Berkutenko seeds

hornig@usadatanet.net hornig@usadatanet.net
Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:18:35 PDT
I used to order from Berkutenko, but found her frustrating to deal with. 
It's true that she has access to species no-one else does, and it's worth
trying a few times to get those - but in my case I was also trying to get
seeds for production, and I found that out of, say, every 100 Atragene
(clematis) seeds I ordered, roughly 15 of them would have even the
appearance of possibly having embryos, and the rest would be empty
seedcoats (which in the case of a clematis means they are visibly smaller
and flatter than seeds with embryos, and not hard to identify).  Her
reaction to this was beyond indifferent, which is to say rude, and I tired
of dealing with the attitude (in other cases, e.g. thalictrum, I rubbed the
"seeds" between my thumb and finger and found, similarly, that roughly 10%
were even candidates for sowing - as to the rest, there was nothing there
to begin with).

In general, where seeds could be isolated from everything else, they
germinated pretty well - but she was, as I said, completely uninterested in
hearing that she was charging for things that weren't even seeds.

The bright side is that you pay her after you get the seeds, so in my case
I prorated my payment for the number of seeds I actually received - but
after I did that, I didn't feel comfortable placing more orders, so I
haven't dealt with her since (roughly 5 or 6 years).

Personally, I think she tries to play the sympathy vote: the poor
third-worlder versus the rich western capitalist.  By training, she's a
botanist.  She shouldn't have any trouble telling a seed from an empty
seedcoat, or at least sampling her wares and adjusting the quantity sent to
reflect estimated content.

So - caveat emptor.  She certainly does list, and send, some interesting
species.

Ellen Hornig
Seneca Hill Perennials
3712 County Route 57
Oswego NY 13126 USA
USDA zone 5

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Robert Hamilton roberth6@mac.com
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 06:49:39 +1000
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [pbs] Berkutenko seeds



Hi  all,

I  participated in a  small group order  for  seeds  which arrived  in 
April 2003.  4 of  8 species  germinated  one of  which was  a gift  - 
this  was Linum komaravii which germinated  immediately . Daphne 
jezoensis , Daphne kamschatica and Polygonatum officialis germinated  
between  18 and  24 months  after sowing.

Cardicrinum glehnii , Dicentra peregrina , Erythronium sibiricum and 
Lilium pumilum didnt germinate.

Overall I  was  quite satisfied to end up  with the  rare Daphne plants.

Cheers,

Rob in Tasmania

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