How about a Pets.ca Canadian seed trade this fall?

[CearaQC]

Ok here's my idea. Sorry to the USA gardeners out there. Maybe you guys can also hold your own event. I'm just not sure how it will work through customs. New customs forms will have to be filled out and of course extra postage is involved. And we never know what will happen at the border and packages may be lost altogether. With all the new crazy US laws being made constantly, it makes shipping back and forth very troublesome.

Anyway, how about a Pets.ca Canadian seed trade this fall?

I've never participated in one but read about others doing this a lot and it seems to work. I will be happy to do the work on this for you all if you want me to.

People interested will sign up. Then once everyone has decided, you collect your seeds. Put your seeds in as many little envelopes as there are participants, so that everyone gets a pack of your seeds. So if 10 people participate, you need 10 packs of every type of seed you wish to provide. No limit to the amount of different types. The more the merrier I say. You can supply as many types of flower seeds as you wish. If you don't have enough of one type of flower for everyone to have, you can supply other types as well to make sure everyone gets something.

So if you send 10 little packs, you're going to get 10 packs in return, but all different stuff. etc etc I think 25-50 seeds of each type is plenty. But that's hard with stuff like Poppies, so then you can measure out by cooking teaspoon or half teaspoon for the tiny seeds.

I like to use the little plastic zip bags available at the Dollar Stores in the craft section, with a little piece of paper on the inside with the name, color, height/size, whether it's a perennial or annual and year it was taken from the plant. Or you can fold up pieces of paper and tape them up. Seed envelope patterns are also available online that you print at home, fold and tape.

So once you get all your seeds packed up, you mail them off in a nice bubble envelope. Supply extra postage and another label to mail back to you. I think bubble envelope postage may be anywhere from $2 to $3. So have the postman/woman weigh the envelope with your seeds and ask them to print you duplicate postage label to stick inside. The envelope will be recycled and used to send the seeds back to you, thus the reason for the extra address labels and postage.

Envelopes are mailed to one location and the receiver will split up all the seed packs and mail right back out to you.

Of course we may need to specify which seeds we will be sending, so that there are not more of one type than any other. If you send in, say, Poppy seeds, you may not want Poppy seeds in return, unless it's a type you don't already have.

If this is something you guys want to do, I think it will be a lot of fun and maybe we could make it an annual event. Some of us are already planning to trade, so why not do it all at once and it will be so much fun.

Say, September or October? Maybe that will give everyone time to gather all their seeds, especially from the late flowering varieties. Then we can all start the new seeds next Spring.

And maybe in future we can try a bulb, rhizome, root trade. There is extra postage involved and shipping supplies (plastic bags and slightly damp peat moss/vermiculite/perlite) but still it would be much cheaper than everyone buying new on their own. Some plants just don't make seeds reliably and other plants perform better through underground parts propagation. I can make bulb scale clones of many lilies and they survive quite well in shipping. But keep in mind with that sort of trade, you may not see blooms from what you receive for anywhere between 1 and 3 years. For example, Bearded Iris sometimes sulk the first year and baby Lilies don't bloom until almost 3 years old. We may have to send small items to keep shipping costs down.

[14+kitties]

Sign me up but you will have to remind me when it's closer to the time.
I am going to send hazel some seeds in the fall. I think if it's a regular envelope and only a few seeds at a time it should be ok.

[Winston]

CearaQC thats sounds fun and count me in for sure! We will have to discuss it further once you have more people interested. Maybe some would be interested and dont realise they have plants that turn to seed??

Do you have a good knowledge on those that you could list? I could help start it off with a couple of mine?

Lupins
Alium (Purple Balls)
Columbine
Marygolds

[Sylvie]

I would really be interested, but would need some help in what to do to get the seeds.

I had my first lesson from Cindy last week

[CearaQC]

Sure, I'll give my best shot from memory.

Foxglove
Columbine
Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella)
Bee Balm (Monarda)
Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold)
plain Marigold (Tagetes)
Echinacea
Blanket Flower (Gallardia)
Daisies
Maltese Cross (Lychnis)
Malva
Lupin
Poppy
Sweet Pea
Morning Glory
some annual types of Clematis
Hollyhock
annual Sea Holly
Blue Globe Thistle (Echinops)
Aster
California Poppy
Pansy
Bellflower/Campanula
Black Eyed Susans
Chicory
Blue Flax
Rudbeckia
Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium)
Penstemon
Sweet William
Coreopsis
Cosmos
Evening Primrose ?
Verbena?

Ok my brain hurts now. I don't even have all those but after lots of reading they seem to be easy and reliable.

[CearaQC]

Just a reminder. Start saving your seeds! Or baby bulbs.

[Melinda]

I've often mailed seeds/plant roots to the USA and Africa, I put it in bubblewrap, if it was roots I'd wrap a soaked papertowel around the roots.

[mollywog]

count me in!!!

I'm in the same boat as others.... how do you save seeds????
say for instance, Foxglove... how would I save the seeds from that flower????

Thanks Ceara! Our resident gardening expert!!

[CearaQC]

Here ya go!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4541236_save...ove-seeds.html

And I think 14+ is more expert than me.

[mollywog]

thanks!
We are lucky to have lots of avid gardeners on this forum!

Do you leave the seed pods on the plant to dry out on their own, or do you bring them inside to dry out before you collect seeds??

[CearaQC]

Personally I think it's best to let them dry on the plant if possible.

You can put some old stockings/nylons over the stalk if you want to make sure to capture seed.

[14+kitties]

Originally Posted by CearaQC

Here ya go!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4541236_save...ove-seeds.html

And I think 14+ is more expert than me.

Not hardly. You go much more in depth than me. I just know a few things from having the greenhouse and my books.

Originally Posted by mollywog

thanks!
We are lucky to have lots of avid gardeners on this forum!

Yes, we sure are.

Do you leave the seed pods on the plant to dry out on their own, or do you bring them inside to dry out before you collect seeds??

Originally Posted by CearaQC

Personally I think it's best to let them dry on the plant if possible.

You can put some old stockings/nylons over the stalk if you want to make sure to capture seed.

If you take the seeds too early they won't be mature enough to be viable. There are also many seeds that won't start/flower the first year so if you ask/get those seeds don't be disappointed. The stockings/nylons are great ideas. I have also used a small paper lunch bag if I knew the seeds were close to being ready and the weather was going to be dry.

Maybe when the seeds are sent on to their new homes an instruction sheet of how to start them would be nice to go with them. As in - depth to seed them, when to start, sunny/shady location, etc.

[brianna079]

Wow! what a fun idea! so I have absolutly NO green thumb at all, *but* attempted at my first little garden (we just bought our first house in 2007). Mostly bulbs though.

Since i still have very little in my garden, could i buy some seeds to send? are they supposed to be annuals or perennials?

[erykah1310]

Oh count me in, I did a tea exchange last year and that was amazing, just imagine the pretty flowers you could end up with

[Dee-O-Gee]

I would love to participate in the seed exchange for sure.

As far as the U.S. border, it's really not that bad---right Hazelrunpack?

I sent some Bearded Iris rhizomes into the U.S. and all that was needed was a phytosanitary certificate issued by CFIA. It wasn't that painful and they reached their destination safe sound. So if anyone wants some insights as far as sending seeds or tubers into the U.S., PM me and I would be more than willing to help.

Now that I have an empty spot in my flower bed, I'm ready to take on any seed/plant exchange.