Hi, all. Despite 10 black thumbs and years of no success, I am now able to successfully propagate cuttings and divisions from hardy shade plants like ivy, pachysandra, liriope, impatiens and hostas. I actually am averaging a 90% success rate on these. In fact, if anyone wants to trade for any of these, please let me know and post here.

After years of failure with a 0% success rate at trying to grow from seed, but being an optomist, I'm gonna try it again. I've read the FAQ on using chamomile tea on seeds and the FAQ on germinating seeds in coffee filters. This sounds good to me. Sounds like it is hard to kill the little guys in a coffee filter in a baggie by watering too much or too little. I might be able to do this one. I'd be happy with a 10% success rate.

So, could you filter-baggie-tea growers tell me if the following list of seeds could be put in a tea-treated coffee filter in a baggie and then under my bed until they germinate? I'm not sure what needs light and what needs dark out of this group,what's the right size and what's too tiny, and, for that matter, what needs hot and what needs stratifying (questions about stratifying for another thread later).

Even when I'm really, really bad at something and fail miserably and repeatedly, it has never stopped me from trying again and being overly optomistic in the latest attempt. So I bought a lot a lot a lot of seeds. Also, these are for trade too, since your thumbs are probably not as black as mine and I would love to see something actually survive and grow.

Ok, here's the first list. Which of these will NOT work with the filter-tea baggie idea under my bed:

jacob's ladder

chinese lantern (pysalis)

astilbe chinensis

blue flax (linum lewisii)

chamomile

st john's wort

chicory

sesame

wormwood

Also, when you check the baggie and it needs water, do you just use the sprayer at the kitchen sink, a mister, or what? And which is better...chamomile tea or hydrogen peroxide to keep the nasties away?

Thanks in advance for helping these poor black thumbs.