Glena,

I would like to try growing these. Please send a packet along for me. Is there anything special that your looking for??

Lisa

Lisa you dont have to trade me anything. Are you in the swap? Or you can send SABE.
but I will try to post my wish list tomorrow. It is at work. Just in case you have something on it.

Hi Glenna,
I'm new to GW but have been really enjoying reading all the threads. Learning a lot! I've got butterfly bush that's loaded with what I think are seed pods but I read on here they won't be ready/ripe until January. Did you say yours opened and you could see the seeds? Also, I'd be happy to trade if I have something you're looking for.
Eileen in CT

Eileen you are in the same zone as I am. you should check them now. The people that said January may be in a more northern zone than us. For the past couple of weeks they have been opening like crazy. But my plants are 3 years old. That might make a difference. I am not sure. I will be happy to share with you. I have more than I could possibly use. If you are not doing the winter swapping then just email me for address for SABE.
I have not done all of this SABE stuff before but I would love to pay forward all of the thoughtfulness that I have received from Token. He is just a wonderfull person! Such a Helpful and Giving person. What a role model!

Gardencrazy,

Yes, I am in tokens swap, Thank you! If you should ever see something that I have please feel free to email me for a packet.

Lisa

I've had a few open pods on the earliest bloomers.

I am so jealous! My BB plants did not bloom in their fist year. (I ws'ed them in 2009) I was hoping to collect some seeds from them.

I am in the WS swap and I added BB seeds to my wish list. Maybe I will get some of yours! I just love them, such pretty flowers.

Karen

Gardencrazy, I've had my eye on those BB's all season in hopes of harvesting seeds. The seed pods don't look ripe to me yet--still not dried or papery. That's why I thought it would be January before I could harvest them. I'm in a peculiar zone, central CT but right on the Massachusetts border. The BB in my new HB bed has been there only a year so I suppose they aren't acclimated yet. Good news is there are a gajillion seed pods. I'd like to offer the hummers more than what was here before I arrived on the scene. Saw my first hummingbird moth a couple of years ago and was thrilled to see another this season!

My plants got about 9 feet tall this year and were loaded with blooms. My next door neighbor has one about 20 feet from mine and hers only got about 5 feet tall and only a couple of hers has opened so far. So maybe how long it has been established has something to do with the seeds being ready.
I will send a pack of seeds for Lisa, Eileen and Karen. And throw in a couple more.
I cant find my wish list I worked so hard on:( but for a short list I am wishing for some tall Phlox, Catmint Nepeta, Datura (doubles or triples of white or yellow) fresh Japanese Maple, Hellebore, Balloon flower (I have white already) and Baptisa (I have the false indigo already). Just in case you have any of these but if not that is fine too:)

Thanks gardencrazy!!

I wish I had some seeds for you! I have common stuff like cleome, larkspur, cilantro, dill, chives, nicotina, marigold, petunia, candaluna (sp?) and some others I cannot think of right now.

Karen

Has anyone had bloom from their sown seeds yet? A gardening friend told me that second generation Butterfly Bushes revert back to the species BB's and are all a lavender color. I had a seedling that came up in one of my beds next to Pink Delight, and it bloomed a lavender color, nothing like PD.

I've been told that to get the color of Butterfly Bush that you want, you need to root cuttings of the one that you want. What has been your experince?

Linda

I had lots of colors of butterfly bush. All were collected from Black Knight, a purple, and white. I had no really dark purples, but lots of variation including a nice magenta.

{{gwi:434552}}

Butterfly bushes

I hope I get a couple of different shades of pink out of mine.

Gardencrazy, Thanks so much for setting seeds aside for me! My BB grew to 5 ft. and had loads of blooms on it. I don't really want it to grow much taller than that or it'll throw the bed out of balance. I've got blue balloon flower seeds I harvested from my mature plant I'll be happy to share. I also have both white flowering dogwood and kousa dogwood seeds if you'd like some of those. Guess I should make up a list of the seeds I collected.

I was given seeds for Black Knight, Common purple & White Profusion. All 3 varieties germinated, but every plant turned out to be plain purple, not even any variations. I was a little disappointed.... The butterflies don't mind!
Kris

Gardenweed, I would love the blue balloon flower and the kousa seeds. If you dont mind.
I do have lots of extra stuff I have collected too and I thought about posting a list but since I am new to this swapping stuff I was afraid I would get in over my head and not be able to keep up. Maybe I will just offer a couple at a time during the season.

Glenna, I dont have any of the seeds from your request, but I would love some of your butterfly bush seeds if I can send sase or paypal postage
Tammy

kiddo, do I need to root you some of my variations? I sent you the seed, didn't I? I can't believe you didn't get any white. I got several.

BRB...going to take cuttings. :)

TammyinWV I will be happy to do send you some BB seeds. Send me an email and I will give you my address for the sasbe.
I did root a cutting of a BB bush last spring and it rooted easily.

Glenna, I dont see your email address anyway. If you would rather not post your email here, you can email me. I dont have any problems getting GW email.And thanks a lot for your generosity. I dont have any of these right now, and I want to start a butterfly garden next yr.
Tammy

Glenna, I'm new to this too so we can learn how to go about it together. I harvested the kousa dogwood seeds according to information I found on Google and am currently starting the 210-day germination cycle. I'll be happy to share the seeds I harvested with you. My mother planted four white flowering dogwoods along the south boundary here about 25 years ago. I got the kousa dogwood seeds from the trees that line the entrance to the building where I work in Simsbury, CT. If you don't mind getting your fingers gooey, they're easy to harvest. I'll set aside some balloon flower seeds for you, too. My established plant is very prolific--I've had it nearly 10 years. I'm so new to all of this I didn't even know what it was until a couple of years ago. Duh!
I have Echinacea 'White Swan' too but not as many seeds to share as I have balloon flowers. Also stokesia 'Klaus Jelitto' and 'Mary Gregory' but am not 100% sure those come true from seed since I planted them for the first time this year.
Eileen

Tammy I am sorry. I thought the address was there. I think I fixed it now. I also noticed that it has listed as my favorite forums two that I dont think I have ever visited? Does that mean you are not in the winterswap?

I plan to mail my winterswap packs this weekend. Just trying to let the BB seeds dry a little more before I package them.

Eileen are you saying they need the cold for 210 days? I had no idea they would need that much time. I did snatch some regular dogwood from a tree in my sons yard and have them in the fridge. I have some white swan seeds I collected from my neighbor but do not know the other 2 you mentioned.

Kousa may be different, but Cornus florida only needs a month of warm weather, a very spotty winter, and some warmth in the spring to germinate. I wintersowed mine last October and had lots of sprouts. I transplanted them to their own containers in April.

{{gwi:447031}}

By the end of the month, they had their first leaves. I've read that seed grown dogwoods are often prone to infections and fungus. I lost all of mine this summer. They slowly started dying. I'm trying again this year too.

{{gwi:447034}}

To prepare the seeds, I removed all the pulp and left them sitting in water for a few days. I sowed them and covered them with a layer of sand to keep moss away. I was expecting it to take two years.

No Glenna. I recently did my very first swap ever. It was Patty's "whats left on your want list" Swap. I had a ball finding seeds from people's want list I could fill. But I didnt have much left to even consider another one this yr. I hope things will be different next yr. I am going to look for your email address again. Thanks
Tammy

uh oh. If Token had problems with them I will never be able to grow them. He can grow anything. I am convinced he can grow pebbles and toothpicks! :)

Token I cant believe they died on you. They looked so healthy.

I've got sedum planted along the pebbles and toothpicks. :)

We had a very wet spring and a humid summer. Lots of things got powdery mildew. They were no exception. Even the larger trees around my house had it. My leg injury also kept me from treating or watering them properly. I'm hoping with more care next summer, I can get a half dozen or so to survive.

Hi Glenna, The dogwoods are supposed to require 210 days to germinate--105 days at room temperature and the second 105 days in the refrigerator. I have all the instructions I got off Google. They say to treat the Kousa dogwood seeds the same as the regular ones. Once the seeds are dried they're supposed to last a long time. I threw a dozen seeds in a Ziploc bag with some starter mix & perlite + 1/4 cup tepid water. I'll let you know how they do. The Stokes' aster is a late blooming perennial. I have a blue variety as well as a cream colored one.

I threw my dog wood seeds into the fridge only a couple of weeks after collecting them. Probably goofed up huh?
I have a purple perennial aster and I like it very much. Blue and cream sound nice. I would like to find a pink too.

Well next spring Token will have boulders and mighty oaks with sedum growing all around them! ;0)

There are many other "NATIVE" alternatives to Butterfly Bush.

Remember, Buttefly Bush is on the invasive lists of many states, including PA.

To those of you collecting so many seeds, there is a reason as to why. These bushes produce so many seeds, that they choke out native landscapes not only nearby but miles away.

I have cut down my butterfly bushes this past month and will rip out the roots soon or in the spring. I pulled out literally hundreds of seedlings this year just from two bushes.

Just an FYI and trying to steer some people to more native flora.

I did not know they were considered invasive. I have never had any volunteers. I have never seen any growing in the wild either.

I always wonder about info like this and think to myself that some of these labled invasive plants that are so nice we want to grow them in our yards ... then why is it a bad thing to have them grownig all over the place just like the native plants? I am sure I am being short sited here but really I would rather see the BB growing along the side of the road than some of the other stuff that I see. I have a hill behind my house that is covered with a big mess of who knows what all native plants. If it was covered with BB it sure would be more attractive. Would it be bad? Please explain so I can be a more informed gardener.

Hi Glenna, I didn't know BB was listed as invasive anywhere either. It isn't here in CT--like you, it never self-seeds in our zone. I cut mine back every Spring but only because that keeps it a manageable size. One reason to be conscious about invasive species is they can crowd out native flora that provide shelter & food for native birds and critters. That's burning bush here--it's everywhere you turn and nearly impossible to get rid of. Japanese knotweed is worse because it grows & spreads faster. Poison ivy & Virginia creeper are high up on the list too. Mock orange grows slow here but my friend in Virginia told me it's invasive where she lives. The native species growing on the hill near you may not be a pretty sight in your eyes but to the wild critters they provide shelter, protection from predators and are a possible food source as well. Hope that helps.

I did not realize it was invasive...

I don't know if it is in IL though. I might do some research.

Karen

Hi GreenGardener,

I just checked your state weed list and Buddleja isn't listed as invasive for Pennsylvania, so that's good if you want to grow it. Also of note, the individual cultivars aren't listed as noxious--I'm sure they have varying degrees of ability to reseed but which has a greater capacity I don't know. So for gardeners who are very concerned about invasiveness they could grow Blue Beard ~ Caryopteris as a substitute for attracting butterflies.

Buddleja davidii is listed as noxious in Oregon and Washington, and in upper most elevations of Hawaii.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Noxious Lists

That is good news Trudi. I was worried. Thank You!

The federal government is pretty keen on tracking invasives. You can always check the USDA Plants Database for info about what you're growing. Their search engine will accept both botanical and common names which makes it very useful for everyone.

It's a wonderful website to explore too ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Plants Database

While I cannot locate the site that lists the Butterfly Bush as being on the "watch list" for being an invasive plant, it is out there.

To be on a watch list as being an invasive species is enough for me to not grow it.

In addition, I pulled out hundreds of butterfly bush seedlings this year. That did it for me!

Cultivation of this bush is very easy, which is why so many big box stores sell these at low prices.

I am in my own personal movement to remove as many non-native plants from my yard as possible and replace them with native ones. Natives to my area will thrive with minimal maintenance and water, which also helps the environment. Less water being used, especially during a drought and any plant food needed for non-natives is not really needed for natives once established.

Plus, the native wildlife will enjoy the seeds and berries of the native plants much more than the non-native ones.

Think of it as re-establishing a native ecosystem in your backyard.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/invasivelist.aspx

Lisa, Eileen and Karen your seeds have arrived at Token's. If you do not want them maybe you could tell him to send them to someone else. Tammy's will go out in the mail tomorrow or the next day.

Glenna

I here you GreenGardener. The problem is that Mother Nature regards the planet as her own and doesn't pay attention to man-made bounderies. Plants are advantageous and they'll use man or animal to migrate.

A few years back I became concerned when we had an amazing amount of beginner Winter Sowers who seemed enthralled with sowing as many containers as possible their first year--I'm all for enthusiasm but I was alert that some beginners would also be new gardeners and innocently unaware of the effect their joyful compulsiveness could have on the local environment.

WS is wonderful, it's uplifting, it works like a charm...but it shouldn't be used without wisdom. It's important to sow wisely. In response, without a screeching sound of stomping on the brakes, I created a site venue called "Observing the Natural Environment" and made a link table (I had to learn how to do that!) that has many places where someone can go to observe the natural environment.

It's been along time since I've worked on that page--it has a few stale links which I apologize for, and will take care of them ASAP.

Here is a link that might be useful: Observing the Natural Environment.

This is awesome info! I started my first butterfly garden this past spring (09) and I have one butterfly bush so far but am moving to a farm next year and would love to collect the seeds and germinate them on our new land. I should have room for a huge butterfly garden... But all the great info here from such generous people is fantastic! Thanks to all of you!

Thanks so much!!

Karen

Hi Glenna! I tried to reply yesterday about the seeds but got an error message. I'd very much still like the seeds. I bought bubble envelopes so I'm wondering what my next step should be--email Token to get an address? I'm not a novice gardener but this is my first time swapping seeds on this forum. Any tips would be welcome and much appreciated.
Thanks, all.
Eileen

Oh Eileen I am sorry. I was thinking that you were in the big WinterSwap too. Just email me directly from MY Page and we will work out the trade.

No worries, Glenna. I only stumbled upon GW a few short weeks ago and didn't find the WS link until a week or so after that so I really AM new to this. Thanks for thinking I was "one of the gang!"

I am sure the gang here will welcome you as one of their own. They are all very nice and helpful. I dont post very often but I read nearly every day and learn so much. You will love winter sowing.