Bob, that was a typo. I was at one point occasionally getting JDM and Fondante des Moulins-Lille mixed up.. they overlapped in the "long incomprehensible French names" slot in my brain. I had a Comice but heard enough things about how hard it is to grow that I topworked it. I believe both Dana Hovey and Glou Morceau have blossoms on them this spring so I may finally be able to try them. Scott PS MHG I missed your comment about the FdML. That pear is amazingly precocious from all I have seen and its good to get another positive data point on that. This post was edited by scottfsmith on Fri, May 2, 14 at 10:20

That very much depends on what type of seeds you have. Orthodox seeds are most often dried and stored in a low humidity environment. Examples of orthodox seeds include most crop seed (corn, beans, tomatoes, etc) and many types of flowers (those found in seed packets at the store). Recalcitrant seeds should not be allowed to dry out. Examples of recalcitrant seeds include citrus, oak, pawpaw, and wild rice. Another factor that must be taken into consideration is that many types of seeds have to be stratified (or vernalized) before planting. Stratification requirements vary significantly between different types of seeds, so it's best to look up the particular type of seed/plant before working with them. Finally, you might want to consider winter sowing. Many Gardenwebbers have found this a very helpful and fun technique.

Lololol, K!! Isn't that the truth??? I still have a few weeks left to get my trees inside and settled for the season. We did have a low of 47 degrees the other night, but they were all fine. They will start drying and I'll give them the second spraying of the Bayer in another week. Sounds like you are busy with the greenhouses.. ;-) Thought of you the other day.. We have a new Coach store and as I drove past this new store, I thought of you and your wife!! Lolololol!! Looking Great Kawagoe!! Great job!! You do have plenty of room in that setup?? Mmmhmmmm, won't be long... ;-) Have a great evening!! Laura

Cold and freezing is not a problem for anything that is dry. That includes most of what you mentioned. Freezing and melting can only happen if it is liquid. Humidity is not that big of a problem with storing things, either. Unless you live somewhere like New Orleans, where everything molds, you should not worry. Even then, keep air circulating and it will mitigate that. Attics get very, very hot and can melt some things and can be quite destructive for anything of rubber or vinyl. Count yourself lucky that you don't have a basement. Basements are a giant source of mold and mildew and are not a good environment to store much of anything for very long. My basement is a walkout basement, finished space, heated, etc, but still the moisture comes up from the floor and the some of the exterior walls are faced with moist earth on the other side. I would be not inclined to endorse those storage areas that require a major effort to get to the things that are stored. If you have so much stuff that you need to make removable floors or walls to store it, maybe you should think about getting rid of it. Other than freezable liquids there is no reason that you can't keep your things in the garage all winter. One thing about storage that I have found is best to avoid is to store things in cardboard boxes. Cardboard is NOT good for anything that is being kept. It is great for transporting, sorting, etc, but NOT storing.