Do not let the nuts dry out very long before getting them planted. I have best results from harvesting them just as the husks start to split and planting immediately. They're at risk as well for theft from rodents. I usually hedge my bets on Ohio Buckeye by starting some in pots with wire over them, and burying some immediately outside into soft soil and leaf litter. I don't have to stratify A. pavia, and start them in the g'house in sand flats with 100% success rate........but I suspect A. carnea will need to be cold treated. I don't know if you could use any of the parental stock like A. pavia on which to graft but I suspect that chip or whip grafts would be successful if you can get compatible rootstock. If you could get mama tree to hang in there a couple years, you'd have scion stock or buds handy for your new seed-started rootstock. Idabean..........no, I didn't take offense at your comments. I think I took it like you meant it. I like it too when the whole peanut gallery chimes in with their thoughts on a subject. Horse chestnuts and buckeyes just happen to be one of my passions and some years I start upwards of a hundred trees. Some of my babies are all over this county, I suspect.

If you plant them now , you will need to protect them through the winter. They say to plant promptly , do not scarify. Plant in loose well drained aerated sandy loam and leaf mater. Provide enough root space. Best containers are 18" deep. Plant seeds an inch deep and 4" apart. Germination will occur from 3 days to a month. Overwatering during germination can cause rot. . The plant will be working on roots the first bit of time and not show much top growth till spring. A light frost won't damage the stem but protection with mulch or a cold frame is suggested for severe weather. Often buckeyes that are sown outdoors that have frozen back will re sprout from the roots. Fertilize heavily once the stems have broken growth . They should be ready for a 5 gallon pot by their second fall. This is paraphrased from page 91 of Jill Stokes, "How To Grow Native Plants Of Texas And The Southwest"... Great book for propagators. I have grown the Mexican buckeye easily. I had 75 % germination planting them in the ground out doors. but I lost some of them because I planted where I could not get water to them. I had 99% germination in pots and then transplanted them into the ground with in a month and a half. These were not true buckeyes.

Hah. You say shipping to the US takes a week! That would be very fast indeed, assuming you didn't use Express Mail. Most of my non-Express shipments from Asia take about 3 weeks. Makes sense though because there is a lot of traffic between CA, HI, and Japan so it doesn't really surprise me that regular airmail moves pretty fast between you and the US. An AV can travel for 3 or 4 weeks in shipping and survive if it's packed properly (not wet!) unless it hits very hot or cold temperatures. But it's risky. A week however, that's no sweat in decent weather. Hmmm. Perhaps we'll chat after my up coming move to a new location. Chip. ;)

If the variety has relatively large leaflets on the bloomstalks - naturally is has sleeping buds in the axils of these leaflets - sometimes it develops a new plantlet - it is called a basket. You can separate the basket plantlet and root it easily. Some varieties of Streptocarpus throw baskets all the time. And yes - bloomstalks with good size leaflets can be rooted and little plantlets grow much more successfully. Regarding suckering. I think we all agree that B.Seductress is prone to suckering. We can try restarting it frm a leaf - sometimes it helps to break the cycle. It makes sense to grow several plants to bloom - the blossoms can be different - and very beautiful. I guess we need to pluck darn suckers.. What I observed recently - is cresting. This is a persistent mutation when rosettes grow double crowns and trailers grow literally a wedge shaped growth with many small crowns coming. The vegetable growth takes all the energy and suppresses the bloom. I is not a virus, it is genetic - and IMHO the dumpster is the solution. Better to start from a fresh source from somebody else.