Hi! I have a few scotch(blue full nasty) thistle seeds and yellow thistle seeds left... I also have small seedling plants ready to ship if you think they can make a one day shuffle via UPS. I harvested them from Fort Tryon Park in NYC. I am a volunteer gardener in now in Bennett Park, 10 blocks south. I planted plenty of seeds in the Park. I still have some left if you want.

I have made feeders for the finches using the clear tubes that the fluorescent lights come in. They come with caps on each end . I drill small holes for the perches and insert small dowel pieces in. Then using the dremel, I make small oblong holes under each perch( so the finches are the only one that can feed because they will turn upside down to feed.)I glue the cap on the bottom. Then drill two small holes near the top so you can bend some wire to use as hanger and fller up and put the cap on. These come in long sizes and sometimes I find them in shorter ones. You can get quite a lot of holes and it is neat to see the birds alight and then turn upside down to eat.

Ohhhhhhhhh, is that interesting!!! The seed is fresh, and I never dreamed anything could "hatch" from it ... what a wonderrrr-ful lesson! Thanks very much for your replies, I deeply appreciate it! Happy Spring and Summer! PS: I thought of the sadness in our hearts about Virginia Tech, but yet, these little tiny miracle birds come, to gladden our hearts a bit. Life is good ~ it seems!

I have saved milk thistle seed and have had good germination rates. Wear thick gloves the seeds are hard to remove from the dried flower head. File the seed until you have cut through the hard outer coating (I hold seed in a pair of plyers and file with a metal file) and soak for a day or two in warm water seems to help.