Re: Open house at Probst nursery
- Subject: Re: Open house at Probst nursery
- From: V*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 20:50:42 EDT
I traveled (way) out to Hubbardston, MA, today to look at Darrell Probst's
epimediums. They weren't entirely as usual because of our week of hot
weather in April followed by several nights of killing frost for Darrell, but
there were interesting plants to see there. I was especially impressed by
the varieties of seedlings he's growing on. There was a nice selection of
plants for sale, so my epimedium collection is now vastly expanded (from 2 to
9!)
We were talking about seed, as of course epimedium seed is dead as soon
as it dries out and I was bemoaning the fact that my happy association with
Plant World and Chiltern's is probably at an end because of the APHIS
regulations. If I interpreted him correctly, he actually sees less risk of
infestation with imported well-washed plants than with seed, which I thought
was pretty safe. He had the experience of opening a box of seed from a
reputable dealer in South Africa and having a goodly number of insects fly
out of the box. Unseen in the packing, they had developed and matured in
transit. This certainly has never happened to me with seed from PW and
Chilterns, but it rather gives one to think. I'm still upset about the
blanket restrictions, though, and the very idea of a "white list."
Speaking of seeds, I have two arisaema triphyllum plants blooming for
this first time this spring from seed I planted probably seven years ago.
(Native American seed from the Garden in the Woods, I want you to know.) I
live for this sort of thing.
Vivien
Norwood, MA, Zone 6
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