I agree with Jane but have found two exceptions that can often, or do, cause obstacles when trying to get a new species from seeds rather than from bulbs. (A third one, that Bob Lauf alluded to is once you reach a certain age, you no longer have the expectation that you will see a flower from a seed-sown bulb if it takes many years to reach maturity, especially if it’s one of those rare or spectacular species. One example that comes to mind that falls in both categories (rare and spectacular) is Worsleya procera, which can take 7 to 10 years to flower from seed. I have found that people in this third category prefer getting a bulb so they can see it flower sooner rather than later.) But the other two categories that I’ve run into over and over are 1) The person only has once accession of the species and it is not self-fertile, but it produces offsets easily. (This is often the case with desirable rare Hippeastrum species.) 1b) The person has a particularly amazing variety of a species, and it is not self-fertile. 1c) The person has produced a particularly amazing hybrid that you want a clone of (like Mike Mace’s Moreas for example) 1d) You have clones all of the same original, that is not self-fertile, but you’re trying to get a bulb of a possible different clone—so that you can start to produce seeds 1e) Even with two different clones, some species are incredibly reticent to produce seeds, but produce offsets fairly easily. 1f) (Another version of 1e) All anyone anywhere ever has of a particular species is extra bulbs and no one seems to have been able to produce seeds of it anywhere in the world. 2) Certain kinds of “recalcitrant” or precocious seeds. These are seeds that can’t be stored and begin to germinate shortly after they are ripe. Some of these can actually withstand a long shipping period, like many of the Crinums, Clivias, and Hymenocallis, and related genera. I don’t know if Silverhill Seeds is still doing this, but back when the Saunders were doing it, you could sign up for an email list of these kind of seeds that would be sent out whenever some were ready to ripen. They had a really good process to get those into the mail as quickly as possible and ship them around the world. They cost a little more and the shipping was slightly more too. But I was able to grow every species I ever ordered from them. I only wish I’d been a little richer back then and been able to order everything they offered. However, the kind I’m talking about here are a special few genera that just won’t survive the shipping process or the delay. I’m not sure if it’s because they germinate too quickly and then dry out and die during shipping or what the problem is. Silverhill never offered seeds of these genera, so I had to go through with a group order a couple of times, and the bulbs were very expensive, plus I had to do the hemisphere shifting, so some didn’t make it. The two genera from South Africa I’m talking about are Gethyllis and Hessea. And then there are a couple from South America: Eithea and especially Griffinia. I even talked about this with Mauro Peixoto once upon a time, and he said they needed to be planted right away after ripening. His plants of several Griffinia species produce seeds all the time, but he says they never survive long enough to be viable upon arrival in North America or Europe. He did agree that the one viable method would be for someone to hand carry them on an airplane flight and sow them upon arrival. (Sadly, none ever had ripe seeds on the 3 occasions I had to visit him during a work project I did down there.😢) These are the two major categories of reasons why I found myself importing bulbs instead of seeds. --Lee Poulsen San Gabriel Valley, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 340 ft/100 m > On 12/26/2025 9:55 AM, Jane McGary via pbs wrote: >> I've been reading this thread as an outsider. I don't grow many South African bulbs because I don't have a heated greenhouse. I'm puzzled about why enthusiasts of these plants insist on buying bulbs from South Africa, with the risk of damage in transit and huge shipping expense, rather than obtaining seeds and growing their own plants, which should be easier to do and far less expensive. Almost all my bulbs (including a few African and South American species) were grown here from seed. It takes a while, but it's very gratifying when the flowers finally appear, and the bulbs increase enough to share or sell. > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…