Jim, This is one thing that I see too much of: growers opting to buy material rather than growing it themselves from seed/divisions of known stock. When you grow them from seed/offset and see them bloom and know the plant, then it can be sold. Too many people see $$$, which is not a reality w/o putting it to somebody,- after all isn't that the American Way? No it is not, not the ideals anyway...maybe the practice of some but not all. I just purchased 5 bulbs of a white striped hippeastrum sp. that arrived w/o a white stripe! now that bulb seller/"grower" did not even attempt to cover what he was doing! In my business i flower all stock material so that i know the divisions and seedlings are true. Granted, honest mistakes do happen. Sincerely, Kevin Preuss ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Waddick" <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:03 AM Subject: [pbs] Buyer Beware - Can O' Worms > Dear all; > I didn't really mean to open up a replay of 'horror shows', > but to relate a recent example. > New growers especially need to be aware of unscrupulous > business practices of many mass marketers. Buy bulbs from dedicated > specialty growers. Observe your plants at bloom to verify their ID. > Don't be taken in by claims. > > Most important don't let low prices equal bargains. You buy > what you pay for. I especially hate the color enhancements in > catalogs on bulb packages. > > Best Jim W. > > > -- > Dr. James W. Waddick > 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. > Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 > USA > Ph. 816-746-1949 > E-fax 419-781-8594 > > Zone 5 Record low -23F > Summer 100F + > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >