PBS Forum

Hi Bridget,

A number of the items in the sales list are available in limited quantities.  What is the policy if some items are not available?  Say if I order 5 different items at $10 each and when the order is placed 2 of the items are unavailable.  Would I get a refund of $20 for that?  I am just concerned that I might get only a fraction of what I order but I would paying for everything I tried to order.

Ron

Photos from my garden, last fling of my Spring flowering bulbs.

Well... I was trying to wait for someone else to start May, but no luck.

Here's- I believe I bought these as Albuca Namaquanensis.

I'll add flowering pics in the coming days.

I already posted ixia Paniculata, but wanted to share its great staying power (as species Ixia go), and full flower display. It's not the flashiest Ixia, but I really enjoy them.

I've added the attachment to Ulis post - all one needed was a little export to pdf...

Dear members living in the EU,


After a successful joint book order from the South African Bulb Company and very pleasant and efficient correspondence with the owner, we decided to do a joint bulb order as well. You have to be a fully paid member to participate, if not yet, you can join the PBS at any time. The shipment of the bulbs will go to Martin in Germany via DHL, the cost of a phytosanitary certificate, shipment and a customs agent at the point of entry in Germany will be divided between the ordering members and a final cost of postage to your mailing address will be added, too.

Please read the instructions at the beginning of the price list carefully, however, the bureaucratic hassle is taken over by us.

The price list contains many tempting bulbs. Please bear in mind, that they come from the Southern Hemisphere with inverted seasons, which means that it is autumn/beginning winter in South Africa now. It might be a good idea to stick to summer growing plants which will be shipped in a dormant state at this time of the year. Some of the winter growers may still be dormant, I do not know which ones. There is always a certain risk of loss when doing hemisphere swaps and it needs a certain experience in growing bulbs to do so. Personally I will stick to summer growers or evergreen bulbs.

Please do also bear in mind that flowering size bulbs can be very big (Crinum, Brunsvigia, Boophone) and heavy and therefore cause expensive postage. We will divide the postage between the members reflecting their order.

When ordering: please follow these instructions very carefully:

Deadline for orders is May 20th, but I advise you to order as soon as possible. Your order will be immediately sent on to Leigh from the South African Bulb Company as bulbs need to be reserved. Which means that you cannot change your order after posting it to me. I will confirm the reception of your order, if not, please come back to me.

The invoice for the joint order will be sent to me only after the entire order is complete. I will forward the expenditure.

Shipment will be in June as a soil test in South Africa has to be awaited before shipping. Again, please keep in mind that it might be late for winter growing bulbs.

You will receive an invoice with your bulbs.

Please do not hesitate to get back to me, Uli,  if you have questions

Please refer to the attached price list

Uli and Martin

Packages are on the road, please drop a me a note on arrival - the EX08-Packages seem to have been slow, and at least one seems to be still missing, so please help me monitoring postal performance. let's hope the Bs are faster...

Dear All Current US Members:

PBS has an opportunity to order bulbs directly from The South African Bulb Company. This is the company from whom we ordered the wonderful amaryllid book and it went very well.

It is incumbent upon each member ordering to follow the below instructions precisely.

Member Bob Lauf has agreed to use his import permit to place a group order for US members at this time, keeping the matter above-board.  Bob has made orders previously and received his items speedily and in good condition.   We have a short window to make our orders directly through him.  We are exploring if we may be able to work something out for our EU membership at a later date.

We have decided this works best for everyone involved if we approach the order as outlined below. There will be no deviation from this protocol  

Please:

1.  Peruse the list attached (if you are reading this from the List, kindly go to the Forum post under the Bulb Exchange section to see the list)

2. Email Bob directly with your order. Include your full name and list of desired bulbs. Be very specific in listing your items.  Bob's email address is boblauf@att.net.  Any orders not sent to Bob directly will not be honored.  Continuity in the ordering is imperative.

3. Bob will send you the total you owe and you must prepay Arnold via Paypal prior to the order being made with South African Bulb Company.  The amount due will include the following: a prorated amount of the phyto certification (which is generally around $25 no matter how big the order will be, so it should be a few dollars for each ordering member), the prorated shipping costs for Bob to receive the bulbs (a group order will help offset these costs as well), the total price of the bulbs you order, the shipping to Atlanta, and the shipping from Atlanta to Bob.  Bob advises the shipping from South Africa usually runs a little less than the price of the bulbs ordered.  So, generally, you can expect your cost to run about double the total amount of the bulbs you are ordering.  As we all know, this is a good deal in that most of these bulbs are not available commercially and if you can find them online, they are very expensive.  

The prices of the items are on the offer list.  Upon Bob's receipt of the bulbs, they will be shipped to me for a normal BX distribution to members. I will include a slip indicating the additional postage you owe for the shipping from me to you. All BX recipients know those charges are inexpensive. Our Stamps account offers very competitive pricing: again, usually just a few dollars. 

You agree when you order and pay that you acknowledge that there is a risk that the bulbs may not be received. It is well-known that all customers take said risk when ordering anything from other countries.  PBS and Bob Lauf assume no liability should the items not make it to the US.  An additional risk is that the plants could be delayed in shipping or may be less than ideal when received.  Neither PBS nor Bob Lauf will make any refunds. We are all assuming this risk together. Bob has had very good experiences with receiving healthy plants quickly.  We are hopeful to have the same with our group order.  

You must be a current member to participate.   
 
THE SA BULB COMPANY SOUTH AFRICA BULB EXPORT PRICE LIST APRIL 2024.pdf

Thank you,
Bridget
BX Manager and President

Quote from: Randy Linke on May 02, 2024, 02:31:15 AMTwo forms of Calochortus subperbus blooming on May Day in a pot on my terraza.  I am not sure if they were from the same seed lot as I combined some when I moved to Spain to conserve space.  I like the contrast and will probably leave them together when I do my fall repotting.

SUPER NICE!

Quote from: David Pilling on February 15, 2024, 04:40:18 PMPlants can talk to each other and scientists say it should make us rethink how we treat them

" The Light Eaters chronicles an expansive collection of recent, mind-blowing botanical discoveries. Touching on plants' ability to communicate, be social, sense physical and auditory stimulation (i.e. feel and hear), and even remember, these studies collectively take on the controversial question of whether plants might be intelligent, or even conscious, beings."

https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/zoe-schlanger-willa-koerner-plant-knowledge

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA