I am wanting to do a trade. I would LOVE to try your: SOLAR FLARE variety and only need about 5 seeds. I have these varieties that I did not notice on your list: Burgess Lemon (only 5 seeds from Wintersown and several years old) Hovarth (only 2 seeds left from Wintersown and several year old) Peacevine Cherry (10 seeds from Kenyon Organics, probably 2 years old) God Love (5 seeds from Kenyon Organics, probably 2 years old) Abe Lincoln (about 10 from Livingston Seed Co, less than year old) San Marzano (about 10 from Organic Ferry-Morse, less that year old) I am rather new to this forum and unsure how to proceed. Is there a way you can message me to exchange addresses? I can send a SASE.

Fantastic list of seeds! I think it is just great that you have focused your life on nature at such a young age. I too would love to have 10 (maybe 5) acres someday to plant a wonderland of natives plants, and am already doing that on 1.25 acres. Difference is, my interest didn't come into sharp focus until age 45. :) There are quite a few seeds on this list I am interested in, and I checked your want list and I have a few on that list. Maybe we can do a trade this fall? Just a note - on your want list is Cynanchum louiseae - this is an extremely invasive non-native vine that is becoming a serious problem in the Northeast US. And it has the additional problem that Monarch butterflies will "sense" it is in the Milkweed family, lay eggs on it, and then it will kill the caterpillars because it is toxic to Monarch larvae.

I just germinated a packet of Burpee Summer Showers mix with a 100% success rate. I do all of my geranium germination in damp paper towels, stacked in a sealed container. I put one variety in each towel labeled with a permanent marker, and stack them all in a single container. When I check each day for sprouting I also rearrange the stack of towels. This year, out of approximately 150 seeds of various varieties I've got 121 now in soil, and only 12-16 seeds left in the container which have until Sunday to sprout. Try that and see if you get better results; just be sure not to use too much water.

I have Blue Moon Lobelia. Up until now, (quite literally today as I am new to seed saving myself)I have only been able to harvest very few seeds. But now there's a lot. When the majority of the flowers are dead or dying, look at the base of the flower. That green part will swell considerably from the way it used to look. It will start to turn from green to brown but still be soft. During this transition if you look closely at the pod, it might appear slightly transluscent and the fat area holding the seeds will appear darker (because the seeds are dark brown to black). The pod will continue to dry and will feel papery and hard when ready to harvest. Pull the pods off then (be carefull, if it's very ready the seeds will start to fall out the second you pull it off the bush...I use a paper plate). You can put them all in a plastic baggie and crush them or open each individual pod (which I prefer because there is less chaff). The seeds look like dark brown or black grains of fine sand and are almost as heavy. Dry 'em, store 'em, winter sow 'em, enjoy the fruits of your labor! Netta