Hi Barb, I'm a paper preferred person. For a couple reasons. One, I originally didn't have anything to put seeds in to trade them and my hubby clipped up an envelope and I realized I could make pkts. from scrap paper. This appeals to my cheap side, lol. Two, I once killed seeds by pkging in plastic too soon. I had though they were out drying long enough, but I was wrong. Seed can look dry, but if the percent of moisture isn't below a certain point, they will die. If there is a high percent of moisture left, you will actually see mold develop. So I like to be safe and just use paper. I will use plastic for tiny seeds though like poppy seed. There aren't many seeds with a real short viability. Allium(onion family,) some herbs like parsley, and I'm drawing a blank right now, lol. There are some seeds that should not dry out or will lose viability quickly. The rose family which includes roses, apples, and other fruits. Also woodland plants that are spring ephemerals need to be planted immediately. Most seed though stored in a cool, dry, and dark spot will stay viable for quite sometime. I sowed seeds from 2004 and 2005 this past winter and had no trouble with most all of them. Remy

The folded paper design I posted earlier, I use only for temporary storage or for mailing seeds. If you are having trouble folding it, it is usually because you do not turn it over as directed in picture #3. For long time storage I use the plastic air tight containers used for diabetic test strip storage. They are a little smaller than the old 35MM film shipping cases. Dr. Norman Deno in his many years of seed experimenting found very little difference in life expectancy between seed at a constant room temperature and that at refrigerator temperature for most seed. Al

Looks like it should still do okay as long as it doesnt see any extreme cold (or heat) for a while. I would definitely try to build a cold frame for it, but as long as it doesnt get below 30F or above 75F for the rest of the winter, it should be good! I hope it makes it for you! I changed the type of christmas lights I used for my palms protection and my pindo palm saw a low of 15F (actual low was 11F)! It was a fast and really robust grower so I hope I didnt lose it. Good luck! Keep us updated on it's progress! Looks like 1 or 2 more cold spells before winter is basically over, hopefully the cold this past week was the worst of them and at least there will be a nice small warmup next week! -Alex

And that is how you sent me the Everglades seeds, which produced the tomato plants that are now full of pea-sized tomatoes! I thought sending the seeds that way was really clever!