Oh No!! Liezel, I can just imagine your frustration! It's a long process producing your own seedlings, from the planning, pollination, ripening, stratification, germination and finally the reward of admiring your own unique rose!

My DH is also always on at me about what I am going to do with all the seedlings but as you said, you don't keep them all - only the special ones!

As you say, water under the bridge. You'll have to try again next year

Sharlene

..I'm so sorry... I know you must be devastated....I expect the lady you hire is too...I know I would be....

So sorry, I know that would be very upsetting!

I am glad that you had a place to come and vent. I hear your anguish and my prayers go out to you.

So very sorry. (At least it wasn't done by family.) I'll guess that they weren't tossed on your compost pile (looking for a possible redemption.)

I cannot even imagine! I would be devastated too. I am so sorry to hear this.

So sorry!

Such a lot of your heart went into those rose seed babies. I'm so sorry. What a shame.

Carol :(

I am so sorry that all your work and the anticipation of wonderful outcomes has been erased in an instant. I think you are being a lot nicer than I might be. I hope you have a good talk with your help about what should be thrown away. Diane

I imagine you feel as though your hopes and dreams went into the trash along with the seeds. Two years ago I had an accident in my car and afterwards it was repaired so well that it looked better than it had for years. Some months later I was in another accident and my beautifully restored car that I was so happy about was completely smashed. I think that gives me quite a good insight in what you're going through now. However, after you pick yourself up again, you have a chance to start over. Just hang on to that thought.

So sorry. I can't imagine all the time and work that you put into this venture. There has to be a big, better plan in your future that the past has prepared for you. Good luck!

This is EXACTLY the place to post your disappointment. Of COURSE you're upset--how awful to lose something that required so much time & effort--how discouraging. I'm very sorry.

I lost a lot of roses in a hurricane & was so frustrated. You tell yourself that they are only *things*, that perhaps you shouldn't even have invested so much time & money in them, that folks around you every day suffer real losses & deal with serious issues...

And that's all true, but it's not very comforting to lose things that brought you innocent joy, things that brought delight & beauty to your everyday existence. This is the type of place where people truly do have an understanding of how disappointing & depressing such a setback is.

I recall many kind responses from others here when I posted my own *moan* about the losses. Really sweet, thoughtful words that were reassuring & compassionate.

I hope you feel better for having discussed it & hope you can look forward to next season, collecting your seeds into well-marked containers to store for next planting season. Best wishes

Oh so, so sorry to hear this. How devastating! Sending you lots of warm hugs.

I agree - this is indeed devastating, and you're right to come here to people that understand. It's not just the "things" but the possible creations you might have had that are now lost. All that planning and dreaming - to not even have a chance to live is much more disheartening than growing them and losing them. They never had the chance to be born, all because of someone else's misplaced thoughtlessness.

Our hearts go out to you. Don't lose hope for next year, but be sure to read the riot act to that cleaner for any future plantings.

Cynthia

Thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement! Yes, I will have a talk with the cleaning lady about the seeds in the drawer - all the zipper bags with seeds were nicely marked. I do however concede that it is possible that anyone not actively gardening will not have the faintest clue as to why all this weird stuff are stored in the fridge and "never "removed... And then I lost things like my Himalayan blue poppy seed as well-which took me more than 4 years to find a few seeds. O well, its a new day, the sun is just rising on the horizon, and spring is around the corner. Still very sad that I lost them though and I was really looking forward to see some of them flowering by Christmas. The prospect of waiting more than another year is not a very pleasant idea. Yet, I am grateful for second chances in life and the privilege to do things that I love and to live life with people whom I love. For even the beauty and excitement of a new rose will be somewhat diminutive if you cannot share the excitement with those around you. Hope all of you have a lovely day (or night) ahead; thank you once again for all your kind words.

stillanntn6b: Unfortunately not on the compost heap or even in the garage;

bethnorcal9: you had me chuckling - but it is sad when the out-dated food is still at the back of the fridge and the seed drawers nicely cleaned out ;-)

Ingrid: I can just imagine your heartache with your car! and the costs involved! We moved into our house almost two years ago. The area around us was still being developed and somehow our car window was smashed. We replaced the window but unbeknown to us a little rat made his abode in the car during the brief time that there was no window. We only realized that the little rat must have become quite a big rat feeding on car parts after all electronic functions on the car went haywire when driving home in a thunderstorm some time later. It was a write-off. DH still gets embarrassed every time I tell the story, although I still wonder why the poor rat must have had such an Iron deficiency! But on a serious note Ingrid, my heart also aches for you when I think of your drought and the effect it must have. I think of your roses each time I water my Mutabulis. I really hope that the drought will soon be a thing of the past.

Bluegirl: A hurricane must be a totally horrible experience!! Much harder to start from scratch with such a disaster! The worst we have over here is the occasional major hail storm, but thankfully it does not happen very often.

I'm sorry! It IS disappointing, but please do not "read the cleaning lady the riot act". Yes, perhaps she should has ASKED you about the seeds, but perhaps you should also have mentioned to her what they are and to kindly not molest them. Before the move, I had a refrigerator in which to store my seeds. Unfortunately, it isn't here in this house, so the kitchen fridge gets to hold them. Even though it is well known my seeds will be refrigerated, I brought attention to them and asked they not be mistakenly molested or destroyed. I resent spending such time, energy and thought to something like this and having it eliminated. I thought it only kind to us both to make sure they were safe and wouldn't be in the way where I placed them. I'm not blaming you for your misfortune, but hoping it may be something to keep in mind to prevent further disappointment. I wish I could help by sending you seeds of things you may find interesting. I know what's involved sending them to Australia, but not South Africa. Would you like to do some investigating to see if it might be possible? It could provide you with some replacement pleasure and excitement! Good luck. If the cleaning lady was otherwise satisfactory, treat her like the blessing she is!

Liezel, I am so glad you shared your loss here, with people who truly understand and empathize. I hope sharing your tragedy has helped. I also pray you will again find some of the one-of-a-kind seeds, that they will come into your life again.

My heart goes out to you. I was hysterical (just briefly) one year when my husband forgot to open the window on my cold frame when I went to work and fried all of the vegetable and flower garden seedlings that I had started in late winter and had been nursing along all spring. This is in no way comparable to your loss. I hope you will not be deterred. Chin up. I think it is fantastic that you had the knowledge and ability to accomplish what you did up to that point.

OMG! I would be beside myself with grief and anger. I will have to make sure that I put a big sign on my bag of hips in the fridge that says "DO NOT TOUCH"!

I feel sick at the thought of it. What a miserable thing to happen.

Just an update. I spoke to the cleaning lady (very nicely). I told her about my seeds in the past so I was wondering how she could have forgotten and whether she might have misunderstood me somehow. It turns out that it probably was her adult daughter when she came to help out while her mother was off sick. Actually, I did not know beforehand that her daughter was coming to help out, and I only saw her when she arrived. Unfortunately, it was a very hectic two weeks at work as one of my colleagues had her baby early and I had to work additional days to see some of her patients as well as mine and I never had the opportunity to discuss all the ins and outs with the cleaning lady's daughter. So I guess she also thought of helping her mom and helping me by going the extra mile.

In addition, it is also fair to state that with eleven official languages, English is only a second or third language for most people and unfortunately many of the older people never had access to proper educational opportunities, restricting them to very basic literacy, so even nicely marked items can get discarded on occasion. So it just once again confirms that good communication is an art worth practicing.

I had a separate fridge which I originally intended for my bulbs and stratifying rose seeds but the guy that helped me with digging the garden beds after we moved into our home really had his heart set on a fridge (which is also a luxury for many poor people over here) and I eventually gave it to him.

But lesson learned! I will be sure to come up with a creative way to prevent this from happening again! ( I also have to take into account two inquisitive toddlers with a knack for sowing entire seed packets, an aptitude for "weeding" and planting the flowers in flower arrangements, whom might pretty soon also discover any horticultural treasure in the fridge...)

Kim, I REALLY appreciate your kind offer regarding the seeds and it would be a great privilege growing some of them (you have me very, very excited at the prospect). I will contact our agricultural department in order to find out about any restrictions / regulations and come back to you. Thank you once again for the offer!!!

All of you: thank you for letting me vent, I appreciate your "listening" and kindness.

You're welcome, Liezel! Please let me know what you find out. Sending them to Australia is detailed but not terribly overwhelming. Hopefully, South Africa will be similarly "simple". Good luck! Kim

Liezel, your handling of this situation speaks volumes about the quality of your character. Your point about language is so right on. Several years ago, I knew a beautiful woman from Congo. She spoke and understood English quite well, but it was her 3rd language. When I was ill, she helped clean my house. Bless her, she threw out my sourdough starter (necessary for baking sourdough breads). I had had that starter for nearly 30 years and had carefully moved it all over California then to Atlanta and then to North Carolina. And then it was gone forever. I never berated Miss Bettina for it; she had no way of knowing that was not a jar of spoiled food of some sort.

Liezel - you are right of course to take the high road in your discussion, and only vent to us who understand. I among others was venting right back to you, but you clearly have a good understanding of human nature and everyone involved will be wiser and more able to listen with your kind approach. It's good to know that it's not that she didn't understand your previous reminders, but that someone else was doing the care when she was out and they didn't know the situation. Hopefully good will still come out of this, particularly with Kim's kind offer of sharing seeds with you!

Cynthia

Liezel, gosh, I just realized you were also anticipating (your) spring planting--oh, what rotten luck!

A dedicated refrigerator sounds great. May your good deed come back to bless you! Perhaps you can pick up another soon, at a resale shop or garage sale? Don't know what it's like in SA, but here, "dorm refrigerators" are common at a fairly modest price, if that size might work. Full sized ones aren't too bad if purchased from folks moving.

And I must admit, it's a bit reassuring, even amusing to read of other folk's mishaps. Somehow sharing them takes the sting out enough to even bring a smile. I'm thinking of the pampas grass my mother babied along in a very difficult climate, only to watch from the kitchen window, too far away, my brother mowing it down with the tractor. Mowing it very well, backing up to make sure he got it all....

Just this past week some critter rummaged through my cuttings & budded cuttings. Some things were merely dumped & stacked, others--things I'd been nursing along a YEARRRRR!!!!!, arrrgggghhhh!!! were pulled up *&(#2!!!!

Oh, well, as my New York pal would say "whaddaya gonna do? *shrug*"

I like to whine to the sympathetic audience on the rose forum ;-)

Damn! I feel your pain. You can only make plans to make sure it doesn't happen again. Try buying a small used refrigerator for seeds only. Once bought, place a bio-hazard sign on the door, lol.

Hi Kim: Just some feedback if you are still able to part with some of your seeds. I've sent you a message on Houzz along with my email address but don't know if it reached you. (I am still trying to figure out the app.) I contacted our agricultural department regarding the requirements and as far as I can gather, I only need to apply for a permit. I would however like to forward the docs to you to see if I understand correctly (if you do not mind?)as I have never imported anything before.

To all of you: thank you for letting me share my disappointment and for all your kind comments!

We lost my many of grandma's family photos that way. Someone left the box out on her carporch and then the gardeners tossed it away. We all wish it never happened but what can you do? I'm hoping this next year's hard work will yield some extrordinary roses.

Hi Liezel, Houzz didn't alert me to a message. Fortunately, I found your post here and have responded to your email. I am just starting to harvest hips now and will continue for the next 100+ days as I have still been making last minute crosses of the odd things I'm curious about. Let's see what's required by the paperwork you forward. I would suggest that if Ag. Dept. inspections are required, we not proceed. Those can run several hundred dollars now, which is a prime reason I never used my latest import permit. Getting them through the entry inspections and then the on site inspections would have run several times the cost of the plants and shipping. Keep your fingers crossed! Thanks. Kim

What a tragedy. It is certainly true that communicating with cleaning ladies is important, and can sometimes be complicated.

The first time our new service came to our house (5 ladies, one of whom spoke English), they broke both of my brand new dishwashers, and also a brand new expensive stove/oven. They sprayed cleaning whatever all over the front of them, and scrubbed (these ladies are great cleaners, and scrub everything until it shines). Well, of course all three appliances had computerized controls on the front of them, which got fried as the controls took the scrubbing as input. Luckily, all three appliances were still on warranty, so it didn't cost us anything. Learned my lesson. With some investigation I discovered that all three had a "lock" command, which made it so that they ignored any instructions. Also I now have little bi-lingual notes I put on the controls of each every week, which say "please do not spray anything on the electronic controls", with arrows pointing to the controls. It works - no problems in the past 4 years.

I also have little notes in the living room on an antique clock, and shelves containing a fragile collection, that say "please do not touch". Of course, I don't dust those shelves myself as often as I ought to. One day after the ladies left, I found a very polite note to the effect that they thought I should dust those shelves!

Jackie

LOL, Jackie!

A neighbor/friend had a (wonderful, truly) cleaning lady scrub off the patina of an antique copper piece--the century or two old patina that increased its value & beauty, impossible to duplicate. Dang, that lady must have scrubbed for HOURS to get it like that--it shone like a mirror & our neighbor said she was so proud of her labor.

Our friend is very kind & soft spoken, she just held back her tears & gently explained to the lady to please not scrub down the antique things.

Whaddaya gonna do?

The same neighbor's little boy, with my little brother, tediously removed all the *nasty* tags on my Mother's roses & other plants & told her proudly of their good deed...

Perhaps there is Karma. My mother & her sister, when they were little girls, would pick a neighbor lady's flowers &then knock on her door to present them to her. The dear old lady would always throw up her hands & exclaim to her husband, "look, dear! the girls have brought me flowers!"

Then she would invite them in & serve them tea in her tiny little antique porcelain cups.

Aren't some folks kind? You can be sure, 80+ years later, Mother never forgot the kindness of that sweet lady.