Dear Friends, I am not proposing any ‘RULES” for trading, but Jane and Bob bring up good points. Rare plants are ALWAYS (or almost always) rare for a good reason. Just because a member mentions having one it doen’t mean they have dozens. Sometimes the rarity was a thing of the past. Don’t expect to get mailed plants, bulbs for free. The cost of postage increases regularly and although mailing a couple small envelopes is a minimal expense, no one should expect a donor to mail dozens or envelopes or small packets. Jane's comments on timing are especially note worthy. When you are trading person to person, accept the personal nature of the exchange. Most people do not have pots of spare plants on hand for shipping. Some plants are dormant or seed is not ripe. Patience is required. And be sure to thank your trading partner. I try to add an extra when ever I can in my trades. Everyone likes surprises and you never know what might follow later. I hope more individual members will meet more individual members in this way to extend the PBS family. Best wishes to all PBS Traders. Enjoy Jim W. On Aug 16, 2020, at 10:53 AM, Jane McGary via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: What is proposed here is a matter of personal choice, and I think it's a legitimate use of the PBS forum. However, I find that people often request something I've mentioned at a time of year when shipping a dormant plant would be impossible, and I lose track of who has requested it by midsummer, when I could lift some. In addition, I have had requests for very rare or difficult plants that I've posted on the wiki, some of which I no longer have, and with regret I have to answer these too. (Please don't mention Crocus moabiticus to me again.) It is also well to point out that when one has spent a good deal of energy and shipping expense to send plants, the recipient should not fail to follow through with a promised exchange. Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA On 8/16/2020 8:04 AM, Robert Lauf via pbs wrote: > I support this idea with gusto. I often have a single piece of something and it doesn't seem efficient to expect the BX to go to all the trouble of listing a single item, and divisions are often too big anyway. I just thinned my Sauromatum venosum and have a few hundred bulbs, some of which are the size of a softball. These probably aren't sufficiently exotic or hard to grow to be of interest to our more experienced (or jaded) members, but newbies might enjoy one. It's just one example. > Jim is right. Post a simple message that begins:I have some .......and/orI'm looking for .... > Dr. James Waddick Kansas City, MO 64152-2711 USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…