This exchange will work like this:

- You send me your unusual seeds in a padded envelope, along with $1.86 in postage and a return address label.
- I will swap your seeds for others that I have received from other people.
- I send your new seeds back to you using your padded mailer and postage.

Pretty simple! Of course there are some other rules I have to apply to keep things working smoothly . If you are interested in participating, please read the following, and if you’re interested, please email me and I will get back to you.

The first big rule is determining what is, and what is not, an unusual seed. This isn’t for costly or rare seeds, so please do not expect or include any. An unusual seed, for the purposes of this exchange, is a seed that you probably won’t find in Vesey’s or Canadian Tire. Seeds for tropical or houseplants are unusual. Seeds for plants usually sold as bulbs or live perennials are good. Heavily hybridized plants are ok as long as you know the name of the parent(s) - Hostas, Daylilies, and Iris for example (the ‘big green and white Hosta in the backyard’ does not count!). Echinacea ‘White Swan’, white Cosmos and Bee Balm are not unusual seeds. Ligularia, Petasites and Heuchera are examples of unusual perennial seeds. There is no definitive list of what qualifies as an unusual seed and what one person considers unusual may be very common in another area, so I will ask people for some examples of seeds that they would like to send. I may veto some of your selections if I think they are too common or if they are being included by everyone (I want this to be as fair as possible for everyone participating). Some examples of unusual seeds that I will be including are Astilboides tabularis, Eucomis, Paeonia officinalis, Clematis brachyura, Hosta ‘Inniswood’, Actaea (Cimicifuga) racemosa and actaea simplex ‘Brunette’.

No veggies. I know some people will want them included, but most people will not, so I’m putting them out of the running early on.

All seeds must be marked with a common name, if known (not all plants have common names), and a botanical name. Please note if the seeds are from a commercial source or collected. If the plant the seeds came from is a hybrid, then that must also be indicated (please give the name of the parent/s, when known).

The seeds must be placed in a leak-proof envelope. I use 2x3" ziplock type envelopes I buy at the dollar store. I recommend against using your own pre-made paper envelopes – these have a history of coming open in transit and the seeds are lost. If you must use them, then make sure they are sealed thoroughly with tape!!! The same goes for those paper coin envelopes – they don’t always travel well, so tape them shut.

You may include up to five envelopes of the same sort of seed. These will be exchanged for five different seeds. This way, even people with one or two types of unusual seeds will be able to participate. Please keep the number of seed envelopes in your padded mailer to less than thirty. Large seeds should have at least six to twelve seeds in the envelope. Medium seeds should have at least two dozen in the envelope. Small seeds should have a good 1/8 teaspoon full in the envelope. You may put more seeds in the envelope if you wish, but please do not put in fewer than suggested.

If you are sending seeds that will require refrigeration until they are planted, please indicate on the packet, and I will store them as required.

There is no way of knowing what people will send in so there is no way of knowing what you will get back. It will be a surprise. You may make a couple of suggestions as to seeds you would particularly like or dislike and I will make every effort to accommodate those requests, but there are no guarantees.

Further suggestions and comments are more than welcome!

BP

BP

BP

Anyhow, I already got acknowledgments from two other people that they are getting my replies and tinkerbel - I got your email and also replied.

I want to make sure one thing I wrote above is a bit clearer, just to avoid any confusion - you can send me up to 30 envelopes of seeds. You do not have to send that many if you do not want - that's the maximum per participant. Duplicate seeds envelopes are allowed - up to five envelopes per sort of seed. So some examples of what you can send are:

1x30 (thirty different sorts of seeds)
2x15 (two envelopes each of fifteen different sorts of seeds)
5x6 (five envelopes each of six different sorts of seeds)

BP

BP

BP

BP

Anyhow, there is still plenty of time for people that want to participate to send in their seeds.

BP

BP

Thanks
Wendy
Are these considered unusual?
Poached Egg plant?
What about Dwarf or Streaked Hosta Seed?
Hosta Frances Williams seed.
Trumpet Lily seed or
Crocosmia.
Amaranthus "Molten Fire" and
Amaranthus "Hot Biscuits"

Please e-mail me when you get a chance - I have others as well, some a bit more unique like Allamanda etc but need to know how many seeds per pkg etc.

Thanks so much

Wanda C - your seed packet arrived yesterday.

BP

Annie

orphanannie - these things happen - it's no problem :-). If you find yourself with the time and the inclination in the next couple of days, there should still be time to get a package to me, especially if you're in Ontario.

Anyone else thinking of joining in, there's still time. You should plan on putting your seeds in the mail by Monday or Tuesday.

BP

BP

I'd really like to participate.
I have
double red "Sunrise" morning glory
"Double Click" cosmos
yucca
fern-leaf pink peony
small wild orchid
geum "Mrs Bradshaw"
double purple datura

Do any meet the 'unusual' criteria?

Marlene

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Anyone else - If you're in BC it's too late to mail me anything. If you're in the praries or the maritimes, your package needs to be mailed today. If you're in Ontario or Quebec, you need to get your packages in the mail today of tomorrow.

BP

BP

As of today, this seed exchange is now closed. If your package isn't already in the mail, it is too late. I am waiting for one further package to arrive (from MV) that I know of - if anyone else has sent a package and I have not posted that it has been received, please let me know. As soon as the last package has arrived, I will exchange the seeds and mail them back out to everyone.

BP

I figured I'd get them yesterday, but the big snowstorm we had then meant no mail delivery.

I am not expecting any other packages, so I will swap the seeds tomorrow and get the envelopes back in the mail to everyone by Thursday.

BP

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Marlene

I mentioned already to someone, but thought I should make a general mention, that many of these seeds are somewhat, to very challenging to germinate. Sunflowers are cheap, easy to find, and popular for a reason (super easy to grow), and we were exchanging unusual seeds. Please be sure to look up any/all of the seeds you received that you received that you are unfamiliar with, so that you can have the best chance at success (some good sites for germination info: backyard gardener and Tom Clothier's site). Even with this knowledge, not everyone will be successful with everything. It took me four tries at germinating Actaea before I had any success, and I've been growing from seed for twenty years, so I (usually) know what I'm doing :-)

But the theory is that you learn as much from your failures as from your successes, and where you're successful, you'll have some interesting plants for next to nothing :-)

Happy gardening everyone!

BP

Thanks Bonnie for organizing this!

S