Janis Ruksans, Dr.Biol.H.C. Late Summer/Autumn 2006 Bulb Nursery Box 2, P.O
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Janis Ruksans, Dr.biol.h.c. Late summer/autumn 2006 Bulb Nursery Box 2, P.O. ROZULA LV-4150 Cesis distr. LATVIA /fax +371 – 41-33-223 +371 - 941-84-40, 41-00-326 All prices for single bulb E-mail: [email protected] in EURO Dear friends! New Year and new gardening season comes and my new catalogue goes to you. It is a little shorter than usually - not for shortage of items includable (with pain in heart I striped out many names) but this summer I want to rebuild my bulb shed and it will limit my possibilities to harvest bulbs and to work with them. Last summer was very busy year. I rebuilt one of my greenhouses - it was very nervous process due shortage of workers (three teams were changed), I was forced to dig out all bulbs, to change soil - but now working in it is much more comfortable. I and my wife Guna organized for the first time “Open door days” and we had 18 visitors from Britain, arranged programm including lectures, visits of gardens, museum, nature, Opera etc. All visitors were very satisfied with visit. Sorry, this season we can’t to arrange OPEN DOOR DAYS due my lecture tour in North America and expedition plans. But I’m planning repeat such days in future, too. Last season Mrs. Kristl Walek from Canada (Gardens North – Seeds from the world) in her catalogue revealed the fact that I had been bearing in my mind an idea about a book on bulbs and my experience with them. The message reached Mr. Tom Fisher from Timber Press and all of a sudden his e-mail containing the offer to publish my book appeared in my mailbox. It looked like I had already written it. This changed my daily routine drastically. From the first of January I started twelve-hour working day not only from Monday to Friday but also including the weekends... This resulted in the last full stop put by me at the end of April. But this was when the real work started. Gunta Lebedoka and Mārtiņš Erminass spent uncountable hours at their computers to translate my Latvian English into understandable for everybody American English. As Gunta confessed it would have been easier for her if I had written my book in Latvian and she only had had to translate it without changing word order all the time. Mārtiņs did not comment on the issue but I am far from the thought his fate was any easier. All summer I worked not only in garden but with manuscript, too and 4th of October it was at Timber Press so appearing of my book “Burried Treasures”must happen somewhere in midsummer. Together with specialists from Gothenburg I took part in marvellous expedition through Central and NE Turkey. We found marvellous plants, new localities for plants earlier known only from single spot, possibly some new species, too. Garden season was not easy. We had warmest January in century (temperature reached +100C, started to flower a lot of bulbs but during all March temperatures in nights were around minus 180C. Many bulbs were damaged. In general season was delayed for couple of weeks and it was possible to start despatching of bulbs something later than usually. Last autumn was unusually long and warm and new record was set - Crocus michelsonii formed the first flower 15th of November and many spring colchicums showed flower buds in December before frost started. It is not easy to predict at catalogue writing time what I will have for harvesting… So, gardening is not easy here, but the most important, what I want to accent is that all bulbs offered by me are of cultivated origin – I do not sell bulbs from nature. I wish you all the best in the New Gardening Year and private life and I truly hope that you all will be satisfied with my bulbs this year, too. Yours Janis Ruksans TERMS OF BUSINESS All my bulbs are harvested annually and kept in the bulb shed according to the biology of each species. Here they must be replanted early - we start replanting in the second part of August. Therefore, please, do not delay with ordering. I will be pleased to receive your order before the 1st of August. Dispatching of later orders could be problematic, because bulbs might be already planted at that time. If you send the payment directly to me, I strongly recommend to you to pay by the checks marked “not to exceed”, adding some extra for eventual additional postage costs especially if you are ordering large, heavy bulbs (some Allium, Colchicum, Fritillaria etc.). When your order has been completed, I will fill in the exact amount of your order on the check. If order is sent early, then please post-date check to prevent it becoming out of date at time of dispatch. It is better to send the checks in your national currency otherwise can be charged enormous commission (up to 20%) by your national bank. I can accept checks in British Pounds, Canadian or Australian dollars, in Euro or any other national currency by realistic exchange rate. You can send money to my accounts in Rabobank (Holland), Ulster Bank (Great Britain) or SEB Unibank (Latvia), too. At any case, I recommend you to consult first at your bank to avoid extra charges. Latvian banks normally charge not more than ~20,- USD for each check. Please don’t forget that our prices are in Euro, so, paying in dollars use actual exchange rate! ORDERS are accepted ‘Subject to Crop’. Please list a few alternatives if acceptable. Orders should be received before 1st of August. BULBS generally sent out in August by AIRMAIL POST. Prepaid orders will be dispatched at first. POSTAGE MINIMUM for Europe - please add Euro 10.00; overseas - please add USD 15.00. For large orders or ordering large, heavy bulbs (some Allium, Fritillaria, Colchicum etc.) postage will be charged at cost. PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATE - for each consignment please add USD/Euro 8.00. No phytocertificate fees for EU! ALL BANK CHARGES to be paid by customer. INSURANCE - I do not assume the responsibility about lost or damaged parcels during the postage, but I can effect an insurance against transit risks at the buyer’s expense. It is 2% of insurance value, for USA, Great Britain and Australia insurance is obligatory. Sorry, no insurance allowed for Norway, Germany! No insurance for small parcels up to 2 kg of total weight allowed! YOU CAN PAY: 1) Sending your check directly to me. Please add 10,- Euro or 15,- USD or 8,- GBP or equivalent in other currency for each check to cover bank charges. 2) In banknotes (undamaged) of any major currency at the current exchange rate. If customer sends out such a payment by mail it is entirely at his/her own risk! I recommend putting banknotes between postcards and sending by registered post. 3) sending your check or bank transfer to: SEB UNIBANK of LATVIA, Cesis branch, SWIFT code UNLALV2X Raunas str. 8, LV-4101 Cesis, Latvia Euro account IBAN number: LV71 UNLA 0050 0006 1532 9 USD account IBAN number: LV40 UNLA 0050 0006 1530 5 Please add 10.00 Euro for each check or to: RABOBANK, - Kop van Noord, BIC code: RABONL2U Postbus 106, 1780 AT DEN HELDER Holland, Acc. No. 1090.06.496 IBAN number NL93 RABO 0109 0064 96 Please add 12.00 USD for each check, paying in Euro add 7,- Euro, no fees for Dutch customers paying by bank transfer from Dutch bank or to: ULSTER BANK LIMITED, Omagh branch, Branch code 98-12-30 14 High Street, Omagh, Co. Tyrone BT78 1BJ Northern Ireland, Great Britain. SWIFT code: ULSBGB2B Acc. No. 65552096 IBAN number GB17 ULSB 9812 3065 5520 96 Payment is to be made in £ sterling only, using current exchange rate. Please add 7.00 GBP for each check for bank costs. Customers from Great Britain paying in Pounds Sterling can omit bank charges. INVOICES will be sent in separate envelope at the same time as bulbs or a little later. Payment terms - 30 days from the date of Invoice. Prepaid orders wil be dispatched at first. NEW CUSTOMERS are requested to send payment (cheque, cash) WITH ORDERS including postage and all other charges (phyto + bank + insurance). VISITORS are welcome, moderate accommodation provided (Hotel 15 - 30 km). Please inform me about your visit well before coming. MY TELEPHONES: fax +371-41-33-223 tel +371-41-00-326, mob. tel +371-941-84-40 E-MAIL: [email protected] ALLIUM There are not many genera, which are so diverse from gardener’s standpoint (size, colour, flowering season, ecological conditions etc.) and so difficult by botanist standpoint (correct naming) as Alliums. For many years I collected various Alliums and tested them in my garden. Some species disappeared after few years of cultivation, but many enjoyed the new conditions. Another problem was to give correct names to our treasures. Taxonomy of Alliums is difficult, descriptions in various Floras are incomplete and contradictory and correct naming without comparison with type specimens in main Herbaria is not easy. Fortunately my friend Dr. Arnis Seisums’ theses were on the taxonomy of the genus Allium. Several seasons he worked with my collection and as a result many samples that where grown only under collector numbers got names, and some were renamed. Generally Alliums are not very difficult. The most of them need full sun and good drainage. I harvest them annually (with some exceptions) to give a good summer rest.