Well I have received a response from the seller. He said he has checked with a few well known hybridizers (he gave me their names but I won't name them here) who said that as long as they were collected from mature pods they should be fine. He also asked me to let him know how they do and if they don't grow he will refund my money. A response worth the wait and well received. I'm happy and will wait and see what comes of them. I'll post the results come spring.