Another question I came here looking for ... definitions of onion terms ... what is a seed, seedling, set, bulb, bunch, transplant, scapes, other words I don't know ? I never did find any onion seeds last year (only found seeds for what I call scallions or green onions - White Lisbon Bunching). Our local farm supply store got in bushel baskets of what looks like little miniature onions about the size of the first joint of my thumb that we could buy by the pound. I don't think they had the variety name on them, just red, yellow, and white. I am intermediate day area, so I assume they got the right ones in for our area. A few of them had shoots of green already growing from them about 1-2" long, but the guy there said not to get those. Get the ones with no green yet. I bought about 30. I am trying to do a search of how to plant them, but I don't even know what they are called. So more suggested questions ... How, when, how deep do I plant & care for each of the ways of planting onions defined above ? Water ? Fertilize ? Soak seeds ? I think I read something about cutting the tops back periodically ? When & how to harvest ? Really really really newbie questions for the FAQs. I guess the same kind of questions for garlic though I am many months off from growing that yet. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg071138544149.html http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg011153119044.html http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg0310064812977.html

A bit off-topic, but -- the plant from your first picture was my favorite flower when I was growing up in Europe! We kids called them "little dogs" because when you squeeze the little flower on the sides, it opens up its mouth :) Do kids here in the US do this? Now thanks to you and bubbleoffplumb I know the plant's English and Latin names, which is awesome. I've never seen this flower here, so your picture made me smile :) It's an odd feeling when being a responsible gardener means pulling up the plants that you loved when you were a kid! I must say, learning that Lily of the Valley is a terrible pest here was my biggest gardening heartbreak! :)

I don't think it's necessary to buy the source book at first. With over 3,000 varieties listed in the Yearbook, which comes out not always in Feb, although that's a target date, there's plenty to chose from. And as a long time Life member of SSE I don't think SSE membership is for everyone. Don't get me wrong here, being a member helps very much to further the goal of SSE which is preservation of OP varieties . But I'd prefer to see folks join who have had some experience in growing tomatoes and that's b'c a certain percentage of seeds you request may not be pure and you need to know how to rogue out plants and you also need to know how to save seeds in terms of reoffering varieties that you might request. And while reoffering is desired, not everyone does it, unfortunately. And I agree with what jackbenny said above, in that the Yearbook should never be seen as a seed catalog. After a person has grown lots of the more common varieties offered commercially, then I think it's fine to go searching for the more rare varieties that are offered there. The other fact to note is that there are listed SSE members and non listed members and as mentioned above, listed members list their varieties in the Yearbook and those seeds are available to both listed and unlisted members but the cost/pack is higher for unlisted members. Currently, for US members the cost of a pack of tomato seeds is $2 for listed members and $3 for unlisted members. A few folks like myself ask the same price for both listed and unlisted members. So by all means if a person is interested in preserving genetic diversity I would urge anyone to join SSE if not for obtaining seed, then just for helping SSE with your membership monies. SSE has been an important part of my tomato life, as it were, LOL, and I've made many good friends through the years. I joined I think in 1989, and it's been a great experience for me. There's also a PUBLIC catalog with about 40 or so varieties that anyone can order from and the online version can be found at seedsavers.org Carolyn

Thanks Weldon. When you say it doesn't grow very fast, do you mean up or out? I've read planting recommendations of 12" apart. Do you think it would fill in fairly quickly?