Oh, I needed that laugh! Yes, one bird finds seed and then proceeds to yank out his cell phone and call all the other birds in the area. Soon, every bird within twenty miles is out on the lawn. Flocks from the next state are just hitting cruising altitude and will arrive sometime tomorrow. Go ahead and try to scare them off. They outnumber you. Ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock classic? Move slowly and do not carry grain-based food items... Really, you'll be just fine. You dropped millions of seeds, the birds can't possibly consume more than several tens of thousands--or less than 1%. The scratching and pecking also helps settle the seed in contact with soil and cover it, increasing germination of those seeds near the one(s) consumed. Bird poo contains great fertilizer, so there's another added benefit.

Woops ! Lets set some things straight here. This thread is full of errors. Most hybrids are not sterile. Rememeber if they were sterile they could not pollinate themselves in straight stands where hybrids are often grown. Its true you can have a sterile hybrid (interspecific hybridization/nuclear sterility genes, etc) but to paint all hybrids sterile is a gross mis-interpretation. Heritage lines breed true ? Nooo - heritage refers to the perceived origin of the plant. Just because the population it derives from was developed in the last century has nothing to do with its mode of reproduction which is the driving force on the genetic structure of the population and determines whether it is genetically uniform, or not. If you have a largely self pollinating plant like pea - it can maintain genetic continuity and stability over time. Out crosssing plants (corn/pumpkin)are extremely difficult to maintain in pure state without controlled pollinations unless they are growing in strict isolation. So, the bottom line is that a heritage label has very little to do with genetic continuity across generations. It follows that genetic purity is NOT a broad result of heritage/antique labelled material. Rather the opposite. Often such material is diverse in genetic background because of ad-mixtures, outcrosssing, segregating material, accumulated mutations and more... all this speaks to diverse germplasm not purity and uniformity. GMO=genetically modified organism. Most GMO's are mans insertions of genetic material into the genome of another recipient plant. The donor can be from the same or another species. Organic production is the PROCESS of production. Whether a cultivar is labelled as "heritage" or "antique" has little to do with process and much to do with provenance/origin and handling of the germplasm over its history. Its true, but confusing, that organic standards impose restrictions and requirements on cultivars that qualify for "organic labelling". However, these seed source restrictions are aimed at excluding certain material deemed to be undesirable. Less to do with directly qualifying the source as more desirable than another. Yes, I know some ideological purists will not agree. However, you can grow a GMO modified plant in an organic production system - it will not qualify for organic labelling, but it will have been grown organically. Confused - so is the rest of the world. So are the standards. Back to seed prices. Driving factors in price increases are rapidly escalating costs of shipping and regulatory/legal compliance.

There are a number of web sites that sell BOP seeds, some even that have the Yellow Mandella and the 'juncea' seed. A few are ... tradewindsfruit.com greendealer-exotic-seeds.com seedrack.com Some will give you decent pricing and more seeds than others. You have to check them out individually. Strelitzia seeds are quite commonly available on the web. You just have to do some searches. Then compare pricing. Note that some of these web sites provide guarantees that their seeds will germinate and have customer support lines to assist with germination questions.

Flax seed is very high in magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamin E, carotene, B-group vitamins, calcium, sulfur, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, silicon, copper, nickel, molybdenum, chromium, and cobalt. Also, Omegas 3 and 6, as well as lignans that enhance the immune system. I used to feed it to all my pregnant and nursing mother hammies so mom AND babies could reap the benefits of the tiny grain. It has cancer prevention properties and as well, research suggests that it aids in the eye developement of fetal and newborn babies. In a pinch (when I was out of bird feeder seed) I would feed my home made hammy food to the birds and they didn't seem to mind the flax at all. Any hammy owners out there? If you are, check out my home made hamster feed recipe. I buy all the ingredients at Bulk Barn and when hubby and I calculated it out, you save over 50% of the cost over the highest priced commercial brand seed mix and don't get all the crap seeds like corn and millet. Here's my link: Barb's Home made Hamster Seed Mix