Any native seed savers out there?

14 years ago

Hello!

I've now moved to my new house, complete with enormous dirt backyard :-O Yesterday I rigged my greywater system (just from the laundry, and yes I'll use compatible detergent etc...), so now I'm on the hunt for native seeds.

I went to native seed search, and they have great stuff, but my budget doesn't stretch quite that far. All of their varieties are heirloom, so I was wondering if anyone had seeds to share?

IN SEARCH OF:

1. cotton (any type, I am a spinner)

2. sorghum (any type, I'm an African girl who loves sorghum porridge)

3. sunflowers (we are thinking of planting all along our back wall, which is cinder block, I will happily take any type)

4. cuttings or splits of: perennial grasses (fountain etc), clumping bamboo, creepers, any and all cacti/succulents.

5. indoor/patio/shade plant cuttings: we have an enormous Arizona room (glass enclosed windows, fans, south facing), and I'd like to turn it into a tropical paradise! Some things on my wish list: dwarf banana, delicious monster, elephant ear, diviners' sage, sweet potato vine, patchouli.

6. pots (all sizes) for the Arizona room

My hubby is really wary of me picking up plants/seeds at other people's places, but I think he'd be ok with public locations e.g. Extreme Bean, ASU bookstore.

THANKS YOU GUYS!!!

I have had such great interactions with everyone here so far. One of you even gave me some Armenian cuke seeds, and they're sprouting :-)

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Comments (4)

Pagancat
14 years ago
Hi MaxG-

I'm afraid I'm no help whatsoever, having only gotten here about a month ago myself. I'm sure others will have offerings, but I just wanted to welcome you to the blast furnace, lol.

If you are out and about right now, the Red Yucca (Heperaloe parviflora) is going to seed - they're a kind of grassy looking plant with coral spikes of blooms. I'd wait until the seed heads turn brown and harvest some of those puppies. Tough as nails, nice splash of color, very xeric.

Have you tried your hand at propagating plants yet? I'd put a pair of clippers in your glovebox and when it seems right, grab a piece of some pretty stuff that you see out there, and stick it in a baggie with a wet paper towel until you get home. It often speeds up the process of growing stuff, too, when you don't have to worry about germination, etc.

Best of luck with your gray water system - I'm working the DH hard for an outdoor shower for the same purpose. I used to use my wash water too, but the washing machine is internal to this house, boo.

HTH!
ernie85017, zn 9, phx
14 years ago
Hi! MaxG:
I spin, too. Well, learning. I got some seeds from Joan Ruane in Bisbee. Her website is, well, can't remember, just Google Spinning Cotton Made Easy.

I am going to have to sell all my wool.
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Pagancat
14 years ago
Hey MaxG (and anyone else!) I ran across this ad in Craigslist this morning. I know you were looking for natives, but you might want to consider some of these, hey, they're inexpensive, lol!

Here is a link that might be useful: Craig's seeds
Maxgarden
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi guys! Thanks ernie and pagancat :-)

I checked out Joan Ruane's site... and she offers a great package of 25 seeds for $5, including 4 or 5 varieties (green and white and brown cotton). Whoop!!

One of my neighbors is the blockwatch coordinator, and she's going to help sort me out with cuttings from various neighborhood cacti (big pieces, too).... that's really going to make the front yard look good.

I realized this morning that I ought to take some "before" pics. I've already transplanted rows of canna lilies (red, let me know if you'd like a cutting) along the front of the house, and along the cinder wall in the back. I've chose a small patch under the backyard tree to plant grass seed, and dug out around a buried fire pit! Progress :-)