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reliable catalogue for holiday gift to Louisiana?

16 years ago

I want to give me sister an order or a gift certificate from a hosta catalogue for Christmas. She lives in Louisiana, and could probably plant them this time of year with no trouble. Any suggestions on the best catalogue to use to ship to her part of hte country? She is just beginning and just wants some good specimens of some fairly common types.

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Comments (12)

hostarox
16 years ago
I would just pick a reliable nursery. It really doesn't matter where they are located. They will send the gift certificate,with a catalog, but probably not ship the plants until spring anyway.
esthermgr
Original Author
16 years ago
Any suggestions for reliable catalogues? I will also check the FAQs in case this is a frequent question.
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I assume you are referring to Momordica charantia, aka Bitter Melon or Balsam Pear? It is a less well-known (in the USA) member of the Cucurbitaceae family. We do not know enough about the fresh bitter gourds you have, unless you harvested them yourself, to know if they were fully mature when harvested. When you harvest for seed-saving from members of the cucurbit family, it is best to let the fruit get overripe. For example, with cucumbers you leave them onto the vine until they turn yellowish-orange. I think the same thing would be true of bitter melon/bitter gourd if you wanted to save seed from it. With cucurbits, in order to harvest the best and the most seeds to plant, it is best to leave the fruit on the vine for about 3 weeks after you'd harvest it to eat. That extra time on the vine allows the seeds to mature. So, if your bitter gourds had enough time on the vine, the seeds likely are viable (assuming they were pollinated by insects). The only way to know is to try some. Scoop them out of the bitter melon and let them dry. You should dry them to the point that you can snap one in half. If they bend but don't break, they aren't dry enough. Then you can plant them or store them. Bitter melon seeds germinate in a week or two in really warm conditions (soil temps between 75 and 85 degrees). If you want, you can ferment the seeds before drying them. Fermentation often will kill some disease pathogens and also often gives you a higher germination rate. Bitter melon seeds are very hard once dried, so to increase the odds of getting good germination, scarify the seed coat by nicking it with a knife, but don't cut too deeply into the seed. You just want to nick the coat, not cut the whole seed in half. If you want to buy bitter melon seeds, they are available from several online retailers. I think the first time I bought any it either was from Seed Savers Exchange or from Willhite Seeds, but that was a long time ago. Evergreen Seeds would have several varieties of bitter gourd/bitter melons, and so will Kitazawa Seeds, which I've linked below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Kitazawa Seed---Bitter Melon Selections
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esthermgr
Original Author
16 years ago
I keep seeing buzz about White Oak nursery. Are they as good as they seem? They are a bit expensive, but I think for a treat it would be a fun gift certificate to get my sister. Anybody have anything good/ bad to say about them?
esther_opal
16 years ago
I found Land Solutions Angie Howard a nice source of reasonably priced hosta.

Contact landsolutionsllc@Aol.com

All the plants I received were well packed, arrived in good shape and lived.
yardmom
16 years ago
White Oak, Naylor Creek, and Hallson's are all great places to get gift certificates from.
hostahaveum
16 years ago
Hello Esthermgr; I ordered from White Oak, for the first time last year. I was very happy w/ my order, if my memory serves me right I ordered about 9-10 got 15-16 when all was planted.They were very healthy & grew well right away, I would surly order from them again.~ Dot
jbranch
16 years ago
I have not used Pine Forest Gardens, but plan to. They are located near Atlanta, and I like the idea of buying from a grower as close to home as possible. I have read that hostas take a year to acclimate to their new home, and purchasing from a northern source for use in the southeast would mean more effort by the hosta to acclimate. So, consider a southern grower for your sister in Louisania. I am not a hosta expert, but this seems logical to me. - Jeff

Here is a link that might be useful: Pine Forest Gardens
i_dig_it
16 years ago
Plant Delights is another great place to get hostas.
They will send you a catalog upon request.
Plant Delights

Below is a link to an article about hostas that do well in warm climates.

Janet

Here is a link that might be useful: Hostas for Warm Climates
yardmom
16 years ago
Jeff, I bought from Pine Forest when I was visiting my sister in Atlanta and they have nice plants. I agree that plants raised in lower zones would probably adjust faster.
I have also bought from Plant Delights. Though their prices are high, they send nice hostas and often carry plants that other nurseries don't.
jbranch
16 years ago
Yardmom, my first order next spring will be from Hallson's. They have a great forum which has been very valuable to me.
arleneb
16 years ago
Absolutely Hallson's -- Chris Wilson has been in the forefront of information about Hosta Virus X and you can order from them knowing you'll get healthy plants. My orders have always included a bonus plant. Their forum is excellent -- including the latest information about HVX.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hallson's
jamesjone
16 years ago
Hi,
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