I am a very small participant in the international bulb trade, but in my experience bulbs and plants available only in small quantities do not go through auction houses. Small specialist growers offer their stock directly to wholesalers or even to final customers. The Dutch auctions suit mass merchandise; there would not be 20 hardened bidders vying for a handful of Ostrowskia magnifica tubers or Iris persica bulbs. Selling directly suits small growers better. It also makes it possible for catalogue makers to list uncommon plants with some assurance that they will be available at shipping time. "Some assurance" is not certainty, though. It is fairly common for a wholesaler to list plants on spec, if they have been available in the past, hoping that they will be available again. And it is not unheard-of for a small grower to confirm on spec. Crops fail, fools oversell, shipments are confiscated by ignorant inspectors, or rerouted to the wrong country, or rot in transit, or survive but prove not to be as labelled. There is a lot to be said for growing one's own; I do that, too. Not that I will ever claim that this is a rational business. Paige Woodward paige@hillkeep.ca http://www.hillkeep.ca/