Specialty Gardening: CG Forum STOKE'S SEED SWA-OP, 0 by Illoquin

Illoquin wrote:
We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/796522/

Stokes Swa-op

Not a Swap, Not a Coop, It's BOTH, and for $12.00, you can get a stake in it!

Deadline for personal orders and wishlists is Thursday night at 11:59 because they are selling out fast.

Go through Stokes seed catalog or website http://www.stokeseeds.com and pick out 3 or 4 varieties flower/ornamental seeds that you'd like to have if you didn't have to pay the per-pack price and the $6.50 minimum shipping and handling.

We aren't doing veggies and we're keeping foliage plants and herbs to a minimum. (But we will no doubt be getting one or some of each)

Post the name, price and verbal description, and include the item number. You can post what you think is so great about this plant, a photo, a link to a photo, or anything you want. (It's just a few people following the thread, so it can be quite conversational and no one will mind)

You may choose anything -- annuals, perennials, biennials. A certain kind or color of Petunia, or Electric Blue Penstemon, or biennials such as Bellis English Daisy 'Habanera Red with White Tips'.

One thing we will definitely be buying is between 6-10 seeds for each person of the Ivy Leaf Geranium in BURGUNDY. This takes up a chunk of money, as does the outbound postage to you. We might be able to buy one more expensive thing, but Bacopa Blutopia, at $139.00 for the smallest package of seeds, is out of the question.

The things we don't want are the gigantic things like Hibiscus where 50 or 100 plants would take up an acre. Or mixed Marigolds or Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' or other things that show up in our very own swap. I shall cull those out, so don't worry if you see them on someone's list, ok? (If your idea is culled, I will probably have some seed for you of the item you requested.)

Everybody goes through the catalog, or website, and either posts or dmails me with the 4 things they would order and I will look the lists over, and tally them all up and see where we are on money. I already know we can't afford to get all of your choices, and it will be whittled down, but I am expecting some people to actually want the same things, so I believe it will all work out. Please, be watching this thread, and also logging on to read your dmail, especially after the choices are in and the selections are starting. I might have questions.

I might be ordering the next size up for the single package, or even the one up from that if it's cheap enough and if I feel the plant would be popular. If there is money left over, I would add some thing(s) that are splittable, and then place the order with Stokes. I am spending ALL the money on seeds, and only reserving $1.90 (75c for delivery confrimation, and $1.15 back to you for postage) . The delivery confirmation might go by the wayside, I'm not sure, and 30c paypal might be introduced. I'll work it out here.

When they come, I would split all the packs 15 ways and mail them out to you. I will use my own plastic seed envies, and also my own little bubble envies (the small ones from the CG Swap LOL) and the whole thing could be paid for with Paypal or by sending me a check using just a regular envie. I would need people to be sort of agreeable in their general nature and have generally sunny dispositions, because if I get 1,400 seeds in a $9.00/ pack, I am not counting out 93.33 seeds for each person! It will be close, very close, and I do have a scale if it would work for this kind of operation. Not sure. (Note: I checked & my scale doesn't even come close to being able to distinguish between amounts on little seeds...I think I need a drug dealer's scale for that!) The one thing I will promise you is that I will take pot luck on the seed packs like everybody else, and I will not pad one with a "few" extra seeds for myself.

CAVEATS : If you only have a blue & pink garden, then you might not be happy with this swap because any one of the 15 people might order brown and orange or something. If $12.00 sounds like a whole lot of money, you also might not be happy. BUT for somebody who would like to get a nice little Christmas package for themselves, a Stocking Stuffer if you will, it would be sort of fun, and Stokes carries a lot of single colors of annuals and perennials, so it is stuff you can't pick up just anywhere. UPDATE: Christmas delivery is out of the question, but they'll be to you by MLK Day.

I am a little hesitant to suggest it, but if you would give special consideration to the F1 hybrids, you would really be getting your money's worth. Keep in mind the resultant seeds those plants throw might not be as good as other ones (for swapping next year). Some are, and some aren't. I guess you just have to think about it.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY: Because of the free shipping on orders over $55.00, we are getting a little bit of a deal, and if you'd like to add on some packs of seeds for your personal use unrelated to the Sw-op, I am happy to flip them in your envie. You might want to be aware that my curly tail and cloven hooves might make it impossible for me not to want to sniff in the seed packages with my piggy nose and come away with some seeds -- not more than 10% -- as an opportunity cost. ON THE OTHER HAND, I WILL BE BUYING SOME SEEDS, TOO, FOR MYSELF, AND I'LL SLIP SOME OF MINE INTO YOUR ENVIE. I'm not really going to rip you off.

MONEY: As it looks right now, most people will be adding seed packs for themselves. If 2 people order the same thing, and the money works out, I'll just order a bigger size without telling you (because it's takes so much time, not because I don't want you to know LOL!). I can split those packs for you. HOWEVER, I can see this getting out of hand and deals being made back and forth, and for those, I probably won't have time to split the packs for you and you'll have to decide where they go and how you're paying for them.

To confound things further, it is probable that there will be things on your list of 4 that you'd like to have that we *don't* get as a group, but that you would still like to have. When the list gets firmer, I'll let you know, and you can decide whether to add the pack on for yourself, or just forget it. THAT'S when you need to be available by reading your dmail and THAT'S when you'll get the dollar total to send to me.

If you just want to play, it's $12.00, and that won't change. It's only when you add seeds for yourself that the questions come in.

If you don't care, and potluck is fine, just let me know dmail and I'll mark it down on a list I am making.

Ho ho ho! This will be fun!

Suzy

and then this was added:,/i>
I look at it this way -- on a round robin swap you get everybody's leftovers -- Rudbeckia fulgida, Hollyhocks, Four O'Clocks and have to pay $4.95 plus 75c del confirmation to get rid of it to the next person. If you're lucky, you get 5 packs of seeds you maybe sorta wanted.

For 2x that money, you can get cool, named things and a lot of seed that you know will germinate and come true.

My kids will both be home after Christmas and I think I can con them into doing some dividing with me as we chat about the things they're doing at school that I don't want to hear about. LOL!

Maybe a Martin Luther King, Jr. delievery would be more likey, tho.

We already have 11 or 12 people signed up and they are thinking about their choices. There is room for 3 or 4 more if you're interested.

1. Illoquin
2. Soulgardenlove
3. Wrightie
4. Bluespiral
5. Grampapa
6. Rachierabbit
7. Dryad
8. Seandor
9. Roses R Red
10. Wind
11. Bloomheaven
12. Cat64129
13. Lala_Jane
14. LeBug
15.

The photo is 'Dragonwing Red' Begonia. There are 7 plants in that planter and they are all dead now from the cold, but I could have brough them inside for the winter. They are SLOW and TINY from seed, but easy and they grow really fast once they get about 4 months old.

Suzy

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