Don't worry about it @froggiesgirl. We were all newbies once. The first year I really started wintersowing... I hadn't done much seed harvesting ever. I was just starting to buy a few packets online, and asking questions on gardenweb about growing for hummingbirds and butterflies. A nice person there said he would send me a few things to try if I just gave him my address and nothing else. I got a bubble envelope full of great natives... even some that I had already ordered. His seeds germinated and grew better than the ones I bought! I also signed up for free seeds from the newbie project and got even more great things to try. Ever since my second or third year mostly growing from seed, I have been able to harvest seed and trade for almost everything I want with plenty of leftovers. Most years I have been donating seed to the newbie seed project or doing the "adopt a newbie" program. I actually kind of enjoy harvesting seed and prepping packets. A lot of it is good busy work while I watch tv before bed!

It is also nice to think that an insect or bird somewhere might be munching down on a plant grown from seed I collected and passed on. The more natives and wildflowers that get planted instead of turf grass the better!

I just haven't been able to do much gardening outside in the past two years because of fibromyalgia. I am going to try my best this year!

It has been fun to watch this swap develop and evolve, especially with the ability to add more seeds while trading is underway. I also like the link that allows you to view all the recent events. Very handy. I have selected plenty of seeds thru yesterday, so I have been just sitting back and watching. I also like to see what the different participants call dibs on. Thanks to you all for making this a fun swap.

I really like this swap system too. I think it will be a big hit once it catches on.

I like the format, too! So easy! Thanks @dave

@wildflowers - got the luffah seeds! Yay! I clean them and use the sponges for gift baskets for Christmas!

Great, froggiesgirl!

I added a few more things to my list this morning. I also refilled a couple of seeds I already had listed. Those won't show up in the recent activity but you can look at my list. In case you didn't notice - when you are looking at everyone's list, you can choose to look at individual participant seed lists.

You people need to quit tempting me. After three swaps, I don't need anymore seeds.

Yep, we're enablers too!

Do any of you know about the categories in the plant lists (not the swap lists). I made a category for the new things I added yesterday so I could quickly see them and add to the swap list from there. I don't need the category anymore. If I delete it will that delete the plants in it from my main list too, or is it just like deleting a keyword tag for that item?

I'm trying to be organized and made another category called "seed" for plants I grow that I could collect seed from. That way when swap time comes and I want to add things to a swap list I can just look at that shorter list and not have to search for things in the whole list.

Deleting a category does not affect the main list.

Molanic, I am really impressed that you started off growing wildflowers from seed. My seed sowing experience with wildflowers has been very interesting, lots of successes but also many failures. Wildflowers are just that, growing wild under their own conditions and timing.

I'm lucky enough to live where there are many wildflowers growing in nature. I am in awe of them.

What I have learned about growing wildflowers ~ Don't give up on them if they don't sprout the first year you sow the seeds; they may take several years to show up. Some seeds need certain conditions to occur before they will grow, such as several freeze-thaw cycles, or several rainy cycles. Some seeds need to be knicked or 'scarified' before they will do anything, usually this is to mimic being eaten by a bird or mammal and then 'deposited'. Some seeds, such as Texas Bluebonnet, may be irratic in sprouting, even if you sow all the seeds at once, some will sprout the first year but some may take several years to sprout.

Do you have any advise on growing wildflower seeds, anyone?

Added a couple of seed just in case anyone is interested in growing wheat.

@wildflowers - Winter sowing is your best friend when it comes to natives. Mother nature does an excellent job of providing what I need to get my native seeds to sprout. I usually sow mine in milk jugs or in pots. I suggest using a high quality potting mix. If you have seeds that need to go thru something that mimics passing thru an acidic digestive tract, a soak in orange juice for 12 hrs will usually do the trick.

FYI, the Pycnanthemum incanum does not need any seed treatment, but you can still winter sow it with great success.

Like Katie said, wintersowing in covered/vented containers with good potting mix is the best way I think. Mother nature takes care of the cold stratification. The containers protect the seeds and seedlings from animals, blowing away, getting trampled on, and a little bit of frost protection. A good potting mix provides a weed free and well draining but moist substrate. The only thing I direct sow now is quickly germinating flower and veggie annuals (that I have plenty of extras of) in spring.

I have done the acid trick too, but I used lemon juice because that is what I had on hand. Usually when I have trouble germinating something it is because it is a type of seed that should be sown when fresh, but it has been dried and stored for too long. I think a lot of things that drop seed in spring and early summer are like that. Sometimes leaving them outside for a couple of years will work, but I haven't had a lot of luck in that respect. I also sometimes sow them in damp potting mix in baggies and move them back and forth from a warm spot in the house to the fridge for the required amount of time.

Usually when I get new seeds I do a quick search on it to see if there are any special germination requirements, and bookmark the page in a folder with other seeds sown that year for future reference. Prairie Moon and Everwilde have some good info on germinating natives. Then I write on a plant tag the growing info and a note about germination , like how long of cold it needs or if I should leave it out for several years. Then I paperclip the tag to the packet and file them in a box I have for things to sow that year. I have dividers in it for fall sowing, early winter, later winter, spring, direct sowing. Then when I want to start sowing everything is ready to go.

When things start germinating I can look back in my already bookmarked pages to see if the seedlings look like the right plant. I don't always do that part consistently though... which I why I had some misidentified seeds I was trading that I just discovered!

The hardest part for me is the planting out. I want to try everything I can get and don't really plan ahead as far as where to put things. There is a lot of wandering around staring at the beds with a container in my hand! Often I still have plants in containers in the fall that never got planted. I have to sink them in the veggie garden beds to overwinter so they don't freeze.

I probably gave way more info than necessary! I tend to get on a roll typing and don't realize how long it is getting. It runs in the family. Several of us are known as "thread-killers". You type something so long that nobody wants to read it to reply, and the thread is dead! Maybe I should only post from my tablet or phone, where I think a monkey could type faster than me.

I can see now from the badge that you are already a wintersower! Oh well, maybe it will be of use to someone else. @Froggiesgirl is a newbie to sowing wildflower seeds perhaps.

Molanic, thank you for sharing all of the above good information. Easy reading and interesting, I think.

I try to keep records, but should get more organized and divide things better, like wildflowers in its own category, then veggies separate, etc. Maybe one day. Unfortunately I'm a procrastinator so... can't say when that will happen.

I often plant wildflower seeds in the fall. It works pretty well when direct sowing. Although even when direct sowing, I like to plant a few seeds in my 'wildflower container', which contains them (direct sowing can be subject to washing away, being eaten by birds, or other un-predictables. It's good for wildflowers that will sprout a rosette in the fall and then overwinter, flower in the spring. Sometimes it takes two or three years before they flower. Then there's the ones that don't like where you planted them and show up somewhere else.

Wildflowers are exciting to grow from seed!

A few final numbers.

877 Total Tickets Given
784 Regular Tickets
93 Bonus Tickets
397 Claimed
480 Unclaimed
Average trading ratio: 165%
Median trading ratio: 182%

I was going to mail mine tomorrow but I've lost a pack of seeds.
I've looked everywhere but the right place so far. I have to leave in the morning and probably won't be back until Thursday afternoon but I will get my seeds out by the deadline.
I hate being last to send in a swap but it may be my turn.

Thank you all for the important info! When I get my seeds, I will look up ones I don't know and go from there! Thank you all for being so helpful!

Just dropped mine off at the po. I shipped it first class because it was only 11 oz. I used PayPal instead of stamps so it should be just as fast as priority anyways. The tracking probably won't show up in the system until tomorrow though. My po is also a distribution center so things tend to move pretty fast usually. I'm so grateful for online postage and self-serve kiosks, because the long lines and employees there are absolute torture at times!

FYI anyone using priority mail postage from home can schedule a package pick up online. I live less than 5 minutes from the po, so I haven't tried the pickup service myself.

I have never printed postage online so I'm hoping I can get it to work. I work next door to an Office Depot which is a drop off point for Priority Mail so I can just walk over on my lunch break. It won't even take me 10 minutes. Beats the heck out of driving to the PO and waiting in line.