We came from here, to unclutter the "Free Seed for New Bees" thread.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1160896/#top
Post #8433701
I'll be printing some seed packet labels for Robin's "Free Seed for New Bees"
If you're sending Robin a batch of seeds to be split up, and would like me to print up labels, let me know anything you would like printed on them, especially:
your DG screen name or any nickname
plant's name,
bloom color
Even better would be a link to DG PlantFiles, but that's not necessary.
I'll be trying to get a small color picture onto the label, or printed on a separate label.
I can get up to 20-25 lines on a 2"x3" label with no picture. (Ten lines, but double-sided.)
Maybe 10-15 lines on a 1.5" x 1.5" label, maybe a font size smaller than 10 points.
For example:
Front:
-------
Runner Bean
'Painted Lady'
edible ornamental
full sun (part shade)
[A or TP Zone 9b]
may come back
from a tuber
OP - DS 1" deep
after last frost
68 days
Back:
------
Runner Bean
'Painted Lady'
Phaseolus coccineus
6'-10' tall
needs support
18-24" spacing
white and peach
bi-color blooms
sunnyg's garden
Corey
New Bee Seed Labels
Great start Corey I will start adding what I have that needs packaging the first of the week!! BTW feel free to use any of my photos for packaging!! My have list at least has photos...TO those that donate if you have a photo of what you are donating would you post it here with a name if you can, if not don"t let that stop you just send them along we will find photos and names!!...thanks
I guess I have a few days before I need to tidy up the first two labels. When you let me know how many to print for each batch of seed, I'll probably print two labels per packet, then include 50% more "just in case".
Actually, whatever fills out one or two whole pages is how many I'll print, especially when it comes to the color printer.
I'm playing right now to see just how MUCH room I can make on one label that fits into a 2x3 ziplock without hanging up on the zipper.
It is so much easier to read 10-point font than smaller fonts!
But I already see that there is more info than room, especially if I include a picture on the seed label itself.
Corey
That sounds great Corey ...They wont go to waste whatever you decide to print the people that donate regularly also tend to re_donate the seeds the donated last year because they grow them!! Shall I send you seed and such to send out to newbees also?
What is A, TP and OP? I don't do well with abbreviations, sorry.
OP is open pollinated, not sure on the others.
[A] = Annual
[P] = perennial
[TP] = tender perennial or tropical perennial
I giot the idea from Virtual Seeds Germination database, which they took over from Thompson & Morgan:
SUGGESTED SOWING TIMES
HA . . . Hardy Annual
HHA . . . Half Hardy Annual
GBb . . . Greenhouse Bulb
GP . . . . . Greenhouse Perennial
GSh . . . Greenhouse Shrub
GT . . . Greenhouse Tree
HP . . . Hardy Perennial
HHP . . . Half Hardy Perennial
HBb . . . Hardy Bulb
HHBB . . . Half Hardy Bulb
HB . . . Hardy Biennal
HHB . . . Half Hardy Biennal
HSh . . . Hardy Shrub
HHSh- . . Half Hardy Shrub
HT . . . . Hardy Tree
HHT . . . Half Hardy Tree
... I'll expand the text in the labels.
I stretched my "2x3" label template, and there should be plenty of room to spell things out.
BTW: I find that I CAN print double-sided on the color printer! I can put a postage-stamp sized image right on the seed labels, as logn as there isn;'t too much text. Cool!
Corey
This message was edited Mar 18, 2011 8:20 PM
>> Shall I send you seed and such to send out to newbees also?
at first I was thinking I would volunteer to stuff packets and send them to you, but then I rembered my last 10 seed trades going out months late.
I had better not promise what I won't have time to do!
At least to start, how about if I just send you labels in ziplocks?
If I getcaught up on garden tasks, and work doesn't go crazy, I feel safe offering to split seds into ziplocks and sned them to you that way.
If I were to promise to pick seeds to send to new DG members, they might grow old before I can make up my mind what to send!
Corey
Hmmm ...
>> the people that donate regularly also tend to re_donate the seeds the donated last year because they grow them!!
The most time-consuming part might be finding out what color the seeds are, and getting the picture. And I would like to "batch" the printing if I can, so I don't hit the color printer so often.
Would it make sense for you to send me a list of seeds you MIGHT need labels for? Then I can doodle with them whenever I have time, and start asking the donators "does it look like this ... or like this?"
Or maybe that is wasted time until you GET the seeds.
It would be GREAT if I show the donors my text ahead of time, and they corrected mistakes or added things they had learned about the plant.
Already, just with two plants, I found out "it often comes back from a tuber in my mild winter" when otherwise I would have just typed "Annual".
Or, for example, as with Salvia: "soak them 24 hours until they look like frog eggs and get 90% germination in 5-10 days" instead of "slow and unreliable germination" IS GOLDEN.
Corey
Yes Corey ..I have some here that I will send you info for. We if you take a look at the Chat thread Friends new and old
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1152857/
We all or many of us started here they have been newbees and/or newbee stash donating parties, we learn and learned together with games and contest we learned the latin names an with letters to the new subscribers to dg we learned the zones ...Meeko does seed auctions to refill us on a regular basis. I think I can as I go through and now have you to send the data to can give you the information as well as the photos, many of our packages are pre-labeled when they arrive here. But I do get bulk packages. For instance Castor bean seed, red and green, (which I could use more of my stash is very low)
I cant seem to grow them to seed to short a season I guess....anyway this is the info here at DG http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/70/ I have a photo just have to go through the 10thousand photos on my storage disks
The n I have red trumpet vine http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/74822/ a fairly large package(alot really)
maybe ten packages (your xipper size packages of Mexican buckeye http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53033/
Orange coreopsis several http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31/
and Morning glory heavenly blue many of those http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31977/ picture enclosed
The other thing you can do for pictures is if you find it here on daves contact one of the owners and see if they are willing to let you use their picture for the labeling....I will send pictures of what I have as I can to your inbox!!
ok, so I'm a little confuzzled.
if Im planning on collecting and sending all ,my tropical milkweed seed... who do I actually send it too and who do I inform about label info? ya kinda need to explain it to me like I'm 5 yrs old. ROFLMBO!
No Changes Cue. Send to me!! THe information that Corey is looking for is labels for bulk seed. He is making them for us and sending them to me. Posting that information is optional. If you have it and time to post it here and you are sending bulk seed that is great!! If not that is ok too as always send what you send in whichever way works easiest!!
got it!
Robin,
THANK YOU for the links to DG. Otherwise, I would wander for hours, through confusing synonms .
This makes it really easy - in fact, fun.
(But I better get to work right now instead of making labels!)
I will ask people who contributed pictures to PlantFiles if I can use them for these labels
How about, if I have a question, I'll ask you, and maybe you can ask the donor. For example, sometimes there's a range of colors in the photos. But I don't want to make this annoying for you!
For example, the DG link for Red Trumpet Vine says the cultivar is "Flamenco". That's the only Plant Files variety that exactly matches "Red Trumpet Vine", but maybe I should put a question mark after "Flamenco?"
Or, for the Castor beans, are the blooms or the foliage red & green?
(I'm going to have to decide whether to include "poisonous" just becuase PlantFiles says so. They seem very alarmist about that, even calling Runner Beans "poisonous" .
Red Trumpet Vine
'Flamenco' ?
Campsis radicans
20'-30' long (climbing)
12"-15" spacing
[ 4a-10b
sun to part shade
may irritate skin or cause allergy
may be invasive
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/74822/
=====
Castor Bean
Ricinus communis
[A TP 9a-11]
poisonous,
DT Full sun
4'-6' Tall
36-48" spacing
grown for foliage
red & green (foliage or blooms?)
bloom late summer-early fall
Seed does not store well; sow as soon as possible
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/70/
====
Mexican Buckeye
Ungnadia speciosa
(Family Sapindaceae)
shrub / tree [Zone 7a-9b]
deciduous
12'-15' Tall
spacing?
full sun DT
poisonous
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53033/
====
Orange Coreopsis
Calliopsis, Golden Tickseed
Coreopsis tinctoria
etc
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31/
=========
Morning Glory
'Heavenly Blue'
Grannyvine
Ipomoea tricolor
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31977/
=======
Corey
Yes that is good you can ask me and If I dont have the answer I try and track it down!! Yes a question mark beside colors if we dont know them is good
Thanks for the abbreviations Corey. I need to figure out how to get my printer attached to my wireless so I can print from my livingroom! It worked at my other house. LOL Right now I just have to save as a document.
http://davesgarden.com/community/trading/search.php?search_text=PFPID:40236
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1888/
This is the photo SunnyG is the donator http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/302580/
painted lady http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/302473/
Sunny approved our use of her photos!!
Kelly did too!! http://davesgarden.com/members/locakelly/
(sneaking a peak while the boss isn;t over my shoulder)
Great, I'll grab these and use them (hopefully tonight)
I'm keeping the two I already printed up in front of my keyboard ... I've got no flowers yet, but I DO have pretty little pictures, like big postage stamps.
Corey
I have a private office, but big brother watches me from state office.
Robin, the first 7 labels went into the mail today!
Corey
YeaY!!
Another batch of labels went out, though peas and beans mostly don't have photos.
Shasta Daisy
Dwarf Pomegranate - Punica granatum 'Nana' - [P Zones 7b - 11] - Shrub 3'-4' tall
Formosan Lily - Taiwanese Mountain Lily - Lilium formosanum - Zones 5a - 10a - 2-8' tall
Snap Bean 'White Half Runner' OP
Lima Bean 'Burpee's Bush' (Fordhook?) OP
Snap Bean "Blue Lake Bush" OP
English Pea "Thomas Laxton" OP
Corey
Thanks Robin and Corey for all your hard work. :)
Refresh my memory .... what are the labels for?
Good golly Miss Molly it is hot hot hot. My car showed 98* on my way home from town.
Thank you, Amanda. It's fun and feels satisfying.
>> what are the labels for?
So people know what seeds are in the packet. Donated seeds usually come in in big bags, and the individual 'trade' packets need some kind of labelling.
Specific variety names if known.
Color if known.
Hardiness: Already several people have asked for seeds that will be hardy in Zone 5, or 6, and I seldom have a clue until I look it up.
In fact two big categories from my sorting are the bags marked "look these up" and "ask Robin". I often don't recognize either a common name or Latin name, and dont want to give tropical tree seeds to someone who wanted annual flowers.
Also, people have already said I would LOVE some XYZ if you have any. I never know if XYZ is Somethingorotheracea obscuranomenclatura or Texan Blue Dingus.
Or I just like things to have labels, and lean towards being detail-oriented.
I've worked in a chemical plant, and also a cancer lab, so picking something up and wondering "What's THIS?" pops up a mental list that starts: "Radioactive? Corrosive? Toxic? Carcinogenic? Viruses?"
Not that any seeds are likely to be radioactive, but I do like details and clarity.
Since I'm going to print up a label with a name anyway, and look it up to find some synonyms, I plan to include whatever info I find that might make it easier for someone to decide if that seed is something they do want to grow in thier climate, or to trade to someone else for something they DO want to grow.
Narrowing it down to Zones, "hardy perennial", "herb" or "20 foot desert tree" helps me know what to pack for who. I thought Yucca was like Aloe until I looked it up!
"Part shade" or "keep well drained" or "keep constantly moist" or "direct sow after last frost" and "thin to 3 inches or 36 inches" is nice to have in the packet as you sow.
I would say "needs stratification" if I knew, but Plant Files is often unclear.
I figure that some New Bees know as little about unusual (and usual) plants as I do, and appreciate having basic info right there, instead of searching for it and finding hundreds of synonyms.
Corey
Corey - do you have other resource pages to go to for plant tag information?
So far, time to research has been more limiting than links. There's DG Plant Files for names, if the big bag has a recognizable name and I spell it right. If I don't find it there, I set it aside for later!
Once I have a name, I copy the sparse DG info. Some donors' bags have info on them, and I always preserve that, since the growers knows the way that actual variety behaves in her climate. If the bag I got from Robin had the donor's name on it, I'll Dmail them
I would trust Botanical Intrests or Hazzards, but I seldom find much info in Hazzards, just great bargains. I just discovered "Southern States Seeds" - looks like free shipping, no minimum, and good prices on big bags..
After that I turn to a paper Territorial Seeds catalog, that has practical advice for many seed types. But so far, I've run out of time before I went that far! I plan to, though, where the donor bag will yield a large # of pkts. I can type once and print many!
For germination info, especially pessimistic stratification needs, germination temp and speed, I like the old Virtual Seeds database that I have a local copy of.
I COULD search Dr. Deno's book (free download) but if I have that much time, I'm heading out for the garden instead.
After that, I don't know - what websites do you trust? Random Google searches turn up a million opinions, and I have no way of knowing if I'm just copying false or misleading info from them.
(One thing I've been looking for is a site that consolidates info like "when sowing indoors, start how many weeks before last frost" or "how many weeks before nights are steady above 50". Ideally, one that is based on the PNW coastal cimate with a long time "mostly frost-free", but then months later to get "nights over 50".)
Corey
Here's how I'm organizing it for the moment.
15 main categories - often gallon ziplocks
around 63 smaller bags
(some them contain smaller sandwhich baggies )
"Gallon bag" doesn't mean a gallon of seed, just that there are enough little baggies and sub-categories inside that Robin or I used a gallon Zip-lock to organize them.
Within "Annual Flowers" and "Other Crops" , the gallon bags or sandwich baggies are propped up in plastic tubs. Other main categories are a chaos of floppy bags in boxes (for now ... some day, sorting by hardiness might be better than sorting by "tree - vine - grass etc").
I tried to list here where we have very few in a category, but I think lots of people would want them if available. Hint, hint! Of course seed donors can have their pick of anything they see here, or that I have in my own stash or can buy from Southern States Seeds or Hazzards or any place with big cheap packets and inexpensive shipping!
Bear in mind that I have extremely limited garden experience. I'm likely to have things misspelled, in wrong categories.
Sometimes the biggest bag in each main category is the "other" or "etc" or "Look These Up" bags.
MAIN CATEGORIES
Flowers Annual - - - - (many gallon bags)
Flowers Perennial- - - (one gallon bag)
Crops - - - - - - - - (many small categories)
Beans & Peas - - - - - (several big bags - nice!)
Herbs - - - - - - - - (many)
Vines
Trumpet Vine
Hibiscus
Holyhock
Cana Lily Seeds - - - (many - are these ALL tender?)
Lilies, Iris & seeds from bulb plants (is there an expert in the house?)
Grasses
Trees & Shrubs - - - - (many)
Flowers To Look Up - - [A]? [P]? Tender? Flowers?
To Label & Re-Pack - - divide big bags into several small trade pkts
=====================================
Sub-Categories: maybe a quart bag of pkts, maybe just 2-3 pkts in a sandwich baggie
=====================================
Beans & Peas - 10-20 small pkts of some
Green Snap Bean "Blue Lake 274" (bush)
Green Snap Bean "White Half Runner"
English Peas "Thomas Laxton"
Lima Bean "Fordhook 242"
Runner Bean "Painted Lady" edible ornamental
Other Beans
--------------
Other Crops - mostly very few!
Beet - - - - very few
Cabbage & Bok Choy
Carrot
Corn
Greens
Herbs - - - - many Dill
Lettuce - - - few
Radish - - - very few
Tomatoes - - few
Peppers
Pumpkin
Gourds & Squash - - - almost none
Watermelon (many)
Cantalope (many)
Other Melons
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Annual Flowers
Ageratum
Alyssum -- - - - - very few. Some pelleted seed
Ameryalis
Balloon Flower
Bells of Ireland - want more
Celosia - - - - - (Pink Flamingo)
Centaura "Bachelor Buttons"
Cleome
Coreopsis
Cosmo
Datura - - - - - - many
(Liatris, Lady Bells, Nicotinia, Nigella "Love-in-a-Mist" - 1-2 pkts each
Lion's Ear .- - - "Wild Dagga" Leonotis leonurus
Lobelia - - - - - (very few)
Marigold - - - - gallon
Mirabilis jalada
Morning Glory - - gallon
Petunia - - - - - (very few)
Poppy - - - - - - (very few) [TP as Annual]
Snapgragons - - - (very few)
Starflower - - - - (just ONE pkt)
Sunflowers - - - - many
Texas Blue Bonnet - - - (only 3 pkts
Zinnia - - - - - - - - - many
Other Annual Flowers
--------------------------------------
Perennial Flowers
Asclepias "Butterfly Weed", "Butterfly Milkweed"
Columbine - - - - (just two pkts)
Dinathus - - - - - (many)
Forget-Me-Not
Galliarda "Blanket Flower" many
Hosta
Primrose - - - - - - - - - (very few) [P?]
Rudbeckia - - - - - - - - Black Eyed Susan
Daisy & Aster family - - - Shasta Daisy
Salvia - - - - - - - - - (just one pkt)
Penstemon - - - - - - - - (just one pkt)
Other Perennial Flowers - many
Corey I can't believe it when you say you have very limited garden experience. If that's true, being the new bee seed shipper will help you to learn a lot of the practical information about plants. I learned beaucoups of information when I worked as the plant records co-ordinator at a botanic garden for a stint.
There is a hierarchy of trusted sources for plant information. I'm not sure they are all appropriate for DG purposes, but you may want to scan a few plant records and see which site has what you need. Best to find one that has everything!
Let me look around and see what I can find. All the good stuff is probably on my old computer.
Here's some pretty heady stuff:
http://efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1
http://plants.usda.gov/java/
Back soon with more info.
A.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2011 8:33 PM
Wow Corey, you are really going great guns with this. I'm soooo impressed. We will have the most organized newby seed stash. Thank you so much for doing all of this.
Incredible!! Your the best Corey!! I think we have found his,your calling!!
>> your calling
You may be aiding and abetting my deranged love for details. I plan to hide the evidence before my DSO comes to visit again, or she'll have me carted away and medicated for raging OCD. :-)
I have split up almost all the beans, and next will be the other big bags with preprinted labels.
If I get ambitious, I'll start another thread called something like "The Stash" ... try to list everything that we have multiples of. Then people can make very specific requests, in addition to the "surprise" packets they'll get.
And I hope to tempt "Non-New" people into trading seeds into The Stash, if they see something they would like. (I hate calling anyone "Old Bees"!)
Plug: risingcreek is collecting seeds for easily-grown edibles for fixed-income seniors, like people whose sole income is Social Security: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1186615/
Corey
you could call them the dobees instead...or senior bees maybe thats the politically correct term...sharebees Im catching the OCS names just a swirling...contest pick a name for the donating newbees oldbees!! Have fun stay out of trouble Corey
Wanna bees?
I like them all.
DoBees (you must remember Romper room!)
"Those who can, DO!"
Senior Bees?
Wanna Bees?
Share Bees?
Wanna Share Bees?
Donor Bees?
Uber Bees?
Queen Bees?
I recall when the Vegetable Gardneing Forum tried to pick a name for the new "Raised Bed & Square Foot Gardening" forum. Passions were raised, there was much heat, Admin had to step in ... and the name wound up not being relevant to 90% of the posts there.
My first thought was what the square-dancing club in college called experienced dancers who would show up to help beginners stumble through their first few dances: "Angels".
By the way - we have a goodly number of these"
- Trees & Shrubs,
- Canna Lillies,
- Irises & Other Lilies & Seeds-from-plants-that-I-thought-were-propagated-from-bulbs.
If you think that people who want them, really tend to know what they want, maybe those categories should be held by someone who's expert in them. Sometimes that would double the postage, though, which seems like a big downside. One of these YEARS I might have a list of every pkt in those bags, in which case i could ask for advice online.
What do you think? I could just muddle through for now.
Corey
I think you are doing GREAT Corey, and just the engineer 'bee' for the job
I like that! Kind of like "Mason Bee".
Corey
Engineer Bee