Where to find Bertolonia or Monolena - Jewel Plant?

I saw a picture of this in one of my houseplant books and it is fabulous! Does anyone know where to find one to purchase, or have any to share? Logee's has it, but it's a custom grow, so I'd have to wait at least 3 months for it. I'm not that patient! LOL Here's the link to see it at Logee's. http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R1895-2
Thanks so much!

You might check Top Tropicals and Kartuz--I don't specifically remember if either one of them has it, but I believe I had seen it somewhere other than Logee's once and it would have been one of those two.

Hi ecrane,
Thank you for your quick reply. I checked at both places, and neither seem to have it. :o( I appreciate the help very much, though! :o)

Funny, RainGazer (we must have the same book!) because this is one that's been on my want list a long time, too!

I've even entered variations of it's name into ebay searches that will notify me when one comes up for auction.....and have *never* in 3 or 4 years seen one.

I didn't know that Logee's had it, though.....I'm wondering now if there might be some obscure seed lists somewhere out there that have this on it??

I'll let you know if I should run across it.

I've asked another group I'm on if anyone has seeds for this. They just might.
:) Donna

Well, Kartuz at least used to sell it so maybe they'll bring it back again--I checked my journal and that's where I got mine from last year. I would offer cuttings or something but unfortunately it met with an untimely death over the winter (had a shelf of 4" pots that got knocked over in a wind storm and it was one of the ones that I wasn't able to recover)

Oh dear, ecrane3! Hopefully I can find some seeds.
:) Donna

Ah, but you're right, ecrane. I did find it at Kartuz after more searching. Bad news is they're sold out, too. They have it as Monolina rather than Monolena, which is why I couldn't find it. Here's the link. http://www.kartuz.com/pc/69089//Monolina+primulafolius.html
Nan, ecrane, let's all keep our fingers crossed that PerennialGirl can find some seeds.
Thank you very much for your efforts in helping to locate this plant, PerennialGirl. Seeds would be wonderful! I can't wait to hear back from you! :o)

Well, if they're just sold out then my experience has been that it'll come back...possibly not until the spring though. I had a bunch of stuff I was waiting for them to get back in stock this time last year, and seems to me it was Feb/March sort of timing when a lot of them started to be available again.

I was just on Kartuz website today, and they have a new wish list feature where if something is out of stock you put in your email addy and they'll notify you when the plant is in stock, and I'm assuming the people on the waiting list would get priority for it when it does come back (they sometimes sell out of popular stuff pretty quick because they don't grow a ton of any one plant)

That's a good idea, ecrane3!
Are you going to put it on your WishList, Raingazer?

I've ordered from Kartuz, before, and though the plants are in small pots, they are always a good size, healthy, and have a great root system.

Look what I found:
http://www.mountainorchids.com and search for Monolena primulaeflora.

No one in my group has any seeds, but someone did direct me to a place in Europe that has seeds listed. I sent them an email asking how much they would cost.

:) Donna

That's some *nice* foliage!

Does anyone know much about the culture of Monolena?

Nan, I found this via google http://www.bihrmann.com/caudiciforms/subs/mon-pri-sub.asp

Gosh, that's beautiful! Thanks for the link, Donna! I am going to sign up on the wishlist at Kartuz (thank you for the heads up on that, ecrane), but I might break down and buy the one from Mountain Orchids. I wish they had something else I wanted to offset the $8 shipping. That more than doubles the cost of that one plant, and I can't grow Orchids...they hate me! LOL

Has anyone ever bought from Mountain Orchids? I didn't even think to check the Watchdog. I'll go do that now, but would still like to hear if any of you have purchased from them. The one they have pictured is a beautiful specimen and I'm really, really tempted!

Edited to say...no feedback at all in the Watchdog. They're listed, but no feedback.

This message was edited Aug 11, 2006 5:41 PM

I added myself to the Wait List at Kartuz. It showed no others waiting. Now there's one and it's me! LOL
Any information on Mountain Orchids yet?

You might post over in the orchid forum and see if anyone over there has experience with them--if that's mostly what they sell then that's the most likely forum to find people who've bought stuff from them. Either that or take a chance--if there's a place that has a plant I want but not too many ratings in Watchdog, I'll place a small order first so I'm not out of too much money if they turn out to be bad.

Ü I was thinking about getting on Kartuz' wait list...but wanted to make sure you got your name in there first, Raingazer.

Good idea, ecrane3.....another thought is to post on a Regional forum near Mountain Orchids.....I did that once with another vendorwho wasn't listed on the GW (posted on a Regional forum for any comments) and learned that they had a very good reputation in their immediate area.

mountain orchids is a specialized orchid nursery, meaning that they are the only source of some kinds of orchids. Their prices can be proportionally high. They are good at what they do and the orchids are healthy, and they are honest sellers from what I saw at the orchid sale here..