Rod and Rachel Saunders
Diana Chapman (Sat, 17 Mar 2018 10:01:54 PDT)

Like others, I am in a state of shock over this.  I am at an age when I
am losing friends and family, and I am comforted when I feel bad by
working with my bulbs.  Now when I enter the greenhouses I am reminded
of Rachel everywhere I look.

I started growing South African bulbs from seed in 1989 and by the early
90's was ordering seed from Silverhill.  Without a computer or the
internet, Rachel and I corresponded by mail, and I still have her
delightful letters.  I decided to start a bulb nursery, it was supposed
to be a small hobby type business to keep me busy when I retired from
medicine.  Rachel gave me so much encouragement, supporting my decision
to leave the medical profession since she had done something similar,
leaving her prior profession in research to start Silverhill with her
husband.  I can't say how important her encouragement and support was
back then, so for about thirty years she has been a constant presence in
my life, although I only met her and Rod once.  I can say without
hesitation, that without Rachel and Silverhill, Telos Rare Bulbs would
probably never have come about. I feel as though I have taken them for
granted in recent years, expecting them to always be there.  I am
devastated by this loss.  I can't begin to imagine what the people close
to them are feeling.

Diana Chapman
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