Thanks for the offer! I would take you up on it, but since Trudi replied that the seeds would stay viable for a few years, I went ahead and filled out her form for requesting tomato seeds and mailed it today. I am going to grow some for my sister, my daughters, and friends too, so they won't go to waste! I am really looking forward to trying some new varieties grown from seed. Last spring I actually had some "volunteer" tomatoes come up unexpectedly and it was actually VERY FUNNY because I couldn't figure out where the tomato plants were coming from in all my hanging baskets, etc LOL Apparently I had tossed frost-killed tomatoes in my compost pile and they broke down over the winter and I forgot about them until they started growing EVERYWHERE, but unfortunately they didn't have the flavor of the parent plants - which won't happen with the heirloom varieties, I believe. BettyLu

Coming with husband, James & bringing flats (solid & mesh), 2 & 4" pots, & others to share from our white Suburban. I'm also hoping to figure out some of the mystery plants I received at the swap in pouring rain in November. My notes were sketchy & I'm curious about varieties of: rosemary 4" pot lilac (said a sucker from white flowered plant blooms pink) hydrangea, lacecap white calla lily potted I was wearing black jacket & pink corduroy pants & traders came to me for my Kaffir Lily 'Oregon Sunset'(Schizostylis coccinea), so if you were one of those who gave me plants I'd love to know. I'll complete the trade list once I figure it out.

Hostas can be sown either indoors or outdoors. If the seeds are fresh they can be direct sown outdoors as soon as they're ripe and they will germinate with the next prolonged warm spell. If the seeds are stored for more than a month after their harvesting they usually need stratification to germinate. I've got a garden with many, many hostas started both ways. When sown via Winter Sowing there will be some early germination in the flats...and then NOTHING....for a few weeks more. Evidently, some of the seeds just take a good deal longer to germinate because they need either longer daylength or warmer nights. Anyway, just when you think you've lost all your patience you will have a flush of green from the late germinating hosta seeds. My experience with open-pollinated hosta seeds has shown that hosta seedlings will begin to show their parentage very early on. You can expect some variation in seedlings from the parent plant but it's usually not excessive if noticable at all. Variegated hosta seedlings look variegated almost immediately, or certainly within their first or second month at the latest. Hosta seeds sown from an original variegated sport of a plain hosta have about a 50/50 chance of being variegated.....either they will or they won't. Hostas grown from the seeds of a variegated parent plant are usually all variegated. And the solid color hostas of blue, green, or gold generally produce seedlings that reflect their parent color from the moment of germination. I personally don't mind if the seedlings do or don't look like their parents....any seeds or seedlings that I trade I do so under the catch-all description of "open-pollinated". I've NEVER had anyone turn down a trade. When it comes to hostas being different is where it's at, and the more seedlings I grow the more I enjoy them for that I started them myself. I used to buy hostas and have a very primo collection of them....price was no object when it came to a new cultivar. Hosta collecting is an addiction and a pricey one at that. However, since I get so much pleasure from starting my own from seeds I'm now more impressed with them as children of my own garden as opposed to plants with names attached to them. Having named hosta cultivars is no longer important to me. I highly recommend everyone to start their own hostas from seeds just for the pure joy of it. It's a lot more fun than shopping for the lastest bank-busting cultivar. When you grow your own you just seem to love them more, and the need to have named cultivars seems to dissipate into nothingness. AND it saves mega-bucks too! Trudi

You read a post heading and if it attracts you then click on it and open it up...Let's see how to make a trade with "Gardener_Jane" "HAVE: Marigolds, cosmos, banana melons, and others seeds." Okay.....you go ahead and click on the link and there's Jane's list and you like a few things on it. Let's see Jane's list.... I have these seeds to trade: ANNUALS: orange marigolds pink cosmos green nicotiana purple balsam PERENNIALS: blue sea holly pale pink halberd-leaved marshmallow black knight butterfly bush orange conflowers unknown vine with white trumpet flowers....nice VEGGIES AND HERBS: Banana melons habanero peppers (Ultra HOT!!) cherry peppers (hot) feverfew SO....you need to reply to the post. Here's some adaptable examples of good replies: Hi Gardener_Jane! I'd like to trade for your marigolds, cosmos, banana melons, and habanero peppers. I've got white zinnias, mixed morning glories, mixed portulaca, and heirloom yellow boy tomatoes. Please let me know if you would like to trade. Thanks, Overall_Jim OR...... Dear GJ, I like your list and I would like to trade for these seeds: marigolds cosmos banana melons habanero peppers Please look at my trade list on my member page. I hope we can trade.....let me know. Thanks, Overall_Jim Those post replies are very clear. Jim tells Jane exactly what he wants to trade for. Jane likes that, she's a busy person. She doesn't have to take the time to send extra emails and she can make her trades quickly and easily.