Y'all are enabling me. Time to pull out the seed collection and see what I have. Besides, I need to use up those old seeds anyway.

The question is not how many of us are seed hoarders, rather the questions is whether there are any of us here who are not seed hoarders.

I have more seeds than I'll ever be able to grow, and I still keep buying more. Every now and then I take a bunch of flower seeds and scatter sow them in the front or back pasture with no soil prep. I figure if the wildflowers can reseed with no one tilling up the soil, then so can simple things like zinnias and cosmos. Sure enough, lots of them sprout and grow in the pastures when I do that.

Melissa, I love growing hardy hibiscus from seed and often have started them late. As long as the roots get large enough before winter in order to survive, there's no problem with starting them from seed late, and I don't think June is too late. I doubt July would be too late for them.

Dawn

:) June isn't too late for plants! But if July is too late for seedlings, then I'm doomed. I just planted a bunch more without even thinking of the timing. The rest of my blanketflowers and columbines have now been sowed. After all, they can be houseplants through winter, can't they?

If they grow well enough now and you can get them in the ground a month or two before frost, they should survive winter in the ground as long as you have well-drained soil. Down here in southern OK, the seeds of blanketflowers, for example, that fall from mature flowers in our fields in spring and summer don't even sprout until around November or sometimes December. They then stay as very small rosettes, hugging the ground closely, through winter and don't begin to enlarge and get bigger until spring. It is the same with many native plants, and with a lot of the reseeding annuals and half-hardy perennials in my garden that reseed themselves every year. They don't have to be pampered and kept indoors all winter. They survive fine in the ground all on their own. Plants are tougher than we give them credit for being.

Bon, you crack me up!!!!

And, let me just share a little story.....ya'll will be able to relate I'm sure. Before we moved to the city and I had a garden and grew seeds almost year round, I was ALWAYS on the hunt for new seeds. My kids and I would go somewhere and if I saw a plant that I liked I would nonchalantly look for a seed pod. It actually turned into a game of some sorts until they got older then it was just "mom, really?!" One year my MIL took me to an appointment in Tahlequah and there was a tree outside that I kept commenting on that I absolutely LOVED. I don't remember the name of it but as we were coming out I told her I bet there were seeds in those pods. It was fall so I was sure they were matured. Mind you it was pouring down rain when we came out. As we are leaving, she stops the car (she's driving) jumps out and grabs a hanging branch full of those pods. SCORE!!! Full of seeds!!!! Then we stopped at one of the Cherokee Nation Heritage places and there were these beautiful lillies. I MIGHT have snuck some seeds away...heehee.

Lol. I do the exact same thing. One neighbor of mine had some spider plants growing that I might have taken some seeds from, and the other has some beautiful flowers that I keep searching for pods on. No luck so far, though.

And Okiedawn, it's good to know that blanketflowers are hardy enough that I won't accidentally kill them! :D Kidding... I think I'll chance it and plant them somewhere as soon as they're big enough! I'm so proud. They just put up they're third leaf and they're doing well so far! :)

I prefer to think of myself as a seed addict. The veggie seeds are organized in a cut-off milk carton, the flower seeds are in a small bag, and the seeds I need to plant next are in a glass block/brick on my dining table to remind me!

Carol

I have one of those clear plastic 3 drawer things on wheels. Top drawer is seed packets, middle drawer is bulk seeds and the third has supplies and room for expansion. There's a small gift bag with handles that holds the seeds picked out for near future and another bag holds seeds that need to be returned to the drawer. I am most definately a seed-a-holic.

You guys seem so much more organized than I am! I have a small bag with ziplocs and seed packets all crowded in there. Of course, I haven't been gardening for that long...

Just give it time, Hannah, and your seed habit will get completely out of control like it has for all of us. We all were normal when we first started gardening, but 'normal' didn't last long.

Lol. I just don't have enough to collect from!!!

jlhart That's the spirit!

@dawn, I am NOT a seed hoarder **folds arms defensively and snubs nose** I have a collection of seeds to prolong the life of viable heirloom seeds lest they go extinct. **folds hands behind back, looks down and kicks at the rocks hoping it sounds genuine**

@Hanna, it won't take long. You'll fit right in. lol Be sure to join the seed exchange. We'll load ya right up! (Then you'll complain about not having enough good garden soil to grow it all. Just watch!)

bon

OK, so experiment 749 began yesterday. I looked through my stash, pulled out anything that was prior to 2012, and planted several that had less than 60 days to maturity on the packet...or that I thought grew fast...or that I wanted to try growing again...anyway, I now have a bunch of seeds trying to germinate. If they sprout then I get a fall garden. If they grow large enough to harvest, great. Otherwise, its as coupe said. I need to plant something or the grass will take over.

Amy-- I love your idea of the plastic three drawer storage container and I just happen to have one!!! Now I just need to clean it out and find a new home for all that junk. I think I might have to paint it first though and make it all cute! Oh gosh, I just added yet another thing to do to my to do list. Heaven help me.

I had to run into Lowe's today and grab some salt for my pool and I had a little extra time to walk through the plants. There were caladiums on sale for $1 a container and there were quite a few in one container. My dd who is 10 was wanting some awhile back but I didn't have room in the car so I got her 3 containers and her own planter to plant them in. I also got 4 containers of Lantana for $1 each. I've never had Lantana so I'm a bit excited. Will definitely be watching for seeds!

Btw......there were no viable seed pods at Lowe's today, LOL.

I was searching for seed sales today, and only found one: Dollar General had put all their seeds on sale apparently last Friday, and today was the last day: Pickings were slim, but I got 4 packs of French Dwarf Double Mix Marigolds for 15 cents each. They apparently bloom in orange, red, and gold. That goes into my hoarders den.

Oh, oh, oh, oh. I have a 13.50 gift certificate from Baker Creek because one of the carrots and the radish I bought may not grow true to type. They're growing. We'll see what I get. Meanwhile, off to BC website to see what I want.

Hope I"m not too late to the party! :D

I probably have more seeds than I need to plant the next 2 years, have wintersowed the past 2 years and OVERDONE big time both years; I am STILL planting out wintersown seedlings! I'm running out of room! But when seed trading time comes this fall/winter, I will no doubt participate to get new/interesting seeds to grow. I will have to scale back a LITTLE

Melissa, I was very interested in your hibiscus success story. I heard the best way to grow hardy Hibiscus was wintersow. I have done so the past 2 years. Last year I got ONE seedling but it flowered first year! I was very surprised..did not expect that. This year I WS'd TONS and got about 7 of one kind and 10 of another.

Last year, I planted cardinal flowers (red/perennial) in August, and Columbine in July, and put them in the ground in October and they did fine. The colubmines did not bloom this year; but the cardinal flowers did. Both came back very nicely. The cardinal flowers were really SMALL, but they grew like champs this year -- so NOT too late to plant seeds (esp'lly perennials!) this summer!

If you're not familiar with wintersowing, check out wintersown.org! Extend your seed sowing timetable!

Never too late. There is a recent thread regarding a seed swap if you are interested.

Amy, It does not surprise me that you spent more than the dollar amount of your gift certificate. This is my favorite time of the year when some of our favorite seed retailers start putting seeds on sale in roughly August and September. I always find something I cannot resist during those end-of-season sales. Not that our season is ending any time soon.

Oh, Dawn, now I have to go check my seed company list for sales.

I'll tell you when I start getting emails about sales. I think they usually start with Renee's Garden Seeds and Peaceful Valley Farm Supply sometime in August. It seems like I spend some of the dog days of summer shopping for next year. Sometimes Johnny's has stuff on clearance all summer long, but it varies from week to week. I guess as something clears out, they add more to the clearance list.

Do let us know. I will try to restain myself till then.

Do any of the seed companies keep seed available year round? Was thinking about taking some of the stress off my summer budget and stocking up on that stuff, potting mix, pine bark, fertilizer, etc, over the winter. Other than Amazon, I mean.

Absolutely. See swallowtailgardenseeds.com, sampleseeds.com, as well as myriad of others. Depending if you are looking for flowers/veggies (those sites have both), what you might find if you buy in the summer is that they are out of SOME varieties that have sold out by spring, and have not replenished til fall, so that might be the only drawback to ordering now....I try to buy from the small sellers vs. the big seed companies. I like to give the smaller business my patronage. I love Swallowtails selection and website..it's also a great reference site; Sampleseeds is VERY reasonably priced, tho you have to work you way through more alphabetical text, it's well worth it and I can vouch for seeds from both companies.

Val- I truly don't do anything special when I sow hibiscus seeds. I just sow them in some potting soil and keep it moist. I actually sow them in leftover containers which this time was a plastic strawberry container from Sam's that I washed really well. I'm getting ready to transplant a few of the seedlings into their own containers so they don't intertwine. The biggest seedling is about 5" tall now. However, I am on the hunt for something that is munching on the leaves. I found a little worm last week that I removed. I usually never feed my seedlings but I might this time because I want to get stronger earlier to make it through the winter. Although, last time my seedlings were only about 12" tall and they still made it through the winter even in their own little containers.

SALE!?!?! Park Seed is having a seed sale too. I had about 20 packets of seeds in my cart then I went through and asked myself if I REALLY needed some of the stuff. Um....of course I don't "need" it, but I WANT IT!!!! I am down to 9 packets but still looking and procrastinating about checking out in case I find something else. lol

Dawn- I will definitely check out the two companies you mentioned. Thanks

For shame........I went back to the Park Seed site and went seed shopping again.....UGH; and the cart continues to fill up.

Melissa, The Sample Seed shop has really low prices. You don't get as large a quantity of seeds, but you get enough to experiment at low cost. Pinetree and Fedco are also low cost.

Melissa, good to know! I think I have all the hibiscus seedlings I can handle right now, but when I see what color they bloom, I might want to grow other colors :) And I will try spring planting in a pot. I generally do alot of wintersowing, so by the time spring comes, I have more than enough seedlings to plant and it takes me til August to think about planting seeds again! HA HA!

There are SO many neat seeds/plants out there, and when you're on this forum, and people post pictures, you see flowers you didnt know about and want to grow those, so the addiction grows. I tell my hubby that it's a REASONABLE addiction tho, it could be alot worse: Shopping for designer clothes, diamonds, and/or doing drugs! HA HA That's supposed to make him feel better about all my seeds/plants! LOL

Is it the heat? Are y'all getting delusional? Who needs more seeds? Doesn't everyone here already have enough seeds to cover the next ten years?

Well, we'll make an exception for first-year gardeners who haven't had time to feed their addiction enough to build up a big seed stash.

Rebecca, Most seed companies operate year-round, but certain items, like seed potatoes, are not available now. Some popular seeds that may have sold out also are not available. Normally, though, you can pretty much order from whomever you choose, whenever you want, year-round. That allows all of us gardening addicts to feed out need to acquire more seeds year-round.

If wanting seeds to plant right now, be advised that not all companies ship quickly, so you shouldn't ever assume that if you order some seeds online now, you'll have them in a few days. In some cases you will, but in others, you won't.

Val, I always tell my husband that he should be happy it is only seeds, and not expensive shoes and handbags. That makes him laugh, and he really doesn't care how much I spend on seeds because he knows it is my "thing" that I do. It also is easier and cheaper to 'remodel' the garden every year by planting new stuff or by mowing stuff around than to remodel the house. He counts his blessings that the garden keeps me to busy to focus too much on home remodeling or redecorating.

As for the hardy hibiscus seeds, plants or seedlings, my experience has been that they reseed readily, so once you have them growing, you get all the seedlings each spring that you want and you can dig them up and transplant them to where you want them. One year I had only white swamp mallow and a red hardy hibiscus, and the next year I had one seeding that gave me a pink swamp mallow. It was kinda cool to get that sort of cross. That was many drought years back and at some point the pink swamp mallow didn't come back, but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted.

Dawn

Dawn,

What has "need" got to do with it!? LOL Often us "seed growers" just WANT more seed, and new and different plants/flowers :) My husband is the same, he's FINE with my being addicted to seeds/flowers too. ;D

My Rose of Sharon self seed all the time, but never had a hibiscus, HOWEVER, my first hibiscus bloomed last year...and I collected most of the seed, so I have myself to blame, I guess.

GOOD point about Shipping times for different companies! Swallowtail and Sampleseeds ship FAST. I've had mixed experiences with other companies.

If we are truly addicted, we perceive that our want is a need. (grin)

Yes, my experience is the same as yours with fast shipping with Swallowtail and with Sample Seeds. Others that ship fast in the summer include Willhite Seeds (based in TX), Johnny's Selected Seed, Kitazawa Seed, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Renee's Garden Seeds, Victory Seeds and Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. Some companies ship so fast at this time of the year that I've ordered seeds online on a Saturday afternoon or evening and received them in the Monday mail, which seems impossible. That is very quick compared to some other parts of the year.

When I want (cause obviously I have all the seeds I need) new seeds for the following spring, I do all my ordering before the end of the current year. That way, I know I'll have seeds in hand well before seed-starting season begins for the seeds I sow indoors under lights. There's nothing worse than ordering seeds in January and then you're still waiting for them to arrive in March. I no longer order from companies that ship that slowly. Who needs those guys when we have smaller companies working hard to earn our business?

That doesn't mean I won't make some impulse buys later on after the late catalogs have flooded the mailbox, but I like knowing that I have the seeds I want before the new year starts.

Thanks Amy! I will definitely check them out! I love looking for different varieties to see what I might want for the next year. I plan on creating at least 4 new beds. The previous owners had nothing but misplaced shrubs in a small front bed. Not sure about you all, but I'm getting irritated mowing and weedeating lol. I'd rather pull a few weeds. I know one large area I want to create is mostly shade so I want hosta for sure. I tend to buy perennials only because annuals, as pretty as they are, make me feel like I'm wasting money.
I stopped at Ace Hardware on another side of Edmond and they didn't have any seeds on sale..... how dare they!
I bought the cutest little grass containers for my dd that are animal planters. They are kinds like chia pets. They finally sprouted after 3 days. It was a bit scary how she acted like me... disappointed they hadn't
sprouted after TWO days!!

My recent Kitazawa order came really fast. The first time I ordered from Baker Creek, I ordered on Friday and received the seeds on Monday and there was a snowstorm in between. I purchase from Sand Hill Preservation, I like them, but they are a family operation and they are slower than some of the others and don't do online orders. But often they are the ONLY ones who have special heirloom seeds and their website/catalog is well worth a look. Especially if you are looking for varieties mentioned here.

Got myself a 3 drawer storage bin at Walmart for 8 bucks. I've already got all 3 drawers half way filled. lol I found a few seeds at Walmart for 20 cents per pack, so I got a pack of Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, and 3 packs of bunching onions.

U go, Melissa!

Just finished placing a seed order from Park Seed and am shopping at Victory Seeds now. I was just wondering if anyone has ever ordered from Gurney's and if so what is your opinion? I've gotten their catalogs before but have never placed an order.

Thanks!

I don't remember ordering from them, unless it was 35 years ago, but you can look them up here.

Amy, that site is great. Bad reviews, overall and I won't order from them. Thank you.

I've ordered from them and have not been pleased with many things, including germination rates and length of time it took to fill orders, back-ordered items, etc. I don't think I've ordered from them in a long time because I have found many other suppliers I like better.

Amy, I don't know if the unwritten rule still applies now, but when Spike owned GW, we could be banned (without warning) for linking DG or the watch dog site, so be careful. Back then, DG was a main competitor of GW and Spike wouldn't let us even refer to it. Houzz may not operate in the same manner. Normally, there were no warnings....you found out you had been banned when you tried to log on and discovered you'd been sent to the Disney website instead of GW. You couldn't even really say someone had been banned, so folks would say something like "He was sent to Disney...." instead. That sounds like the dark ages, but it was in the early and mid-2000s, so as recently as a mere decade ago or less.

When I am checking into ordering from someone I've never ordered from before, I do check the watch dog site though. I like to do business with folks on their various Top 5 Lists or their Top 30.

There is a vendor rate and review forum here at Houzz, or at least there was when it was Garden Web, but it is in a standard forum format so harder to use than the one at DG.

And, I'll add this. If there is a seed retailer that folks here do not mention frequently and use, then there likely is a reason why.

Dawn

i'm in n.e. oklahoma and the library system here (maybe on the west side too?) has a seed program where people can get various types to plant. i am trying to put together a little organization to make sure native seeds are available through this channel. if you are interested in contributing seeds or ideas about how to make this a sustainable process, i would love to hear from you.

Dawn, thanks for the heads up. I did bookmark the site, for future reference. I ended up ordering some carrot and radish seed from Victory Seeds. I'm making the rounds with some of the different companies, and getting a feel for who I like best. I really like being able to buy a lot of things locally, but for whatever reason my go-to place, Stillwater Milling, was out of carrot seed....and they apparently haven't restocked. I've had my nose in these books and trying to figure a way to reconfigure my garden for fall, and how much I'll need to plant. More importantly, I need to get busy replinishing my soil before I plant anything.

It is too hot to replenish the soil! lol. You be careful working out there in the heat. I am just trying to hibernate indoors in the air conditioning as much as possible. It is so toasty hot right now. When the heat index hits 100 degrees before 10 a.m., there's not much time for working outdoors in the morning. It also is ridiculous when the actual air temperature still is in the 90s at bedtime. This is my least favorite time of the gardening season. Some of my plants are starting to look like crap, and I know it is because of the heat. Surely the plants are even more tired of the heat than we humans are.

Well, my seeds from BC were shipped from TX (?) Through DHL/USPS partnership (?) to St. Louis. Which means they passed me enroute and aren't expected to arrive untill the 26th. Hmmmm.

Amy, maybe we'll have cooled down a few degrees by Tuesday. I worked from first light till 10 am in the garden, trying to rake much and pull deeply pounded stakes. I had to water it just to get most of the stakes removed. Kids got in from vacay last night, so I went and gathered up the grandson and took him to lunch. So much needs doing outside: Mowing, weedeating, etc., but it is just too hot for me. I'm finding I really can't work in the evenings, either. It pretty much has to be early in the morning for me. I have some seeds coming late next week, too.

The humidity is higher in the evenings. But when you live a 2nd shift life, dawn (lower case d, not meaning our garden guru) is not much of an option either.

Amy, That sounds so peculiar to me! Well, maybe they have a distribution center in Texas now? For example, Amazon.com has a distribution center right there at DFW Airport, so when we order from Amazon, we often get it the next day. We could get it the same day if Tim could pick it up. The same is true of U-Line, from whom I order gift bags, tissue paper and bows every year for the gift bags for the VFD and for Tim's salsa gifts for work. I can order by a certain time of the day---it may be 5 pm and get my stuff the next day. It is pretty amazing to me to get anything that quickly.

Mary, Today the heat was so awful so incredibly early. We went out to eat breakfast and then stopped by Wal-Mart. By the time we got home, it was only about 10 a.m. and the heat index was 100 already. That is crazy. Really, when we left the house to go eat breakfast, our heat index already was 88. It seemed insanely hot so ealry in the day. There's been a couple of fires paged out today. No one should have to fight fires in this heat.

Maybe it is because I just watered the garden a couple of days ago, or maybe it is because of the shade from the west, but when I go out to the garden around 7 or 8 pm, the garden feels 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. Of course, this makes the garden really attractive to snakes, rabbits, chickens, etc.

Our humidity has been dropping into the 30s in the afternoons and I'm grateful for that. It keeps our heat index from going higher than it already does. We've started cooling off more at night too, because dry air cools more rapidly. We might not cool off for long, but to be 74 degrees at sunrise is better than being 78 degrees at the same time.

Dawn

Dawn,

Dont worry about me, I am WUSS in this high heat and humidity. IF it's possible, I try and get out for an hour or 2 in the a.m. and IF it cools of after dinner, but the heat wave has been going on here for while, and I just chalk it up to SUMMER. Like you, I hide out in the AC when it's like this. Mandatory water bans in town...we water (sparingly) on odd/even days to help conserve.

We spread our 6 cu yds of mulch and hubby says no more til MAYBE fall, possibly spring. We have a unique set of circumstances where our backyard (garden area) is up a level, so hubby works hard to shovel it in a cement tub, lifts it to the back yard with a crane he devised, so it's alot of work. I dont blame him for not wanting to do any in the hi heat/humidity. This fall he is finishing his project of edging the gardens with cobblestones. last fall he did 2 pallets (that's alot of cobbles!) and will finish up this fall.

Stay cool everyone!!

Oh man, that is an awful lot of work!

I loved this post so much!! lol

What happened to Turbocat and Val and Bon? I haven't seen them in awhile?

Going back through old posts makes me miss Dawn but so thankful that we have all her shared knowledge here!!! :)