The Southern African Bulb Group will be running its Annual Bulb and Seed Exchange again this year, for SABG members only.  We are hoping to run the exchange on the same timing as last season, so material is sent out in early September, and can be planted and started into growth in a timely fashion.  I know this caused problems for a few of you, but generally it worked very well.

This Exchange is now a key part of our activities, so we are hoping for at least as many of you as before, if not more, to provide your spare bulb or seed material for the benefit of other members!  It has been a difficult spring, but I am hoping that many of you will have had more time to spend in your garden collecting seeds, and will have a chance to get the summer repotting done nice and early.

Please note that although we call it an exchange, if you don’t yourself have material to offer, you will still be able to request seeds or bulbs from the list in exchange for a suitable donation to cover at least the cost of postage and packing.  The page on Payments provides some information on ways to pay.

I would like to clarify our policy regarding sending items to overseas members. We are only able to send material to overseas members in ways complying with their government’s regulations (i.e. no mis-labelling of contents etc), and only when conforming with those regulations is neither too onerous, nor expensive (e.g. we cannot issue phytosanitary certificates etc). We expect the relevant member to be able to guide us in following their government’s requirements. Although we’ll do our best to comply with the regulations where possible, we cannot be held responsible for any bulbs or seeds which are confiscated.

In effect, this means that we are unable to send bulbs outside Europe, but can send seeds to some countries, if the member is conversant with their regulations.

The timetable this year is as follows: 

• If you have bulbs or seeds available, please post them to Jon Evans, 46 Upper Way, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 8RF, UK, to arrive by Saturday 15th August.  Please try to clean the donations as well as you can – if you don’t, I have to.  And please seal them carefully – Newsletter 36 contained instructions for making seed envelopes out of sheets of blank paper.  Please include a list of your donations, if possible containing the following information.  If you can send the list by email that would be brilliant. 

  • Genus
  • Species (including subspecies / cultivar name where relevant)
  • Source (when the item is derived from wild collected material it is useful to know a location for the collection)
  • Notes (any other information about the item you feel is useful)
  • Seed or Bulb
  • South African or 'Other'
  • Approximate quantity (for bulbs and large seeds)

• If you expect to have them available later, by the end of August, please send me a list of your intended donations, with any supporting information, by email or post, to arrive by Saturday 15th August.  My email address is jonevans46.uw@btinternet.com.  Please send any such donations to me by Saturday 29th August at the latest.

• I will then prepare the Bulb and Seed Exchange list of available material which I will email out to Members by 17th August.  Should you require a paper list to be sent to you by post, please send me before this date a self-addressed envelope suitable for two or three folded sheets of A4 paper (with the correct postage attached if you live in the UK).   

• Please send any late, promised donations to me by 31st August at the latest.
• After you have received the Bulb and Seed Exchange list of available material, please send your wishlist to me, to arrive by 29th August.  I will then start the despatch process. 
• Then it’s up to you to grow the plants and enjoy them! 

I hope you find this exercise valuable and perhaps obtain some new plants.  Of course, its success depends on the generous efforts of the donors, so please check whether you have some spares you can donate.

Best wishes

Jon Evans