First, let me say that I would love to trade for some of your Aztec Gold tithonia. I have Torch and Fiesta del Sol but they are both bright orange.

I am doing a couple of swaps so I have been packing seeds like crazy. The seeds I have collected recently (not counting the columbines, etc., collected earlier) include:

Zizia - golden alexander
Pink swamp hibiscus
Shasta daisy
Rudbeckia cherry brandy
Hibiscus - Texas red star and white star
Asclepias tuberosa(from 'Hello Yellow')
Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset
Tithonia Torch
Dianthus Crimson/pink mix
Dianthus Siberian blues
Echinacea - tall pink and Echinacea - tall white
Linum Lewisii
Mexican Hat (3 colors, red, yellow, orange/two-tone)
Rose campion
Rudbeckia mix w/dark centers
Rudbeckia mix w/orangish coloring
Veronica w/ purple flowers
Gaillardia - red w/yellow perennial
Gaillardia - solid yellow perennial
Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle (annual -variety of colors)
Centaurea bachelor buttons blue boy
Coreopsis yellow w/red center
Beautyberry bush
Penstemon - Rocky Mountain (short w/purple flowers)
Lychnis Maltese Cross
Balloon Flower blue & Komachi blue
Red Cypress vine
Salvia Lady in Red
Salvia coccinea with purple flowers

Becky

collected or still collecting now. I save all seeds from all my plants to WS every year and for trades and BEAP offers

Balloon flower
aster purple burst
8 kinds of cosmos
4 kinds of marigolds
several kinds of dwarf dahlias
several kinds of zinnias
3 different colors of foxglove
hosta
5 kinds of basil
scabiosa ebony and ivory
gazania
chinese forget me nots
cleome
3 kinds of nasturtium
queen annes lace
godetia
several different varieties of morning glory
schizanthus
toadflax
poppy danish flag
3 kinds of hibiscus
candy lily
2 kinds of perennial dianthus
columbine origami blue
2 types of bachleor buttons
2 kinds of snapdragon
penny black
balsam impatiens
garlic chives
chives
coreopsis lanceleaf
nicandra splash of cream
tassle flower
nigella miss jekyll blue
viola yesterday today and tomorrow
monkey flower yellow
monkey flower monkey magic
4 o'clocks
alyssum basket of gold

Tomato seeds, still some to save but will or have saved seeds of all of the following

white wonder
cherokee purple
large cherry red
xmas grape
sweet 100
black cherry
warren's yellow cherry
super beefsteak
celebrity
tiny time

and
burpee's bush cucumber

Fran

not much, bought too many as it is.

Alyssum
Marigold
Lots of the double/triple cherry brandy rudbeckia
Some double coreopsis I marked

have my special poppy under lights now, doing ok so far, still blooming, and if I get viable seeds out of that, it will be a near miracle. Many pods, just not ripe yet, don't know if it warms up I should put it back outside or just leave it under the lights. One bud is starting to face up, so it must be getting enough. Still keeps producing new buds but think it's about done.

I was enchanted by the mention of trees, love trees but no more room for them. While I was poking around the yard, I found two nice tulip tree seedlings, marked them and if they pull through the winter, will pot them up or transplant in the spring.

I've had other ones, they're from my neighbor's magnificent tree, but they've come up and grown crooked or were in cramped spots where I couldn't dig them out and save them.

I still have some redbud seeds I saved a couple years ago, should still be ok, at least some.

If I do all I plan to do, I'll have to give a lot of things away. If some of it does really well, I may have a plant sale but nothing as ambitious as what some of the rest of you have done.

I would love to trade for some cardinal climber. I'm told it does well in my area. I have lots of flowering dogwood berries that just turned red and will be ready soon unless the birds get them first.

redbud
white dogwood
peachie's pick aster
salvia - purple and red
marigolds - orange/red and 2 kinds of yellow
red canna
rudbeckia
echinacea - pink
tourenia
morning glories - light blue, purple/white
wave petunias - red and white
daylilies - Stella d' Oro
pentas - purple and dark pink
gerbera daisies
wisteria
rose of sharon
lariope - monkey grass
zinnias
unidentified orange flower - annual
unidentified purple trumpet looking flower (lots) - perennial

If I knew how:
hibiscus
begonias
mandevilla
geraniums (patriotic red, white)
mexican heather
lantana
azaleas (girard's rose, fashion, pleasant white)

Sylvia

Wow, some of you guys have collected a lot!

Ramazz I am thinking that the Tithonia 'Aztec Sun' came true to seed (a golden yellow-orange) because I grew them by themselves - there were no orange ones to cross-pollinate with the last couple years. I would be happy to send you some to give it a try (won't be thinking about seed buying/trading/SASBEs until December though).

Aliska, I am enchanted by the idea of growing trees, but realistically I know they grow into HUGE specimens and my lot has many large trees already. But I still want to try and sprout them! Does this lack of logic mean I have a disorder? Kind of like collecting seeds you don't need?

That is, if the squirrels don't get all my Walnuts first...caught this guy getting into my stash!
{{gwi:437297}}

Ill tell you what Im NOT collecting, WHITE BORAGE. There were LTOS of seeds on them last week. Now they are all yukky from getting frozed in the cold weather. NONE of them ripened.

boy am I mad!!!!!

You could have missed the borage, they fall so quickly once ripe.
I'm collecting a bit of everything I think.
Most interesting lately though was white lilac seeds.

I have been waiting on a couple plants to collect seed from, Tithonia, Turtlehead and some others, but I think the dreaded white stuff that fell may have put the kabosh on seed collecting for the season.

I'm trying to "catch" the seeds from my shrimp plant. Out of 10 blooms, I have one (yup, 1) that really looks like a seed. Anybody know when and where the shrimp plants stash their seeds?

I have fairly good luck rooting the shrimp plant slips in water but would rather have the seeds. OMG, I'm SO ADDICTED to seeds & WS'ing sooo?

the blue shrimp seeds are just right there in between the leaves where the flowers fell off. They hold on pretty tight until they're ready, and then they drop off. I got a bunch, but I just know that they dropped a ton more on the ground. Gonna bee blue shrimps galore next year. Sometimes there's two seeds per flower and sometimes only one. They

The squirrell picture made me think about collecting some of the thousands of hickory nuts that are bombarding my deck and back yard every time we have a little wind or rain. They sprout pretty regularly as volunteers in my wooded area. (NE Mississippi) I will collect some if anyone wants any. I have 2 varieties - one is scaly bark hickory - don't know the other but will find out. I also have sweetgum balls that apparently sprout on their own pretty easily. Both create a nuisance for me - kind of like walking on marbles on hilly areas. But if anyone wants some I will collect and offer for SASBE. Just let me know. I also have a few species of oaks, red and white. I will look for some acorns if anyone wants some. The squirrells seem to go for them first.
Sylvia

Good morning every one,
Can any one tell me what color fresh allysum seed is?
I bought a bunch from e bay,and they are a dull yellow,they seem old to me,whatda think?
Thanks,cAROL

I hope some of you are sending in some of those seeds for the winterswap! I would be happy to get any of them :)

I am boring. I am almost done collecting
Cleome
Wave Petunia
canduluna (sp?)
basil lots
dill
cilantro
coreopsis
nicotiana
yellow marigold
larkspur
LOTS of celosia dark pink and a few light pink
a mystery white flower that I did not get at ID on
Helianthus (perenial) Lots of this seed if I am able to tell which part is a seed :)

Karen

Terrene - Fringe Tree/Chionanthus virginicus will often take 2 years to germinate. If you can give it 3-4 months moist warm before placing outdoors for another 3 of moist cold, you could possibly shorten up the time frame, get some germination next Spring.

I have never winter sowed before. These are the seeds I have collected:
Scarlet O'Hara morning glory
Vitex
Hibiscous Manihot
peppers
tomatoes
Thai Basil
Marigold's
Zebrina Mallow
Calendula
White Hardy Hibiscous
I may try it with tomatoes

I got a few more pineapple salvia seeds today. Gobs of salvia subrotunda. A few white datura that I promptly scattered back onto the ground. I also scattered some Blue bedder salvia seeds. I don't know if they'll survive the winter, but I'm not sowing 800 containers this year.

terrene, HUGE specimens and my lot has many large trees already. But I still want to try and sprout them! Does this lack of logic mean I have a disorder? Kind of like collecting seeds you don't need?

I don't think it's a disorder; you just like the pleasure of seeing things sprout. I could probably make room for some redbuds but unless I part with my huge maple, no room for a tulip tree. I can pot them up and give them away on freecycle, but not being able to have those is going to hurt :-(

just1morehosta, alysssum seeds are pale yellow or off white, small about 1/16", flat, and irregularly shaped. They fall off the stems easily and aren't the easiest to gather, some don't seem to be ready yet. Even if your seeds are old, they may still germinate. Those you could scatter now as that's how mine self seed. I scattered a bunch hoping I won't have to transplant so many next year. I may pick off some more whole stems and just lay those where I want them, brought some inside for WS'ing and laid them on a plate to dry out, guess I could put them in an envelope or whatever now.

I read a post somewhere a couple years back where one person keeps their seeds in the freezer and just takes out what are needed, claim they last for years that way. I just keep mine in a plastic storage box at room temp, make sure they're dry.

Is there any reason why you can't gather seeds in the winter? I've read someone out on a walk spotted something they wanted and collected them, can't remember what they were. As long as they're pollinated and dry when you store them, I don't know why most wouldn't grow.

Thank you Aliska,It is good to know they are still ok.You just never know what you are bidding on with e bay,and Alyssum is one of my daughters favorites,she has a good eye for design,and grows these around her Lilac Trees.
I will tell her about sowing them now, that would sure be a lot easier eh.
aGAIN, THANK YOU.
Carol

just1morehosta, I'm not guaranteeing they are ok but should be. I've bought seeds on ebay that germinated, only go there as a last resort as one bunch I wanted beefsteak toms and got 27 cherry tomato plants instead!

I can send you some seeds for free, just gathered some, dry outside. There is a little chaff, and those darn things stick to plastic, have them in a double baggie because there were some tiny bugs you don't need, hope they smother, smooshed as many as I could. I don't want to put them in the freezer to kill the tiny bugs. Just email me if you want them, don't care about swapping and don't care about postage for one little deal.

There aren't a whole lot, but if you're patient, one plant will create more and more . . .should have enough for at least one gallon jug for you.

Here's the one spot they really went crazy, spread all over the place. It's kind of comforting to see that cloud, took this about a month ago and they are still better than ever out there, have more lining the sidewalk. This spot I think they get more moisture retention but the least amount of sun, about a half a day, some dappled.

I could thin them out but don't have the heart to. Yet. Oh, I looked more closely. They're egg-shaped with pointy ends, symmetrical, very pale yellow. They are kind of hard to collect for me, bending over, and they fall off in stages going up the stem, and some have already fallen and just left the husk on the stem. So I don't want to send too many around.

This clump doesn't appear to have set much seed yet, don't know why, but they'll be back in the spring.

{{gwi:435120}}

aliska12000, my alyssum planted late are still blooming. I am hoping they re-seed. I did not have very large clumps. I have 4 small clumps and I am hoping some set some seed and come back next year. I did grab some more seed packets at walgreens so I can wintersow them.

I think you were the one that gave me tons of info on alyssum so I wanted to say thanks!!
Karen

Karen, glad if I was a help. Maybe mine I planted in a porch box 3 or 4 years ago and just set them out, to add some interest where not much will grow. Seeds came from American Meadows.

I know I saved some alyssum and planted winter B4 last, was mad at myself that I never got around to saving any last year, didn't matter, happily. The seeds are easily caught in the wind, so somehow I ended up with these 2 or 3 years later, transplanted hunks out of the spot in the photo, made lots more. Still need to fill in some gaps lining the walk.

They scatter and grow everywhere even the cracks of the sidewalk. They're easy to pull out by the roots where you don't want them.

Yours should reseed (surely if I got this, they will do the same for anybody but it could be the variety). Be sure there is bare soil or not too much mulch. My other clumps aren't quite as dense as these, will see what they do next year. I think they will get better every year like the oldest ones in the photo did; now they've hit max I think, stuck a little Stans clematis in there, hope it comes back in the spring. A lady brought me the Stans C. when I offered some huge ligularia I didn't want, nice surprise, never heard of it so looked up a photo on the web. It's either pink or blue, hope it's the true blue one, the petals roll up like a scroll and supposed to get about 2-1/2' tall.

She said she WS'ed the clem in what looked like a quart nursery pot, covered it with sarah wrap and set it out at some point last winter. She had gotten the seeds from a friend's clem, was kind of neat we both WS, she does know about this forum but somehow found out how to WS before, maybe from her friend.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis stans uh oh looks gorgeous true blue but says purple-blue

you were a huge help! When I planted out I made sure there was a big spot of bare dirt for any alyssum seeds to have a nice home! I will post in spring a pic if it works. They are still blooming so I think it will.

That is a pretty clem in the pic! I love blue flowers!
Karen

Morz8, I collected the Fringe Tree seeds off the tree in late August. Checked some references and read exactly what you said, that they usually take 2 years, requiring long warm then cold stratification periods. So I sowed them right away in a milk jug, and they are sitting in the kitchen - getting their warm stratification. I was planning on putting them out in December to get cold stratification.

Fringe tree apparently can only be started from seed, it is very difficult to propogate asexually - it is also dioecious, and thus, when people buy them at the nursery, they have no idea if they are getting male or female plants. Wouldn't it be cool to see my own little trees flower some 5 or 10 years from now?

Aliska, yes it's pleasurable and interesting AND kind of challenging to see them sprout. I'll worry about what to do with the trees when I get them to sprout!

PS is your big maple a Norway maple or Silver maple? If so then there might be some justification to removing it (cost $$ though, I had 3 big Norways removed from my lot and it cost a couple thousand).

Aliska,
I have sent you an e mail.
cAROL

Just came in from collecting Blue Hyssop, Mexican Hat and Lollipop. The snow got my Tithonia. :(

terrene, PS is your big maple a Norway maple or Silver maple? If so then there might be some justification to removing it (cost $$ though, I had 3 big Norways removed from my lot and it cost a couple thousand).

All I've ever known it as is soft maple, enormous. I have an estimate to take it down for $5500, need to call somebody today or tomorrow about just getting it trimmed. One of the best tree companies wanted $10,000 about 3 years ago.

I have to have professionals for that one, just hate to have it cut down, have talked about it ad infinitum elsewhere and posted a photo. It's a nuisance, but the beautiful, dappled shade and turning the whole backyard into a summer inferno isn't something I relish. Amazing the diff working in the hot sun vs. a little shade.

Just today:
Lace bark elm
Mimosa
White butterfly ginger(first one was open today so now have to check daily)
Intrigue canna lily
coleus
dantura
colesis
Banana plants
rose-of-sharon
Pattie

Collecting all wildflowers here, as I didn't have much of a garden this year. Wildflowers going to seed here include an ornamental (or wild) grass with a very pretty influorescence (I don't know my grasses at all), tall thistle, boneset, eupatorium coelistinium, a pretty medium height small-flowered white aster/fleabane - most all of these are in the "weeds" category, but I'm hoping when we get a more permanent location, it will have an area big enough for a wildflower area.

In bloom that haven't gone to seed yet - a gorgeous honeysuckle - smells divine, jasmine-y, and sweet autumn clematis. I'm working on identifying some fruits, too - I scarfed a couple that are drying that are size and color of kiwis, growing on a vine in the woods. And I plucked an orange-reddish one from a tree in a meadow yesterday - not ready to pluck seeds from yet, but just for id - which DH thinks might be a persimmon - too cool! Anyway, I have to grow all these first before trading them - the flowers all have the potential to be invasive, and the 2 fruits I don't want to trade unless I know for certain what they are - don't want to trade as edible anything that in fact might be poisonous.

Lately, cosmos a few four o clocks soon to be zinnia's and basil I hope.

I have an estimate to take it down for $5500..... Eeek Aliska, that is a LOT, it must be a grand old tree and probably a shame to cut it down. Maybe you could just do some trimming or limb it up to get a bit more sun?

Today I took a walk and collected seed from some plants growing in the local woodlands:

Cornus amomum - Silky dogwood, has pretty blue berries

Aster ? - pretty tall Aster and has lots of lovely blue-purple flowers (I know it's not New England aster)

More walnuts, had to get more because I gave most of the first batch to the squirrels, since they liked them so much :)

I just returned from a 17 day vacation in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. While there, I collected some post oak acorns from the tree I used to swing on at my grandmother's house 60 years ago, some hibiscus seeds from my dad's hibiscus (he has passed and the house has been sold), some yellow cosmos from my sister's house, and some blue morning glories and wild sunflowers from my daughter's house. I will have a lot of good memories when I see all these bloom! And I have been collecting seeds from my own garden - cosmos, nigella, nicotiana, lavatera, and too many more to list right now. Like I've said before, I'm an addict.

It's been a difficult year for me to collect. A lot of rain and fog and cool weather, more so than normal. Most plants have not even matured their seeds and on others the seeds have gone moldy. As an example, I promised Wendy2shoes seeds from a red Lupine and out of many pods was only able to retrieve 3 seeds!! UGH!

On a good note, I just brought in the Dahlia bulbs and my big orange cactus one produced good seeds. I've never done Dahlias so this will be an adventure next year. :O) It will be nice to see what colour and form will come about since the two other Dahlias I have are of an old rose colour and a red and are of pompom form. These are large Dahlias so I'll probably have to wait 2 years to see my surprise.

terrene- when you put them out in a big ol buffet tray like that...
oh, and they can't read, so trying to trick them with "fresh meat" isn't going to work.