Uniflora darwinii, the seeds of this South American alpine Calceolaria are available from Strange Wonderful Things, a seller of unusual plant material on eBay, a seller based in the San Francisco area.Sure, I agree…..type in “RARE PLANT” in the eBay search engine, and you will get everything from pink african violets, to worn out, paper thin ‘rare’ EMO Roger Plante concert t-shirts. In the odd world of ebay selling, a buyer has the advantage if they are savvy eBayer’s, and if buying plants use their best knowledge. Yeah, everthing is a risk when buying it over eBay, but we are adults, and I will assume that you can easily sniff out the bogus from the brilliant. Still,even I get caught sometime, but hey, I guess that’s the fun. It’s a bit like playing Antiques Road Show, but honestly, I have recieved lots of great plants from ebay ( Heck, I’ve even sold lots on it!). So here is a whill around with some of what I found on-line while cruising from worn-out vintage Screen Star t_shirts a fetish of mine).
Deppea splendens, a 6 inch rooted cutting is also available right now by the seller Strange_wonderful_things, on eBay.
The rare Argentine Fuschia, F. tilletiana, also available from the Strange Wonderful Things site.
Other plants from Chile are available from a seller called potato-rock, who ships plants from California, here, another rarely seen Calceolaria.
Calceolaria arachnoidea
Impatiens namchabarwensis, a very unusual blue Imapatiens offered for sale from a seller that I have not bought from yet, called Tasteelectric. Lots of interesting things, but mostly from seed.
This Daylily, ‘Geneva Firetruck’ DF-B1C (Hanson 2002), plus many more, is available from BLUERIDGEBUTTONS, a store on eBay managed by Blue Ridge Daylilies. You name it, Hosta, Lilies, Daylilies, Peonies, Japanese Morning Glories, it all can be found on eBay. Usually, the better varieties and the hard-t0-find newer introductions are available too, since most collectors know that by the time a new Daylily reaches your local garden center, 30 years has gone by.
I've been a little timid to test the ebay plant waters, but your post makes me want to try!
such beauty, thank you for a refreshing taste of the treasure held in nature
I want an Argentine Fuschia right now! (Stamps foot for emphasis.)
Hello,
I'm from France and I really like your blog.
I've never bought plants on ebay : seeds on ebay-France are very expensive, perhaps it's not the same for U.S.
But I often share seeds with people met on the Net, from all over the world.
So if you need "french plants" that you can't find in USA, you can ask me, I'll help if I can.
Have a nice day.
You had to post this? I am trying not to do my usual – blow my $$ because the gardening catalogs have arrived (I do have my daughter's wedding this year to prepare for!) Deppea splendens is beatuiful. I hope we all don't land up outbidding each other!
I had to enlarge the first photo as I was not sure just what I was looking at. It didn't help much. What intriquing flowers, they look like ladies in long dresses.
This is very tempting… I wonder if they can ship outside the U.S. ?
Marvelous… I forget to do searches on the strange and wonderful when shopping eBay. Thanks for the info and the great article.
eBay, huh? Just what I needed, more places to shop for plants. : ) Nice to see you.
Thanks Margaret and everyone, do try searching for plants on ebay. I mean, sure, sometimes the material is poor, but generally, I have had very good luck, especially with such material as African Violet leaf cuttings, Streptocarpus cultivars from England ( Dibley's), Canna's ( since they multiply like crazy and some of the better named varieties are hard to find), and Clivia. Some of my fav searches? 'Orchid in Spike'. A great way to add to a collection. Or, search for 'Caudex Plant', Echeveria, or Banana varieties.