It's worth mentioning that "the horrible Monsanto cases" were decided based on the willful intent and action of a farmer to steal the RoundUp Ready gene from a neighbor's pollen source and breed his own RoundUp Ready seed without compensating Monsanto. It's so easy to buy into villainizing propaganda when you only get your information from "like-minded people". Tim Eck “Time is nature’s way of preventing everything from happening at once.” Anon. > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of > Jo&Greg > Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 12:43 PM > To: 'Pacific Bulb Society' > Subject: Re: [pbs] Question regarding commercial advertising > > Perhaps a note or two regarding patented plants may help. My comments > come from my experience with publishing, and copyright info in both USA and > Canada ... copyright is slightly different yet using the same underlying > principles as a patent. > "Resale" and "propagation" and "commercial" all refer to for-profit business. > Non-profit organizations can offer books, plants, seed, etc., for sale without > crossing copyright -- and as far as I've found out -- patent regulations. Plant > patents are also legally suspect. You cannot patent a recipe or technique and > the horrible Monsanto cases against the grain farmers aside, some feel the > change in the plant is more like a recipe shift than something new or unique > (the DNA is not fundamentally changed), and natural self-sowing or seed drift > from natural sources are outside the purview of an intent to retail a product. > That said, plants can at present be patented. > > So, I'd go ahead and have that plant sale and seed swap. And remember, > though we are not a group of veggies farmers, when it comes to Big Hort: > "Control my food, control my politics, control distribution, control my politics." > Just my old-hippie-somewhat-anarchistic opinion. > Jo Canning > Vancouver Island, Canada > > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs <pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> On Behalf Of Jan > Jeddeloh > Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2018 4:10 PM > To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > Subject: Re: [pbs] Question regarding commercial advertising > > While we’re griping about Big Horticulture I’d like to add my gripe about > patented plants. I’ve been stung too often by patented pretty faces and have > learned that a patent does not necessarily reflect the value or grow-ability of > the plant, although it seems like it ought to. Too often big nurseries patent > every tiny variation and rush the plant to market. Sometimes it appears they > apply for a patent just to lock up the market for a year or two and then stop > producing the plant once the word gets out that it’s not a good doer. You go > to the nursery, are smitten with the pretty face, bring home your new plant > whereupon it promptly dies. I’ve had this experience several times. And > don’t get me started on the million heucheras or coneflowers out there. They > are sold as perennials but most have an annual life in your normal, less than > perfect home garden. You know, the home garden that does not have the > mythical well drained, evenly moist soil. > > Patented plant are also becoming a problem for plant society plant sales. I > organize our NARGS chapter participation in the Hortlandia sale and we have > to watch that we don’t offer patented plants. As more and more plants are > patented it will become harder to find plants we can propagate. Yes growing > from seed it great but many of our members want to donate divisions and > cutting grown plants. Plant tags get lost and it would be very easy to > inadvertently offer a patented plant for sale. > > I realize plant breeders want to get some kind of return from their investment > of time and money but it shouldn’t be too much to ask that the plants be good > doers and truly unique. They should also be adequately trailed. One or two > years is just not enough. I have found a couple of patented plants that are > worth growing. Geranium “Roxanne” blooms all summer, does not spit seed > all over and is tough. Salvia “Amistad”, while tender, puts on a great summer > show and is much beloved by bees and hummingbirds. It also seems rather > silly to patent plants that will self propagated. If it’s going to form a big > clump you can easily hack apart gardeners are going to share it around. This > takes no real skill. If you want to patent a plant it ought to require a bit of > skill to propagate or you will lose the battle of controlling its propagation. > > To bring this back around to bulbs does anyone know of any patented bulbs? I > know Terra Nova at one point had applied for a patent on a Cyclamen coum > selection with a Christmas tree marking on the leaves. I wonder if this was > denied because it wouldn’t be hard to find look a likes in many groups of > coum seedlings. It’s not in their current catalog. > > Jan Jeddeloh > > On Jun 20, 2018, at 9:59 AM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> > wrote: > > > > I've been purchasing plants and bulbs for about 35 years now. I'm fortunate > to live in Clackamas County, Oregon, which has more nurseries than any > other US county, so "local" can mean anything from a daphne at the farmers' > market to a viburnum from the big Monrovia fields on the other side of the > river. I buy some unusual cultivars and rooted cuttings for cutflowers by mail > order, mostly from specialty nurseries. Most years I obtain some commercial > bulbs for planting out in front of the house -- daffodils to distract the bulb fly > from the good ones in back, anemones and crocuses for the bulb lawn, etc. > Almost all of my bulb "collection" has been grown from seed. > > > > I agree with Robin that there's false advertising by large commercial > nurseries, but small ones do so as well, especially in exaggerating cold- > hardiness. They may not mean to, but if you're growing plants on an island > you don't have the same conditions as most of your customers who live 150 > km or more inland. Conversely, nurseries in colder areas who keep all their > stock in greenhouses may produce plants that are hard to acclimate to > outdoor conditions anywhere. Growing your own from seed is likely to result > in losses, but the survivors will be easier to keep, and much cheaper. > > > > Two years ago I had the experience Ellen mentions of buying a shrub that > had been bulked up by keeping two cuttings in one pot, but I got it at the > farmers' market and the grower told me about it. It's a hybrid daphne; I was > able to disentangle the root systems, potted them separately for a couple of > months before planting out, and now have two very fine shrubs. This spring I > went on a spending spree on Dianthus cultivars. One nursery sent me > excellent plants, but another's plants had been in their pots far too long (I > repotted them and waited until they recovered to plant them out). I almost > never put a purchased plant into the garden the day after I get it. For one > thing, you have to watch them for disease. > > > > As for bulbs that fail, it helps to understand the growth cycles, natural > habitats, and structure of the particular species and genera. Bulbs with strong > tunics, such as tulips, can stand dry storage much better than those without > tunics, such as most Fritillaria. A species native to rocky desert will survive > storage better than one native to river meadows. A species native to the > alpine zone may not flourish without a long winter dormancy (hence the > plants "hardy in Denver" that can't be grown in lowland gardens). It is also > instructive to learn how commercial bulbs are grown and processed in the > Netherlands, where they can be grown in sand, heavily fertilized, protected > from predators, lifted and kept in warehouses controlled for temperature and > humidity, and exported in advantageous condition. After a month at Home > Depot and transfer to a home garden, they'll likely perform for a year but > that may be the limit of their adaptability. Moreover, controlled conditions > can suppress the activity of viruses, which may resurface in the home garden; > that's why all my tulips are grown from seed, and I buy lily bulbs only from > The Lily Garden, which I trust to provide clean stock. > > > > So read, read, read, and be prepared to lose some plants anyway. You can > identify an experienced gardener by their possession of a big bag of plantless > labels. > > > > Jane McGary > > > > Portland, Oregon, USA > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. > https://www.avg.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…