So they are selling inferior bulbs right now for the 50 percent off sale? Which is okay if they indicate it, and let me choose if I want to have that quality for 50 percent off price or not. But I clearly see that 8 bulbs are NOT 25 as mentioned in the other post. I haven't even received anything and I am upset already. 5 bulbs plus Supreme Garden weights 4.8 for my package... Wish I weren't worried. And I probably weren't if they sent me the information when promised and at least, sent me some information. I hope they work tomorrow, so I can reach them by phone.

Here is a photo of the Supreme Garden I received today from B&B.

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At least, the bulbs look healthy. If I get separated bulbs, I plant them up probably in one bunch with little space between then, then separate them after bloom, and pot them up one by one. That way they might multiply better and create real "klisters."

Nice bulbs Karilynn.

I wouldn't be the least bit concerned that your "klister" has seperated. After being handled so much in pulling orders and so on, it is to be expected. I seperated mine anyway as the clump was pretty congested already. I think you got a great deal!

As far as not having as many offsets as I got, that's just "the luck of the draw" due to the variations within a shipment.

Robert.

I don't have any complaint about them. I am totally happy with the bulbs I received and especially happy with the price and that they arrived before it got too cold. $18.00 was a bit steep for one bulb (klister), but $9.00 is fine! Bulbs are also nice and firm. I will pot them up today!

My WORST purchase this year!!!
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I will not complain about mine at all, either. There were 19 bulbs in my Supreme Garden package, and the roots were tangled, but otherwise, they were not attached to the mother bulbs. Many were tiny, and I can only imagine how fast they will multiply.

Soultan, is it possible that some of your email is not making it to your inbox? Perhaps, it is being tossed as spam?

My shipping cost was reasonable, and I am east of the Mississippi.

Good luck with your order. Some of mine are being potted today, and the rest are being potted tomorrow.

I am extremely pleased with the size and quality of the bulbs I received.

Maria,

Tease the roots apart gently, rinse them, and hopefully you will see some fat roots in there. Looks like one of yours tried to sprout. That can cause mold, so you definitely want to clean them before planting.

Good Luck!

I practically spent half a day today, taking care of this problem from seperating, detangling, and cleaning specially the mother bulb(MB). The MB was soft, got molds and red/brown mushy flesh inside it beside having this huge wound.

{{gwi:452875}}

I could have just thrown it away because that would still leave me 9 bulblets. But then that is just not me, I had to do something and rescue it. This is what's left of the MB. Wish me luck!!!

{{gwi:452876}}

Maria,

MB looks like she should at least make some more babies for you. I see good roots. You did a good job of cleaning her up. Have you thought about contacting B&B for a refund on this particular bulb cluster?

I purchased an Ackermanii (spell?) from Hirt's. I expected it to be small, and it was. The bulb was about the diameter of a quarter. I have no problem with that, even though it was priced high. The bulb is hard to find and has 4 tiny offsets already. It is also supposed to be hardy, and I plan to back cross it with Johnsonii WHEN it gets big enough to bloom.

I see offsets sometimes in my seedlings, even when they are so very tiny and less than a year old. That is one gene that I would like to carry on into future hippeastrum.

I don't know if I can grow Supreme Garden in my garden or not, but if it multiplies this well, I can let it multiply and give it a try in one of my warmer microclimate areas.

Seriously, if you are not pleased with your bulbs, then you should contact B&B. I have been very pleased with their bulbs and their service.

Soultan, It does look very much like a species. Perhaps it is a hybrid from species. I know that my Johnsonii has smaller bulbs. It multiplies well, but not this well.

Karilynn, You are going to love your Blossom Peacock. Do not put it in too small of a pot because it also multiplies very fast. And the bloom is GORGEOUS! It is definitely among my most favorite, if not the most...

Elizabeth,
All the e-mails reach my inbox, or if not, I check the bulk mail box, at least 5 times a day, whenever I sit down to the computer. Still no sign of communication from them. Seeing mariava's kluster didn't help calming me down. :o)

About Hirt's Gardens, or Seedmart, or Bulbmart on ebay: I got tired of their tricks and requested a charge-back on my Visa. Now they can try to prove their truth. It is a month passed by and they still have not resolved the issue with me about the rotten bulbs and the poor quality. I will definitely not do any business with them again. And yes, they are the horrible ebayer that I was talking about earlier. Be careful with them. They are extremely fast shipping, but their bulbs are medium to small size and I had 3 bad ones in my 10 bulbs order. Plus, as I said, it took a month to resolve the issue. I mean it took a month for me to finally take drastic steps against them and request the charge-back.
Second crook company on the net. Aaron's Cannas or TyTyGa, and now Hirt's Gardens, or Bulbmart, or Seedmart on ebay.

Yes, I informed B&B about this. I am an old customer of B&B and am very disappointed about this. This is the first time I received a BAD bulb from them though. First I called them up and they said they will give me a credit for it. Second, just to be sure, I emailed them and sent them the pic above. Supreme Garden for $9 not including shipping and VA tax is such a good bargain for me...NOT!!!!!

Soultan,

When I ordered from B&B at half price, I expected to get what was left, and I expected that these bulbs would be more aged than if I had purchased at full price earlier in the season. When I purchase left over Home Depot bulbs for $1 after Christmas, I know that they are not as good as fresh bulbs purchased at regular price.

I don't know the answer as to why you did not receive an immediate display of your order, including shipping and why you did not recieve the confirmation and shipping emails. That seems odd, and I hope that B&B can help you resolve that issue. My shipping charge was not small, by any means, but the package weighed over 8 lbs.

I agree with you that the Hirt's representative lacks professionalism and there is no doubt in my mind that eventually, this will hurt their business. Customer service is more crucial than most people want to give them credit for and it has to be a really hard job because people don't call when they are satisfied as much as they do when they have a complaint.

BTW, I salvaged my rotting bulb from Hirt's. It happens, and I expect mistakes from time to time. I just do not expect the rudeness that I received from their representative.

Maria's order did have a damaged bulb, and I hope that B&B will do what is right by her. However, I suspect that all of the other Supreme Garden bulbs will survive once planted. I also suggest that B&B set the expectations as to the size of the bulbs of this hippeastrum. They are smaller bulbs, and that is why they are sent as a cluster rather than a single huge, hybrid bulb.

My package from B&B weighed 8 lbs. The bulbs were all hippeastrum, and they were all healthy and large except the Supreme Garden which from Robert's photo and the fact that they are a cluster (klister), I expected smaller bulbs. I did not expect fresh bulbs that he received because I waited to order them until they were half price.

If I wasn't pleased, I would email them and take it from there.

Good Luck, and I do hope that all works out well for you!

Mariava~

I hope you can work something out with B&B.

I think if you peel and clean those bulbs and maybe apply some fungicide, you should be able to have a nice bunch despite the poor shape of the largest bulb which is clearly sick.

Good luck!

Robert.

Thank you guys for the support and encouragement. It helps so much in easing some of my disappointment. You all know how interested I am with this variety (klisters) and this is not a good start for me. I know the other bulbs will survive. I just wonder how long it will take for me to see them become a nice clump. I'm guessing 2 to 3 growing seasons, each bulb would be a decent klister on its own. I would definitely order Lovely Garden and get a nice healthy klister for $18.

I just went to my local garden store to check out how their "aged bulbs" looked like. All of them were firm and nice, not like the bunch that mariava received. So I actually don't believe that just because it is the first days of December, bulbs should look half dead. I also checked out the ones in my fridge, and they are the same, beautiful, firm, intact as they were when I got them. So just because of a sale, I don't expect that they actually send out the dead layers that fell off the already shipped out bulbs. If you sell inferior quality bulbs, please indicate in your web site that price 50% off for the remaining reduced quality bulbs.
Someone get me a bag! I am going hysterical. :o)

Soultan,

I don't understand...

All of my bulbs from B&B discounted 50% looked as good are better than those purchased locally even though they or aged. I did get the Supreme Garden, and thankfully, none had started sprouting. I think we should give Maria a chance to make amends with B&B over the disappointing bulb.

I had planned to pot my 8 lbs of B&B bulbs this weekend, but then came the news of impending record lows on Tuesday morning, so I have spent most of my time preparing for a possible 23 degrees F. when we rarely get below 28.

Give me some time, and when I get the chance, I will upload pictures of aged bulbs that look even better than what I purchased at Lowes, HD and Walmart.

Thank goodness! None are sprouting, and they can wait until this brutal cold front moves through, and we get back to normal temps... That should happen within the next week.

Cheers!

Ok. I am trying to calm down. it is just this stupid 3 day select that arrives in 7 days, for which I pay more than I paid for the bulbs, plus these horrible pictures... Plust the light weight for 5 bulbs + a cluster of Supreme Garden... I don't like disappointment and wasting money. That's all. Hopefully the package will be fine. I guess I am just disappointed after Hirt's Gardens' horrible customer service and I see the same with B&B now. I still have no confirmation of order, but the package is sent out!

Raydio posted a pic of his SG on Nov. 24, I received my SG on Dec. 1, Elizabeth received her SG Dec. 2. I just cannot assume that they aged that fast in a weeks time. Let's say Raydio got his SG like a month or two ago, but still, properly stored healthy bulbs would not deteriorate like the way my SG did. May it be 50% or 75% off sale or a "Free Gift", I think this SG should have not been shipped. I'll update you guys if they email me back tomorrow.

Good points, Mariava. I did receive my bulb a bit earlier than the 24th--I took the pic on Nov.2(the day I got them), but I agree that yours shouldn't have gone bad as quickly as they did. I think the problem is that they were received by B&B in pretty much that condition.

Robert.

Raydio...If B&B did receive it in that condition, then they should have resolved the problem with their supplier and NOT pass on the BAD bulbs to customers. I cannot find any reason or explanation why this SG was shipped except that maybe the person who packed my order was BLIND.

Maria's experience tells me that they are at the very end of their supply. Bulbs that normally would never be shipped are being tossed into boxes to keep up with the spike in orders. Many retailers have the mentality that they will ship whatever they have and just deal with the fallout as it comes. I am in the computer business and we ship new product, so we do not have the same issues as every item looks the same unless UPS crushes it. With live stock, ymmv.

Plant_Guy

Here is a link that might be useful: My Amaryllis Page

I agree, Maria. Somebody wasn't thinking "quality control".

But all that will happen is that B&B will get credit. :-(

Robert.

Hello everybody,

Just got my order. Bulbs all healthy, blossom peacock very nice size. Sorry Maria, wish you had the same luck as me, my stuff is in top shape, cannot complain one bit. Hope everyone else lucks out.

Plant_Guy

Here is a link that might be useful: My Amaryllis Page

My order arrived yesterday. I'm very happy with the bulbs I got, Supreme Garden, Amputo and San Remo.

Here's a photo of the Supreme Garden bulbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Supreme Garden bulbs

Nice-looking bunch Kniph.

Soultan ~ What happened with your B&B order? Did you ever get your bulbs?

Yes. I did.
But right now I have other problems. Will it ever end? I ordered an Aphrodite from someone and it is blooming as Nymph right now, and at the same time, a Pink Nymph is opening its first flower and it is white... Now I will plant all the other bulbs from this retailer. I hope all the others will not turn out to be something else too... I had a Nymph already. I didn't need to buy another from 13 dollars... I will get a call back on Monday, and by that time I will determine what the Pink Nymph turns out to be. I have beautiful flowers, but I didn't need them. :o)

Not a moment to spare to tell us about your SG, soultan?

We're all waiting to hear the follow-up.

Not a moment, because I don't have it. They billed it, but never sent it. No wonder that the package was so light. I got the other 5 bulbs and they look average. Some of them more dried out than others... Pink Impression has the tip of the bloom showing.
But right now I put all of them in the fridge and I am planting all the MZ bulbs. I want to make sure that they are true to name. I ordered 10 bulbs, and Aphrodite and Pink Nymph both turned out to be the original Nymph. I just sent them the photos and waiting for their call back. I don't know what solution they will offer.

What a bummer! :-((

Yes. Maybe this year was not my year. The next one should be lucky though or I lose everything. I hope all the bad things that wanted to get me got me already.

Mine looked something in between Karilynn's and Maria's, but I definitely did not have any rot on mine. They were dry as a bone.

I finally planted them in two pots today. In the spring, I will separate the smaller ones into separate pots and nurture them over the summer.

I see some growth starting on the larger ones, but even the larger ones are quite small.

I won't complain. I am thrilled to have them, but I will say that if I had paid $18 for these, knowing what Robert's and Knif's look like, I would be disappointed. That's the problem with mail order. You don't get to select the ones you like most. Typically, I look at the roots and will pick the one with better roots over a bigger one.

Now, I'm anxious to see if any will bloom this season!

One thing that bothers me about web businesses (including eBay)are ones that don't tell you the size of the bulbs. Not even in a range. I usually stop shopping right then.

I really should try emailing them to find out the size. Hopefully, they keep up with their mail and I wouldn't have to wait long to find out. That's important when I'm comparison shopping and find a good price but don't know what size bulb it is.

Robert.

I had to seperate my SG klister and potted them up in azalea pots. Most of them are showing green tips now and one (12 cm) is possibly giving out a scape. The mother bulb that I rescued is doing alright. Hope it roots before it dries out. I am quite amazed with SG as even the smaller seperated bulbs that are as thick as my smallest finger is showing some growth too. I think SG will be an easy one to take care of.

Mine are growing well in poor light and that's a good sign. I agree that it will be an easy-care vigorous grower. So far, it's just that.

message special to Robert ( raydio ) RE 'klister'

Hello Robert,
Some time ago you wondered where the name 'klister' came from. This intrigued me.
I asked some colleages at school ( i'm a teacher ) and they came up with the following:
( first in Dutch: you mention trying to look it up on the internet, so I suppose you have some idea of that language )
" In het etymologisch woordenboek (Van Dale) vind ik het volgende onder 'klister' :
klister (bolknop) van klis;
klis: plantengeslacht,verwarde,samenklevende massa; hangt samen met klei en klit.
kliester (nevenvorm : klijster en klister) is een andere naam voor bloembol; het Middelnederlands 'clister' heeft al de betekenis ui, knol. "

Translated that gives something like:
From the etymological dictionary: 'klister' :young bulblet; from 'klis' : plant-family ( Arctium Lappa !) twisted, clinging mass;
word has same basic meaning as 'clay' and 'cling'
Other forms: 'Kliester',and 'klijster' other names for (flower-)bulbs.
In medieval Dutch name for onion, bulb.

Well this was an interesting puzzle. We first checked out on the internet, but we didn't find the information either.
Glad there are books ! & never too old to learn something ...

I hope you're satisfied with this information.

Jaap ( NL )

Thank-you so much, Jaap. All I could get was something having to do with ski wax, LOL.

I have found that many horticultural terms are not to be found in most English dictionaries and see that this is true of the online Dutch dictionaries.

No, I don't speak a word of Dutch. I'm *very* glad you translated the explanation.

It is an apt way to describe the mass of bulbs and bulblets that typifies the growth of 'Supreme Garden' and 'Lovely Garden'.

Thanks to your friend, too.

Robert.

Here's the seperated SG bulbs now...

{{gwi:452878}}

I have two pots of these. The middle bulb as you can see has a scape coming out already and a baby. Very nice...

LOVELY!

I received my B&B order a few weeks ago. SG had many little bulbs. One was out of stock but I forget which one. I got them all planted and they are all showing signs of growth. No mold, mildew, soft bulbs or rot.

I have received rotten bulbs from B&B before, with one phone call the bulbs were replaced, and the replacement showed up in a couple of days.
They have a very good reputation & I have been very happy with everything I received from them.
While I have gotten healthy bulbs from Hirts they were always very small, and I didn't consider them a good buy for the money.
Good luck!
Tally HO!