From my personal correspondence with her--most recently about 3 years ago

The export plant operation of Chen Yi has been written up several times in
the Rock Garden Quarterly, which I formerly edited. One article, by Jim
McClements, was appropriately titled "The Chinese Grab Bag." I never
bought directly from her, but bulbs I purchased from Paul CHristian, which
he apparently got from her, were mostly misnamed. Dr. McClements does
write that he got some very interesting plants from this source, but is
still trying to identify some of them.

My understanding is that Ms. Chen buys and resells bulbs that are both
collected in the wild and propagated on small nurseries in China. There
seems to be no real control over sources or identification. For instance,
I got the same thing under three different names.

I strongly advise that this not be posted as a link on the PBS website.
The flora of China is being destroyed in many ways, and collecting for
ornamental uses probably is far less destructive than collecting for
traditional "medicine," but still we should never encourage the former
practice. Only seeds and cuttings should be taken from wild plants.

To go off on a bit of a tangent, if you've noticed that cashmere is no
longer a costly luxury, it's because vast herds of goats are being raised
for it in China and Mongolia, resulting in greatly intensified habitat
destruction. When I found out about this, I swore off buying this fiber,
and suggest others do so.

Jane McGary

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