paghat wrote:
I felt the same way about the Grant Mitchell daffodil catalog. I mean,
is
there even a slightly lowered chance of getting some variety that tips
over if you pay a fortune for one bulb? Not bloody likely. Are these
pricy bulbs REALLY two-hundred times more beautiful than affordable
daffodils? If they were we'd go blind at the very sight of 'em. If I
was
rich instead of poor would I not think twice about the price? I'd hope
if
I was in a money-blowing mood I'd think more about the needy (I mean,
for
the price of one bulb for my selfish self, I could buy a couple dozen
really nice big perennials to give to destitute gardeners).


Personally, I like to get a lot for my money. My friends aren't
impressed by expensive varieties, and people driving by can't tell from
the street, so what would be the purpose?

But I probably have some stuff in my beds that at one time would have
been outlandishly expensive. It's the same as the DVD player I own. I
paid a couple hundred for it, but at one time, people paid a couple
thousands for a DVD player, even though there weren't many DVD's to play
in it. Their money helped pay the R&D costs of the new product,
eventually allowing DVD players to almost become a commodity, and thus
subject to price competition.

The people paying $200 a bulb are paying for the time spent developing
them. As time goes on, the price will go down as new customers are
needed. Eventually the R&D costs will be paid for, and the price will
drop sharply. And someday we may be buying these bulbs by the bagful,
and not put a significant dent in our wallets.

So we can look at this as a tree, and say that we, ourselves, would
never dream of paying that kind of money, or we can look at the forest,
and understand that it's not such an outlandish thing for single bulbs
to cost that much.

(BTW... It's a good thing so many of us are shocked by these prices, and
would never dream of paying them. It's important to have a few people in
the world who will, but if there are too many of them, the price will
never come down.)

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Books for the Pacific Northwest gardener:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/nwgardener/index.html