Thanks, I think we must have replied at the same time. Yes, they are a very nice surprise. There has been a drought the whole time I've lived here, I guess that is why this is the first time I've been able to enjoy these lovely flowers. Such great stories surrounding these flowers. Very happy.

I wait til the pods start looking dry and brown before collecting them...sometimes the "seam" on the pod will start to split and that's when you know for sure the seeds are ready to collect. If the pods haven't started splitting yet, I just use garden sheers to snip them off the plant (pulling them at that stage almost always causes them to split open and you'll lose alot of those tiny seeds) If they've already started to split, I hold an envelope open underneath the pod and brush the seeds into it with my finger. If the pods you collected your seeds from were brown and kinda dry feeling, your seeds should be fine. I've never collected the seed pods while they were still green. The seeds have ranged in color from a medium tan to very black. Regarding what to grow with Cleome....I usually grow medium sized flowering plants in front of Cleome because the foliage on Cleome tends to get really ratty/ugly at the bottom by the time they've reached the flowering stage. This year I direct sowed Periwinkles and Marigolds in front of my Cleome....looked beautiful. The Periwinkles are still going strong, in fact, and have grown into little shrubs. It has been my experience that you don't really need to "dry" Cleome seeds if you've collected them at the right time. I store my seeds in little zip lock baggies and put them in a cabinet in my kitchen until I'm ready to sow them. The pods are brittle and fall apart and you need some other form of storage. Renee

Thanks for the suggestions. The first one does look a lot like Flutterbye, but I got Flutterbye(I think) last year and it has finished blooming. I think this one is slightly redder and somewhat shorter. Guess this is an impossible task and I'll just keep them unmarked and see how they do. Val

In Indiana, you need a Retail Merchant Certificate. This will allow you to charge sales tax (plants are taxable here) and it also gives you an sales tax exemption for certain purchases. As far as how many plants you need to sell to before paying taxes, That would be $.01, check with your State Revenue Office, that also where you would probably get your RMC. You might also need some local licenses, I don't have to. Also check your zoning, you might not be able to sell/grow anything from your location. Is it worth it? Not really, there are so many large/huge people supplying stores at such a low price, it's hard to price your seedlings to compete. I do this, but mainly I started out growing for myself (I was a large market gardener). I wanted to make sure I had all the plants that I wanted, then I sold the extras off. I could cover my expenses barely, plus my plants were free.