Hi Gary, Glasshouse Works is maybe also selling the plant, the Micholitzii clone. They say in one place they are $40 and not available. They say in a second place that they are $10 and available. Here's the link; I'll repeat it at the bottom: http://www.hobbyplants.com/monthlyplants.html (I take it this link will change from month to month, so if they are not there in the future, that's why) Are the ones with the white borders on the leaves a different Trevesia species? I thought I saw something to that effect. The list of specimens in Tropicos gives elevations ranging from 120-1100 m. Is that in the mountains? Maybe extending into modest elevations, or something? Still, that elevation in the tropics would still be considered lowland tropical, I think. Or close to it. Isn't 1000 m a typical cutoff? I have seen reports that the plants can handle cool frost-free (or nearly frost-free) climate. Here is a link that might be useful: Travesia palmata at Glasshouse Works--listed twice

The problem with nearly all tropical seeds is that they have a short lifespan so buying them commercially is always going to be a bit of a lottery. Because they live life in the fast lane, there is rarely any dormancy naturally and fertility often plummets after a few months even when well stored. One thing I have found that helps is to germinate the seeds on blotting paper. Apart from high temps many seeds need very bright light to germinate and one of the few things that can induce dormancy is if they have been stored in a dark place - in a seed packet for example.

Hi Sue, An old thread, I know, but I'm thinking of buying some Trevesia palmata seeds from B&T and want to find some people to share the cost. They're 21 euros for 100 seeds at the mo. I'd probably split them into 10x packets of ten or 4x packets of 25. As long as they're big enough to count!

I grew up with my mom's old back copies of Sunset- it's probably the best source of fun projects we've ever had. I should really get back to looking at those and take some on. Well, maybe not the "Make Your Own Hot Tub," but one of the others. It really does seem as if the cost of printing a magazine is so high that the content has to be nearly all about ads. And not just official advertisements- so many pieces are just lists of things we can buy (and those lists have the strangest ideas about what's affordable). I'm not opposed to the idea of cool-stuff lists but it feels like there's not much else sometimes.