Delivery and times of shipment
Generally we ship seedlings sealed in sterile-packs where they neither carry, nor are exposed to bacteria and other pathogens. Shipping is from September to April/May. Our seedlings tolerate cool temperatures well, but not heat, and this is why we do not ship during the summer months.
Bulb size
We point out that our plants are rarely blooming size. In general, lily species establish themselves more easily if they are planted at a young age when they can become adjusted to the location and the nature of the soil. The failure rate is higher in freshly planted flowering-size lily bulbs.
Some lilies can reach flowering-size after 1 year (s0-1).
The designation (s2-3) indicates an expected flowering in about 2-3 years. Seedlings of this size are ideal for planting, potting, and getting used to their new surroundings. (s3-4) are seedlings that need a few more years to flower. Some experience and horticultural skills are required here. For (s3-4) we recommend pot culture in a well-protected area initially.
Taking care of the seedlings
When receiving the seedlings in autumn or winter continue to give them an appropriate rest period. This is done through a cool storage period. In most cases, we recommend removing the seedling from the sterile packaging immediately and removing any medium residues. It is best to use warm water for this. Our media is sugary and all these residuals need to be removed before planting. You may use a soft brush for this. Some lily bulbs show only weakly adherent scales so be especially careful that these do not fall off. Then plant or pot the lilies in a substrate that is conducive for that particular species and with which you have already had good experience. At this point we would like to refer you to the various literature and websites which provide comprehensive information about the cultural requirements of individual species.
With regard to winter-shipping, some of our customers have reported good success when the lilies remain sterile packed and are stored in a cool and dark place (refrigerator) until being removed and cleaned just prior to planting in late winter or early spring.
Clones and Clone-codes
All of our lilies are tagged with their own clone-code. This enables the batch, origin and processing in our laboratory to be traced. If you intend to pollinate and crossbreed the lilies later, paying attention to the clone-code can prevent inbreeding. Therefore, please label the lily not only with its species but also with its clone-code.
We try to offer most of our lilium species in 4-6 different clones. As a rule, this will be staggered. We only keep the respective tissue in the clone bank for reasons of species protection and there is no resumption of propagation for commercial reasons.
More than 99% of our lilies are raised from seeds and these seedlings are then tissue-cultured (tc) as in-vitro seedlings (iv-s).
In addition to the tissue-cultured lilies, we occasionally also offer “individual clones” (ic). These are clones that have never been tissue-cultured and the customer can be sure to receive a unique clone which is, for example, particularly suitable for pollination since there is sufficient genetic diversity. The designation numbers of the “individual clones” are assigned by us.
In less than 1% of the tissue-culture we are dependent on processing “in-vivo bulbs” (iv-b) as base-material. Although the transmission of viruses from the bulb represents a potential risk with this propagation method the virus would be expressed very quickly due to the stress to which the seedlings are exposed during hormonal treatment and the seedlings would show clear signs of infection whilst still in-vitro. In this case the whole batch would be cancelled and destroyed for safety reasons. So even when cloning in-vivo bulbs we can be assured that virus-free material results and is processed by us.
Plant-list, prices, tax, ordering, postage and additional fees
We try to publish a more or less modified plant list every month during the shipping period. As a rule, the list is published at the beginning of the month and an order can be placed until the middle of the same month. The orders are then prepared and shipped when the payment has arrived. We provide the plants with a plant passport and, if necessary, with a phytosanitary certificate.
Due to the small business regulation, we do not need to charge sales tax. As shipping costs are so variable we have opted for a flat shipping fee of 15 Euros within Europe, with shipping being free on orders with a value of more than 250 Euros.
Outside of Europe the flat-rate shipping fee is 25 Euros, with shipping being free on orders with a value of more than 500 Euros.
It is the purchaser´s responsibility to inform us whether a phytosanitary certificate is required for a plant shipment to their country. If so, we can provide such a certificate at a cost of 75 Euros which be billed to the customer. Bulk orders are recommended from customers outside of Europe.
Legend
iv-s (in-vitro raised seedling)
tc (tissue-culture)
tc-iv-s (tissue-culture, processed from in-vitro raised seedlings)
tc-iv-b (tissue-culture, processed from in-vivo bulbs/scales)
ic (individual clone which was not tissue-cultured)
s0-1 (bulb almost flowering-size)
s1-2 (seedling-bulb with expected flowering size in 1-2 years)
s2-3 (seedling-bulb with expected flowering-size in 2-3 years)