It's Camellia sinensis, and it's the source of black, green, white and oolong teas, plus all the blends. The plant is frost hardy to Â6°C. Once established, mulch heavily.Prefers a well drained, soil rich in organic matter, pH 4.5- 5.5. The root hairs are very fine, so the plant cannot be allowed to dry out completely. Increase watering when the plant is actively growing and when the plant is in bloom. It tolerates an annual precipitation of 70-310cm, an average annual temperature range of 14-27°C. It prefers a wet summer and a cool but not very frosty dry winter. Here is a link that might be useful: conversions

Thank you all for the nice comments. It's very encouraging. Hostafrenzy, this one is a little bit in between the natural way (let the bees do the work) and real hybridizing (making deliberate crosses by hand). I started out with a hosta that had a lot of features I like, H. 'Grand Slam'. Put it apart and surrounded it with other plants I like, such as H. 'Sky Dancer'. Harvested the seeds from Grand Slam and got a whole bunch of very different seedlings from them. Some look more like mom, others probably like that. I've learned some hostas give a very diverse offspring, while others produce rather uniform seedlings. None of the seedlings however look the same as the motherplant. Hope this helps you a bit. Greetings from Belgium, Rob

They are hardy, but some are supposed to want more warmth than others to be really happy. I'm trying some of the moschatas, had no dieback last winter, however I talked to Uncommon Rose and they said they do have some dieback. So far, among the Teas and Noisettes, I've seen no winter dieback to speak of. Marechal Neil looks good, and that one is supposed to be quite heat loving. I'm getting most of my roses from Vintage.

Do they have to be clear plastic, or can they be milk jugs which are milky (LOL!). The consensus has been, as long as light can get through, it's fine, so a milk jug would give the seeds enough light. I don't personally use them, but a lot of people do and rave about them, so I guess they work fine! I use seed starting trays with clear lids. Also, if using a soda bottle, do you recommend leaving the top on or off, and poking additional holes around the top third of the bottle? I think everyone normally leave the tops off of both the soda bottles and the milk jugs. Here's a link to the Container FAQ, there's a few more specific suggestions in there. I think the removal of the lids will be air holes enough to start out with. Do you check to make sure the soil medium is not drying out? I do check mine on a fairly regular basis, (once or twice a week? maybe in the beginning) especially if we have not been getting very much rain. Of course once the seeds start popping, I start checking on a daily basis, to see the plants! I take off my lids very quickly, so I really have to watch the soil then. The more shallow the container, the worse it dries out. When, in Oklahoma, do you winter sow your seeds outside? I usually start in February. I start with the early seeds and perennials. Generally poppies, larkspur, pansies, anything that blooms in early spring. I usually quit around in April, mostly because I am starting to get overwhelmed with planting out. I end up direct seeding (or more correctly :), dumping seed directly on the soil after that). That's not the most effective method, but it keeps me from feeling guilty about overtrading! Late season annuals generally do better if they are started in April or so. A lot of the plants they talk about winter sowing are seeds that naturally self sow anyway, so I don't know why I would want to winter sow them?????? What is the advantage? Higher germination rate? Fewer problems with pests? http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002071827019689.html For me, the reason I got started was because I wanted poppies and no matter how much seed I bought and direct sowed I never had one. I was determined to have them :) I had tried to start seeds inside but I live in a 900 sq foot house, with no direct sunlight. I tried lights, but I ended up with okay germination, but dead on arrival when I got them in the ground. I work (and don't have a lot of patience), so the hardening off thing just didn't work too well for me. I also ended up with lots of dirt in my kitchen. I didn't particularly care, but I'm sure any guests I had during that time weren't too thrilled with the thought of potting soil being so close to their food! I am not a person to jump in full throttle to a new idea. By the time I ran across Trudi's idea, (this was long before there was a forum dedicated to it, it was just a theory), I had made a promise to myself to never start another seed and I had placed a rather large (for me) order with Bluestone Perennials. I figured it was cheaper to buy plants than waste money on seed that wouldn't grow! But, none-the-less, I was intrigued so I started just a very few seeds...and they worked! They grew, no hardening off needed, into the ground they went. That was all I needed, since then I have started a ton of seeds. I think this is my fourth or fifth year...I lose track :) Do you start all you seeds at the same time? Like for instance, annuals that are heat lovers, do you start them later than others? I am going to try the Stargazer dahlias, but am unsure when to sow them? I usually start the early stuff and perennials first and work my way down to the late season ones (like zinnias). I would start the dahlias in March if it was me. I did dahlias last year, but I don't honestly remember when I started them. But, the bulk of my seeds are usually started in March. When your seedlings have their first true leaves, do you pot them up in individual containers, like one of those flats with separate holes? And cover them with a plastic lid? I plant seedlings directly into the ground usually when they have their first leaves. I have been known to plant them with their seedling leaves only, but it is better to wait for the first leaves. I don't like to wait much later because the root systems get really huge and more damage is done getting them planted than is necessary (I tend to sow heavy). I uncover my flat pretty quickly after germination. We heat up pretty quickly here in Oklahoma and more seeds are lost to heat and frying under lids than anything else. The seedlings are really quite hardy, you don't really need to protect them. If you have ever seen larkspur or poppies in your garden you will notice that they germinate sometimes even in the fall and live right through the winter, snow, ice, freezing and all. When do you start fertilizing them? And, when you do, do you use a diluted solution, like 1/4 of the recommended amount? I don't fertilize, but I usually use Miracle Gro potting soil and it does have fertilizer in it. That seems to be all that is necessary. I think I have a really good location for the containers - on the East side of my house. If it does get some sun, it is minimal, and my heat unit is over there, and provides some warmth, but not too much. My brick house is painted white, so it retains some heat from the sun. Or, do they need to be placed in total share with no direct sunlight? I also have other places to put them. I am assuming it is wise to put them somewhere that is not too windy, where tops could be blown off, or they could be battered silly by rain, ice, etc. I also have a carport that I could put them under on the cement floor. I put mine in an area underneath a tree, sort of between the tree and the house, but not too close, just enough to protect from big winds. It is on the southwest side of the house. I have also put them in my gardening paths when I have run out of space. That's a good place because it doesn't interfere with any plants that might be trying to come up. I would not put your trays close to a heater vent, the extra warmth could trick the seeds into starting too early. I use a lightweight trellis type thing across all my lids. When the amount of trays exceeds the length of the trellis, I add chicken wire underneath. It works perfectly and the chicken wire works really well once the lids are off...it keeps the birds and squirrels out of the seedlings. I know that not all seeds need light to germinate. For those that don't, how do you handle that? I surface sow all but the largest of seeds. It seems to work fine for me. If a seed packet says it takes 10 days to germinate, what amount of time should I expect by WS'ing? The package instructions have no correlation with WS. The best method for me has been experience and watching the forum. You will start to see the "wave of green" as things pop in the South (which includes us!), and you will see a pattern in which seeds germinate when. My recommendation is to start small, and start with the really foolproof seeds: poppies, larkspur, batchelor buttons and others I can't think of right off the top of my head. I tried to answer everything, but if I missed anything, post it again, I'll re-try! Lisa