I used to order from Berkutenko, but found her frustrating to deal with. It's true that she has access to species no-one else does, and it's worth trying a few times to get those - but in my case I was also trying to get seeds for production, and I found that out of, say, every 100 Atragene (clematis) seeds I ordered, roughly 15 of them would have even the appearance of possibly having embryos, and the rest would be empty seedcoats (which in the case of a clematis means they are visibly smaller and flatter than seeds with embryos, and not hard to identify). Her reaction to this was beyond indifferent, which is to say rude, and I tired of dealing with the attitude (in other cases, e.g. thalictrum, I rubbed the "seeds" between my thumb and finger and found, similarly, that roughly 10% were even candidates for sowing - as to the rest, there was nothing there to begin with). In general, where seeds could be isolated from everything else, they germinated pretty well - but she was, as I said, completely uninterested in hearing that she was charging for things that weren't even seeds. The bright side is that you pay her after you get the seeds, so in my case I prorated my payment for the number of seeds I actually received - but after I did that, I didn't feel comfortable placing more orders, so I haven't dealt with her since (roughly 5 or 6 years). Personally, I think she tries to play the sympathy vote: the poor third-worlder versus the rich western capitalist. By training, she's a botanist. She shouldn't have any trouble telling a seed from an empty seedcoat, or at least sampling her wares and adjusting the quantity sent to reflect estimated content. So - caveat emptor. She certainly does list, and send, some interesting species. Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 County Route 57 Oswego NY 13126 USA USDA zone 5 Original Message: ----------------- From: Robert Hamilton roberth6@mac.com Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 06:49:39 +1000 To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org Subject: [pbs] Berkutenko seeds Hi all, I participated in a small group order for seeds which arrived in April 2003. 4 of 8 species germinated one of which was a gift - this was Linum komaravii which germinated immediately . Daphne jezoensis , Daphne kamschatica and Polygonatum officialis germinated between 18 and 24 months after sowing. Cardicrinum glehnii , Dicentra peregrina , Erythronium sibiricum and Lilium pumilum didnt germinate. Overall I was quite satisfied to end up with the rare Daphne plants. Cheers, Rob in Tasmania _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .