Thanks Dawn! This list looks great - I just sent off for a bunch of catalogs from another list you posted. I particularly love the look of Old House Garden's dahlias... Do they do well in OK? I loved them were I use to live, but the climates are considerably different.

A couple of other small companies (both located in the Pacific NW) that specialize in unusual herbs, etc. are:

thymegarden.com
nicholsgardennursery.com

Also, how long do you keep your seeds? I was told to keep them in the fridge in a jar with silica gel - does that sound about right?

I've been off the forum for a bit...just finished a really busy third semester of grad school...one more to go! Good to visit with y'all again. :-)

Ada

Hi Ada ... not sure where you live but the dinner plate dahlia's I planted last year in Tulsa went wild so I would say anything in the NE, east Central or SE would probably be fine for them. When I dug up the tubers they had increased dramatically and the blooming went from July until we had a killing frost in November.

Brian

Hi Ada,

Glad you enjoyed the list and it is good to see you here on the forum again.

Dahlias do well in many parts of Oklahoma, although they can struggle with the heat some years. I suppose they would have a hard time in the western and southwestern parts of the state, but I have grown them here in southern OK, both in the ground (highly amended clay soil) and in containers, and they do pretty well. In the worst of the summer heat (generally August here in Marietta), the lighter flower colors tend to brown out a little if exposed to too much afternoon sun, so I prefer to plant them in an area where they have morning sun and at least some afternoon shade. I also tend to go with darker flower colors.

I think seeds will keep the longest in airtight containers in a refrigerator or freezer, although I do not store them that way myself. (My fridges and freezers are too full of garden produce, and I have way too many seeds--they'd take up far too much space.) I store mine in their original paper or foil seed packets inside of zip lock bags, with little packs of silica to absorb moisture. All the zip lock bags are grouped inside of larger zip lock bags by category.....tomato, pepper, corn, annual flowers, etc., and the whole mass (or mess) of bags is kept inside a plastic tote with a locking lid. The tote I use is about the size of a laundry basket, and it is pretty full. I get great seed germination and some of my seeds are ten years old and still germinate. Some seeds will store longer than others. Carrot seed, for example, is one type that does not maintain good viability for more than a couple of years.

Congrats, Ada, on the successful completion of another semester of grad school. I can't believe you've only got one more to go--that's terrific. I hope you're enjoying your break between semesters.

I'm glad Brian shared the news of his success with dahlias with you. I love dahlias, and if I had any sense at all, I wouldn't try to grow them here in our hot summers. I don't grow as many of the dinner plate sized ones, though, because the heat can affect them in a bad year....with my idea of a bad year being one in which the August highs consistently exceed 105 for a couple of weeks. Luckily, every summer is not that hot.....but, when that kind of heat hits, the dahlias are not happy campers. I tend to go with smaller ones, but have grown the larger ones. It seems like, at least in southcentral OK, the larger the flower, the more the heat bothers it. I would think they'd do fine there where you live.

Dawn

Thanks Brian and Dawn!

I, too, love Dahlias and am excited that they are good bets here, except in extreme heat. But, then again, extreme heat wipes out lots of things, including me!!

Dawn - I'm so glad I'm almost finished with this degree. Now, I just have to decide if I'm going on to a PhD now or later...not looking forward to more years of school, but I'd rather get it over with. We'll see! Also, thank you for the seed storage information; it's great to know so many will keep for years. :-)

Happy Garden Planning!

Ada

Hey, Dawn, I just wanted to mention about Reneesgarden, I did a search for something or other and her website came up amongst the results. My Norton flagged it as being possible for virus due to unsolicited e-mails. Has anybody else noticed that? I was real disappointed as someone I know has bought things from there that aren't available anywhere else.

Did anyone mention seedsforthee? Their seeds are priced around $1 a package and postage is low. But there's not a very big selection. I bought several things from them just this month and got it really quick. They even sent me a couple of bonus seed packages. I only spent $9.

I don't store seeds in the freezer, although I have tried it before. I think freezing temps damage pepper seeds and some other seed that needs warm soil to germinate. I would surely never put bean seed in the freezer. But George would be the final authority on that one, I bet. I like to store seed in the refrigerator but I haven't the room. My mom had a refrigerator with a freezer compartment that went across the top and a tray beneath it for ice cube storage. Ice makers hadn't been invented yet when it was manufactured. I swear, that refrigerator held a ton of stuff. My big side-by-side is constantly getting so full I can't pack another thing into it. If I have leftovers we have to eat them before I cook something else that's going to generate leftovers or I have to freeze them. It's so annoying to spend all that money on a refrigerator and not have much room in it. And the freezer side? So much of it is taken by the ice maker, and there's a big tall space with no basket, I finally bought something I could put in there, made of coated wire, with 2 wire mesh baskets, but it's annoying to have to do that. Next time I have to get a refrigerator, I'm buying a separate ice maker and getting a refrigerator with the freezer compartment across the top (or bottom).

As long as they are dry I think one can store any seed in the freezer. I know, back in 1985 I sent seed to a couple tomatoes and our favorite heirloom squash (Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin) to a pen pal friend in Broken Arrow, OK. We were in Indiana at the time. In 2002 I ran across his address and decided to inquire if he might have some of that tomato seed. I had lost my Prudence Purple tomato seed, when we moved back to the USA, in 2001. Anyway, it turns out that he hadn't been gardening for years, due to arthritis. But he actually had some of that 1985 seed in a jar in his deep freeze (both squash and tomatoes). He got his daughter to dig it out for him and mailed it to me. It grew, in 2002, as if it had been produced in 2001, instead of 1984 or 1985!

Seed needs to be dry in order to store well frozen. Moisture will ruin it. Bean and squash seeds are dry enough if one can snap a seedin half. I've done it with and without silica gel. When removing seed from the freezer on ought not to open the air tight container until it has equalized with room temperature. I wait a couple hours just to be safe.

One more note: With both corn and beans, I find it important to freeze my seed, for at least a day or two, right after harvest. This kills weevil eggs, which would hatch out months later and destroy the seed.

George

I didn't see a listing for
www.crosmanseed.com

They have a decent selection of basic seeds, many for $.59 a package. I've not ordered from them, but it was recommended on the Winter Sowing forum.