Hi Xuan,

In the past I have talked via email to Nellie Maguire..and she responded..I just got the email off of their website.

If you email me off line, I will look up the email that I used,to see if it is different than the one you used, I think it must still be in my contacts..

Donna

Thanks, Donna. At long last, Nellie did reply to my "stale" email :))

Xuan

I am sorry if I am writing this in a wrong place, I was trying to contact Maguires via e-mail, too (waiting for their answer), but then I saw that you have 'co-op' purchases, could somebody provide a link for this year's co-op?
thank you
Rimma

Rimma,
We are not doing group purchases with McGuires. Email me off list if you want more information as I won't go into reasoning on the forum. I think I can very safely say no one who knows the history will pursue this further.
K

Kristi,

I am taking the time to write this because I am dismayed by your response to Rimma. I disagree with your statement âÂÂI think I can very safely say no one who knows the history will pursue this further.â How can you speak for everyone who participated in the Maguire group purchases? Although, due to time constraints, I am unwilling to organize a group purchase, I will buy bulbs from Mick and Nellie Maguire again in the future. Therefore, I ask that you please refrain from using âÂÂWeâ in your comments regarding Maguire bulbs (e.g., "We are not doing group purchases with McGuires") unless you have received feedback from all who participated.

Most of us know that you (and some others) believe their Maguire bulbs to be virused. By the way, the name is Maguire not McGuire. As you know, none of the approximately 75 bulbs I purchased from Mick and Nellie have shown any signs of virus. Since 2009, I have only lost 5 or 6 of my Maguire bulbs, but they simply disappeared from their pots. This was most likely my fault, or that of small furry creatures that sometimes frolic about and dig up my bulbs.

You and I have already discussed the fact that none of my Maguire bulbs exhibit any signs of virus, and that this may be the result of the mild climate here in California. However, none of us will ever know for certain if their Maguire bulbs are virused unless the bulbs are tested. Even if you sent one of your Aussie bulbs in for scientific testing, and the test was positive for virus, how could you ever be certain that one or more of your other bulbs werenâÂÂt the carrier(s) that infected your Maguire bulbs? You are now more careful about the sources from whom you purchase bulbs, but in the past you bought bulbs from vendors who reputedly sell virused bulbs. So, I reiterate how will you ever know which bulb(s) were the original viral host(s)?

This is just my opinion, but I think that it would be more fair and respectful to the Maguires to state what you believe openly; instead of making thinly veiled insinuations by asking folks to contact you âÂÂoff listâ to provide âÂÂmore information.âÂÂ

You know that I have strong justice issues. I also think that you must be aware that damaging someoneâÂÂs reputation without proof; is actionable whether you put it in writing here on GW, in an email communication, or say it in a conversation. Thus, stating âÂÂyour reasoningâ sub rosa will not protect you. In closing, I ask that you please try to clearly differentiate anecdotal accounts from facts.

-Blanca

Blanca,
I wish you would have addressed this off list. I would have gladly edited my message.
Kristi

Kristi,

Sadly, this is not the first time that you have mentioned this issue on GW. Even if you had edited your message, the harm has already been done. I thought that the time had come to bring the matter to the attention of all interested parties (including Mick and Nellie Maguire).

-Blanca

I have to say I was very happy with the Maguires coop that I participated in a couple of years ago and have had no problem with virus with those bulbs. I am still waiting on a couple of them to bloom but that is my fault, I transplanted them all into the garden this past fall. Spotted witch was awesome when it bloomed!
I have a couple with virus, one has been growing in my garden for well over 20 years. It may have always had a virus, it grows between the two houses and I forget it is there until it blooms. Heck, it may be spreading the virus. I`m not one to panic.
Happy spring everyone!
Tally Ho!

Hi Tally,

I'm very happy to hear that (like me) you are happy with the bulbs you purchased from Maguire's Hippeastrum Farm in Australia!

Spotted Witch is indeed lovely. I almost ordered it, but there were (and continue to be) so many tempting Aussie choices.

A dear friend in Florida just gave me the good news that seedlings from a cross of 'Exotica' x 'Anita' (a well-formed, bronzy orange Maguire's bred flower), which I sent him in 2010 are blooming.

Thank you so much for giving your input.

Best regards,

Blanca

How time flies...
It has been 4 years since the first batch of Maguires bulbs arrived USA. Perhaps it is best that we start another post where we can give feedback on how these bulbs performed for each gardener that acquired them.

Happy spring to all!!!
{{gwi:414139}}

The bulbs I obtained from Mcguires were not virused.No one I know of,in the USA, has received virused bulbs from Mcguires. I know of some having the mosaic virus existent in their bulb populations before the first group purchase,including myself.Having a bulb from Mcguires exhibit mosaic in that environment is a circumstance in which the evidence cannot be conclusional.No matter how hard you try,it is impossible to keep vectors of mosaic from infecting isolated plants.Only a multiple doored entry,chamber poison, gas chamber, or heat chamber entry to a closed green house would provide that level of isolation.
In a post on this forum, someone stated that his beautiful seedlings were all infected with a virus he got from Mcguire bulbs. I was alarmed to a degree,but did, and still do, remain dubious of his claims,for two reasons.I have never seen,nor have I ever heard of a virus exhibited in Papilio.He wrote that his papilio was infected.He also provided no pictures of any plant having virus,large enough with good enough resolution to determine anything but flower beauty,with no virus evident in the blooms. I believe one person asked him for better pictures for evidence,which he did not do,nor did he reply to.If this had occurred in the USA,in most places he would have been paying large sums of money to the Mcguires,if he could not prove his claims.
I hope the Mcguires don't have a virus problem. Many South African and European bulb farmers do.
Destroying the reputation of a business is a serious matter.
I have a file of numerous specimens of mosaic on hippeastrum on photo bucket,under npublici.I would list the url,but GW probably would erase my post.
Del

Link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket Link to npublici

Once you get that link,do a search on mosaic virus. Many examples,including mine appear then.

sometimes I am just not sure, is it virused or is it just environmental? The one in the yard I thought was virused has perfect leaves this season. There were a couple of hadeco bulbs that the virus was very apparent and those bulbs were destroyed. But were they infected from the grower or did they get infected sitting in a bad nursery for a year? No way to know.

I would love to do another order from Maguires this year.
There are so many to drool over.
Tally HO!

If your plant showed the patterns and/or twisted leaves,thickened leaves,in random patterns,such as in my pictures,last year,it still has the virus and may not display the symptoms,until stressed.Meanwhile you have allowed it to be munched on by vectors,which carried the virus to other plants,which in turn will help spread the virus,before the heat comes to stress the newly infected bulb,which then also shows symptoms.In Florida,the snails are beginning to be active,long before any mosaic virus symptoms will be evident.
Del