Chen Yi lists

[William Perez]

In answer to a question about Kaichen that I recently posted to a nursery
person in Washington:

"That would be the nursery.  I did order about 10 different plants in
quantities of three each to see for myself last fall and it was very
obvious that these were wild collected.  Very old rhizomes and bulbs of
vary uniformity.  The Peonies were old gnarled crowns that had been hacked
off short which made me ill.  I believe there was some discussion last year
on Alpine-L and i hear that one person went to Beijing and visited the
nursery which was simply an apartment stacked with piles of plants.  There
is no way to successfully cultivate the array of difficult genera
represented especially the orchids and paris and some of the obscure plants
such as Corrallidiscus which expert alpine growers can get a rosette the
size of a quarter in 5-6 years from seed.  Many of the orchids are
impossible to cultivate according to the botanists at the Kunming Botanical
Garden so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that mature
plants are not nursery grown.  I know of several nurseries who have ordered
plants by the hundreds and multiply that by the world it just makes me ill.
These nurseries who profess to never dig from the wild are fostering
wild-digging at a far higher level than they could ever accomplish
themselves by ordering plants through this broker. I appreciate your
interest and concern."


I received her catalogue in which she urges customers not to purchase
plants from nurseries, particularly from India, China and Japan, that
purport to sell 'nursery-grown' plants such as Smilacina, Polygonatum,
Paeonia mairiei, P. szechuanica, Dysosma, Paris, Trillium, Cypripedium,
Bletilla, uncommon Pleione, Pepatica henryi, Fritillaria and a host of
Arisaema and other plants.   I had purchased many plants from Kaichen
nursery that promptly died.  I thought it was my own brown thumb at fault,
but became suspicious when Ray mention his experiences, so I asked her if
one of the nurseries she was referring to was indeed Kaichen, and she
replied with the above.

I remember a while back that a discussion was raised about Kaichen.  I can't
remember which list as I belong to too many, and I also can't remember the
subject of the discussion except that it was either that customers were
upset over the nomenclature or that they were unsure about the truthfulness
of Kaichen's claim of not engaging in wild dug plants, or maybe both.

In my mind there are so many replies floating around.  I remember a reply to
nomenclature stating that it was unfair for people to be upset with Chen Yi
because she was working very hard against so many dead ends and
uncertainties, and I also remember a reply stating that the plants were
grown in various peasant landholdings and that profits were distributed
among them.

Obviously, I'm confused.  So, I would just like to know what exactly is
Kaichen's status as a 'correct' place' from which to purchase plants.  Does
anyone know, or is it just another one of those buyers beware situations?

Sincerely,

William Perez





"George R Stilwell, Jr." wrote:

> Bill,
>
> Better still your heart by looking through the Arisaema-L archives on the
> subject of Kaichen
> Nursery. Jan Renfroe ran a massive combination order for AEG a while ago.
> The results
> were quite variable. One certainty is that very few things were what they
> claimed to be.
> Still, the material is often unique. Several nurseries are importing Chen
> Yi's plants and
> offering them at typical U.S. prices, hpoefully after properly
> identifying them.
>
> My own experience was not so good. Of the 39 plants I received, only two
> plants
> survivea little over a year later. Most didn't survive the winter arrival
> in 1998.
>
> Everyone reached their own conclusion, mine is that the local prices are
> less expensive
> than the net cost of what I finally have to show from 2 different Chinese
> nursery orders.
> On the other hand, it's an adventure.
>
> Ray
> <GRSJr at Juno.com>
>
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