Chen Yi Nursery

[Lesley Cox]

Just about all the pictures we see of Trillium on the Forum threads are of western species, especially chloropetalum.

[arisaema]

Just about all the pictures we see of Trillium on the Forum threads are of western species, especially chloropetalum.

But we're hardly an average selection of gardeners Look at the selection at any European nursery, and you'll find that the species on offer are almost exclusively Eastern.

[Lesley Cox]

Can you give me a few nursery examples please?

[Tim Ingram]

I think this shows the danger of being too specific as well as overgeneralising! It is certainly my experience that the western trilliums are realtively easy from seed, but I haven't great experience of growing eastern species. But surely the principle that plants are better grown from seed and distributed this way is so much more environmentally sound than collecting plants in the wild that it should be encouraged as much as possible - and at the end one has to make a personal decision about this. After all gardening at its heart must have strong environmental foundations to do with sustainable uses of the world we live in - see my article in the AGS Bulletin.

[arisaema]

But surely the principle that plants are better grown from seed and distributed this way is so much more environmentally sound than collecting plants in the wild that it should be encouraged as much as possible - and at the end one has to make a personal decision about this.

Indeed, but to make that personal decision it's important to know all the facts, and I'm rather amazed that people aren't more aware of where most of the Trillium being sold actually come from... I am not saying there aren't a few nurseries raising Trillium from seeds, but they are few and far between.

Lesley;
It wouldn't be fair to post links to a select few nurseries when this is something everyone does, so I'll send them to you on PM.

[Gerry Webster]

.......to make that personal decision it's important to know all the facts, and I'm rather amazed that people aren't more aware of where most of the Trillium being sold actually come from...

I don't grow Trilliums, but how are the  people who do able to discover these facts? And likewise for other plants?

[Afloden]

 A little research goes a long way, but its not always easy. I know for a fact Tony Avent at Plant Delights grows all his Trillium from seed -- I've seen the operation first hand.

 The influx of most plants from China in the past decade is due solely to Chen Yi/Kaichen nursery. Think of Podophyllum, Diphylliea, Asarum spp., Polygonatum, Smilacina/Maianthemum, Hepatica yamatutai and henryi, Paris spp., Paeonia, Arisaema, Fritillaria, etc. The list goes on. For a short while there were many nurseries who imported, marked-up, and resold her material without much thought or care to identify it. The nurseries that offer a lot of these genera without collections numbers likely to have obtained there material via Chen Yi.

 For all we know she pays for a permit which is no different than the resellers of Trillium in the eastern US. Some of these resellers also offer the associated woodland plants for very cheap also. One, at least, has been in operation in eastern Tennessee for over 30 years, collecting from the same land each year without noticeable harm to the populations of the species frequently sold; sulcatum, luteum, erectum, grandiflorum, and cuneatum.

 

[arisaema]

I don't grow Trilliums, but how are the  people who do able to discover these facts? And likewise for other plants?

You could just ask them? With some it's blatantly obvious, a certain purveyor of rare plants used Chen Yi's pictures in his catalogue in the past, and misidentifications of hers are often carried on. With Trillium it's easier to tell after the fact, by looking at the size and age of the rhizome. Some nurseries can probably plead ignorance having bought the rhizomes from Dutch wholesalers like Eurobulb or Dix, but that doesn't make the plants themselves any less wild collected...

Aaron;
From what I've understood it's completely legal for Chinese citizens to collect wild plants on public lands, as long as they stay out of national parks. Collection for horticulture is obviously a relatively new thing, but they've traded in medicinal plants for hundreds if not thousands of years - some minorities apparently depend on this trade to survive.

[Gerry Webster]

I don't grow Trilliums, but how are the  people who do able to discover these facts? And likewise for other plants?

You could just ask them?

That presupposes I could believe the answers, if any.

[Lesley Cox]

It wouldn't be fair to post links to a select few nurseries when this is something everyone does, so I'll send them to you on PM.

Thanks Arisaema, as you'll realise there's no possibility that I'll be supporting those or any other European nurseries because of our own MAF regulations but it would interest me to know who does sell Trilliums in the Northern Hemisphere. Many Americans say they can't be bought at all in the States so they MUST collect plants from the wild.

Do you grow T maculatum? If you would like a few seeds I have just picked a pod yesterday so very fresh. It is a good form with well coloured flowers and good leaf markings.

Lesley

[Lesley Cox]

I suppose the ethics are identical in each case, where the Chinese collectors are concerned but frankly I'd rather see plants collected from the wild than bears and tigers trapped, chained and held for their "medicinal" attributes. Better not get into a further discussion here though.

[Lesley Cox]

This thread has apparently been split in two. Where is the other bit please?

[Maggi Young]

This thread has apparently been split in two. Where is the other bit please?

It is here Lesley: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8501.0
I split it off because it was nothing to do with Chen yi.