Nectar and Host Plant GROUP SEED SWAP Info

WalMart had the little baggies back in stock! *whew!*

Here's what's in my outgoing BE at the moment:

(5) Scarlet Star Glory (Ipomoea coccinea)
(3) Morning Glory mega-mix
(2) Leonotus nepetifolia (annual Lion's Ear)
(5) Wheatstraw Celosia 'Pink Candles'
(5) Swamp Milkweed, white/cream (Asclepias incarnata)
(5) Helianthus, perennial species ("Not-Chocolate-Daisy")
(3) Agastache 'Honey Bee Blue'
(2) Agastache 'Honey Bee White'
(5) Bronze Fennel

I'm making up 5 extra packets each of the Helianthus, the Asclepias incarnata, and a mix of the white and blue Agastache. If I include those, will you end up with too much? I thought it sounded like we had a lot of new gardeners who could use them... but let me know, and I'll leave them out.

My package went out today at lunch! Boy was there ever a line at the PO since they were closed Monday!

Critter - Send whatever you want ... it will ALL go to good use among the folks in this swap. I personally ... can never have enough flowering plants! :-)

Yaaaay Critter!

(I knew ya could pull it off!)


debnes

LOL. Thanks for the encouragement. I tell ya, I'm going to stick to winter seed trading -- too much pressure to get those seeds off the dining room table and into the mail! Just kidding. Just a lot of last minute glitches. You know how that can go. On the plus side, the dining room table is a bit more visible. :-)

Some are fresh seeds, some are older, but I figured you could treat the older ones (like the Lion's Ear and Celosia) as "extras." I store my seeds with reasonable care, so all should be well.

I'm really excited about the Scarlet Star Glory. I found the plant growing up a little obelisk at a local orchard and was just charmed by the bright little blooms. There were loads of seed pods, so I helped myself to a handful. PF says it's a butterfly and hummingbird magnet, and I can believe it! I can't wait to grow it in my garden next year. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51759/

The envelope is stamped, addressed, and in the mailbox with the flag up!

Here's my final list:

(5) Scarlet Star Glory (Ipomoea coccinea)
(3) Morning Glory mega-mix (Iponoea purpurea
(2) Leonotus nepetifolia (annual Lion's Ear)
(5) Wheatstraw Celosia 'Pink Candles' (Celosea arg. v. spicata)
(10) Swamp Milkweed, white/cream (Asclepias incarnata)
(10) Helianthus, perennial species ("Not-Chocolate-Daisy")
(3) Agastache 'Honey Bee Blue'
(2) Agastache 'Honey Bee White'
(5) Agastache 'Honey Bee Blue/White' mixed
(5) Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Tah dah!

or, more like, *whew!*

Oh, great! Even 'critter' is butterfly seed swapping! (-:

Hey, you knew I couldn't let you have all the fun! :-)

Critter - LOL!

I just realized that this thread has a whopping 246 posts. Should I start a new Part #2 thread? Or just let it go and start just a new thread for the seed list on Sunday?

Also, should I change the time to list the seeds on Sunday to a later time such as 4:00, 5:00, or 6:00 PM? I know depending on time zones that 2:00 pm might only be 10:00 am in another zone. Folks might still be asleep or at church or out to breakfast, etc. I can change the time to later if some of you would prefer that. Otherwise, I will leave it at 2:00 pm on Sunday. Let me know.

No envies in today's mail. For those of you still working on your seeds for this swap ... please get them sent out to me tomorrow "morning". Any later than that, they probably won't make it by Saturday!

This message was edited Nov 14, 2007 7:41 PM

Is Sunday's thread really a time critical start time? I thought you were just going to distribute the seeds around, trying to be fair and to honor requests without making yourself crazy. You're not doing a "first posted, first claim" thing with the wish lists, right? That sounds way too competitive for a friendly swap... I'm willing to line up at the starting gate with my co-op order, but I'd feel silly doing it for a seed swap! :-)

At any rate, 2 pm Sunday works fine for me. And since there aren't a ton of photos on this thread, we should be OK... hopefully somebody would let us know if it's gotten too slow to load on a dial-up connection.

Critter - Thanks for bringing up your question! A good one indeed!

No... I am NOT doing a competition where it's first come, first serve post to receive a certain seed packet. I am going to do my best to fill your "wish list" with as much as possible. This is for EVERYONE'S benefit! I know for a fact that some people (newbies) need a lot of seeds and others just need a few selections of seeds because they already have a lot of plants in their yards. I just know that many folks are anxious to see the list and I wanted to post the list at a time when everyone might be available. :-)

This message was edited Nov 14, 2007 9:50 PM

Critter we are just putting down things we would like to get. No guarntee that we will get them. Believe me several of us have send in a abundance of seeds. I sent 119 pks of seed to be shared not requesting specific trade for trade so I would very much like to recieve a 3 or 4 things I want in return. Is that fair enough?? I just want simple things like zinnias, cosmos for my wildflower garden and annual vines of any kind to cover the log jams we have put in to help stop the severe erosion. I have much more than most as I am a serious butterflier that does lots of plant trading and why I have so much to share with others. Pepsidrinker did a swap like this last year and it turned out great with everyone very happy. I think you will be too ;-)

As a newbie to this kind of gardening I will be thrilled with anything I get!
Thanks Becky for hosting such a great swap!!
Caren

That's the way I figured it would work, since you all seemed like a friendly, easy-going bunch! I'm feeling much the same way... I managed to round up 50 packets to share, and if I can send those seeds to people who can use them and get a few packets of things I can use for my garden, then my postage money will be well spent. I know I'll be delighted with this swap. I'm already happy that I had seeds to offer that people wanted to grow in their gardens!

Oh gosh, Caren, is that little jewel in your garden now? I don't know if the hummers all go to South America or if any of them stop of the southern coast of the US for the winter!

Caren - Cute little hummer! :-) You KNOW I love seeing those little birdies! lol

Yes siree! A bunch of generous, friendly, and caring folks here on this forum! And we just love to promote butterfly gardening!

I do hope this swap becomes an annual event. I'm going to be better prepared next year for the butterflies that visit my gardens. I want to be sure to photograph butterflies on the plants and start earlier collecting and packaging the seeds. This swap is something to look forward to.

I don't have a wish list Becky. I will be happy with whatever seeds come in the mail. In fact, part of the enjoyment for me will be the surprise of what seeds I will find. It's like anticipating a Christmas gift.

I hope my one little packet of seeds in that shamefully big envelope gets to you soon:>)

What a wonderful Hummer pic Caren.Hummers here on the East Coast winter in Puerto Rico. Every spring I watch the migration map on the web and wait and wait and wait till someone reports they are back in PA.

My next door neighbor keeps bee hives. do you think if I feed all his bees I will get an extra jar of honey??

Nice thought kelboindy! Surely worth a shot. :-) Please let us know how that goes... and please take pictures:-)

Critter, I just think you have a knack for finding the

I'm with Posy, I will be happy with any seeds, I love the surprise!
I also look forward to the next swap, I'm already planning...

This is what I call "Pass it forward"! By doing this, more and more Butterfly and Hummingbird habitats are created for our lovely winged friends! And it benefits us, because we get to watch the creatures enjoy our gardens! :-) :-) :-)

I am starting to get the hang of it. Yesterday morning my neighbor comes in and I am at the kitchen table with this mess in front of me. She is a retired Biology teacher and my best friend. Pretty soon she is hard at it with me, separating seed from chaff. So now,with her help, I have a wonderful little packet of over 200 Red Salvia seeds and I hope this means I will have Red Salvia to awe and delight the Hummers next year.If you do the seed exchange next year Becky, I will surely have hundreds of seed to give for you to pass along.:)))

I won't be needing many seeds since I pretty much have all the usual types of seeds so I'm willing to wait to choose after some of our newer hummer/butterfly gardeners have chosen.

Wished I'd have notice the post about violas before I mailed out my seeds...my Fuji Dawn violas make seeds like there's no tomorrow.

P

I received more seed envies today! Please check above to see if yours have arrived! :-)

Chris - I am wondering if you wouldn't mind if I split up most of the packs of seeds you sent? You sent a very large amount of seeds in each pack. I don't know if anyone can grow that many of one plant unless they have some serious acreage! You were extremely generous with what you sent per seed pack!

Sounds great, split them up. This is my first swap, so I had no idea of how many. Sorry, I should have asked, then you wouldnt be doing my work.

chris

Not a problem Chris! I just hope you aren't disappointed by the fewer seeds per pack that you receive! :-)

Last year was my first year growing stuff from seed. I figured that if I grew about 20each of everything, surely some would survive my less than beginner care and attention. Well, needless to say I had way more of everything including mass amounts of tomato, pepper, cucumber, eggplant, herbs, zinnia, butterfly weed, and everything that I sent you seeds of. I had supplied the all my neighbors with there gardens in order to get rid of the extras. (even supplied the labor of planting for the ones that had never grown their own tomato) Kinda sounded like, "please let me plant some of these things at your house, I plant you water, enjoy"

I have learned to only plant what I want. I guess planting 2 seeds is not a sin. LOL
Neighbors are not gonna be happy next year. LOL

On my wish list, I would be more than happy to get a few seeds of a few things that I want. I now know that seeds are pretty easy to grow and I am not the mass murderer that I thought I was. :)

Chris - I find that seeds are easier for me to grow than plants or cuttings! :-)

I just received 3 more envies and am only waiting on 4 more! And then we shall let the swapping begin! :-) I think that I am going to take a photo of all the seeds because it is unbelievable what everyone sent. I still have to bag and tag and list my seeds. I started to and then got interrupted with some work-related stuff. I'll be posting my list tomorrow! :-)

ut-oh. I was hoping mine would have gottten there today! I'd better keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Suzy

ditto!

dang.

There is always tomorrow. I am sure they will arrive then! :-) Not to worry!

Sorry I didn't get back about the hummer. He was a guest last week that stayed for a few days then moved on. The last few stragglers ride the cold fronts down with the ducks and geese.
He was in this tree for some time doing some cleaning up after his long trip.

This message was edited Nov 17, 2007 6:01 AM

What a lovely shot -- a study in green!

Ah, he was a straggler, then. Here I was, hoping somebody was lucky enough to have hummers all winter! Maybe in far southern CA? :-)

My Mom lives in So Cal. (Huntington Beach) and she has them year around. :o)

Can we go visit her in January if we bring sugar water refills with us? :-)

It would sure be nice to have those precious critters year round... then again, I'd miss the excitement of waiting for the first one to arrive in spring!

Im sure she wouldn't have a problem with that LOL!

My seeds went out on the 13th at the PO! Please tell me you got them today Becky?

I received 2 more envies today! There are 2 folks left who I have not received envies from yet. Please d-mail me Sheila_FW and indiana_lily. I don't want to leave anyone out of this swap who wanted to participate, so I'll see what we can do about the last 2 envies that I am waiting on to arrive.

And as promised, here is my list of seeds that I am adding to this swap. I was trying to come up with some different seeds than what has already been sent by some of you. Some are duplicates of what has already been recieved, but most are not:

Erythrina herbacea (4 pks)
Ipomopsis rubra (2 pks)
Plumbago auriculata - blue flowers (2 pks)
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis - purple flowers (3 pks)
Calliandra haematocephala (1 pk)
Mirabilis jalapa - yellow flowers (3 pks)
Zinna elegans - 2' tall - orange blooms (1 pk)
Cosmos sulphureus - Giant orange (3 pks)
Lantana camara - red blooms (1 pk)
Lantana camara - yellow/pink blooms (1 pk)
Lantana camara - orange/yellow blooms (1 pk)
Canna - red blooms (3 pks)
Monarda didyma - Pink blooms (2 pks)
Helianthus annuus - "Pacino" (1 pk)
Justicia brandegeana - Red blooms (1 pk)
Ruellia elegans (1 pk)
Leonotis leonurus (4 pks)
Anethum graveolens (2 pks)
Tecomaria capensis (2 pks)
Lindheimera texana (2 pks)

And for anyone who would like a nice Morning Glory mix, I will put together a seed pack with 7 different rare Ipomoea nil cultivars which will include: Plum Shadows, Yaguruma Blizzard, Fuji Hot Pink Frost, Lavender Chiffon, Gray Fog, Morning Storm, and Fuji no Sora. (See photo attached of what the blooms may look like!)

Fabulous list, Becky! Major Zone Envy going on here right now.

Suzy

I didn't have time to participate this time. Too many MIL Dr appointments this past month. I will join in on the next swap, tho. You guys and gals sure do have alot of nice seeds to look through. Have Fun. : )

Oh, and Becky...you MGs are beautiful.
~Lucy