What color does that peony flower? VERY interesting leaves! You should start by making a trade page, listing anything you have to trade and anything you're looking for. You can update this as you go. If you're into growing from seeds, there are usually lots of folks with seeds for postage to newbies. You'll also see things posted here on the Plant Exchange as for postage, from time to time. You also need to enable your e-mail, so that potential traders can communicate easily with you.

Trading seeds is a fun way to add new varieties of plants to your flowerbeds without breaking the bank. Before offering seeds for trade, I typically Google the botanical name and include as much information on the label as possible, including botanical name, common name, cultivar name, height, zone hardiness, light/soil/water requirements, bloom time/length plus any other pertinent information that will fit on a standard mailing label. You'll find the seed quantity information in the FAQs but I typically trade no less than 24 seeds or an eighth teaspoon if they're too tiny to count. Foxglove, butterfly bush, cardinal flower and a few other seed types are really tiny. Welcome to the wonderful world of growing from seed!

Welcome to winter sowing, Paulsm. My first advice is for you to go to Wintersown.org, read especially How to Winter Sow, but generally everything you need to know is there. Reading the FAQ on the home page for this forum will also provide valuable information. There is a wealth of information on this forum, and lovely, helpful members here to help you along. We are more than happy to help you with any specific questions, so don't be shy about asking. Good luck.

Justgotabme - Ha ha! Sadly I wasn't much better before I had kids. At least not about getting organized and staying that way. But I did have more energy to just stay up an extra half hour and tidy up so it didn't get quite so crazy. The good news is that after I wrote my pity-party posting last night I did get up and pick up the scattered mail, any trash on the floor, DD's books and got the toys back to her zone. Some of the stuff is gone off the couch too, mostly just the trash stuff though. Looking at what I just wrote about not being able to get organized and stay that way... I'm not sure that's true. I don't think I have EVER been organized. I have gotten my house neat and clean, but I think I can't keep it that way precisely because it is not organized. On the other hand, I think my kitchen is fairly organized and everything there that belongs there has a home... but it doesn't stay neat because other things like to camp out on the kitchen counter and table. I don't think most of my house is unorganized because I have too much unloved stuff (though that's certainly true of the garage), we do haul stuff to Goodwill several times a year and there's an ongoing goodwill pile in the garage. But I'm sure if I started digging through my closets I could find more to haul away.