I've bought several from Krimson Kreek Ranch on eBay. I've been very happy with my purchases from Karole. She packages them very well, has good communications & Nice Plants!

EBay is not a nursery. You'll find better prices & more selection from real nurseries such as Bob Smoley; Glasshouse Works & Grigsbys.

I'm sure Karole is a nice lady but some of her sans are not correctly named. Indeed as she herself says, she is just a collector & not a botanist.

I've bought my Sansevieria from a number of sources. Grigsbys and Bob Smolley are my favorites. I don't like dealing with the GlassHouseWorks guys. They have a great catalogue, and they send nice plants, but I've had too many problems with substitutions, or lost orders, or other problems that take me a long time to resolve, regardless of how much lead time I give them.

You should order your Sansevieria early from all of these places. It can take a long time for them to fill your order. And don't disregard ebay as a source - it may not be a nursery, but there are some great sources out there. You could do a lot worse than Krimsonkreek. It does help to know the planst you are looking for, and to figure out what is being offered. Prices tend to be higher on ebay than at nurseries, but you also can get larger plants on ebay. As always 'let the buyer beware'.

Tropiflora in Florida is another source for Sansevieria. I've actually seen some nice, unusual varieties in general home improvement stores on occasion - including some S. cylindria that was over 2' tall for less tha $10 ; medium S. trifasciata 'twisted sister' for $8; S.masoniana (single leaf plants) for $3- it pays to look.

Joe 'YMMV' DeRosa

I have visited Glasshouse Works in Ohio and bought plants from Smoley and on ebay. Glasshouse was one huge jungle of mostly unnamed, unkept plants. It is a miracle they can get any order straight. Smoley's has a rep for wrong names and tiny plants. If you order S. powelli from there, you will get S. suffruticosa. Maybe that glitch is fixed now. It is not unusual for any commercial nursery to have some misidentified plants. I do know that I''ve not had a mis-named plant or a runt from Krimson Kreek yet. Let's hear more experiences from readers!
Michaela

I've been perfectly happy with all the sans I've bought from KrimsonKreek. She is a pleasure to deal with.

Frankly I'd rather have a nice big healthy mis-named plant than some overpriced, puny "correct" specimen.

Hello! Here's my very limited experience --
Krimson Kreek have somewhat larger plants, but they cost quite a bit more than the same kind from Smoley. The half a dozen or so sansevieria I bought from Smoley almost all have 1-2 pups. A couple of plants from Krimson Kreek have brown / rust spots that were spreading and some leaves were lost. On the whole both sellers seem to have good plants, and since the ones I bought were not very unusual, it was not difficult to identify them properly.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks much for taking the time to comment on various sources for Sans. It sounds like there are numerous problems with various nurseries.

Does anyone provide and decent sized, properly labeled plant?!!

Twenty years ago there was a nursery called "Country [something]" somewhere in Ohio. It's catalog would not have attracted the sanseveria lover, it had a whole bunch of more conventional things. But somewhere in the middle of the catalog were a dozen or so quite rare sanseveria.

Catalog was half page size, inexpensive pringing, and cover was yellow-orange.

Anyone remember them?

How does one find that ebay seller...Krimson Kreek Ranch? Do you have a link? Thanks

Here is a link to Krimson Kreek's auctions.

Here is a link that might be useful: auctions

I buy most of mine from Bob Smoley. I don't like buying from Glasshouse Works, as they charged my credit card when they received the order and not when the order was shipped . Would like to buy some from Grigsby and probably will in the near future...

Good grief.....I just realized Grigsby's is in Vista too. I already have been to two great nurserys out there. One is Exotica (where I get my fruit trees), and the other is Kartuz's (where I have got hoyas). Didn't even realize there was this one too. Hope I can find it! Vista is quite the place for plant lovers, huh?
Marcy

Hi,

I've ordered several sans from J and J Cactus and Succulents in Oklahoma and have received nice plants.
There is a web site but no online catalog, however Joyce will gladly mail you one.

Ellie

I was out at Grigsby's yesterday, just looking!!!, and was asking Rita if any of the Sans they have that are designated by #'s and letters would ever receive a proper species name. Her reply really shocked me. Turns out the wife of the fellow who laid the groundwork for many of these unnamed plants (discovering the type locales) threw out all his papers after he died! She doesn't LIKE plants. Jeez Louise! So, I guess my little guy is gonna have to grow up with a name like FHS-435. Kinda hard to give a nickname for that Huh? Anyway Grigsby's is the best for mail-order of Sans or if you're lucky enough to live close, just honk 3 times at the gate for entry.

Yeah, if her personality and warmth don't send you running for the hills...

What color was your egg? Greens get you your plant for free. Hope they don't read here...

Cena,

Perhaps you're confusing Rita (the nice lady) with someone else, who's the reason I will never go back to Grigsby's, nor suggest that anyone do business with them.

Hi
I have bought a couple of plants, one of which was Congo, from Krimson Kreek and was real happy with the plants. I just ordered one from Bob Smoley, Moonshine, but have not received it yet.
Diane

I just got a newsletter from Bob Smoley in which he said he was relocating his operation to Florida...I think June is the relocation date.

Most of the nurseries have mistakes in naming their San. even the experts do. So no matter where you buy your plants there will be mistakes. I won't deal with Glasshouse Works either, the same problems listed above.

The reason I bumped this up because it is being discussed again. Norma

Norma: Boy, this thread brought back memories when someone mentioned Country Hills Greenhouse (which was in Corning, Ohio). Now this thought goes back about 25 years but something in the back of my memory makes me remember Country Hills being mail order only and there was a store you could visit to buy many of the plants they grew and for some reason my memory says the store was called Glasshouse Works because of the nearby Corning Glass Factory. I never got to visit since it was too far away from where I lived and Country Hills wouldn't ship to Canada. But that was 25 years ago.
I googled Country Hills and they still exist but couldn't find a website for them. I wonder if that Glasshouse Works is the same Glasshouse Works we're familiar with these days.
Now more to the topic, I agree with you about mislabelling. I remember ordering Cyanotis kewensis, which some people call Teddy Bear Vine, and a Haworthia by mail and the plant I received with the label of Cyanotis kewensis turned out to be Kalanchoe uniflora and the Haworthia was really an Aloe. I suspect the people filling the orders aren't always knowledgeable about what plant is what and simply send the plant with a label that matches the customer's order no matter how different the two plants may be. Although it may take some research to find out what you received, sometimes the wrong plant is more interesting than the one you wanted. That is assuming the price difference between what you order and what you get isn't too large.

/Try this time www.tompiergossi.com I met him last week at a garden party, good luck on the hunt.

Karole may have Sans. plant names wrong but so do the others who sell them. At least she is honest.

FH, is Frank Howrood. I may be able to trace that one. It has been named. I'm just othe opposite, I rather have a name of number on the plant, no matter how little it is, they grow full size in three years anyway. All sellers make mistakes, and it take more than a Horticulturist or Botonist to get them right. Some hobbist are even better, Lavranos goes through the International Congress on Noninclature. They do meet to discuss names. This is done by PHD and/or gradulate students that are going for their PHd. They will sumit a paper, or book on the subject. Then must argue why they think that there names are right. Norma

Val, I found another nursery in Floria that can send plants out. I don't think he can send them into Calif. Norma

Florida nursery address wootenlimelite 1 @worldnet.att.net
Mark Wooten
Be sure to let him know that I sent you. Norma wootenlimelite1@worldnet.att.net He will give you the correct names, I don't know what size the plants will be.

PS Bob Smoley always sent me large plants. Don't have them shipped until April 1 or until you are sure you will not get frost/hail, or cold/wet Norma

Norma, thanks for your recent suggestions. I am still looking for good sources and will check out the ones you mentioned.
chelty2

I few years ago Karole lost her collection due to one of the big storms. We, all novice collectors on my other list sent her plants to replace what was lost, she is a great gal. I have some extra plants that I will trade if you have extra that I can use. Please check back with me if you are interested. Are you'll still interested what is in flower? Norma

Norma,
You are very kind to offer your extra plants in trade. But I am having to start from scratch......my dear ex-husband overwatered (drowned) my succulent collection (intentionally, I suspect, Ha!). A collection I'd had for years, so I am starting over with nothing. Making a few small purchases here and there. Just takes time. Some of you may have been there and still have the t-shirts :-)

Anyway, do you know where I may find this person named Karole?

Thanks,
chelty2

Her (Karole's) plants give new meaning to the word ROBUST and the good part about her Ebay auctions is that they are all buy-it-now, so you don't have the gambler's urge to keep bidding past common sense.

joe

Here is a link that might be useful: Karole's ebay store

Joe,
Thanks for the link.....I will check it out.

chelty