Well, in case anyone was kicking themselves because they didn't get to the Schlueter's sale this weekend, let me make you feel better.
Sandy & I went out there on Sat morning, around 10:30- sale started at 9. We got lost finding the place, which is in a residential development and in his back yard.
Having passed through his garage, we were greeted with this amazing sight on their table:
Drool! Wow!
What beautiful and HUGE blooms awaited us...
ummm...until Mrs. Barry said, "Don't think you'll find all of those today, tho..."
So why did you tease us? lol...
In the end, a more accurate statement should have been: "Don't think you'll find ANY of those today..."
There were 4 tables of stuff that was for sale, plus a few along the path, but I think you can see it was slim pickins...
But the WORST thing was that these few flowers that were for sale were in among literally hundreds of gorgeous, full grown plants that weren't for sale. It was torture! Attached is a pic of one of my favs, called "Houston."
I will say that they tried to be very helpful. I had a printout of plants that I'd agreed to pick up for some people- a list of 14 possibilities- and they only had 3 in that whole list. Sandy asked about one of the ones she'd seen on the site, and was told that they hadn't actually had any of them for sale. She felt better that at least she hadn't missed it, but...well...ya know, the site led to false expectations.
HOWEVER...once they discovered I'd driven in from some distance and that we were members of Dave's, Barry agreed to sell me a few seedlings that mostly covered at least one of the orders. Barry explained that basically he raises them, but as soon as Hines buys a breed, he can no longer sell it or carry it, so I suppose all of those other ones were either hibridizing stock, or just off limits.
So they were nice, but it was pretty frustrating never the less.
They are pretty though, very pretty.
How frustrating for you; it was nice if him to give in a bit. DId you have to cry, stomp your feet and have a hissy fit? LOL
I love Houston and wonder when that one will hit the market. alice
I have to say I whined alot. Probably 99.9 % pictured were not there.
The plants were nice size but there were so few of them. I wanted Irish spring really bad. The point of a sale like that is getting something you can't get just anywhere. Well it is so with the size of the bulbs.
The seedlings he allowed were not the exact ones wanted. They were close he said. You would think out of 12 with 6 for back up just incase, one would find at least 1/3 of them and not 0.
Aren't those blooms on the table to die for??
I had a blast meeting Tess and hanging out with her. I really look forward to that again.
Blessings,
Sandy ^8^
lol...Sandy, you were really well behaved- I think we both were, all things considered! If you'll give me permission, I'll post the pic of you looking a little confused/irritated while looking at the tables.
Alice, we didn't throw a fit...not quite. I did, however, say in a menacing tone, "well, we heard about this on the Dave's Garden forums, and everybody's going to want to know how it turned out...."
Who says I'm above a little blackmail...lol
It didn't matter; Sandy and I had a great day driving around anyway, and we both found things we liked, even if they weren't what we'd actually come for. :)
Sorry ladies. Being me who put the link about the hibiscus sale, I feel a bit guilty of what's happened to you.
Carlos
Sure, go ahead and post it. I am human.... well lets say when it comes to plants I can get a bit fussy. But I stayed good.
But I would have went back with you last night with a couple of T-bones for the dogs and we could have had some pretty hibiscus. ;o)
Carlo05,
I would not have wanted to miss spending the day with Tess. You did Great.
boy! I would have been SUPREMELY P.O.ed if I had gone, only to find out the featured ones were not there. Since I was in Galveston for the Plumeria convention, I gave some thought to swinging by the B.Schlueter sale but instead decided to sip coffee while enjoying this vista. Good thing I chose to do that!
Carlos, it was just fine! We had a great day anyway, and I *still* managed to get into trouble!
However, vos, you made the right call...lol
And here's the pic of Sandy. The caption should be "What the....?" lol...
what a bummer. It is not right for them to advertise on a website what plants will be available then not have any of them. I don't think I would have given them the satisfaction of buying anything from them!!!!!
Yeah, Donna, it crossed my mind. But I'd driven several hours out there, AND I had DH's total permission to get into as much trouble as I wanted- plant-wise, anyway...lol
Now that's an offer you really can't refuse! I did pick up a couple that look promising. I'm not really sure how that works going forward, though. I assume that the ones I bought weren't ones that Hines has yet, so will Hines rename them if/when they pick them up for their own line? If not, will it be commercially available through Barry? No idea.
If anyone's interested, even knowing you may not be able to have them for your very own, I'll post pics here as they bloom.
I will say that across the board, his blooms are consistantly some of the largest I've seen.
Carlo, pls don't feel bad. In the info exchange platform that is Dave's Garden. sometimes some tips don't pan out. However, once people report on their experience, the ones that are less than memorable serve as fair warning for the rest of the membership. So we all win one way or another.
My guess is that maybe his buddies got "first dibs" on the cultivars and the rest got what was left.
I bet there were folks waiting on the doorstep right at 9 to get the best picks.
It is interesting that Hines has dibs on the names. They sell mostly to big box stores and those plants rarely have names on the labels. I wonder who they sell the named varieties to?
I don't know if they keep the names that Barry gives them, or renames them- or if they drop the name altogether. I looked around on the Hines site out of curiosity, but they didn't have any hibiscus listings under their "new varieties" heading, and unless you're a retailer, there doesn't seem a way to find out.
The ones under Hines' Bahama Bay label do have names...but again, whose names they are, I don't know.
And yeah, he said there were people there waiting to get in, but I don't know how many. I wonder how many there were to begin with, especially since they said they hadn't had any of several of the ones on the list, nor the one Sandy was after.
Being Barry Schlueter member of the AHS (American Hibiscus Society) my guess is that most of plants were sold in the previous days to other AHS members that got in contact with him. Just a thought.
Carlos
Barry said this was green on the outer petals with some orange and the middle a beautiful yellow crown.
Gorgeous isn't it?
Does this look like the picture? I am very disappointed. Not one I would have picked.
so sorry Sandy. I hate not getting what you are supposed to get.
point taken about AHS. However, I maintain that if you're going to advertise to the general public, you should show them what's actually available.
Sandy, I'm soooo sorry about that flower- I remember you specifically asking him about it. Maybe you could email the pic? If there's something off with that particular plant, he may be willing to replace it. It's at least worth a try, no?
