. Preuss http://www.amaryllis-plus.com/