Seed Swap and Chat #47 Waiting for seeds

Happy New Year everyone!

Carolyn, I've never seen the October Rose? I bet it's not hardy for this zone or I probably would have tried it by now or rejected it one lol I have the yellow one but I'm wondering if I didn't have mine to come up for the last time this year it only got about 1 1/2' tall this year and had only five seed pods on it and I didn't collect them because I thought I had some in the crisper but didn't :( I don't think it liked the wet weather we had this year if that's the only one I lost I'm good lol

Happy New Year we're going to have a good one this year Carolyn :)

Happy New Year Michaela :)

You too Seandor!

Befor e I forget yet again. I got this dmail the other day about troop boxes too to thos e that I dmaile d an addy too. If ya sent a box, just so ya know. As I sent boxes out to all differnt areas and have boxe s beign worke d on for Valentine's not to the addy ya all aske d me for, for Christmas.

Rickey had contacte d oru dg person contact who contacte d me.

"I talked to Rickey today and he said the boxes came on Christmas Eve, they were all so happy to be remembered. He told me to tell everyone that we don't need to send them anything else, they are talking about making them pack up and move--there are new troops coming in to take their places and he is not sure where they will be sent yet--they are still scheduled to come home in March--
I told him we would send to your son's group now, he said to please thank everyone involved and that he said "God Bless you all!"

Just wante d ya to know cuz I knwo alot of them soldiers don't have the tiemor capabilitie s to answer. And also wanted to add my thans to thos eof you that maile d package s out. As you cna see they was appreciated. : )

WOW -- i step away for halfa day, and look what i miss.

Karen did an awesome job there...


MaoGwa? could be maozamom??

well... gotta get back to the bathroom... on to sealing the ceiling before the prime and paint... gonna be a busy day but i'll be back during drying times.

Nope it not her. I knwo her seed packets. : ) I don't even recogniz e the type of seed. later will try adn take a pic of it.

Happy New Year Everyone
And HEAR HEAR PERENNIALLYME. I do understand that at times thing do arise which prevent us from making deadlines that we obligated ourselves to, BUT not making it on time and then not having the courtesy to keep Star informed is just slack folks.

And Ella I would not mind if you just went ahead with what you need to do and send mine out and return the rest back to those who haven't shown up. I'll bet there are others who feel the same.

I hope that everyone has a very healthy and prosperous 2010. I look forward to my birthday this year as it will be 2/5 and I will be 55 ~ I was born 2/5/55. I love numbers! I gues I may be a little superstituos too and will probably stay up until 2:55 am just to see if I explode or something haha.

For those who are receiving the Indian Paintbrush you should really know that this is a parasitic plant ~ meaning that it needs another plant 'host' in order to get what it needs to survive. I think that a perennial grass is ok to use in that situation.

Happy new year! Happy new gardens!

Thanks for the sweet pea links, moon. I am looking up my seeds on Dave's also. Might as well amuse myself while snowed in.

Thanks for your support Ansonfan!!! I really don't like being an ogre, even though I'm willing to when I think the situation calls for it. I also wouldn't mind having my seeds sent out sooner, and any I've oinked from the no shows returned to them if they ever arrive.

Ok, I have heard from soem folks. Last year I think I maile d evrybody out aroudn the 6th. I know we have had soem folsk trappe d by that nasty storm that came through and we have a coupel that have been in the hospital very serious conditions and a coupel that informed me that they on the way and another with child in hospital.

We have 10 people out. Three have sent me message s that their boxe s on the way. I gonna giv e evrybody til the 9th that a saturday. That wil giv e me that saturday afternoon and sunday to do up the last boxe s and such. That a fe w days longer than I had planne d on, but want to giv e everbody a chance. Yes I am a softy, but we have coem all thes e weeks on the piggy journey together, so want to try and end it that way. Piggie s carrie d me thos e weeks i was in hospital and so sick, so want to giv e evrybody the benefit of the doubt. Without folsk watchign and helping on here I wouldn't have made my own swap. LOL

And I plan on sending tenatively everybody out the followign Monday on the 11th. As much as I hate too think I got have to put a deadline. That should giv e folks that out of town hopefulyl time to get back if they not trapped, to get back.

I so do want to have evrybody go out at once, but liek the spare bathroom holding all the empty piggy boxe s from you. LOL ran otu of room and was onyl palc e I coudl find to hold em all. Spare bedroom has all the paper work spread out on be d and table in there and extras I need to sort yet and well ya cna see my bed if full and have piggy trough buckets streche d out in another area. I surroudne d by seed s evreywher e I turn. Good thign I not a chipmunk Would be a gormet delight for them. : )

So let's everybody hope that the other s cna get their stuff together. Thos e runnign behind if ya don't have tiem to do all the steps just mark yoru seeds for who they oinked and just bag up extras in a bad, don't worry abotu sendign paper work other than addys and a wish list if it not on yoru haves list if that helps thos e runnign behind to get caught up. : )

My piggy resolution should be to be a better seed labeler! I am currently trying to get at least one of these printers working. I asked the bf to pick up some ink and parts at a computer place in NJ. Around here, we just have the big box stores who charge a fortune for parts, if you are lucky enough to find them in stock. I got lucky at the dollar store last time, they carried name brand USB cables for $1. I miss being near the city when I need to find anything not carried by Walmart.

Me too GQ, but I sure am glad that old Wally is around the corner or I would be driving to Charlotte a lot more.

Star I think you are the best. You are really good at this kind of thing, and I have really enjoyed it. Hope you can dig out enough room to find a place to curl up and sleep! And I hope the chipmunks don't get wise to you either hehe.

Garden... I wish I was too. I see soem of thes eseeds coem in that so beautifully marke d and package d and they make me hang my head.

My big thing is to try and get bette r at seed collecting. Especially with the piggy swap ya get seed s ya never did before and when I toss folsk always get oodle s of thinsg they never tried or heard of before, and they may be seeds ya get that you th eonly person that gona have to try and carry on for next piggies, or too show hey we cna grow this in missouri even though it says zone 11. LOL

Ansonfan.... That day you need to go out and driv e on 55 mph highway for two minute s then stop in muddle of road and if folsk wonder why ya stoppe d tell them it yoru birthday and ya doign the number s thing for onyl two minutes.

Oh, I got a little spot. I like my nap and a few horus of sleep. Durign piggy swap I sleep on the couch. I love all th epiggie s dearly btu ain't givign up the couch at least for seeds. ; ) Nope.. I be selfish there ho-ho-ho.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!!
I have lots of gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields' and am wondering if anyone on here would like some. D-mail me with your name and address and I will send them to you.
Veronica

Veronica... didn't i give you seeds last year? my guess is they germinated for you ..

if so... what's the trick? i've tried and tried, and zip... though I did get one very late germinator and bloomer -- that is where i got the seeds for you.

Terese

Terese you did send me seed but regretfully they didn't germinate. Not to be outdone as I had luck the previous year, I bought some seed. Actually I had two kinds the Strawberry Fields and a Burpee seed called Carmine. When they grew they were not much different that I could tell so now I don't know for sure which is which. I did grow them under lights so maybe that is the reason they grew. I dryed them and put them in bunches on my Christmas tree with some Limelight hydrangea. My tree this year was a table top as that is all I felt like putting up. I was pleased with it and the funny thing is I only had one small string of working lights and they burned out the night before Christmas. Hopefully I will have a larger nicer tree next year although I thought my small tree was kind of pretty.
I am keeping track of all you piggies. Star darling you are a very generous spirit. I know all the piggies appreciate your dedication.
Veronica

Hi Indy!!!!!!!!!!! Happy New Years to you too! Gla d ya popped in. : )

What a neat idea for doing your tree! I have strung popcorn and the colore d paper chains before, but never would have crosse d the mind to decorate with drie d flowers. I bet that sur e looke d pretty. : )

Tcs. Did you try and winter sow your gomphrena? Veronica may have had it rightdoign the lightsa, cuz they do like warmth to germinate.

Don't even mention chipmunks. Every year, I go around putting moth balls and steel wool in certain places under the siding. The Rodent Terminator, aka The Great White Hunter, aka my Westie Tiffany is constantly on rodent patrol. I know instantly when they are trying to nest anywhere by my place, she starts scratching and barking like mad. When I frist moved in, I had mice coming in the utility penetration behind the oven (the builders must have been too dumb to use a cutting bit, any sheetrock penetrations were done by hammers, block penetrations not much better). One night, Tiffany started barking like a maniac and scratching the grate under the dishwasher. Then, a mouse ran out. I screamed, she grabbed it by the neck, shook it, dropped it dead, and repeated it three times. Yikes. Not bad for a pampered little poochie. The bf pulled out the appliances and sealed the holes. No indoor rodents since. There was that squirrel in the toilet mystery, but that is another story.....

Ella, I wintersowed my gomphrena last winter and it did great..at that time, I was in zone 7a, not here in Iowa.

here's a pic of them. :)

Lebug, I had a good laugh with your helicopter and police story!

I'll be putting the gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields' on my Piggy list for next year. Very nice Clan.

Clan.... Do you remmebr off hand about how wide the individual plants got? Sur e is a pretty picture. Did you happen to notic e if they had any fragranc e at all.

Twofew.... maybe just dreamign on my part, but thought I saw where somebody ha d sent soem in in the extras, or it could be I had soem extras in my batch. Can't remmeber off hand, but if I coem across them durign sorting can ya say three time s and click piggy hoofs together say

" I wish I ha d gomphrena strawberry fields, I WISH I had gomphrena strawberry fields, I wish I had gomphrena strawberry fields "

and snort real pretty. heheheheh

toofew
as I said I have lots of seed and if you want some just D-mail me.
Star I'll comment a little more on decorating a Christmas tree with dried flowers. I belong to a garden club and each year for the past 4 we have decorated a very large tree in the lobby of our library with dried flowers. This year someone had saved the "bouquets" from last year to cut down on work and to be sure to have plenty of flowers. The tree is always gorgeous.
Also I'm not Clan but some of my plants that I put in containers grew very big. They kind of fell down but the ones in the ground were smaller and stayed upright. Container soil was probably richer
Veronica.

Thanks Veronica. : ) Cuz I was thinkign about container use wondering if they woudl get too big and do a take over.

That doe s sound pretty. If ya feel liek it sometime, have to tell or show us how to make em.

Ella... yes, i WS'ed the strawberry fields. this year i'm getting some 'purple' seeds. maybe i'll try a few on a heat mat and see what happens.

.... Learn something new every day.... as i was vacuuming after Dh took the tree down.. i noticed these little black 'things' on the floor under where my Chlorophytum comosum 'Variegatum' [spider plant] sits.... needless to say, i vacc'ed them up. NOW i figure out.... those were seeds!

My other 'plain jane' green spider does not produce seeds, so i never thought this one would too.

Actually Star the 'Strawberry Fields' were not the only things that grew big in those containers. I had Black Pearl peppers, Blue Victoria salvia and some kind of blade thing that I can't remember the name of, bidens were supposed to hang down and they did but the other plants kind of grew bigger faster and I had some giant containers by the end of summer but we had so much rain I just think everything grew at a faster rate. Hmmm now I am wondering what to put in the containers next year. Everything except the bladething which I'm thinking is corydyline sp? were my own grown plants so that made me happy.

Good luck all of you on your piggy plants. I will be watching for all your progress reports.
Veronica

Happy New Year! And I just wanted to apologize for being one of the late culprits. I did get my box post marked by the end of the year, but it was late for sure.

One of our family cats, "Romeo" died on Dec. 14th from mouth cancer; it was awful really, and very draining. I'm sure it's hard to understand if you aren't a cat person, but it was back and forth to the vets for pain meds etc. Then I had a final exam on Dec 23rd that took more to prepare for than I planned for, or expected.

Anyway, I was prepared to direct mail everyone my promises so as not to hold up production, but Star said to send them in. I'm sorry guys.

I am so sorry for the loss of your Furbaby. It
is always sad to lose a friend. Hang in there.
We are with you.

Condolences on the loss of your kitty Wind. We lost our "Mickey" to the same thing a number of years ago, and it was horrible. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Faye, please be careful on the trip.. and so sorry to hear of your brother in law..such a rough time of the year to lose anyone (any time is a bad time!) I'll keep your family in my prayers..

Wind, Romeo was a beautiful cat! It's like losing a part of the family, as you put so much love and attention into their well being. We understand totally!

Ella, I'm glad Veronica answered your question about how big gomphrena gets, because I moved before really seeing it's full growth..those plants were put into the ground in May and the pic was taken in July..and I had clumped mine together pretty closely..there were around 6 plants, if I remember right.

Tcs... LOL... yep spider plants do make seed s and the green one s do too, they just usually dont make seed til the plants real big and have oddle s and oodle s of blooms and the they do better if ya kind a go by and miv e the plant soem, to stir t hepollen aroudn in the air.

Sittign her e wondering if ya covere d in dust from diggign in vacumn bag to get the seed out.

Which remind s me Garden... Not fair to leave hangign abotu squirrel in toliet story. LOL

Wind, so sorry to hear about your baby Romeo I guess that's another aliment I need to research for cats, had no idea, such a bad thing for you and your baby to go thru I'm so sorry!

I've looked and looked and tried to do a search with no luck who lost their BIL, who is Faye, please forgive me but I have no idea :) There have been way too many deaths this time of year here this year I feel so sorry for the people going thru it. For one we had four neighbor kids lose their father a few weeks ago here he was only 38, stress it's a killer!

Veronica that tree sure sounds like it was pretty! I don't even have room for a table tree in here it would have to be the table that the cats get on to get to the window lol I had a little snowman out for Christmas lol

Veronica, I think Ella wants some gomphrena strawberry fields LOL

My New Year's Resolution is not to be too piggy in the future - but only request the seeds that I really can grow and plant - so watch out next year, ' cause I am going to be requesting seeds for my students to winter sow! ^_^

Right now I am in a "cutting" jag. A good friend gave me three annual geraniums and a mum. They all seemed to go dormant (temporariliy - probably because I didn't water them!) Anyway, there has been all this new growth, so I took cuttings and I am seeing if I can get any to root . . .

Of the 7 rose cuttings that rooted for me this summer, only one survives. I guess I should have left them in the ground over the winter . . . well, I will try those again, and see what happens.

I also have started heliotrope seeds, and some mixed geranium seeds. Wish me luck with these. I have great success winter-sowing seeds, but limited success starting seeds inside. . . .

I've been trying all afternoon to send this and could not get computer to co operate called tech and he said if I can get internet the problem is with computer so I am going to see if this pic of my flower covered tree will send.
Veronica

I finally had success after the 5th try sending that picture. I am about ready to take the computer to the shop. It went that time though so maybe it has healed itself.lol

Veronica, that is the best tree I have seen this year! I love it!

Patti

That is a beautiful tree.
I know you are proud of it. What a lot of work.
Beautiful.

That is beautiful. When you were describing it, I was thinking something totally different, but you did good. I love it too.

Wind, I am so sorry. I had a cat who had eye cancer. I went thru the appointments, antibiotics, hope, and final appointment. Our pets are such important parts of our lives, and so dependent on us for care and decision making when they are ill. My dog is 15, slowing down a bit, but still healthy. I cherish every day with her knowing that there are a limited number left.

Your tree is so beautiful. I think I will save hydrangea nest year to decorate a wreath. Found a plain wreath with lights by the curb walking the dog. Hydrangea and a beautiful bow will be perfect! Hope the dollar store still has those nice rolls of wire edged ribbon that I liked, but had no use for.

Yep, Veronica... Glad ya were finally able to post the pic. That is awesome. Who would have ever thought of hydrangea would make such a lovely tree and the gomphrena really send it to the "top".

That container, sounds neat, red, black and bue , bet that was pretty. Wrot e it down. I terrible with combos .

Seandor.. All ready thinking of stuff f or you and yoru students for next year for yoru zone. Good thign with all natives is you wil have the bees, butterflies, birds who us e for hiding, nesting and food too and a hoem for beneficial insects too.

The mums are easy, just get a section a coupel inches tall, put in some potting soil and keep really moist and ina fe w weeks they rooted. Soon you wil have 100's of them. : )

Not sur e who Faye is either off hand, btu hope they be safe too.

Well headign back to bed. Just woke up quick and got the pipe s all dripping . I be in a world of hurt if I can't have my mornign coffee. LOL Stay warm everybody .

Star, catch you a jug of water each night just in case the water freezes and then you will still be able to make coffee until it thaws out.