Seed Snatchin' XIII...First Recon Mission

8ft - fresh kimchee was good, fried seaweed, mink & silk blankets, jeans, shoes, sweats, etc. Second time was better there, since wasn't in Army that time. Ex started a fad there (76-77). He wanted stars on sleeves of sweats. Smiley said oooh, cost much more... By the time we made it back there the next week, didn't cost any more and had lots of them in his shop, neighboring ones too. Seems everyone else liked them too!

Couldn't afford to travel in Germany till started working, then couldn't get the time off :( Cuckoo clocks, lots of other good stuff there! I sure wanted to go on tours, like Czech, France. IF I ever do take another tour, I will have LOTS of leave to enjoy!! ~ Suzi :)

I am going to have my husband read the messages on here.
Everytime I tell him to stop so I can get seeds or cuttings, he
speeds up. When I go to anyplace that has plants he goes to
the truck and sits. He said that if they throw me in jail he will be
able to come get me out. Scored a bunch of Asparagus Meyerii
fern seeds at Lowes last week!! Now if I could just get him to
stop in town so I could get the Texas Rock Rose seeds!!

Cynthia

Cynthia,
Guess you'll just have to drive yourself there, or get a real good friend to give you the lift if you don't drive. Heck, if I lived there, you could catch a ride with me - I saw the info in plantfiles on Texas Rock Rose! We'd both have to get us some! When you get it, get extra! I'd like to try it too, LOL ~ Suzi :)

Buddying up to snatch is always fun. One to dig, one to make labels... or one to be the lookout! Every fall, I go out on a Bandito Garden Tour with some local seed collectors. We travel from garden to garden all over the area collecting seed. Sometimes we happen to catch someone at home, but they usually just smile and shake their heads... or join us for the next stop!

That sounds like fun, but I don't think I am that brave! Did snitch a petunia cutting this AM. Had to walk 3 of the 4 mi to work. It was on the way... hmmm if I ever have to do it again, getting the other colors too!! ~ Suzi :)

You go girl (Briar Rose). It gets under your skin. Start carrying your pruning shears or scissors for that great snatch.

Okay, I still don't have my list all on word just yet to share the dumpster dive with you... but I do want to share a great snatch story.

In the October 2005 Horticulture magazine, p. 49, there is a great article about a man named Barry Yinger. I though about all of you when I got to the part where he shared how

"he devoted all his vacations and savings from his day job at a garden center to return trips to Japan. There, he often slept on park benches or on trains, and collected plants in the wild.......He managed to smuggle his way onto an islands all but closed to the military, where he found them; magnificent and flourishing, oblivious to sub-zero temperatures and Mongolian winds. The seeds Yinger collected led to the introduction of the hardier Camellia Japonica"

So there.... if you think that taking seeds from the drive through plants is crazy, how about this story!! :) And I love Camelia's and I'm glad he did it and the world is a better place for his snatch.

Susan

LOL Susan, several of us went to three nurseries in this area.
We got so many goodies, and I had a left pocket full of seeds when I got home.
sidney

Hey I just read something about him too! Horticultural Mag? Can't remember - but he was REALLY obsessed. Makes us all look like Newbies!

Sidney! Speaking of diet coke sprayed keyboards!
"Susan, is there some reason you think maggi doesn't speak Engleseia?, or are you just showing off? ;)
sidney"

LOL!!!! Welcome Maggi! Now we're doing International Snatchin'!!! Ain't we cool! LOL!! Spain sounds delightful!!


I have a trade going and I didn't dig Sun when I should have and couldn't last night. So this morning I got up at 4 and since it was dark positioned my car with the brights on facing my front bed. I'm sure the paper person thought I was one dumb burgler!

Nicole

Well, I obviously do't speak or spell spanish well at all and worked in a office when I was young in El Paso where I was the only person that didn't. Those that did had a lot of laughs on me so I am rather spanish shy. I love Susan, but I don't want to have to learn another language to DG, especially at my age.
sidney

HA! I wish I knew Spanish. The French I learned in H.S. has really helped me though - NOT. No trips to France for me and at this point all I could say is Oui now anyway!

Nicole - I was so close!!! Driving northbound towards home in Germany, sign said France xx KM and I calculated. Unfortunately, I was going to be a little short on time to go, see and be home in time. So, didn't go. Never made it back and still regret it! See, if had, maybe I wouldn't be wanting to go there later... ~ Suzi :)

Suzi, you have something to look forward to. I would love to go to Spain with Susan, if I win the lottery I'll treat her to a trip.
The plants and flower shops of Germany really excited me 36 years ago. We went to Austria and Italy, but didn't make it to France.
After you get that law degree you will be able to afford a realy nice trip.
sidney

Sidney - withdrew from law school in March. After 7 months of 100+ hrs per wk going to school, studying and work. Needed to put in at least 25 more to get the grades... only 168 hrs in a wk. Avg 6 hrs sleep (IF I WAS LUCKY) would have been reduced to evem less, DD already wondered who I was and any more probs and i would have went over the edge. So, withdrew. Now, planning to start work on MBA instead, prob Jan. That shoule enable me to get a much better paying job. ~ Suzi :)

Susan, that was a wonderful story! It makes our seed snatchin' seem more like a public service than a petty crime! I like that! Actually, I've snatched seeds, then given babies back to the folks I snatched from when their plants didn't winter over! LOL! Of course, none of that is as admirable as developing a new cultivar!

NC, I took 4 years of French in high school, and unless I want to say, 'May I borrow your pencil', I'm totally clueless in a French conversation. Of course, that was about 40 years ago!

Sorgina, it sounds like you have a wonderful job, sharing language and garden with students! I share garden with my nursery customers, but, unless they want to learn pig latin, we just speak English. Ouya, eakspay igpay atinlay?

Carol, you seem to know a whole lot about seeds. I wonder if you would take a look at the thread I started called White marigold seeds. I snatched some yesterday, but don't know if they will bloom true to color. Perhaps you might know. Thanks


Cindy

Cindy, I posted to your marigold thread.

That's me Carol! 3 years high school, 1 year college and Oui is all you get!!!

I do know a few cuss words though! LOL!!

Nicole

Me too and I always say "Pardon my French" after I say em too.

Re the French tangent -

Took 3 years in high school in the US. Went to College and flunked the placement test. They made me start all over. (Easiest A I ever got as I knew more than the test would indicate.)

After grad school, married a Canadian and went to live in Quebec City. there were rats in our apartment. I got fairly proficient at swearing at the landlord before we got a lawyer and broke the lease.

In Ottawa, where I've lived in the same house for 35 years, our neighbourhood is about 1/3 French, but they all speak good English. We get quite proficient at "Cereal box" French and I guess, "Road sign" French. But since spending a year in Germany in 1976, I get the French all mixed up.

My kids went to French immersion school and speak it quite well, especially the daughter who lives in Ottawa and works for the government.

Ann

Ann! The landlord part made me laugh out loud!!

In college I knew I would flunk the proficiency test so I went ahead and signed up for the class! LOL!

Nicole

As an impressionable highshool boy I took French... I was lucky to squeak a C out of it.
Madam Huey smiled and flipped her frosted hair to start the class.
Beads of sweat broke out on the forehead and the heart raced a bit.
With the first French phrase she exhaled into the room, my eyes glassed over and the world as I knew it froze.
I had the same problem later in life visiting Cannes and Toulon but I was able blame mental state on booze like any good sailor. ;-p

What do you suppose Madam Huey looks like today, 8ft?

Hmmm, I dunno. Guessing she'd be somewhere between 55-65. I've always been a sucker for older women. :)

I've been watching this thread for a while now. I never knew seed snatching existed! I think it's hilarious how you do it. I went to Lowe's yesterday afternoon, in this heat. I had every intention of snatching some seeds, I couldn't do it. I felt like I was being watched. I ended up buying two plants just because I'd been there for so long.

Oh dear, Shirley! You're going to have to get over that guilt thing or it's going to cost you plenty! LOL
I've been following along and enjoying the conversation, but I just want to know what the definition of a 'snatching problem' would be! It's coming up on the end of summer here so there are seeds everywhere I go! I've snatched so many seeds in the past two weeks that I'm sure I'll never plant them all. All just normal snatches, nothing really bold or daring. Now I've got a stockpile of seeds in the greenhouse, most of them labled, but I'd need a commercial size greenhouse to start them all. I think I have a problem. LOL
I understand that the first step to getting over a problem is admitting you have one, so maybe I'm getting better already!

I have also been watching this thread - went back and read the previous one, too. Can't remember the last time I was so entertained. During all this, I did start snatching seeds, but at the city parks. Last time I was there, turned a corner and walked right into a bunch of the workers! I've also got my business partner helping me. She works on Saturdays for a florist, and has started bringing me the cast-off stuff. Today I got three pitiful azaleas that I am hoping to revive, and two calanchoes.

Nicole, I laughed out loud about the headlights. Had a friend a few years ago that for some reason went out about that time to plant pansies with a flashlight. She said she about scared her paper boy to death when he went by and she swung that big old flashlight in his direction.

All the talk about Europe made me really miss my sister. She's lived in Germany for the last 27 years. We didn't get to be real close till we were both in the States in college, and she moved right after she graduated to go to graduate school over there. I went over last year and she is coming for Christmas. Wish I could afford to go ever six months or so - oh well. Maybe some day I'll win the lottery.

stownes, I'm glad you've enjoyed our adventures, and that you've done a bit of snatchin' yourself!

Pixydish, the first step is to admit you have a problem, the second step is to dry the seeds before you bag them up.

Shirleygirly, just remind yourself that those seeds will go in the garbage or fall on the floor if you don't snatch them and give them a good home. Consider all seed and plant snatchin' as a rescue mission. It's a lot easier to snatch if you feel noble.

They're dried, so what's the third step? I can't afford a larger greenhouse! :) I think my hands work on their own, without any direction from my brain.
In the nobility vs. guilt arena, I choose nobility each and every time!

Start a tradelist and get to trading! Then you can have just as many seeds, but different types! LOL! Yes, I wear nobility much better than guilt... it's just not my color!

Absolutely! I 'outgrew' guilt a long time ago. Maybe it's the "over 40 thing". I swear that decline in estrogen has its positive side! LOL

My brother used to say it was rather freeing to be 'over-the-hill'. There was no more need to be 'macho'. My DH says he can called women 'sweetheart' now without being misunderstood. He's considered 'harmless'. As for me, I have nothing to prove and my allure, such as it was, has morfed into representing grandma and homemade pie. I'm young enough to be reckoned with, but too old to manhandle, so I can square off with just about anyone in an arguement without danger of being knocked down... who would hit an old lady?

I don't think we outgrow guilt - we're just more creative and convincing in our justifications.

" They should send me a thank you note for stepping in there and taking the seed stalks off of those yucca. Otherwise they'd have started all along the sidewalk, poking holes in the city's lawnmowers and maybe skewering a few school kids! I'm glad I was thinking ahead and so should they"

(heh, heh... variegated yucca seedlings equal swapping power)

You lot will have to come and visit me to practice French, Spanish and international snatching; I live just a few miles from the French border. It's a great place to live, apart from the tense political situation. (The Basques fight for independence).
Had a leisurely snatch yesterday. I'd been waiting for my neighbour to go away on holiday so I could get at his plants.(He asked me to keep an eye on them-LOL - I've had my eye on them all summer!) I hope he appreciates the pruning I've given his honeysuckle and petunias!
Maggi xxxx

Well I am at it again. Was at Walmart today, looking at the plants. Well there was a whole shelf of Asiatic Lilys with seed pods. I pulled them all, sort of helping the "associates" there. I don't feel guilty at all, I feel that I am doing a service in plant maintence and recycling!! What color is guilt? There are some colors I don't do!!

Tonight I'm going to sneak across the street and snatch some pods off of a oleander! Maybe. I have a real vivid memory of a spanking I received from my dad when I stole an eraser from the variety store. He only spanked me two times in my life, the other which I did not deserve. I like to remind him of that one!

Blaine - thanks for introducing me to seed snatchin! There are tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Dumpster Divas! LOL- aah.. My friend and I call it "shoppin big trash". That is for big trash pick up once a month in the neighborhood. I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I must try the Nursery dumpsters.
I can't believe it! It's so appropriate- Especially after yesterday, when I was walking my dog - this big branch from a Pride of Barbados tree/shrub was in the middle of the sidewalk. When moving the branch out of my way, I expertly separated a seed pod in one fell swoop. I planted them yesterday morning.
I am really glad to find this thread! I was feeling kind of strange when I went to Costa Rica and kept stuffing my pockets full of seeds! Thanks !
Rj

Welcome Rj, you are among friends.
sidney

Thanks Sidney, I'm still laughing -
Buying a membership at DG 10 dollars
Buying a packet of seeds 1 dollar
Watching a Dumpster Diva ...priceless!!

Watching a Dumpster Diva-priceless!! You are so right. I just wish I had someone to go with me to dumpster dive, it would be so much more fun, but telling you guys about the latest snatch is just about as good.