I would really like to get a hold of some Indian Bay leaf seeds or seedlings (Cinnamomum tamala) and some seeds or seedlings of the Indonesian Bay Tree (Syzygium polyanthum). They seem virtually impossible to find in the USA. A Source of plants or seeds would also be welcomed. Thanks!!

echquiltstorm, I recently purchased Bay Laurel seeds from a Canadian seed company (IÂm in Canada). They arrived 3 weeks ago. I paid $7 CDN ($6 USD?) and received 12 seeds packed in a sealed air tight envelope. The seeds were shipped in a moist pre-germinated state packed with vermiculite. So far, I have one of 12 sprouting. My seeds came with a fairly comprehensive information sheet regarding history and germination instructions and care instructions. morz8's post pretty much reflected what the sheet said regarding germination times etc. If you send me an email at ottawapepper(at)hotmail(dot)com, IÂll forward a scanned copy of the sheet. Good luck with your Bay Laurel adventures. Bill

Seeds are notoriously slow and irregular to germinate. They need to be just covered, as they need light to germinate, and ideal temperature is 10-16°C. Germination may be hastened by soaking the seeds for 24 hours before sowing or by refrigerating for one month before sowing.

Jim, Yep, I'm happy I asked here! Not only great answers, but unlimited other people get to benefit from the knowledge, too. Zeedman, AGAIN thanks for your input!! I had thought about the 50 degrees night rule... He lives in the Goshen Hole in SE Wyoming ... foreman of a 10,000 acre cattle ranch and his provided house is on the same water meter as the cattle tanks, so he can use drip irrigation all year. He turns on the soaker hoses and goes off for his day of working cattle and raising cow food... As for cold nites... last year when we were discussing plants for him to try, he reminded me that he could still get a frost on May 31. He very successfully grew Super Sioux tomato, Buttercup squash, and Cajun Delight F1 okra. Those may give some measure of his potential summer season. Summer is short, but it's about 95 - 100 degrees in heat. I had also suggested to him that he pick a south side of building as a place to put up a trellis to increase sun heat and reduce wind chilling. I use such a microclimate to grow figs and rosemary here in Arkansas, and I was able to get a last picking off my Green Taiwan Longbeans in mid October and have them in the frig to serve to our sister from Kansas a week later. My current intention is to send him about 6 seeds each of Anna's Taiwan Green, each of the 2 Indian varieties (I also expect them to be later than stated, but doubling their times = crop in zone 4), and the red one from the eBay seller in Wenatchee, Washington. WW is teetering somewhere between zone 6 and zone 5 near as I can tell from the map, so his semi-short season in a climate suited to apples may also mean a crop in Wyoming. I am forwarding my brother this link to read your suggestions and see the pix. I suspect his interest is as much in growing them to show off as it is to eat them, so he may or may not go for the bush type. I suggested that if his neighbors were growing black eyed peas, that might tell him what his chance of success was with the longbeans. MOST INTERESTING that you are finding unexpected cold tolerances in Philippine plants. My philosophy has become one of "try it", as so many times experiments work. When they don't, it's still education...kinda like the way Thomas Edison thought it useful to know a few hundred ways that wouldn't work. I think there are always surprises in hardiness. I had no expectations of survival of the Middle Eastern herb Zaatar (Origanum syriaca ), but it not only survived the humidity of last year (mildews immediately killed many similarly adapted plants from NE Colorado when I tried them here in 1990's), but has made the winter in an open pot as well... surviving to at least 17 degrees. I sent report this week to Johnny's where I bought it. I am having a lot of unexpected survivals with zone 8 plants under my big pine tree, where a thin blanket of pine needles plus overgrowth from native hardy annuals is enough blanket to fend off frost to 10 degrees or less. I weed in spring and welcome the return of Lemon verbena, pineapple sage, Mexican tarragon, Sicilian oregano, small dahlias, and the big purple oxalis. Tuberoses freeze just deep enough to kill the center stem which would have bloomed and send up instead a bunch of tiny sprouts. Winter of 2000 was zero for over 2 weeks, and I had to start over the next spring with that whole list!! Now I gotta figger out how to get rhubarb COLD ENOUGH in the winter to make it do well here... maybe grow in a big METAL pot that will chill down extremely cold when it freezes here? Laugh if you wish .... I am also interested in tolerance of extreme drought and heat. I have some candidates to go out on the road frontage this summer. I already know that catnip and sage and lemon grass will make it, and Matt's Wild Cherry, Gold Coast okra, and de Milpa tomatillos will survive but not make a significant crop. I'm looking for plants from Mexico, India, Africa, Middle East that might take such heat and drought. Any more global warming, and those areas of the world may prove to be the ancestral homes of the last food crops we can grow outdoors on this planet! Jan