Candle_Tree, I had a strange coincidence happen a few hours ago. I was at a shop looking at gardening magazines on my way home from work, and was curious about one called, "Birds and "Blooms". I dropped it by accident, and when I picked it up it was opened on pg. 28 showing a large picture of MG 'Heavenly Blue' with an inserted picture of the "Moonflower". How very strange! I thought instantly, and that I must send this to Candle_Tree somehow so she will believe me. So I decided to incude my e-mail address in this posting, but saw that you shared yours. I will be in touch this week-end when more time permits, and we can talk outside the forum to our heart's content on the issues we have shared. Also, I do not feel that you should be without any seeds you want (without violating international laws that I will check out). I will get them to you in the appropriate seasons if you wish. After all, we need to cultivate also the "earth goddess" aspect in you as a budding horticulturist. A cultivated variety or cultivar means that humans choose to propagate/multiply a particular plant because it has desirable characteristics (disease-resistance, improved flowers or foliage over the species form, etc). These hybrid traits can occur by nature's cross-pollinating through butterflies, moths, or the wind - or by human nurture and selectivity. I confess that I am not informed fully enough on the pros and cons of genetic engineering with the plant kingdom's food crops, so I have no view. I'm sure that when we manipulate or bypass natural evolution, there can be a lot of consequences and/or rewards to be debated. Hopefully, only the best educated minds on either side of the controversy will be in the spotlight - not the opinionated and ignorant hysterics versus the greedy corporations. A cultivar name has been traditionall written in semi-quotes, such as Impomea ( the genus) tricolor (the species) 'Heavenly Blue' (cv). So I doubt that this term applies ot genetically engineered plants. It pleases me to no end that ou are attuned to the lack of education impacting the work force. Trust me, I see it here all the time with workers endangering themselves, others, and the environment by mixing and applying pesticides when they cannot even read the warnings and instructions on the label. (These are not people in the company I work for). I have approached them on several occasions about serious mistakes they make, and there is no language barrier - there is a lack of interest in safety concerns. My Spanish is good enough to realise that they don't know what they are doing. I have quite a concern about the use of chemicals, and I do use them wisely as a certified pesticide applicator for horticultural use - but not on food crops. At the same time I am not in agreement with using organic fertilisers over "chemical" ones. Everything physical in nature has a chemical basis, and for "organic" products to bash chemistry is simply absurd. Plants could not care less whether the source of fertiliser is organic or chemical because it can only absorb the needed elements in an ion form (cations or anions). It's a chemistry thing. So they don't absorb the nutrients in the way we apply them - no matter what the source. They go through a series of stages until a cation/anion usable form is reached to absorbed by the roots. Organic fertilisers have the disadvantage of not supplying enough of the "micronutrients" (iron, copper, manganese, etc.) so it had better be present in the soil in sufficient amounts to begin with. If it doesn't, nutritional deficiences will result for the plant and for us. Quite often, sufficient soil nutrients do not exist, especially in tropical soils. And the most element needed by agricultural crops as well as most foliage plants is nitrogen. Urea nitrogen is synthetically produced organic nitrogen that will convert into a usable form through the beneficial bacteria in the soil. It makes no difference whether it comes from seaweed, fish emulsion, or a synthetic urea-based nitrogen. The conversion process (via soil bacteria) will remain the same for it to be absorbed by the roots, and chemical fertilisers can provide a better and much cheaper source for nitrogen that is MEASURABLE for application.Organic fertilisers do not list their percentages of micronutrients because they are either not present, or they do not have a guarenteed percentage. (Take a rest, John_Z). You are a gem. I look forward to sharing with you via mail and/or e-mail, especially on social concerns. Respectfully, John_Z.

No, don't use a towel..get a coffee filter, easier to handle..and put your seeds in it. Drop the whole thing into a shallow dish like a custard cup and cover with water. Let them soak there until they show some white bits. I pour off the water the next day and pour fresh water over them, but I use the same filter. I've had some in a filter for a week or more, and they are still good to go. But they are no longer in water, just the damp filter. In that case it's like a damp towel. But I'd start them COVERED in water for more than a couple of days. I'm sure you'll have great success as I did, unless the seeds are old. And you will know in a couple of days, I promise you. I just noticed looking at that pot, the new leaves make it look like dragon flies hovering..and I have it with the most beautiful little day lily tuft. Even now they are gorgeous to me! Just get a well draining good potting soil. You can set them out in the ground if you want once they have rooted well, but pots are so much easier to control, imo.

Interesting individual. I read a bunch at the top of this thread and then gave up, so I haven't read the more recent postings. One thought that kept popping up in my head is that she probably is sick--clinically mentally ill. Perhaps with addictions issues on top of that (self-medicating perhaps?). Some of you posted quotes from her. The ones where she is responding to direct confrontation sound a lot like someone who is mentally ill. If that is the case, then she probably can't help what she's doing (at least not without mental health treatment and her own committment to deal with her illness). It would also account for the fact that her behavior is completely illogical (plant the damn things--you'll never have to beg seed again!). I find, when dealing with someone who is seriously mentally ill, that one of the most therapeutic ways of dealing with them is to remain calm, non-judgemental, and set CLEAR, CONSISTENT boundaries. So the blunt messages people have sent her telling her they will not trade with her under any circumstances are actually a good thing! This is sounding preach-y---NOT what I meant. I really want to say to everyone out there who has posted, thanks for protecting the rest of us! If she's really ill, then she probably won't go away, but at least we have the good souls on GardenWeb looking out for us and spreading the word! Diana Lynn PS--Could this post be kept near the top of the Seed Exchange page as a sort of permanent alert? Would that be appropriate?

I have been fighting this purple morning glory for years, pretty sure it is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipomoea_indica. I thought it was beautiful when I first saw it too. It has choked out all my other climbing vines, passiflora, jasmine, honeysuckle, strangled fruit trees, completely obscured climbing roses, etc, etc. I spend at least half my time in the garden pulling it, it comes up in long ropes. It has taken over much of our block in, yes, San Francisco. It climbed in the space between my house and my neighbor's, and actually made it's way through the walls and started growing in the basement! My neighbor recently had her roof fixed, and the roofer said it was covering both roofs, he was kind enough to pull them off of her roof and our roof, where it was growing on top of the solar panels. This stuff is serious, and much more pernicious than the delicate blue morning glory. I have not used pesticides in my yard, so maybe I'll try the pulling the leaves technique, although there are a TON of leaves. Has this method worked for anyone else? I was thinking of trying to make a biodynamic solution out of the rotted plant, so I may try that in conjunction with something else. I think my neighbor is ready for the pesticides... This is a different plant than the much milder bindweed. If you are in a place without frost, be very careful about growing this weed. I will try to post some pictures soon, was going to do a whole blog post about it because this is one weed I don't want anywhere near my compost. OK, I'm calming down... now... Here is a link that might be useful: The Lazy Composter