I grow silvervine in the UK, although it hasnt flowered yet (4 year old plant), probably because I dont know what sex it is, and there is conflicting info about whether they are self-fertisiling. However, we lack the insect over here that creates the gall, which is by far the most potent part of silvervine for cats. Anyone here have any knowledge of how I might get galls from silvervine in the UK?

Hi All ,

I can't seem to find Silver Vine seeds anywhere at the moment (I'm in Australia)and there seems to be few and far between available online. Does anyone have any seeds available they'd be happy to post to me? I'd be happy to pay for the seeds and of course postage.

Agoo said:Hello, just came across your post. If you are still wanting some silvervine seeds, I can send you some for free. Just tree mail me if you still want some.

I have no idea what I am doing here or even where here is,I'm in Perth Australia and have been searching the net on info on growing and getting silvervine seeds. I want to try for my cats I have 6 cats and none of them seem overly fussed with catnip. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I only found out about Silver vine tonight.
Cheers and I hope you get this message as I have no idea what I am doing

I see I'm late to this party by YEARS and then some. Silver Vine seeds are difficult to germinate. They need to be prepared by freezing or in the fridge for a few months. If sowed outdoors directly into soil they do best if planted in late fall when there will be freezing and thawing periods to help with this plus moist well drained soil helps too. In doors for planters or starters it's helpful to place into a freezer for 1-3 months. Remove and roll up in a damp paper towel folded up and over it. Place into the fridge. Remove from fridge and plant in moist well drained soil. Check for signs of germination regularly. If none appears put these pots into the fridge again for a few more weeks. They are hard to break through this natural dormancy effect the seeds have. (This is not unique to just this plant however.) Many people buy seeds never get them to germinate and think they have bad seed but the truth is what one often associates with planting garden variety seeds and making seedling plants for their garden this is not as easy as that. There are male and female plants. If you get germination it'll be a year maybe two before you know if your plants are female or male. The female is the only one that produces the fruit and needs a male to fertilize the blossoms to make seeds in the future. In some climates and proper conditions it can become a very weedy plant outdoors. You need to be careful not to release into the environment a problem weed and in some areas of the country you may need to check with an extention agent if it's legal to grow outdoors. If you do not have fertile seed producing plants you may be safer. This plant can grow and spread the literature states over 10-12 feet tall and wide. I suspect in our NW MT location it won't be nearly as prolific as an outdoor plant in our very short season. We are listed as 4-6b here but the truth we are in a valley that's closer to 4-5. The EPA ruined our acreage soil a few years ago so we no longer have great draining soil and everythings a struggle to grow where it once thrived. So soil conditions and too much shade and placement all play a role in success of this plant as it does for most plants. As a container plant you may want to rotate plants in and out of the say cat safe grounds you are trying to develop for kitty. That way they have a fresh plant to enjoy and you keep the plants alive via rotation before a cat kills it off or too much shade does. The gall's are the key for the best product that's suppose to be sold as a powder like through Chewy dot com sights and Amazon and pet product sellers. However many cats enjoy the cuttings and the plants too. I am not sure about the fruit itself. I doubt it. Places like Ebay and Amazon sellers from out of the USA might be suspect for quality but again it's difficult to know if you fail to get germination because in your haste to grasp the need to scarify the plant via cold or freezing methods to break dormancy the seed it self was probably good just remains in dormant state. Ebay sellers are asking ridiculous prices these days for just 5 seeds. And for twice that Amazon today offered 100 seeds with three reviews all one star negative. One insisting they did everything right in planting it in proper soil and moisture conditions etc. The key is to break the dormancy of the seed however and then and only then does the rest of quality soil, moisture and light a plant thrives on counts. Hope this information is helpful. I'd love to have a source of cuttings or potted plants but many sellers are asking ridiculous prices so I'm going to bide my time to find a source of female and male plants. The action of the gall formation by a plant seems to make a concentrated form of the attractant for the felines. I'm a retired seed scientist and understand the virtues and the trials of dealing with various forms of dormancy in seeds. Hope this helps some of you when it comes to germinating trials of your own. It's possible to clip the seed coat very carefully but I have not tried that with this seed. But it works with some kinds of dormancy as does running water over seeds and changing damp roll towels daily if a seeds dormancy is a chemical protection agent produced by the plants species. Here's wishing you all good luck with the plants, seeds, seedlings, cuttings...and your kitties too.