Been duped

Can't believe it, on Ebay I fell for a seemingly scam and bought a packet of seeds for £2.94. They were supposed to be blue evening primrose seeds. Have written to the seller asking for my money back. Doubt they'll reply, if not I'll contact Ebay, think they've a duty of care, or should have. Oh well.... there's always someone who'll bite

Note to self, don't bother buying seeds from Ebay or Amazon again!

 

If it comes from China on e bay dont touch it with a barge pole.

I bought so called Plumeria seeds a couple of years ago and just looking at the seeds I could tell they obviously were not, grew them and they were pretty poor looking Zinnias.

Is there such a thing as a blue evening primrose?

I got my money back from E bay not the seller.

 

Lucky that you lost so little!

Always buy seeds from reputable growers. Ebay is where scammers lurk but also seeds; ofen form China, that have not been thru a phyto sanitary certification process so who knows what pest or disease you could import with them.

Evening primrose are mostly biennial, tall and yellow - Search the RHS website for gardening knowledge / RHS Gardening tho there are short perrenial pink ones - Buy evening primrose Oenothera speciosa 'Siskiyou'

 

I don't think there is, but at the time I just thought the pic looked nice. Think I've got to go through the motions of contacting the seller to get my money back before Ebay steps in.

 

You're right, it's good to buy from a reputable grower, though I believe there are some sellers that are above board.

I have sown some 'Common Evening Primrose' seeds, they've germinated really quickly and are robust, though I can't remember where they came from now. I must have bought seeds from a dozen or so suppliers this year.

Thank you for the heads up about Oenothera speciosa, will have a look for that.

There's a question that surely needs asking, how come these 'seeds' escaped the watchful eyes of DEFRA's (that's providing they were imported).

 

I've had excellent plants from sellers on ebay, but have avoided seeds as by the time you find there is a problem, it is generally too late to open a case and get your money back.

I am feeling a bit miffed about 3 plants I bought elsewhere though. One is supposed to be Corydalis Elata, but I'm pretty sure it is not as the leaves are too dark and do not have the characteristic red spot. One is supposed to be Corydalis Craigton Blue, and it may well be, but it is a pathetic 2-leaved thing and looks unlikely to thrive. I had to buy a 3rd plant to satisfy the minimum order and chose a Polemonium. It arrived with one tiny living bit a couple of cms tall ... and a large snail.

 

There is no blue evening primrose, nor does a blue strawberry exist, but the photos look so appealing and it's only a couple of quid so worth a try.

I'm guessing it may be this? £2.94 for 100 seeds?
The leaves of the plant below are from an ordinary primrose and fake blue primrose flowers have been copied over the top .

I'm amazed at some of the seeds available on ebay - quite beyond belief.

 

@Jenny_Aster Seeds are all too easy to secrete in ordinary postal envelopes and small packets or to hide in bigger shipments of other stuff. DEFRA and Customs can't possibly X-ray every single item coming into the country.

Caveat Emptor is a good principle when buying anything form an unknown source and, after Brexit, even seeds and plants from Europe cannot be imported unless they too have a phyto sanitary certificate and that's a very long-winded and expensive bureaucratic process which only the biggest growers of bog standard plants will undertake to keep their UK market.

Even before then, the RHS had banned imported trees and plants for use in events like the Chelsea Flower Show and before that had insisted on quarantine to check they had neither disease nor pests present.

Sloppy import controls and practices lead to problems like Ash die-back disease, Colorado beetle infestations, Dutch Elm disease and so on - all of which have had a masive impact on established trees, plants and crops.

 

Canna virus has been rampant in the last few years and I'm pretty sure lots of it has come from the Netherlands in those dried up bagged roots that you can buy at most garden centres.
I've not tried growing any of those for years now but I'm willing to bet certificates or not, they are probably still entering the country.

We are not an island, well not anymore.

 

Nothing much more to add except I hope you get your money back from ebay (not hopeful of anything from the scammer/seller).
Actual primulas (polyanthus type, not oenothera) do come in a blue-ish purple color, but not that electric blue

 

You can see it's photoshopped now, after the 'event' it's so obvious. Oh well, we live and learn

 

Just want to be a little thorn in the bum of Ebay really, I can't be the only one (surely not )

 

You should get a refund, though you may have to return the seeds.

 

How about one of these?