Group Seed Swap Discussion

This is a thread created for discussion concerning the Group Seed Swap of January 2010. We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1059954/

I am asking all participants to post here when you receive your seeds, so that we know you got yours!

This thread is also for discussion about the swap seeds/vines/blooms. Please post your questions or information concerning the cultivars/species of seeds that were shared among all the participants!

And photos are welcome when you start growing these special seeds!

Thanks to everyone for doing such a great job bagging and tagging your seeds for sharing!

Let the "party" begin! :-) :-)

I've edited this first post to keep track of who and when each person receives their seeds:

1) Wantabegardener - Diana received seeds on 1/23
2) Momcat - Deb received seeds on 1/23
3) ridesredmule - Charleen received seeds on 1/23
4) LiliMerci - Nicole received seeds on 1/23
5) Joeswife - Debra received seeds on 1/23
6) nannypb - Phyllis received seeds on 1/23
7) luvsgrtdanes - Ronnie received seeds on 1/25
8) imzadi - Marie received seeds on 1/25
9) helenahkh - Helena received seeds on 1/25

This message was edited Jan 25, 2010 8:11 PM

It is a little off-center, but this is my baby hige that Debra, Joe'sWife Sent me and I am so hoping it will keep growing. I put a friend in there to keep it company. Isn't it cute?? Debra sent me seed and this is only one came up. Is that unusal? It is a start.

Charleen - I can tell by how long your vine is with so few leaves that it is not getting enough light. That may also be why only one seed germinated. Can you move a light closer to your plant? Or move the plant closer to light? It will also bloom better with a little more light. If you have a lamp that you can direct the light toward this pot, that might also work. :-) Looks pretty! :-) Love the marker flag!

Thank you, Becky. I moved it to the window.
Should have done that last week. Poor baby! I'm a bad MG mama.
Does this make it look happier?

for being a bad MG mama, I'm going to have to come and take your MG baby away from you. jk - couldn't resist. :)

You come on down.
We can talk garden and have a good old time.

Charleen - You plant looks VERY happy now and I am sure it will reward you with some gorgeous blooms soon! :-)

I hope so. I am going to take pic. We just have to wait and see.
I love it, don't you?

:-)

well, I am just bursting at the seams to get my envie now....wooohoooo.

Becky, do we need to send more $$ for tape, etc?
You were such a gracious hostess. you'll spoil us for other swaps if you keep this up. and so darned organized. HA... I used to be like that. in my previous life. now i'm scatterbrained.

Lili...did I already tell you that my DD lives in Winder? how close are you to her?
we could have one of these group meetings somewhere for all the southern MGer's lol.

ok. I have a question for all you MG growers.... or a poll.
Are you going to plant more plants in the ground or are you going to grow them in containers. And if you'll use containers, what is the optimum size pot to use?

I have some MG for hanging planters that i am going to try this year. Since they don't like to be transplanted we will have to be sure to plant them in something big enough where they won't go into shock Transplanting, right?
But I'm going to do both.

containers for me. one to 2 gallon pots

I had the best success with 5 gallon containers. One plant per container! Believe it or not. My recipe ...

MiracleGro Moisture Control Mix
5 gallon white pickle bucket from fast food place with holes drilled in bottom for drainage
MiracleGro Bloom Booster fertilizer
3 Bamboo 6' tall poles shaped into teepee

= some amazing vines! :-)

AND ... I started the MG vines in styrofoam cups and carefully transplanted into 5 gallon buckets. :-)

BTW - I do NOT need any extra money for the swap. I had enough to cover everything! :-) With a few bucks left over. :-)

Here is a photo of my containers with one vine in each one! They were beautiful and grew a LOT as seen in the photo.

This message was edited Jan 21, 2010 8:00 PM

I think i tried to transplant 6 sprouts last year but only two made it. I planted them in the ground at both places, not containers. My uncle spent a lot of time caring for his...my dad ignored his. both had gorgeous vines. go figure. but I have been most sucessful with containers. I'll have to look at what size I have.

All of those 5 gallon buckets had the MGs transplanted into them. Not seeds sowed. So I had 100% success transplanting. The trick is to transplant when they are young and only have 3-4 sets of true leaves on them. But I did transplant one that was larger and it did fine. They didn't even skip a beat and showed no stress from the transplant. Go figure! Was I lucky or just really careful not to disturb the roots? I think both! :-)

I planted most of mine in a 1 gallon container. I really only need about 3 or 4 to germinate in each kind. I usually put about 10 seeds in and then I share them with my neighbors.

I did plant one in a 10 gallon container, the no id pink that you are going to get and those went crazy! I will post picture soon. I am on my laptop so I don't have access to my photos.

OK. Here it is:

In the back, you can see some of my other containers. I think this is coral vine (that never flowered) and hummingbird vines in one same container. I make it climb up 3 tomato stakes into a tee pee shape and then I run the vine up some twine to the top of my pergola.

This year, I'm going to plant a bunch of containers on a walkway on the side of my house. I also have some angel trumpets growing over there too.

Hold on, let me find the idea I got from greenhouse_gal.

awwwww gosh Nicole that pergola is to die for...If I lived even a hundred miles from you, I would come and visit ya and bring all sorts of goodies.. wish I could just do a two week "DGr' fun trip" and visit everyone around the USA for a day..
Charleen that baby is gonna be just fine, lots of sunshine daytime, will make it okay. You are gonna just be pumping out the blooms this summer, I just know it.
Nanny I am looking forward to seeing your blooms and seeing your posts!
Marie I hope you are recovering from the smoke and getting renewed with energy to grow a bunch of flowers!
Gosh Becky, I loved those tubs of yours so much I went out and got me some from work LOL During the cash for clunkers, we had a ton of them, they were filled with the stuff they killed the clunker cars with.. ( it made me sad to know that by the way) DH was kind enuff to drill holes for me..

Debra, thanks for the compliments on my pergola. You and Charleen can come visit anytime. When the mosquitoes are not biting, we can sit out on the swing and glider. My SIL visited from Maryland late this summer and we would wrap ourselves up in our robes and blankets in the morning (because of the bugs) and sit out there and enjoyed the sweet scent of jasmines (see white flowers by MG container) and drink our cup of coffee.

In the pink noid large container, I would also plant sweet potato vines to spill over and I added a few small zinnias later to bring out some color down on the bottom. Oh, and some coleus too. I try something different every year.

In the meantime, I am waiting for greenhouse_gal to get back to me. I've dmail her and asked if it's OK to post one of her photo on this forum. So, imagine this, the MGs are planted in the ground (but I'm going to plant mine in containers in 2 straight rows), with a walkway down the middle. Instead of using tomato stakes, you would use bamboo sticks and make the teepee shape to train the MG's on. Then you would have one bar going across the top from one tee pee to another, crossing overhead on the walkway, making it kind of like an arbor.

This message was edited Jan 22, 2010 12:07 AM

That sounds wonderful, Nicole, I hope we get to see the picture..
I have just got to get a bag of new seeds to you to try.. *sigh* seeds.. plenty of.. time.. not enough.. LOL

Debra, let me know if you have something for me to try. I'll send you postage or envelope. I'm pretty excited about some of the cool seeds we are getting.

OK, I've heard from greenhouse_gal and she said OK to post photo, so here it is. Thanks GG! This is what I'm going to do for my MGs this summer, but in a container instead.

Whadda ya' think?

Tepee frames only in containers?? That would be great. Are you going to sink the pots a couple inches to keep them from toppling?/ I love it. It will be beautiful.
That is beautiful.

oh what a great idea! I used 3 bamboo poles in a container (i probably cut them off so they were about 7-8 feet) and they did fall over once or twice so dropping them in the ground is exactly what I needed to do. they grew up and the vines were just hanging over the top of the teepee. i wish i could find where i put the pictures...i've hid them from myself. again. lol.

oh my...big grins here...something new to try!

i sit on my back porch in my gown or jammies but its not as lush and green back there. my view is of the woods but only the deer can see me.

how hard is it to start jasmine? i need that too.

Probably just cutting it, dusting with rootone and sinking it in the soil.
you can google under the word. jasmine propagation to see what you could find.
Someone will know, They always do. Wonderful people here.

http://www.ecoindia.com/flora/flowers/jasmine-plant.html

See if this will help you Nannie

This message was edited Jan 22, 2010 8:40 PM

Depends on what kind of jasmine. Some are easier than others. I have one rooting if you'd like one. I'll post a picture of it once I get off my laptop. It's some kind of asian jasmine so it may or may not survive your zone but you can dig them out and bring them in the winter time. I have a friend that grew hers in the ground and they were fine, but we've had a tough winter this year so I wonder if some of my jasmine survived.

Most of them will root in water, but it takes a long time (about a month or too) for them to root in water and yes, rootone in dirt works well too. I would do it early spring or late summer, almost fall. In your zone nannie you might be able to get away with it during the summer. it's too hot here in Atlanta.

So, I am not going to put my containers in the ground. I am going to weight them down with rocks and I'm thinking of sinking the poles into the ground. I don't know yet, it depends on how tall the pole is. I have to be able to walk under it. I have an aunt in Charleston with a backyard full of bamboos. I wonder if I can get some from her. I'll have to convince a cousin to haul it back from Charleston.

My concern from growing this many MGs are not being able to keep up with the seeds collection and I'll have MGs growing everywhere out of the ground the following year.

Where could I get some bamboo sticks - cheap (because I'm going to need alot)!

thanks! i love the smell of jasmine and gardenias. is that the s'uthern in us?

Nicole, I got mine from a old place here that sells fresh veggies and seeds on the inside and plants and trees outside. you know, they sell honey and jelly and pickled eggs. its real 'country'. and I think I paid $25 for 50 poles. that was 2 if not 3 years ago.

I would love to have a start of jasmine! I can send postage or an envelope. what ever is easiest for you.

if we don't get all of our seeds planted this year, how long do you think seeds would still be good?

I watched the Hope for Haiti special which was very touching! My heart goes out to all the Haitians affected now and in the future by this tragedy. At least for now, my sponsored son is safe and not yet directly affected by this disaster. World Vision has been keeping everyone updated. :-) I am really concerned about all the now orphaned children. It breaks my heart to watch the news. I don't mind giving what I can. :-)

As a true gardener, I want to send veggie and fruit seed packets to Haiti to help them grow their own food for the future. What's that saying? You can feed a man for a day or teach him how to feed himself for a lifetime! Farming or gardening could be the answer for long-term Haiti recovery to sustain the citizens. I'd donate seeds in a heartbeat! :-) :-)

Anyway ... just had to make a comment about that situation which has been weighing heavy on my heart this week.

Thanks Nicole for posting photos of your beautiful pergola! It looks like a nice size to have a swing and seating room! Perfect for growing MG vines up the post and over the top! :-) I also love the photo you posted from GG! Thats a really neat idea! Another great idea would be to use cattle panels to make arches into a tunnel and grow vines up and over the panels. I have seen photos of that here on DG! :-)

Phyllis - Sounds like you have some great plans for this year's garden! :-) Keep us posted as it develops! I want to see photos! :-)

I hope many of you start receiving your swap seeds tomorrow. I am thinking some of you will! Do let me know! :-)

nannie dmail me and i'll send you the cutting. I'll be back in a bit to post jasmine photo.

I think I'll get my seeds tomorrow. :)

You want the Yellow blooming Jasmine, I think that is what I have. I know there is all kinds of runners out there and I bet some may have a rootlet or two. I will share if you want.
I'm hoping mine will be here soon. I love going to mailbox in hopes of getting a package.

Oh my gosh. Received my bubble..this morning. I am shocked.. Soooooo many, in there. Wowo you all are most generous I hope next year you have this again...So I can send..some special ones..

Thank you again...I am speechless...wowowo...

Sending smiles..and hugs to all of you..Made my day for sure..Better then Xmas..hehe...

May you have a great day now... and thanks Becky for doing such a great job..of handling it all...

Diana...

aww Diana .. I know how excited you are right now.. I can't wait to see your blooms this summer!

OK. Here is a picture of my asian jasmine. It is very easy to root, but you have to be patient. I just stick mine in a container of water and leave it on the windowsill in the kitchen and check back in about a month.

Lili, I believe mine is the Carolina Jasmine, with the yellow bloom. But yours is Beautiful.
Mine is pretty but not like that. I have Kerria that has a bloom very similar to that only yellow.
Got a Lady banks Rose climbing into a Persimmon tree, it is so pretty, all of them when they bloom.

I love Lady Banks Rose. They have some down at Calloway and they are just beautiful. I don't think they are fragrant though. You are welcome to a cutting if you like. I don't have another rooted one but I can send you an unrooted cutting or I can root you one but it won't be ready for another month or so.

I love the Carolina Jasmine. I think one of my friend gave me one last year. I can't remember which side of the arbor I planted it on or if it's still going to be alive this year.

My Jasmines are old.. a least five yrs old for sure, but the carolina jasmine I have is new only a year.. I was told to bring it in with the other tropicals, nw they are climbing thru the macho fern and hot lips salvia down there.. my carolina jasmine produced tons of seeds this fall. I planted some already.
That asian jasmine is to die for.. I must see if I can find some..