This is the best site for seed germinating info I've come across: Tom Clothier's Garden Walk and Talk. I find Datura odd. Sometimes I'll get nothing from a bunch of seeds, and sometimes I'll get 90-100% germinating. I've never figured it out. I have had no luck at all with any of the doubles - it could be my technique, it could be the seeds are bad. 'Belle Blanche' should be easier than 1 out of dozens, maybe you had an old bunch of seeds? Clematis from seed can be slow (depending on the sort), and it might not resemble the parent (or it might!), but it should be fairly easy. Clematis will benefit greatly from a cold period. I've never grown chinese lanterns fron seed, but I've grown two close relatives from seed many times: tomatillos and ground cherries. Neither of those get fermented, so I doubt that the chinese lantern seeds need it. I should say that though I don't ferment my tomato seeds, I do remove the jelly-like covering on them (placing the seed on a paper towel and mushing it gently with your finger does the trick for me). The jelly supposedly inhibits germination, but I've had seeds that didn't get it removed germinate just as quickly as ones without it. I'd still prefer remove it by mushing though, as it may cause the seed to rot if it's left there being moist. About the cold period - you can't just toss the seeds in the fridge in their envelope. They have to be sown in slightly damp seed starting mix. If the seeds are large enough to be carefully handled with tweezers, I use small 1-2oz containers, and carefully transfer the seeds to larger containers when they come out(some may already be germinating). If the seeds are too small to handle in that way, I put their sowing pots into a plastic baggie and put that in the fridge (takes up a bit of room though!). A really good book is the "A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants". But it's pricey ($66.50 at Amazon.ca), and it's HEAVY!!! I got mine as a birthday gift - I couldn't justify buying it myself, but I really wanted it. I have found that mant books that you find remaindered at the front of bookstores are good enough, they may not be the best out there, but they're cheap. BP

OK, Here is the interesting thing about citrus. Citrus can be poly-embryonic. What this means is that from a single seed you can get 2 or more trees, (there are other plants that exhibit this trait, but citrus are well known for this tendency); the really cool thing is, with citrus, the resulting seedlings from the seed can be either of the following: 1. Exactly the same plant as the tree that produced the fruit. OR 2. A hybrid between the tree that produced the fruit and whatever citrus happened to pollinate the flower that produced said fruit. And since many, if not most citrus are self fertile, there is a pretty good chance that the seedling you have will be exactly like the tree that produced the fruit you purchased at the market. With this said, the issues with raising most fruit trees from seed is that you'll have to wait several years before you really find out if the resultant tree will produce fruit that is good. But as long as you are patient, and willing to baby the young tree through drought, winter freezes, insect pests and other adversities, you may have a real winner on your hands. Remember that MOST commercial fruit currently being produced originated as a cross between two open pollinated plants that were either different cultivars of the same species or very closely related species in the same family or genus, (citrus example: the grapefruit, a natural hybrid between the pomelo, (or shaddock) and a sweet orange). good luck!!!

Which varieties of citrus do best for own-root, grown from seed? I think there's something to be said for being natural. And I refuse to believe it is absolutely impossible to grow any type of decent citrus fruit without having to use grafting. Edit: Another discussion in this forum says that many citrus varieties can be grown own-root, but some maybe less sweet, and the roots require more frequent irrigation and are more vulnerable to disease. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg012036217931.html And for some citrus varieties, the fruit resulting from the seedlings may be significantly different from the parent. It's all luck of the draw with the genes, and once the breeders found a winner they simply resorted to clonal propagation. For planting citrus seeds, one of the really helpful things is to carefully peel off the slimy covering over the seed, it helps the seed begin to grow much sooner, otherwise it takes time for this protective layer to rot away in the soil. This post was edited by Socal2warm on Mon, Feb 2, 15 at 21:14

Yes, there is no question that hardy cacti will grow in the PNW given adequate exposure and drainage. Some are native to much colder climates than ours, their main enemy is damp rather than cold. Various yuccas and agaves are also native to the arid west, some quite high up in altitude and/or latitude. If your existing soil is not already excessively drained all you really need to do is get some that is and dump a pile of that on the ground, plant in it. Many succulents and other dry climate plants need only to be spared the soggy and acidic soil conditions that are widespread here (at least during winter) to be able to grow under our climate conditions.