Vera, thank you so much for your detailed response. Now at least I know why my seedlings did not survive. They are planted at the back of my sloping yard in an area that collects all the water from the spring thaw - sometimes the area is under water for a few days in the spring so I drowned the little things. Secondly, I didn't transplant until early Fall, so it was probably too late. Now I must find a place for them at the 'top' of the hill near my HH's which have the same drainage requirement. The seedlings are growing very quickly so it'll soon be time to transplant them. If these don't thrive, I will direct sow next spring. Bonnie, the Golden Flax is wonderful. The tow together would make a good combination. Thanks to everyone else for sharing their experience with this lovely plant. Northerner.

Hi jools42, If you have any Kniphofia I'd love some. If not, no worries. I was new to the swaps last year and everyone was so generous. I'm just happy to find homes for these babies that I sowed way too many of, so I've got your name on some. thanks! -Andrea

Hi, I would like some of your blue flax seeds. :) I have seeds for parsley, cantaloupe, squash, corn, nasturium, spinach, as well as those listed on my trade list. Please let me know if there is anything you would like. If you have any more chamomille I would like some of that too. Thank you. :)

I tried growing flax for fibers last year since my girlfriend has an old flax spinning wheel given to her by her grandmother but I finally wimped out. It was a really fun experiment in that the plants grew great and the flowers are really beautiful but wow is it a lot of work by hand to get it from plant to thread! I ended up stopping with the smell from the retting process just got too bad to bear. Maybe if you can get your hands on some of the new enzymes that they're trying that would make it much easier. I've tried pots but agree that they should grow fine. I don't know how close looks too crowded - at 1 inch spacing, they nicely supported each other since the plants were a bit floppy. Never tried to split them though.