Why are "Tidal Wave" petunia seeds so expensive?
 

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/s...&OfferCode=R1H

http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/St...iew/P1199A&2D1

In 2003 I purchased several packs of these and planted them in window
boxes on my deck. They all grew like crazy. At the end of the season,
the seed pods were EVERYWHERE. The next season, I had an INVASION of
these petunias as they started growing everywhere under my deck, in
old containers, even in other areas of the yard.

Even this year, they are still coming back.

This leads me to great confusion as to why merchants are charging **35
CENTS PER INDIVIDUAL SEED**. Initially I thought it must be a hybrid
that doesn't put many seeds out, but of course now I know this is
wrong.

These vendors don't charge these high prices for their other petunia
seeds like "celebrity."

In article ,
Floatilla wrote:

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/s...splay?storeId=
10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=3770&PrevMainPage
=advsearchresults&scChannel=Seeds%20AS&SearchText= p16.v226;p16.v230&OfferCode=
R1H

http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/St...104fb7bfe273fc
f366ce30738/Product/View/P1199A&2D1

In 2003 I purchased several packs of these and planted them in window
boxes on my deck. They all grew like crazy. At the end of the season,
the seed pods were EVERYWHERE. The next season, I had an INVASION of
these petunias as they started growing everywhere under my deck, in
old containers, even in other areas of the yard.

Even this year, they are still coming back.

This leads me to great confusion as to why merchants are charging **35
CENTS PER INDIVIDUAL SEED**. Initially I thought it must be a hybrid
that doesn't put many seeds out, but of course now I know this is
wrong.

These vendors don't charge these high prices for their other petunia
seeds like "celebrity."

They charge you a high price because they know you will never need to be
buying those seeds again.

Hybrids don't always come back true and require a cross to exist. And those
crosses are done by hand.


"Floatilla" wrote in message
...
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/s...&OfferCode=R1H

http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/St...iew/P1199A&2D1

In 2003 I purchased several packs of these and planted them in window
boxes on my deck. They all grew like crazy. At the end of the season,
the seed pods were EVERYWHERE. The next season, I had an INVASION of
these petunias as they started growing everywhere under my deck, in
old containers, even in other areas of the yard.

Even this year, they are still coming back.

This leads me to great confusion as to why merchants are charging **35
CENTS PER INDIVIDUAL SEED**. Initially I thought it must be a hybrid
that doesn't put many seeds out, but of course now I know this is
wrong.

These vendors don't charge these high prices for their other petunia
seeds like "celebrity."

"yourbuster" wrote in message
.. .
Hybrids don't always come back true and require a cross to exist. And
those
crosses are done by hand.

In addition, they are selling a brand. There is an advertising campaign
that tries to convince people that there is some added value to these
plants. Frankly, I'm sort of tired of all the hype. The "proven winner"
brand is the one that really gets me going. Each year there are more and
more plants sold as "proven winners." These plants are only sold in larger
sized pots and have a premium price. Rather ordinary plants that could be
had at a reasonable price now cost a small fortune. I refuse to buy them.

I agree that there is too much branding and marketing done for old plants
that should be sold because of how well it does in the garden. New plants
do require upscale marketing to get the attention they deserve, but if they
perform as well in the garden as they are promoted then they should sell
themselves without the higher cost of branding.

Just a note about PW, they only sell the growers rooted cuttings and not
unrooted. So the freight on 400 plugs was around $63 the last time we
purchased PW's two years ago. Now we do only unrooted cuttings from Simply
Beautiful and pay about $32 freight for 3000 cuttings. Most companies with
plants in the PW line are also withdrawing and not adding new items, that is
why you see more and more ordinary plants being added to PW.

The only premium cost that I consider to be necessary are the royalties for
patented plants. Though some are high, from $0.04 to $6.00, someone spent
years if not a lifetime working on breeding the plant.

My two cents....

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"yourbuster" wrote in message
.. .
Hybrids don't always come back true and require a cross to exist. And
those
crosses are done by hand.

In addition, they are selling a brand. There is an advertising campaign
that tries to convince people that there is some added value to these
plants. Frankly, I'm sort of tired of all the hype. The "proven winner"
brand is the one that really gets me going. Each year there are more and
more plants sold as "proven winners." These plants are only sold in
larger
sized pots and have a premium price. Rather ordinary plants that could be
had at a reasonable price now cost a small fortune. I refuse to buy them.

"yourbuster" wrote in message
. ..
I agree that there is too much branding and marketing done for old plants
that should be sold because of how well it does in the garden. New plants
do require upscale marketing to get the attention they deserve, but if
they
perform as well in the garden as they are promoted then they should sell
themselves without the higher cost of branding.

Just a note about PW, they only sell the growers rooted cuttings and not
unrooted. So the freight on 400 plugs was around $63 the last time we
purchased PW's two years ago. Now we do only unrooted cuttings from
Simply
Beautiful and pay about $32 freight for 3000 cuttings. Most companies
with
plants in the PW line are also withdrawing and not adding new items, that
is
why you see more and more ordinary plants being added to PW.

The only premium cost that I consider to be necessary are the royalties
for
patented plants. Though some are high, from $0.04 to $6.00, someone spent
years if not a lifetime working on breeding the plant.

My two cents....

I don't begrudge anyone a return on their investment, but I am seeing things
like the sweet potato vine being sold under the PW brand. I find that sort
of insulting or patronizing.

You're lucky - mine do not reseed themselves. I have to plant anew
every year.

On Mon, 30 May 2005 04:14:45 -0400, Floatilla
wrote:


Even this year, they are still coming back.