Jane, I've been meaning to write to you regarding my concerns about Al. I donated a fair amount of Biarum zellebourii which was mailed on Aug. 26, with an enclosed note tht the bulbs were starting to break dormancy or something like that, that they needed to be sent out very soon. To date I've seen nothing to indicate he has done this or in fact has he sent out a BX in the last month or so at least. I've heard rumors to the effect (I can cite a source if you need it.) that a long-time member sent in a number of bulbs, never saw them distributed on the BX and located them being sold by Al on Ebay. Apparently there has been at least one other situation similar. We have a board meeting coming up and Arnold is aware of the situation because all three complaints (including mine) were made to him. There may be others I'm not aware of. Arnold has never received a payment from a Chinese person Al sent bulbs to and this amount was about $40, plus the man was not a member. This followed on the $20 or so Al spent to send a package to a ?friend who was not a member although he claimed she was joining (not so far substantiated). I've just been wanting to give you some background as Nhu doesn't seem very concerned. I haven't made this known but have only discussed this with Arnold. Nhu may be too busy - I don't know. This just concerns me and I refuse to keep quiet. At the same time, I want to be circumspect and not upset anyone by going overboard, but I do feel this needs to be discussed and absolutely dealt with. Thanks for bending an ear, Robin Hansen Nursery robin@hansennursery.com -----Original Message----- From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of Jane McGary Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2019 12:39 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Seed donation time The PBS's popular BX offers seeds as well as bulbs, and now is the time (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least) to donate seeds. I just got mine ready to mail to both PBS and NARGS (PBS got the rarer ones, of course!). I hope others will participate and that we'll have an especially good seed list this fall. The address for the manager: Albert Stella, 2712 Knowles St., Raleigh, NC, 27603, USA. Please remember to tape your seed envelopes at both ends, rather than depending on the adhesive that comes with them. As intake manager for the NARGS exchange for 3 years, I opened far too many mailers to find a residue of mixed seeds that had leaked out. Also, if you're sending seeds that contain a lot of moisture, such as Paeonia, the moisture will loosen the glue that holds a paper envelope together, causing the envelope to fall apart, so these are best sent in a moisture-proof packet of some kind. Members are particularly eager to obtain seed of species that can be grown in temperate or even cold-winter regions without a heated greenhouse. Many people join PBS to obtain bulbs, but are disappointed when the BX doesn't satisfy them. Please consider growing your geophytes from seed. I seem to recall that an article I wrote for NARGS on the subject was on the PBS website at one time; if it's not there now, I can resubmit it. With a little patience (or, in some cases, a lot), you can raise several clones of a rare species and begin to harvest seeds from them. Eventually you'll be able to share with others. I've even sent seeds answering requests from botanic gardens and preserves. About 85% of my collection was originally grown from seed, much of it collected in the wild by the plant explorers to whom we owe so much (see the "Sources" page on the PBS website for information on seed lists). Thanks for contributing! Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA/PBS Membership Coordinator _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…