In Texas, for many years, the five-and- dime stores, grocery stores, nurseries, etc sold bundles of bare root roses, all waxed to within an inch of their lives, with a glossy and enticing picture label. Almost all were older once-popular grafted hybrid tea roses, but occasionally the nurseryman would add one of his oldtime selections such as Kaiserin Victoria, Red Radiance, Souvenir de la Malmaison etc. the hybrid teas often resembled two or three 2' sticks, capable of bearing two or three flowers in the spring, one flower in the fall. The very few "garden roses" of even earlier times included often thrived for years. It's no wonder hybrid teas went out of fashion, except possibly for folks in the Pacific Northwest or California. And yes, Dell, even in Texas all rutabagas were waxed. They weren't so bad. Cynthia W Mueller > On Jan 3, 2016, at 4:16 PM, Joyce Miller <Miller7398@comcast.net> wrote: > > Well Dell, > > You have probably been buying apples that are wax coated but not with as thick or kind of coating the bulb has. Rutabagas, yuck! > > Frankly, the waxing of the bulb is a cynical practice backed by the thought that the consumer is too ignorant of proper bulb culture and would discard after Christmas. I am sure some are like my mother who would put gift plants in the canned fruit cabinet until they browned. Then she discarded them. She did not know that at the minimum the azaleas likely would have survived in our Portland yard which was USDA 8. > > Be well, Joyce > > From: Dell Sherk > Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2016 1:38 PM > To: Joyce Miller ; Pacific Bulb Society > Subject: RE: [pbs] Christmas waxed Hippeastrum > > Well, Joyce, > > > > You are very brave! Buying something like that, which is coated in wax, sounds unnatural – like buying a mummy (I think they are more expensive.) But you say it bloomed. What will the commercial horticulturalists think up next? (Well the phalaenopsis colors that I see in the supermarket are pretty unnatural too.) I buy rutabagas that are coated in wax, but they never bloom. > > > > Happy New Year, > > Dell > > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > > > > From: Joyce Miller > Sent: Sunday, January 3, 2016 3:16 PM > To: Pacific Bulb Society > Subject: [pbs] Christmas waxed Hippeastrum > > > > > > Hi Gang, > > > > This Christmas I purchased a Hippeastrum (aka Amaryllis) for my Sister. It > > was unusual because it had been waxed with instructions not to plant and not > > to water. In due time, it bloomed. I bought it out of insatiable > > curtiosity (with apologies to Kipling's tale of "How the Elephant Got His > > Trunk." As soon as it goes out of bloom, I plan to remove the wax coating, > > pot it and keep it in the house during the winter. My guess is the roots > > were shaved closely to the bulb plate. If so, the bulb might survive. It > > the plate was damaged not so good. > > > > Has anyone had experience with this wax treatment? > > > > Best wishes and Happy New Year to All > > > > Joyce Miller, Gresham, OR where it has been bitterly cold with a nasty wind > > chill factor to boot. At present it is snowing but barely sticking. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/