What does a major vacumm cleaner company have to do with the noble Wollemi Pine availability in the United States portion of North America? Well, there appears to be an Animal out there that is sucking the very life out of those alternative businesses that are trying to make this thing obtainable. It must be an animal with a cyclone on its butt, sort of like the Looney Tunes character from Tasmania, which coincidentally, just happens to be a little south of Eastern Australia. Coincidence? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.
That thought occurred to me after getting off the phone following a conversation with an Oregon wholesaler who previously carried that particular plant. I intended to place an order but he was all out, has been for some time and anticipates no stock in the foreseeable future. My small corporation just expanded a mite after the board saw this niche where all of those people clamoring for this popular plant could be made happy. No dice, there is apparantly no stock to be had, wholesale or otherwise.
A couple years ago a major supplier in Florida who, after stating that he just could not give these things away, dumped the lot somewhere and headed north. Then there was the nurseyman in the very same State who planned to generate some starter plants from the new growth on their stock plants when the heat wave rolled in and not only wiped out the newbies but made serious cuts into their older stock.
Having mulled this over for some time, I’ve decided that it must be the demon from Tasmania.
