Hi, marychrisw! If you haven't saved TP rolls all year, you can use just one to make newspaper cylinders in which to plant seeds. It's very easy. Just cut double pages of newspaper (a folded piece of newspaper) so they'll be as wide as the rolls and wrap the newspaper around the roll to make cylinders. After rolling them, the newspaper cylinders will be several thicknesses deep and surprisingly sturdy. If you want to double the newspaper cylinder thickness, use two sheets of folded newspaper instead of one. Use tape to close the cylinders, and there you are. Some people press a piece of crumpled newspaper into the bottom of the newspaper cylinders before adding the planting soil, if you're worried about the soil falling out at transplant time. It usually doesn't, but it's okay if it does. The roots will hang on to what they've claimed. To use them, make sure you put them in a container that forces them to remain upright close together so they don't sag over, fill them with seed-starting soil, and plant your seed. Water and cover them as you would any seeds you start, but just don't soak them. Some people cut the cylinders in half so they're only half as tall for small seeds -- they're less likely to sag over. A lot depends on the likely length of the new root. When your plants have grown enough to set out, carefully remove the whole newspaper cylinder with the plant in it and set it in the soil. Once you plant them, the newspaper will finish disintegrating. You can remove the piece of tape with which you secured the sides of the cylinder (very easy since the newspaper is damp) or leave it on. Then start saving the TP rolls for next year!

Hi Beatrice, Glad to hear some of my seeds are germinating for you!! If you don't get enough of the pap hybrid cross to germinate I can send you a few more...your latest seeds are just now sending out roots. They swelled up larger than any other seeds I've seen before splitting, I just knew there was something kicking and screaming inside trying to get out!! The seeds from your first batch are doing very well also, I planted about 15 of the different crosses in total and I am very pleased as they seem to be doing so well. Many Thanks again,..Donna..:-) And as far as paper vs plastic we may never really know, it's probably just the seeds themselves and the moisture content or maybe some of them got a little damaged during their trip...

Jsvand5, I don't know of any commercial source for Goose Creek seeds, but two people listed Goose Creek in the 2008 Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook. If you aren't a member of SSE yet, this would be a very good time to join because the 2009 Yearbook is just now going to the printer and will be out in a month or two. The Yearbook is a very good place to look for varieties that you can't find anywhere else, as many members list those for which they have enough seeds to offer. Laurel, there was never any patent granted for Goose Creek, nor will there be. Jimmy Williams applied for a patent on November 11, 2004 but it was never granted. Goose Creek was not "invented" by Jimmy Williams, and as noted above, the stages of ripeness described for Goose Creek are not unique to Goose Creek. Jimmy Williams can apply for a patent if he wishes but he won't get one. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a public web page at http://patft.uspto.gov/ where anyone can look up patent applications as well as the patents that have been granted, and you will see that there is an application but it has NOT been granted. Anyone who wants to can go to the web page and verify this for themselves. Here is a link that might be useful: 2008 SSE Yearbook

Hibiscus Seed Capsules Seed saving is a lot of fun and it's easy to do! This is how I do it....and these are general and universal instructions. Mother Nature is pretty easy to figure out if we keep with the idea that SHE needs to keep it simple too. Take a good look at a flower. When the flower fades leave it where it is, do not remove it. Eventually at the base of the flower there will be some swelling. This is where the seeds are forming. Do keep the petals where they are and let them fall naturally...I don't touch it or bother it, I just leave it be. The base of the flower will swell even more and soon you'll notice that the flower stem and the swollen base are turning a papery-brown. This is a very good indication that the seeds are almost fully ripe....in effect the plant has achieved it's goal of reproduction for that flower...it has produced viable seeds and no longer needs to expend energy to keep it alive, so it doesn't sends it's sugars and water up to the stem anymore. That's why it's turning papery-brown. It's no longer being supplied with nutrients and so it's dying back. The drying action will continue and as the swollen pod continues to dry you will see it start to open....some pods will open in a starry design, plants like poppies create a ridge of tiny little circles near the top of the pod....they make themselves into something like a little "salt-shaker" (sorta...but you could imagine it.) All flower pods will open in some manner when the seeds are ripe....it's so they can disperse their seeds. When you see that the pods and stems are both brownish in color, AND you notice that the pods are starting to open you can then collect the pods. I place the pods on an open plate or in open bowls in a safe place where they won't be disturbed and let them continue to dry naturally for another week or two. Then I remove the seeds from them. To assure that the seeds are thoroughly dry I let them dry on an open plate for a few more days...I even will stir them every now and then to make sure the bottom layers will get a chance to dry too. Storing the dried seeds is easy. I use paper envelopes. I make my own with my printer, but you could use coin envelopes or even mailing envelopes will do fine too. Label them so you know what's inside. Store them where they'll be away from heat or direct sunlight. I use cardboard file boxes to keep my seeds in and those do just fine. Another good place to keep them is in your dining room drawers. Those are dark places and your dining room is sure to be safe from extreme fluctuations in temperature. Good luck with your seed saving! Trudi