I must be bad with my words (shush, PC)... gonna go back and edit my post.
Spectacular 2007 Cottage Garden Seed Swap#3
OMG, how could I have reached my max number of edits already today??? I think the s/w is lying to me. ***Yesterday*** was the day that I edited my have/wants list a zillion times.
Anyway, to be clear... it's my *current job* that is a Downer, not life in general. *smiling*
I know what you mean. I used to love my job. Then they reorganized and it seems to have gone downhill ever since. Morale is in the pits. It's a fed job so alot of us have too many years in to just quit. Just hanging in there!! Makes a person wonder if its really worth it.
Definitely time for a new job.
Good luck on your interview wrightie!
You don't have to edit, wrightie. we get it now :0) best of luck...fingers & toes crossed here!!
I probably won't send mine out til at least the end of the week. things are still drying. btw, I have helenium 'Ruby Dwarf' to add to my list. I wasn't sure what was seed and what was chaff. I googled and found that this is another one where folks plant chaff & all. so I'll send some. anyone have any further info re: helenium?
Helenium envy!!!
Good Luck Wrightie!
hmmm... helium Looks pretty! :)
I'd like to add that I want some of dat! Gawgeous.
OMG! I want some Ruby Dwarf!!!! I have always wanted a red Helenium with a black center!
What kind of info do you want? It wintersows well, as I understand it. Yes, you get seeds and chaff -- lots and lots and lots of chaff. When I have seen Helenium seed packed by regular gardeners, it is kind of a mess.
Wrightie, I am sure you won't have any problem getting another job -- you write well, therefore I think we can assume you speak well and that seems to be half the battle. Good Luck, though.
Suzy
Edited to say my job bites right now too.
Sorry about that, LOL. Somebody opened the door and I couldn't seem to hold back. Guess I needed a little venting and being with strangers who are actually very good friends seemed like the perfect place to do it. (but it really isn't...we should be talking seeds!)
Gee maybe I ought to grab that cup of tea and go sit on the patio. LOL.
This message was edited Oct 14, 2007 1:42 PM
.........and while I was whining about my job Gram was posting the most gorgeous plant I've laid eyes on all week. Me too me too! Can I have some? Please? Pretty please?
Whew - I'm sorry to hear that, LaLa. I totally and completely understand and sympathize with you all. There's really something wrong with corporate America.
Are men as dissatisfied as so many of the women I talk to?
La La and Cat, it sounds as though you both are going through similar "stuff" as me. LaLa, your situations takes the cake, unfortunately!
I don't think I've ever grown Helenium (aka Helium) before, but clearly I need to. Grampapa, I think I'm in love with you. Please post photos or point me to photos of your garden. (preparing myself for a severe case of Garden Envy....)
In my case ... Yes. Most of the vents that I've received have come from my male colleagues; and several of them have quit in past year.
Well, all I can say is this is how unions got started in the first place, workers got sick of being treated like carp. Now the unions are almost as bad.... but the original idea was excellent.
Grampapa, I second Wrightie's request. I wanna see - or you could just come here and plant mine!!!!
Me too if you have enough Ruby Dwarf seed. Beautiful!
As for guys, yes the guys in my group are as dissatisfied as the gals. They created a new "organization" for the IT people and have been talking about outsourcing ever since. It's like an ax hanging over your head, just waiting to fall.
Sorry about that you guys. This isn't the place for me to whine about my job. My apologies Suzy. :-)
Let's talk Ruby dwarfs!
Oh, please, Grampapa, save me some if there's any left! It's so gorgeous!
Pagan, in my former job I wasn't treated like carp, more like mullet...
This message was edited Oct 14, 2007 12:54 PM
Mullet!! HAHA
if it makes yall feel better... try logic with a 4 year old.. it will make you bonkers. Sorry about the bad jobs.. I've been there..
:)
Susan
I would love some ruby dwarf! It would be my first helenium and that is gorgeous!
Maggie
I was wondering about helenium seeds...do you think they come true? I have Helenium “Mardi Gras" but I didn't send it in...I could send a separate envelope???
Ooh, that Ruby dwarf helenium is just gorgeous! I hope you've got a ton of seed, LOL, because I'd love to beg a packet of it also.... but I might be too late!
Somebody just Dmailed me to ask about basil seeds, so I wanted to be clear... The only one I'm sure I'll have ready for this swap (because I've already got it de-chaffed and drying, with labels ready to go) is the Italian Genovese (the one Suzy has been calling Real Italian Basil from Italy). I hope I'll have plenty of the others available for trading this winter, and I'll try to do a SASBE offer again this Feb/March.
nevermind...it is a hybrid and the seeds will more than likely be empty...I'll try it as an experiment and post it on plantfiles
I am sorely tempted by your helenium Wind. I'd hate to ask you to send it though after you've already sent all the rest of your seed to Suzy.
Sorry to hear about all the bad jobs out there. It just makes me happier with where I am working. I have been at this Veterinary Clinic for 16 1/2 yrs.
I could go somewhere else and make more money but my boss and his wife have helped raise my child and are there when I yell and threaten to choke him. Sometimes they offer to help!!! I like money as well as the next person but there is more to life than money. We don't really take vacations, twice in 16 yrs, but we take lots of long weekends when the boss is gone to a horse show.
It is just my boss and I so if we have a falling out we just go to our separate offices and stay there. We very seldom have a falling out. Sarah, the boss's wife, and I are friends and do lots of stuff together, she doesn't work with us on a daily basis.
When we had to catch fish at 7pm one night I called them and they came and "fish wrangled". That is really 'you know who your friends are'. They are both just good people and neither one of us can imagine working with someone else, neither of us wants to break in another boss/receptionist-vet assistant. We have a good time most days, he aggravates me because it is fun and I have a good sense of humor, he does also so that helps. Rick, the boss, also doesn't have to live with me so he can make me mad and send me home. DH LOVES it when he does that.
Anyway, I am soooo looking forward to getting our seeds and getting to dream about the great plants to plant next year. I am getting excited about winter sowing also. It's so much fun to learn new stuff.
I'm glad your job is a good one Peggy. Seems like there aren't many of them out there anymore! I agree. Money is not the most important thing. I've been trying to get to the point where there are no house payments or car payments, so I can find a job I actually enjoy. Even if it's lots less money. It would be so worth it.
It's up to Suzy...I'll gladly send some in if you want to try it. I was reading some online info re helenium seeds and there isn't a whole lot of info as far as collecting seeds. What I did find seemed to say the hybrids may produce dud or 'empty' seeds. I don't know though. Plantfiles dosn't have any seed data on 'mardi gras'. So it would be an experiment. I wouldn't want anything in return. I do know that unlike the native heleniums this one can tolerate drought conditions. I have it in a very dry area.
Most of my neat sunflowers had no seeds in their hulls.
Gee, it's nice to be popular (blush). Seriously, I have a ton, so no problem sending enough for everybody who wants some. I have 2 other heleniums, 'Flammenspiel' & 'Red and Gold'. I can check tomorrow and see if the seed is ready. My 'Red and Gold' is pure yellow. Here's a pic of the 'Flammenspiel' in the back with the 'Red and Gold in the front. I'll let you know tomorrow if I have any more to offer.
I do want to echo what wind said about the helenium seed. Mine are all hybrids, too. I have no idea if it will germinate. If I had time I would do a germination test. But you guys are on your own with this. I don't need anything in return. It would just be fun to see what results anyone gets.
I will sacrifice myself in honour of your helenium seeds.... it's a burden, yes, but...
ahem!
Wind, You can do whatever you want on the Mardi Gras...I am happy to send it ,on or add it to the swap, whatever you say.
I think we all know it, but as a reminder, on all the seeds that come in from named varieites, you are taking your chances. SEEDLINGS will be different because they are not clones. Some genera are more stable than others, and as was said before, some seeds might be non viable husks. Lilies are expecially bad because not many people know that all those seeds are just, well, husks.
Once having said that, very few sterile plants are absolutely sterile. If you sow enough seeds, you'll get seedlings. Whether the seedlings look like the pod parent in a whole other story, though.
Suzy
Grampapa-
I would love some of the "ruby dwarf" helenium. Rachel
Does anybody know what I've got here? If I can ID them and there's any interest I'll send a few packets along with my other seeds.
looks like Dahlia to me.. and the stem especially tells me Dahlia. Beautiful, but wont come true to seed..But still would be great to grow if you have seed!
About the lilly husks.. I'm one of those that doesn't know yet.. All the flakey seed looking things in the upper pods aren't seeds?
Susan
I just gathered up some 'flakes' too from lilium 'black beauty' yesterday...husks?
you're right...sterile seeds
well thank you Suzy ~ always learning!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73105/
Beautiful, Lala, wish they would come true.... *sigh*...
No, Black Beauty doesn't usually set seed, although the pros can (sometimes) do it. None of the orienpets set seed without hand pollination. Actually, most lilies won't set seed without hand pollination, except martagons and wild lilies (species). Trumpet Lilies are easy to start and grow from seed, but once again, only about 3% of the "seeds" in the pod are viable.
The flaky things would be seeds if they were pollinated, but they usually aren't. To check, look for thick, darker flakes among the paler straw colored ones. Then put those on a light table and look for the embryo.
Lala, how tall is your dahlia? If it's short, it looks like Figaro, which is a mix of bedding plants you get at the garden center. Of course if could be anything. If you want to keep that exact one for next year, dig and store the tubers:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/662385/#new