Careful Steve, you're likely to have a fair number of PBS members asking for your seeds. Karl Church Dinuba, California Zone 9a On Feb 5, 2013 4:56 PM, "steven hart" <hartsentwine.australia@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Mark, even here in Queensland Australia where they are endemic, they are > becoming very rare due to habitat loss, they prefer open sclerophyll > eucalyptus forest & small dry rain forest patches in remnant forests, at > the brighter edges, but often on southern sides of mountains where it is > cooler. They are mostly extinct in the areas where they were prominently > growing, when settlers arrived in sailing ships, noted around the Breakfast > Creek ports & forests surrounding the Brisbane area.. They soon disappeared > to small crop farming & expansion of development & are buried now under sky > scrapers & bitumen..The only survivors live in very small numbers in > scattered little groups, in remnant forests out side Brisbane.. It is not a > commercial species & rarely offered for sale.. Occasionally I see bulbs on > eBay at very good prices from people who don't know its rare value, but is > from nursery stock & some less desirable nurseries experimented in the 80s, > growing them but through careless cross contamination introduced virus & > bacterial trouble caught from growing beside diseased Eucharis lilies, a > very silly & careless mistake with a threatened species... > > I do have wild stock, because it is a native on my property, I took some > seeds & grew those on & now produce my own small numbers of seed each year > with out disturbing my wild bulbs in the bush.. > > I've done successful experiments with seed drying over 7month & > successfully germinated almost all by soaking for long periods, regularly > renewing the water.. I've had good success in pots, in standard premium > potting mixes & garden culture.. Eventually I want to tissue culture & help > its protection through a commercial release & home gardener conservation.. > It is a rare non commercial species here because it is not well known & > very hard to access bulbs... > > I have sold seeds to USA, China & Europe & they are growing successfully... > > So ill put you in my seed swappers list & try to remember to send u some > seeds & will also try to remember to list them as flowering on PBS so you > might see them & remind me you would like some seeds... So don't forget to > remind me :-)) ???? > > They are easy to grow & are frost & drought tolerant. > Happy Gardening > Steven > Esk QLD Australia > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >