This year's Crocus cvijicii...

[mark smyth]

I've now sent an email to the nursery for some clarity and removed my post above. If this is supposed to be Crocus korolkowii 'Dytiscus' and all we get is C. korolkowii ?'Agailk', or similar, a lot of people will not be happy in coming weeks when their corms flower.

[Alex]

Was just in the greenhouse, and noticed that the bud on Dytiscus is much darker than it was - in theory it could continue to darken I suppose....not that this proves anything but I may have to concede the possibility that it could be the right plant. Good job I didn't mention any names, eh!  Crocus cvijicii seems wronger than ever, though. So a phone call still in order.

Alex

[Gerry Webster]

Was just in the greenhouse, and noticed that the bud on Dytiscus is much darker than it was - in theory it could continue to darken I suppose....not that this proves anything but I may have to concede the possibility that it could be the right plant.

Alex - I have dim memories of the reintroduction into the UK of Bowles' 'Dytiscus' some years ago by the supplier you are dealing with. If my memory can be trusted, he said it had been preserved by someone in Latvia. I wonder if this could be Janis &, if so, whether he has any comments on  how the colour develops? My understanding of 'Dytiscus' is of a flower whose outer petals are dark brown with a narrow yellow margin.

[mark smyth]

48 hours and no reply from the supplier re supplying wrong bulbs

[Gerry Webster]

48 hours and no reply from the supplier re supplying wrong bulbs

Mark - did you email via the website? I believe emails which are not sent in this way are treated as spam.

[mark smyth]

yeah that's how I sent the email

[Maggi Young]

What the blue blazes can any kind of business be thinking that only accepts emails from a certain provenance?
I never heard anything so stupid.
That's as daft as saying that only enquiries with an SAE will be replied to .....cutting off one's nose to spite one's face comes to mind here. One thing to encourage an SAE, another to insist on it.

 I did visit a site recently that says that since they are busy,  they will try to answer your query within a week .... I didn't bother even trying.

Here at the SRGC "world wide hub of communication" anyone emailing gets an automated response, so that they know their email is headed in the right direction and I make every effort to respond PRONTO, either with a complete answer, or with a note that the matter has been passed on to a rlevant person to deal further etc... I would consider this to be the least that can be expected ...now I know the SRGC has this reputation as the being one of the friendliest places and yes, I am a volunteer.... but in any situation where a business  has employees, or even if a small family run enterprise, communication with the "public" is paramount. How often do you see travellers, incandescent with rage at an airport, held up for some reason.... they are full of rage becasue no-one is telling them anything.... they always say... "why can't we be told what's going on? We just need to know that."

When I was in gainful employment (ah, those happy far off days!) if I failed to respond for a week, or not at all, I would have been in a dole queue faster than Chris Hoy can circle a cycle track!
I am horrified that anyone in a position as a contact for any company or organisation should take this attitude and position. It cannot be  cost effective in the long run and  you wouldthink that that fact alone would galvanise them to do better.

 It is something I feel very strongly about.... you may have guessed that fact!

[mark smyth]

I feel the heat of your rant all the way here. Phew!

[David Nicholson]

Not a woman to be crossed Mark. 

Dear Moderator can we please have an emoticom for 'fear'

[mark smyth]

I bought from the same supplier Leucojum 'Podpoloje', or similar spelling. It's known for it's yellow tips. That spring the tips were green so I contacted him. He says let it settle and it will be yellow the following spring. Well many years later they are still green tipped.

[Maggi Young]

Not a woman to be crossed Mark. 

Dear Moderator can we please have an emoticom for 'fear'

 I hear and respond, dear Forumist.... a selection for you .....

                                                 
     
                                                                        
       
                                  

   
                       

[David Nicholson]

This one will do:-

[Alex]

And to top it all, it seems that I was wrong about the Dytiscus - the dark bud was aborting. there's one more bud which is far too light still (and photos of similar stage buds online are completely different) . Phone call tomorrow, it is usually possible to get hold of him that way and the email route is clearly not working!

[Alex]

just to let you know - I called the nurseryman, who was polite and said he had heard from someone else that Dytiscus looked like a bog- standard korolkowii, so would issue a credit or refund no problem. As for the cvijicii, he told me that the species was variable, and I was probably thinking of the best Mt. Vermion forms which his wasn't, so as he hadn't heard from anyone else about it could I hold on until flowers are out; of still clearly wrong then he will refund. So overall a good result, although disappointing that I don't have the plants I thought I did.

[Armin]

I bought from the same supplier Leucojum 'Podpoloje', or similar spelling. It's known for it's yellow tips. That spring the tips were green so I contacted him. He says let it settle and it will be yellow the following spring. Well many years later they are still green tipped.

Mark,
somewhere recently I read by chance "magnesia" causes the green color tips on Leucojum. I tend to believe it because I made a similar observation in my garden. Did you fertilize them?