Hi Linda, I just bought columbine apples and firecracker. I love your list. You and I have the same type of woodland garden. I will email later tonight I have some other stuff I bought too. I would love to trade with you. If you would like too. Someday I hope my woodlands look like yours. Last year you were very nice to me and sent me some seeds as a newbie. Gab at ya later. Gotta run out the door. Barb another woodland gardener....

First of all, I have never heard of a montana clematis that has purple flowers. Are you sure it is a montana and if so, please find the name of it since I think a purple montana would be marvelous? If the seed were still green I would be a little leary of them being mature. Generally speaking clematis seed start turning from green to yellow and eventually to brown. If still green, I would assume the seed was not mature. Once the seed starts turning yellowish, its connection to the mother plant is being lost, hence the color change from green to yellow. I have picked plenty of pale yellow clematis seed for others to germinate and they haven't had any problems with getting them to germinate. Assuming the seeds are viable, you can start them at any time. The herbaceous clematis seed are warm weather germinators however most of the others prefer some sort of cold stratification to get good germination. The ones I have started in the past were potted up in the fall and kept in a cool area over the winter and either germinated during the winter or in the spring. If you do pot them up now, don't be surprised if nothing germinates until next spring after they go through a cold stratification period.

Something that I do that I rarely see discussed around here- I make rings around new plants to contain watering water and give it a moment to soak in. I pay for my water- it annoys me no end to see any runoff when I water and I garden on a hill, so I had to come up with a plan. I cut up my old black nursery pots (never toss a pot!)- cut off a top section maybe three or four inches wide. Then when I plant the new plant I settle this plastic "ring" around it set down into the soil a couple of inches. You can mulch over all of it so it doesn't even show if need be. Then when I water this little ring fills up and it holds the water for those ten seconds or so it takes it to soak in. No runoff and I target exactly where the water goes- to the roots of the new plant. The rings are easy to take off after the plant is established. I also use "pound in edging" on the hills- I pound in two or three little sections of this on the down side of my slope and I can water and the water stays where I put it. Saves me time watering and gives me peace of mind that the money spent on water is put to it's intended use. Pound in edging under a young cercis (wire cages are dog training tools/protection)-

I actually have the seed from Gardensnorth! Also got some seed from a kind gardener in California. He also had seed from a crispa x Chinook cross! Just waiting for germination.