I gradually build up a mental index of all the common names the things I LOOK for can have.
Now I know to look for Celosia/Cockscomb

Pole bean
bush bean
wax bean
common bean
bean
???

Celosia
Cockscomb
Wheatstraw Celosia
Lagrezia boivinii (I'm NOT making that up!)

Common names may be great once you learn them, but there sure are a whole LOT of them!
I guess most people feel the same way about Latin binomial nomenclature.

I think it's cool that Linnaeus, who created the system for giving every living species a unique one-to-one name, has so many names, himself:

Carl Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnæus (same name, different font?)
Carolus a Linné (after 1761)
Carl von Linné, (after his ennoblement)
"Father of Modern Taxonomy"
Princeps botanicorum ("Prince of Botanists")
"The Pliny of the North,"
"The Second Adam"
"Linn." (abbreviation)
and my favorite name for him, like a rock star's name: "L."

@RickCorey if you are still here you just sold a bunch of stuff!

Thanks, Mary!

I grabbed that "Fresh Look Red" tout suite!

Flowers are pretty , I like greens ,,and the cats woke me up ,

You know, I had already been mentally planning the layout of my raised beds and was feeling pretty great about it, and I told myself I really didn't need to take many seeds from the swap... but you guys and all your pretty flowers. You're killin' me. After the discussion here, I had to go and get some celosia (I call them "fuzzy alien brains"). I had some that didn't do so great this year, but maybe I can find them a nicer spot.

I didn't realize I could keep adding seeds after the swap had already begun. I have a big event that's taking up all my time, but it'll be over tomorrow and maybe I'll be able to finish my half-done seed harvesting and add a few things. :D (Hubby, watching me try to convince hardy fuchsia seeds to come out of their tiny pods: "You need a microscope!" Nyarrrrgh yes I do.)

Joolie said:You know, I had already been mentally planning the layout of my raised beds and was feeling pretty great about it, and I told myself I really didn't need to take many seeds from the swap... but you guys and all your pretty flowers. You're killin' me. After the discussion here, I had to go and get some celosia (I call them "fuzzy alien brains"). I had some that didn't do so great this year, but maybe I can find them a nicer spot.

Welcome to the club! Lol, I have mine planned out but I always try to leave space for what I get in the swaps. I always find something I didn't count on and just have to have.

Joolie said: ... I told myself I really didn't need to take many seeds from the swap... but you guys and all your pretty flowers. You're killin' me. ...

I didn't realize I could keep adding seeds after the swap had already begun. ...

... maybe I'll be able to finish my half-done seed harvesting and add a few things. ...

Yes! That happens to me in EVERY swap!

Julie, just beware of two traps.

There's only about 7 days between end-of-trading and send-to-the-host dates. Or maybe "14 days minus transit time". Anyway, in the past, when I put seeds into the list that I hadn't already split and labelled, I got hectic trying to finish them all up by the deadline.

If you're more disciplined and have days free, maybe you won't get into that corner.

Then, also, two or three times, I offered seeds I had not yet counted and embarrassed myself when I found that I had fewer than I had thought.

Now I'm more risk-adverse. Well, I try to be.

Some of this year's Bok Choy offerings from Tainong are still unsplit, and most of them are still unlabelled. T minus five days and counting! I have some work to do this weekend ...

I have no self control when it comes to calling dibs, it just seems a waste to not use them.

I've been holding back but I decided I am going to risk looking bad and ask: is it frowned upon to buy as many seeds as you have tickets for? And is it bad etiquette to buy more than you sell or offer? I can't figure out the answer since the seeds are offered freely and the tickets have a controlled release. Do most seeds "expire" after 2 years, i.e. they have to be used or traded pretty quickly?

I decided that since I have bought almost as much as I have offered that starting last night I will wait 15 minutes before bidding so that I don't get dibs on something that one of the bigger contributors may have had their eyes on.

Please answer kindly - I just don't want to leave a bad impression as a swap newbie and I'm not stupid - but can be a little slow

My annuals not as many seeds this season
today shows why

Tithonia and Zinnia




This OP Bok Choy the Tall Keeps getting six to eight leaves and going to seed I believe it is the Microgreen Dwarf Tall Bok Choy
Gets ate by everything in the ground



Coin Gold Marigold and an obedient plant



A yellow ruffle Marigold in the Crackerjack and Nastuirum



Fennel and Garden mustard look allright together , restarting , interesting because fennel supposedly does not grow with anything


These are all today here All from seeds from here at one time or another (this Swap)

RickCorey said:. . . Julie, just beware of two traps.
. . .
If you're more disciplined

Ha, I am SO NOT disciplined and I know it. I made sure to not put anything up for swap unless it was already in its baggie and envelope and ready for mailing if the swap ended right this second. Otherwise, I'd be telling myself I've still got time, I can fritter my time away doing something else, la la la...

As it is, I'm frittering RIGHT NOW being here, lol. But dreaming about next spring's flowers is so much more fun than the fiddly work I have to do.

Teri, I can only answer for myself but I have no issue with someone using ALL their dibs. I put in the packets of seeds that I have extras of. I know that I ill not take as many as I put in but I'm fine with that. If there is something of mine you are wanting, dib away! Chances are if someone else wants them and misses them, I will have a spare pack or two held back for future swaps that can be given out.

Lisa

To keep from calling dibs at the end ,I have to tie up my fingers,, and strap myself in place
Thing is,,,I am good at knots and escapism ,,

I have plenty for while , That becomes Like ,, a few days

I'm also a newbie to the swap, but any seeds I have up for swap are seeds I *really want other people to have*. I hope people want them and take them. I know that the stuff I have this year is not really phenomenal or anything, but I only grew them in the first place because I liked them, and I hope that someone else will like them too.

Having listened in on this great group of people for a little while, I have a feeling I'm not the only one who gets just as much if not more joy from giving than from receiving. I would definitely be happier if my seeds all got snapped up versus having any seeds left over!

In other words, I'm pretty sure the answer is: DIB AWAY! :D

Terry, we all feel like you should use them. We list these items because we want to share them. We really do not care who gets what and how much of anything. We're all just happy to share. Dib away woman!

ETA: Also, get them now while they are there. Do not wait on anyone else to get something you want! This is a swap. Most of us will continue after this swap to trade with each other. We'll have another chance. If not, maybe you grow it and come back and offer it next year. Yay for everyone anyway you look at it.

Terri: go for it!

>> Do most seeds "expire" after 2 years, i.e. they have to be used or traded pretty quickly?

I think most freshly-harvested seeds have a good shelf life ranging from five to more than ten years. For some species, much less. For a few genuses, "sow them fresh only!"

But if I take a pkt in trade, that the offerer got in trade, I guess that the re-traded pkt has "been around" for 2-5 years and might only have 5-8 more years where germination will be greater than 50%.

But personally, I just take "old" as a "challenge". Hey, if there is 5% germination and I have 100 seeds, I'll find out what it looks like, whether I like it, and whether it likes my climate and care.

I think each kind of seed has a different "shelf life", plus it depends on how dry they are stored, plus it depends a little on how cool they they are stored.

I think web sites that quote crazy-short times for "how long seeds last", like 2-3 years for common vegetables, are either trying to get people to throw more seeds away and buy fresh as often as possible, or else they are concerned about laws that specify a minimum % germination for each kind of seed that is SOLD commercially.

So if the "legal limit" for commercial sale is 85% germination, a website might quote a shelf life of 2 years (figuring that some vendors "Pack for 2016" seeds that they harvested in 2014. So, after a real total of FOUR years, they probably WOULD be down to 85% germination or lower.

I think that "OK germination" for traded seeds can be much lower than 85%! If someone puts 2 times as much in a packet because they are old, you might get twice as much seed and 70% germination, which I think is good for traded seeds.

A few years later, "70%" might have fallen to "50%", but you still have twice as many seeds.

Then, say for perennials, 3-4 adult plants might be plenty to start a patch that lasts for years and spreads by roots. So in theory, "16 seeds" might be enough for that person to establish a patch. "A tiny pinch" of tiny seeds might number in the hundreds - I have no way to count them.

So I think that traded seeds can be old seeds, as long as the date you harvested or purchased them is clearly stated in the swap and on the packet.

jimard8 said: ...

This OP Bok Choy the Tall Keeps getting six to eight leaves and going to seed I believe it is the Microgreen Dwarf Tall Bok Choy
Gets ate by everything in the ground



.... These are all today here All from seeds from here at one time or another (this Swap)

Yeah, I agree. I seem to have a lot of Asian slugs in my garden. Strong preference for Bok Choy. Sometimes they burrow into the head so that I only find them AFTER cleaning.

I have not yet said: "That slug will add good protein to this soup!"

>> All from seeds from here at one time or another (this Swap)

That's really cool! Thanks for posting all those!

Rick we have , Common snails ,(with and without shells ) we have Leopard snails , and then there are the Larvae that eat the green type plants , ( Drives me Bugs
I don't like killing Larvae
Thanks for the post comment it gets a cheer to me to show a few as do other posts of flowers , seeds and plants here ,,

Today I did replacing plexiglass windows in the Garage door , two days ago I was looking through and choosing while putting a Lav back together ,
Gets that way ,
I need to be more careful keeping up with what I am growing ,

IJsbrandtGA said:I've been holding back but I decided I am going to risk looking bad and ask: is it frowned upon to buy as many seeds as you have tickets for? And is it bad etiquette to buy more than you sell or offer?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking more seed packs than you offer. Generally, most people come back with more seeds the next swap and it all balances out. Even if you don't, it's okay. General etiquette would say that if you repeatedly bring small quantities to the swap and repeatedly use all of your tickets, others will likely frown on that. I think I speak for just about everyone in here when I say we love helping the new swap members build up their stashes and we don't mind if you don't have much to bring to the table eventually. We'll help you get there and would love for you to bring plenty of seeds to the swap when you become a seasoned swap veteran.

IJsbrandtGA said:I can't figure out the answer since the seeds are offered freely and the tickets have a controlled release. Do most seeds "expire" after 2 years, i.e. they have to be used or traded pretty quickly?

Not necessarily. Different seeds have different expiration dates, but expiration dates tend to reflect a date when large percentages of the seeds are expected to go bad, they don't just suddenly all go bad once they hit that mark. Many times people will offer older seeds in this swap and simply label them as older (or include the year they were packaged for) so that others know. Generally, when people do this, they include larger quantities of that seed so that, despite, say, a 30% germination rate, there will still be a good number of seeds that should germinate and produce a plant. [/quote]

IJsbrandtGA said:
Please answer kindly - I just don't want to leave a bad impression as a swap newbie and I'm not stupid - but can be a little slow

You're not slow at all and it's a great question! It's always a concern for newbies and it just shows a general kindness and concern for others, not any sort of ineptitude on your part.

If the tree-murders in my park ever get around to the HUGE evergreens out back, my porch will go from heavy shade to full morning sun.

If that happens while I have the money and energy, I'd like to replace that porch tin roof with a corrugated clear roof. Four-season grow room!!

Before retirement: no time or energy.
After retirement: no money!