Mystery! Collected them and don't know what they are??

Does anyone else have this problem?

I have collected a LOT of seeds over the past year or so - some from my garden this fall, some from trades. Either the writing rubbed off the envelope, I switched envelopes, I collected and put on a plate, ABSOLUTELY KNOWING that I would remember. *snort - yeah, right* - Three months later, I do not remember the variety in this little white saucer, or tucked into that envelope, or in a box in the front cold room.

LIke the morning glories and the canna seeds and glads tubers and a few random bulbs. I know they're MG's, cannas or glads or tulips - BUT WHICH ONES????

:)

Am I alone in my dementia? I think this coming summer, if I still live here, is going to be a bit of an adventure - plant a seed and see what I get. :)

I've definitely had this problem and guess what I did last growing season? I had a new garden area and I put them all in a bag, mixed them up, and tossed them. It was a BEAUTIFUL garden. I'm so glad I'm not the only one that doesn't remember the seed when I just knew I was going to remember....yeah right :-)

I no longer go with the mentality that says 'this one is so unique/special/different etc. I know I will remember it'. I now go with 'you KNOW you will never remember what that is no matter how hard you try so WRITE IT DOWN!!' Since emerg. surgery 5 1/2 yrs. ago it's been a major problem. I'm much happier when I find my sticky notes all over with the answers! The most frustrating one is a pin my mother gave me quite a few years ago that I can not remember the origin. Now she's gone and I'll never know! BOO HOO! Makes me sad. Oh well, Vic, I'll think of your beautiful 'forgetful garden' and remember there is good in forgetfulnes too! :)

Ok, I don't feel so bad now, there are others of my ilk. Very frustrating, guess I'll just relax, mix the seeds and enjoy. In some ways, I'm almost anticipating how fun it will be to plant something and only find out what it is when it blooms. I guess that removes a bit of the stress and anxiety of worrying about what it is. Might as well go kitchen sink and throw everything in the perennial bed and stick a few MG seeds along different places on the fence. Now I have to just figure out - where the heck am I going to live this summer. *wry grin*

Kooger - good idea with the stickies.

i do this a lot-now and then i can remember what it is. I try to leave a flower or a leaf in with the seeds so i have a clue!! :)
Like a small poppy buttn or a large poppy button or a columbine pod or a delphinium flower!
took me forever to figure out the cesars brother iris seeds one yr-now i save a pod with them!

sometimes i just toss them out and see what happens. lol

Hey, I LIKE the term "Forgetful Garden"... even I can have one!!!

I once planted an entire flat of snapdragons, set them on the washer while I put things away... then answered the phone. When I came back, the spin cycle had dumped the flat upside down. I just scooped them up, stirred the starter mix, and labeled it washer snaps. They were beautiful.

Love that story Weeze! And I have also thought about just scattering misc seeds. Sometimes I collect them while I am traveling and there is no place but a pocket to keep them and by the time I get home I just remember if it was tall or short.

I do it all the time....and my DH is constantly yelling at me about it,I'm always snagging seeds and throwing them in a pocket or wrapping in paper,and I NEVER have a pen.I also forget to mark what I plant in flats,and even if I do tag them I sometimes get distracted and end up planting 2 things in the same flat.....I seem to have a lot of blond moments......

The forgetful garden is probably the prettiest garden,I tend to take all the seeds that are laying in the bottom of my seed box and throw them behind the barn.Sometimes I get some neat surprizes....

As the old saying goes, "Misery loves company" and I love knowing that others do the same things that I do. I must get busy and paint a sign saying, "My Forgetful Garden" and make plans to put all of my unknown origin seeds there. What fun!!!!

Kooger, don't give up on remembering the origin of the pen. One never knows when some little memory will come back almost like a flashback. I am always amazed when that happens but it does occasionally. Somewhere up in that little hidden recess of your mind, the answer is waiting to pop up at the least expected time.

LOL................love surprises. Just find a spot, and say here ya go......add some water and love and sit back to be amazed! Who doesn't have seeds like these. You know, you could even market them like one company does in Arizona for a Kid's Surprise Garden, all in one pkg.

"eyes"

I want to get one of those magnifying glass things that I can use to see my seeds up close and personal. Over the years, I can often determine the type of seed by looking at it... not the color, etc, but at least whether it's a poppy or a viola! In fact, sometimes color can be more closely determined by the whether some seeds are dark or light. Lighter flowers often have lighter seeds.

It might be fun to have a mystery trade... one where we clean out our seed boxes or bags and pack them up with our names on them and trade or SASE them. It would be fun to keep track of where they go and what the recipient grows from our spillings.

My first seed growing experience: I put potting soil in a flat, sprinkled the seeds on the soil. I left it on the potting table shelf which has an arbor over the top. Our sprinklers flooded the flat (oops, I forgot about that). Now there is a mess of seedlings on the ground, I don't remember what they are. No blossoms yet, but they are doing very well! Or maybe that's just wishful thinking and they are a fresh bumper crop of weeds. LOL

I have found "others like me!!"
Glad I found this site!
Bonnie



This message was edited Jan 11, 2004 3:15 PM

I think we should all grow a Forgetful Garden and take pictures to show. Donna

Wouldn't that be fun, Donna. A forgetful garden is a great idea. We could use our own seed or trade with others from the same zones.

Hi, Bonnie... glad you found some kindred spirits here!

What good company to be in! Here I was - feeling quite annoyed with myself at first, but a lot of you just reminded me of one of more important reasons to garden - to relax, sow, enjoy. I might be relocating for another job, but if Doug stays at the house - I'll probably give him a bag of seeds, point him to the wildflower bed and tell him to throw the seeds down in the Spring and we'll see how it turns out.

crestedchik - you made me laugh. I do this at the park, Home Depot, friends' gardens. A pinch of seeds here - my pockets were full of seeds every weekend all during the fall. Funny story here, I think some of the red moonflowers fell of my pocket and ended up in the bed one evening. That morning, Doug JUMPED out of bed one morning thinking they were bugs. :-) I haven't lived that one down yet.

I've enjoyed the anecdotes and pictures! :)

That is reallllllly funny Sbarr. LOL

Yes, I am a compulsive seed collector, as well, and I've gotten in the habit of carrying a 'field kit'. I carry those little plastic bags, a fine point felt pen, and even carry some small paper cups and a tray when I'm on a serious 'mission'. My poor hubby has to pretend he doesn't know me as I pick seeds off plants outside restaurants and gas stations. I have all sorts of seed packets called Railroad Snaps, Harbor Violas, Wells Fargo Dahlias, Clinic Pinks, Information Cache Delphinium.... so on, and so on. I have to say, however, I've never taken them to bed with me!

thanks for the encouragement Elena. I do hope the memory is still in there somewhere. I've asked my sisters and they can't help but I'm going to ask the aunts next time I'm home. You never know who knows!

Just something to think about and help many to realize they are not alone. I read some studies on post-menopausal women (sorry guys, don't think this includes you!) and the biggest complaint was short-term memory loss. It was quite significant in surgical menopause. I actually went on the computer and played children's concentration games to force my mind to start remembering again. It drove all of us crazy, especially me when I missed events, appts., mailing bills, etc. which I was used to just remembering to do them. It has improved tremendously but I doubt it will ever get back to the level it was - I keep getting older! LOL My husband never used the phone book years ago, I knew every number he needed. To go from that to nada was tough! I feel for every woman who struggles with short-term memory loss. Hang in there and don't give up! (But allow yourself to do things to compensate - like sticky notes, etc.)

I haven't taken seeds to bed either, but I have washed a few when I forgot to empty my pockets. Ooops!

Mary - I think I was on one of the morning jaunts in my robe (anyone else do that??), collecting seeds and when I put my robe on the bed, they fell out of the pocket. :) It's amazing how many seeds one can collect without realizing it. I think I'll have to make a better effort to go out with pen, envelope.

Kooger, I had the same problem when I first started with my fibromyalgia illness. It has gotten better with time but I know what you mean because it is so discouraging to not be able to remember things. Mine has improved with time but is still nothing to "write home about". I try to use my brain all the time by learning new things and by challenging myself to "read up on" different subjects as they interest me..... That includes many things that involve the computer. Even playing games on the computer keeps the mind active. I didn't even know how to use a computer when it all started.

Edited to say that it does help having family members who know to fill in the blanks for me when I am trying to tell something to someone and can't remember even the simpliest things at that moment. Frustrating to say the least!!!

This message was edited Jan 11, 2004 9:05 PM

I'm in good company I see!!
Brenda

I have photagraghy Iris, mercedes benz shop queen annes lace, court house cannas, friends black eyed susans and all sorts of other stuff too. I have seeds laying around that I know where I got them and what day but cant remember what plant it is. Me remember what plant it is when I cant even remember to wash the clothes. LOLOLOLOL.

Maybe this site will help: http://theseedsite.co.uk/seedpods.html

It shows pictures of seeds and what the seedlings look like. I have used it to ID volunteer seedlings in my beds.
Good luck! Nat

"Birds of a feather flock together" and love it. I think it would be fun to trade mystery seeds for our forgotten gardens.

Nat you always have so much info. Thank you!

:>) Thanks!

I have a packet of poppy seeds in my tote called Omarah's Goat Poppies. When he gave me the seed, he told me he didn't know what kind they were, but they were pretty, red, and the original poppy sprouted from a 'gift' left behind when his neighbor's goat came over to visit. When folks come to buy plants here in the spring, they'll find "Omarah's Goat Poppies" on the tables.

Weeze, That's funy. hahahaha

Oh im not alone....

even the loose seeds at the bottom of the seed box need love tooo.

Every once in a while I offer sase envelopes of
SUPRISE SEED MIX....

they go fast!!!!!!!!!

That's a good idea, Sheran. Instead of offering 'Wildflower Mix', we could offer 'Forgetful Gardener Mix'.

Great ideas here. Look at it this way, we wouldn't have collected them if we hadn't liked them in the first place.

I have to admit that often the seeds I collect from other places are already dead and gone to seed, so I don't know what color they are or even WHAT they are. If the plants are growing in our home town, I lay in wait for them, then swoop down like a hungry squirrel, even taking pictures in advance so that I can have info when they do go to seed. Last fall's raid at the boat harbor afforded me two coat pockets full of nasturtium seeds and more!

I have a few of these kind of seeds. I am like you in that I thought I would remember what they were.

I collected seeds from one of my specialty violas or pansies in the fall of 2002. I forgot to label them. I put them in a package marked 'Weez's Mystery Violas'. I started some in the spring of 2003, saved one plant in a separate pot, then forgot to make note of which one it was! That means I've been forgetful two years in a row! I'll plant some again this year and see if I can go for three!

Weeze, that's what got us into this in the first place was the forgetfulness. We are all at the same place now...LOL

I'd like to see some pictures of these surprise gardens. We do have some funny stories behind our seed collecting.

Ok Mary. I will take bunches of wonderful pictures of my beautiful display garden just for you!!!!!!!!!

Does that sound like "counting your chickens before they hatch" to you? Ha!