does this forum include cyclamen or is there another forum where I can post a question? I think here is as fine as anyplace to cover them in the FAQ. or to ask about them. For the time being I just noted/added cyclamen at the bottom of the outline. I've also got crinum so thanks for the note about crinum being included in the amaryllis forum. Before doing a search on Crinum, all I knew was that they were not hardy here. That was when I saw they were of the Amaryllidaceae family, thus thought The Amaryllis Forum would be better off handling the FAQ (if anyone volunteers and they agree to it), and to field questions there. As usual though, anyone can ask about anything they want at any forum...within reason of course...like not at Home Decorating or something...lol. Glad to see the section on critters! I figure you can provide a lot of good input on that, especially if 'your' Sun Disc daffodils come up and bloom in some strange places next spring. If ornamental Allium is refered to the Allium-forum then their introduction needs to be changed. At least the last time I looked the forum was described to be for growing onions and garlic. Their forum blurb reads: This forum is for the discussion of plants of the genus Allium, such as onions, garlic, leeks, shallots & scallions. I agree, that it would best be changed to include Ornamental Allium/Flowering Onions. I don't think that any bulb must be asked about on any one 'specific' forum as there are sometimes numerous forums where one can find the answers....for example, if lily questions don't get needed replies at The Lily Forum, it is fine to ask here. Canna are sometimes asked about here, though there is a Canna Forum, so members here can provide info but also suggest that more info can be found at The Canna Forum. In doing a search here on Canna I see there are 122 threads, so will touch on them as well in the FAQ, with reference then to the Canna Forum and the great Canna FAQ there. And with the tulips I think it is important to have one (sub?)section for garden hybrids and another section for botanical tulips. I agree and tulips will be rather extensive, sort of like the daffodils, since they are asked about so much. Then there are the tulips that are more like perennials than annuals. This FAQ is turning out to be quite a beast, but 'should' end up pretty good with everyone's input.

How to force bulbs is a common question. good idea...what bulbs should it maybe address... daffidils...both those requiring chill and also the paperwhites tulips hyacinths crocus muscari (grape hyacinths) What else is commonly forced and asked about? It seems to me that there should be a bulb list with season to plant, bloom season, and perhaps planting depth? with zones or something. I think zones would be best and some of then would be approximate, since the net gives various hardiness zones for some bulbs or different cultivars. Do you think it should be just one list with all bulbs, or a list for each zone? I'll be starting some threads and putting FAQ in the subject line, to start to compile some info. I like the way the existing FAQ are set up, with a main link for example for Daffs and then it goes to all the daff questions. I thought it would be nice to try and organize the info similar to the existing format. I found out the format is called HTML anchor codes....something totally new to me. I think this could almost get overwhelming, but try to keep in mind that they can continually be updated, or corrected as need be. Maybe an 'outline' would be in order after some more input/suggestions here, think?...Maybe a Google document that could be shared with all here. Sue

Hi Nancy and welcome to the crazy world of seed trading. Don't be afraid to do any trades because "life gets in the way" sometimes. We've all been there and there isn't a heck of a whole lot any of us can do about "good old life and how it gets in the way sometimes." All you need to do is let any traders know about any problems you are having and you will find that we are a very understanding group and will patiently wait for our seeds. Problems and questions arise when people are ignored, when emails are ignored and nothing is received. It's unfortunate that there are some people, and I do mean some, that will join a garden site, GW among them, and their only purpose is to rip off members and get seeds for nothing. There isn't a lot we can do about it but post the info when we are absolutely sure that is what this member is doing. That's what makes the rate and review forum so important. Posting the results of trades, good, bad or indifferent helps all of us out and warns about any problems with a member. On occasion, there will be a member that just keeps on returning and reinventing him/herself with new names after being banned by GW. those of us that have been here a long time, like myself, Remy, Chemocurl, Karyn1, are always on the look out for that, and one in particular, well we find her every time. I hate to be the "barer of bad tidings" Remy, Karyn, but you've no doubt already guessed what I'm going to say. SHE'S BACK, OUR INFAMOUS MG LADY and i caught her today. Her new name will be added to the already long exiting list, but if anyone wants her new name on GW or wants more detailed info, just send me an email through GW. will be glad to provide all the info. Now, back to the business of seed trading. Bustami mama, i have to say that in the now on 8 years I have been a member of GW and the seed exchange forum, I have found that the vast majority of the members are honest and are wonderful traders. I've only been stiffed 3 times in all these years and the infamous MG lady didn't get me, but she did get a lot of others. You have to remember that we are all really just strangers on GW, on the web and we all take a risk when we set up and do a trade. If you aren't comfortable with a trade offer or request for free seeds, don't follow through with it. If someone wants all your seeds or something to that affect, that sets up red flags to me and I would email back and say that you are more than happy to send some of the seeds, but sending all of them to 1 person is not how you do seed offers and that they need to choose some of the seeds they want as you won't send all of them to one person. By saying something like that the person is either going to respond with a much shorter list or just not respond at all. That kind of request sounds more like someone wanting to obtain mass amount of seeds to then in turn sell them off as their own for profit. If they are wanting all of a certain type of seeds, that says they are looking for something to profit from as well and in some cases the seeds can be used as an illegal drug. MG seeds are one of those that can be used this way. But in the end, it really is blind trust that we are using when we set up seed trades and checking that rate and review forum for what is said really does help. We will get some "bad apples" as members. It just the nature of things and not much we can do about it. They are out there in the "real world" and they will find their way to various sites including garden sites such as GW. Fran

The overwintering of tender bulbs idea is great. However as you post it, it reads as you might be being a bit repetitive for each tender bulb in every sub plant chapter(s) discussing over wintering them. My post above should have maybe read something like Please see FAQ 123 overwintering tender bulbs in colder zones It would also be nice if the Crinum parts from Bulbs made a cross reference to here and make a 100% move to this forum. I'm confused...that's nothing new though. So are you saying that it would be all right to post an FAQ at bulbs with the exact info that is written to the FAQ here for Crinums? If so, a link to the Amaryllis/Hippeastrum Forum could also be added to the Crinum FAQ (at Bulbs) for addressing further questions. There are numerous bulbs asked about at The Bulb Forum that would maybe be better addressed at other, more specific forums, such as Alliums and Lilies, which have their own forums. Since they are asked about so frequently at Bulbs, I thought we'd address some rather general info in the FAQ with links to the appropriate forums, or appropriate forum's FAQ...whichever would be best. There are questions too about plants that aren't even bulbs, but the members will reply with info and also suggest they ask also at the specific forum for that plant...examples Irises (bearded) and Canna.