I was just looking at an e-bay vendor's plant listings and found a sanseveria they were offering that had 39 bids on it and is currently going for $2,300!!!! Kind of makes my worries about spending $30-$35 on a hoya look silly....my question is, what's the maximum you would or have spent on a plant? I try to set a strict limit for myself, but did once spend nearly $60 on one hoya (including shipping) because I absolutely couldn't find it anywhere else and I REALLY wanted it...what about the rest of you? I still think this is one of the more inexpensive hobbies going, but I see now where it could get up there...
Shelley
amazing prices
Oooh...I just found out the owner of the e-bay store in question, botanicawonders, is Bob Smoley....I actually visited his greenhouse once when he was located here in Pittsburgh years ago, then he moved to Florida and was selling mostly cuttings (to mixed reviews), then he disappeared for awhile, and now he's back with a shiny new store...well good...we need as many good vendors as we can get!
SR
I once paid $150 for a H. archboldiana plant...very large and blooming
And also $90 for a varigated hoya...H. incrassata 'Eclipse'....much larger and fuller than the photo.
I see Mr. Smoley is consistant as always...some incorrectly named hoyas.
I wonder if the sansaviera IS what the buyer thinks it IS?
I live not too far from him...I should go visit his operation one day.
Joni
I think I know where you got the archboldiana---if it's the one I'm thinking of, I saw it's picture and it's stunning!
It would be interesting to check out Bob Smoley's place....the story I heard (which may or may not be true) is that many years ago he bought the entire stock of a cactus and succulent nursery that was going out of business and then had everything trucked across the country to his greenhouses in Pgh. Along the way labels were lost, mixed up, etc. and he had a hard time figuring out what was what...hopefully by now he's either gotten everything organized or he's starting again from scratch...
SR
My goodness ... I can't imagine someone paying $200 for a Sansevieria - that bidder must be a serious collector or nuts or both! LOL.
I am so NOT a collector I guess ... I've never spent more than $20 on any plant. Maybe I haven't come in contact with a particular, spectacular plant I can't live without?
I remember seeing the name Bob Smoley mentioned on one of the forums here on DG in the past but don't remember what was said. I will have to go google him and look at that Sans. Hard to believe someone would pay that much money for one plant, it must be pretty rare?
Lin....they paid $2,300.00 for the sans, not $200....and it was supposedly very rare, a good size in a 5" pot, and the ad said it was the only one they'd have to offer this season...
SR
The most I have ever spent on a Hoya was $50 from an unknown woman on ebay. She lived in Oklahoma, and was not a grower, but just an antique dealer who was selling off her larger Hoyas because she did not have room for them any more. She packed this H. macgillirayii so well that it looked like it had not been shipped anywhere, and it bloomed for me. I think $50 would be my limit on purchasing a Hoya. Although, I have two Hoyas that I would not part with for less than $500 just because of their size and the years it took to get them to the stage they are at now.
Doug
I've spent over $200 on David Liddle orders but never more than $35 on any individual plant. The Sansavieria crowd go all out! Routinely there are Sans. selling for over $100 on Ebay. But over $2000 for a mother in law tongue is a bit much. You could get a cutting of every hoya on DL's catalog for that much.
Maybe its the easy care and the great fragrance that draws people into Sansaveiria. Here in Florida they are weeds. I've ingnored my Sanseveiria 'Baseball Bat' for over a year and it puts out this neat flower every time.
That is very cool ... beautiful bloom! I've never seen a Sans in bloom!
Shelly...interesting story!!! I knows that he buy his plants from good sellers (smile) like DL and Ted Green so he GETS the best correct names around...but his stuff is SO mislabeled!! Not even CLOSE. He must not really care - I hope that expensive Sans was really a Sans!
The best I've done is $345 on an Amorphophallus. Obviously more money than brains. But after that transaction I was back to more brains than money. So it's not all bad. ;O)
Bob Smoley comes to the local botanical garden sales at the Kanapaha Botanical gardens here in March every year. I have also caught him at the Tampa USF sales and in Sarasota and Miami at sales. He always has very nice things and his nursery in Dunellon is not far from us, but I have never been. He is a very nice guy. He tried very hard. He may have some misidentified plants, but those I have bought from him in person have always been very reasonably priced and what they were advertized as being
No doubt about it...he is a really nice guy!!!