@evelyninthegarden, (and everyone else) - This is where the discussion started:

The thread "Preparation of sweet shrubs by seedpods" in Ask a Question forum

JB has an abundance of Sweet Shrub seeds and doesn't want them to go to waste. She kindly, very kindly offered to send them out so we gardeners can experiment with different germination/growing methods for this plant. My neighbor who is an experienced gardener and I will be giving it a shot. The seeds should be stratified, or they can be winter-sown. That's all part of the experiment.

But - and here is the important part - if we accept the seeds, we must promise to post photos of our progress and explain our methods, whether successful or not, so others can learn from our experiment and our experience.

Calycanthus floridus - Carolina Sweet Shrub, Carolina Allspice, Strawberry Shrub and my favorite common name - Sweet Bubby. If we are successful we will have a shrub about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide that smells glorious.

@JB, did I explain it correctly?

You sure did Mary, thanks so much. This should be a fun thing as well, since the people involved are located in so many different zones and we even have Jonna in Belgium. How neat is that?

This all began because I have this sentimental attachment to sweet shrub and I bought three different varieties until I found the one that I felt met what I expected in fragrance from them. I found it in the third one I bought which was Michael Lindsey. I looked everywhere for that shrub and after months found it just a few miles from our farm. There are so many varieties and not all of them smell as sweet as Michael. In fact one I bought has no odor at all (at least I can not smell it) and I was really disappointed when it bloomed to find there was NOTHING.....yet, they advertised that it was a sweetshrub and smelled soooooo sweet. YEAH! That is what they said. I made up my mind that when and if I grow and sell these babies I want to know all about them and how best to find out but to ask others who know what they are doing to help me. That is what I did. Hopefully we will all learn and enjoy the time we spend.
A sincere thanks again to everyone who has volunteered to help.

Sweet Bubby, really???? Do you have a picture or where can I find some information on that one?

Sweet Bubby is just another name for the same plant.

Before deodorant was invented, women would tuck one or two of the flowers into their clothing and the flower was called 'sweet bubby'. Here is a link to someone who explains it better than I could.

http://tinaramsey.blogspot.com...

Oh, and may I add...since postage can be rather expensive, if anyone is planning on requesting the 'sweet bubby' seeds for the experiment, you could offer to send a SASBE to JB...

I planted lettuce and kale yesterday. Hopefully they will get big enough inside to use for baby greens. With a high of -10 on Monday, and not much better on Tuesday, I need something to look forward too!

Oh for Pete's Sake Greene...you all mean booby not bubby(southern for breast?) How funny is that? I thought it was another Cultivar of the sweetshrub... That just made my day. My grandma used to tie one in her hanky and keep it in her pocket, never in her bra. Oh My, I am still laughing. Not at you dear one, just the fact that I should have known since I lived in NC for awhile when my husband was stationed down there and I was always getting into trouble with the southern way of saying things.

Got'cha

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the explanation in that link, greene! Too funny!

Greene, what is SASBE? No worry about postage. This one is on me. Next time look out I may charge double.

Self Addressed Stamped Bubble Envelope

Thank you Arlene. We old people are not used to all this new fangled way you all talk.

I've never seen it done with a "B" so I was guessing it meant Bubble!

For the convenience of everyone on this thread, the conversations regarding germinating sweet shrubs seeds has moved to:

The thread " Sweet Shrub Experiment (Calycanthus floridus)" in Seeds forum

Feel free to move along with us if you are interested in just the germination of those seeds. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you.

I replanted some lettuce seeds today because the seed is old and didn't germinate. Most of it is coming up really well. I have three plug trays of 288.

I potted up my first batch of broccoli into paper pots and they are staying in the greenhouse. We're supposed to have no freezing nights for about a week so they should be okay.

We're supposed to be dropping down into the single digits in the next few days, so I think I'm going to wait a bit.

I normally have leeks and onions started by now. But, we are leaving on vacation in 2 weeks, and my vacation watering systems are not the most reliable. I've decided to bite the bullet and wait til we get back. Hope I don't regret that choice.

Haven't winter sown anything yet. Our temps have been brutally cold, we've had the 2nd snowiest January on record, and today we've gotten several inches of rain. Sigh.......

Hope the groundhog predicts an early spring

I'll drink to that.

Karen

Going to be cold here tonight, well for the PMW. Clear and 36 at 6:00. It is either raining or freezing cold so I worked in the greenhouse today planting seeds. I feel kind of good, must be the lights in there.
Planted
Pink and Red Geraniums
Bada Begonia
Asarina 2 kinds
Rhodochiton
cuphea 2kinds
Heliotrope
Lysimachia atropurpurea

Seems like it's light just a bit longer, or is that just because its clear to night.

Julia, hoping to get some flowers planted here tomorrow. I should have had my helitrope and lisianthus planted already!

Going on vacation always puts a wrench into plans. We actually have to travel for four days at the end of next week so I will have to set everything up with capillary mats then pray! I am using the vermiculite plan for seeds tomorrow so they should be okay, it's just the lettuce really. If I have it water well just before we leave they should be okay. I may move them to the greenhouse since the cooler temps won't dry them out as quickly and they should be big enough by then.

@abhege this might be the thread with astrantia info you were looking for

Sure is hard to go when you have things planted. I'm behind as well, usually have the seed geraniums planted by January 1. Just feel kind of down with all this darkness but being in the greenhouse does help. I do have a great friend who checks on my stuff when I'm gone and she does a great job!!!! Sometimes it is worse when someone checks because you come back to drowning seeds.

I have to Google capillary mats not sure what they are? I have plastic domes that fit on my flats and that keeps the moisture in for a while. Wish you luck. It's so exciting while waiting for the seeds to emerge.