Jeanne, thanks for the quick response! I looked at the pics of yellowrocket, then went out and yanked up a plant to look at it. The flowers look exactly the same, but the leaves are quite different. The leaves are not shiny, they are long, thin, sort of a lacerate look, and the lower, bigger leaves and the stem have teeny stiff hairs on them. On reading further about yellowrocket, there is some indication that it could be the related "wild radish", which is said to resemble yellowrocket but with hairs, which yellowrocket is not supposed to have... but upon googling pictures of it many looked nothing like it. Maybe it's a mutant yellowrocket :-) Thanks again. I appreciate your help. Joanna

Oenothera? Here is a link that might be useful: oenothera

The flowers look like those of carolina allspice (calycanthus floridus). The brownish red flowers appear about May. The flowers are supposed to be very fragrant (pineapple? strawberry? banana? or a mix of all?) but there is a wide range of intensity from zip to very fragrant. The leaves when rubbed are also allegedly fragrant.

Usually only the dry seeds themselves are sent, minus the pod, chaff, dried flower petals, bits of stem, etc. -- just the way you would find them in a seed packet that you buy. The Seed Exchange forum has a very good FAQ that will help answer some questions, and if you don't find the answer there, you can post questions on the forum. I wait until I actually have the dried seeds in hand before offering any, so I know how many I can offer. Usually people expect the seeds to be mailed within a few days after you agree to the trade so it's best to have your seeds ready to be packaged. I hope I'm not making seed trading sound harder than it is. It's really lots of fun. While you're waiting for the jewelweed to bloom, you can lurk around the Seed Exchange forum and check out people's trade lists on their member pages, and get an idea of how it all works. And have fun!