I recently got a bunch of catnip seeds in a trade, and I've been wondering what to do with them, lol. I like the idea of using it for human needs, but I'm worried the neighborhood cats may find it and destroy it. Any thoughts on that?

I'm glad Max loved the catnip I sent. I recognize my little colored stickers in the bag. I'd be happy to send him a bag of fresh catnip of his very own this summer! It grows wild here and spreads with ease. Our barn kitties are used to it, but the resident tom cat never tires of rolling in it. This winter my husband spied him chewing on the dried stems! Can't wait to receive my package. New seeds really help those of us stuck in cold, snowy winters.

Got my package today! What a wonderful assortment of seeds. Thank you to all who sent seeds my way. Pat, thank you for all the work you put in to making this swap a success & for being a fantastic hostess!

Katie

lovesblooms, regarding sneaking catnip past cats out in the garden, the best, most monstrous Nepeta cataria we ever grew happened when it self-sowed in a brush pile. Any other time we tried to grow it, cats would roll around in it until that part of the garden looked like a moon-scape.

I am kicking myself over a lost opportunity, when years ago beside a parking lot near one of the trails we used to walk along, someone dumped a bird cage. How wonderful it would have been to grow catnip through that, but my brain cells didn't kick in until a day or so later.

Might anyone have any more ideas on how to transform an eyesore into an elegant, architectural garden feature?

Can't wait till my package arrives! This swap was so much fun to do!

Primrose, what an incredible idea! I'll have to think of something like that... maybe a used colander or large upturned basket with big holes? Hm. Architectural... do you have a particular place in mind?

To the wonderful participant who sent me âÂÂWild Yellow Plumâ from California:

Thank you so much for sending the seeds, along with the note about whether it is Prunus americana or Prunus subcorda, and the photo of fruit & leaves! Both species occur in that area. Klamath plum occurs there naturally. American wild plum, being the most abundant Prunus sp. in the US, has been planted widely even in California.

American wild plum has leaves that are sharply double-toothed with a long tapered point. Fruit is 1â in diameter (larger in some cultivars). Flowers are 1â wide.

Klamath plum leaves are round (broad with a rounded tip). Fruit is 3/4" in diameter and usually oval in shape (a distinguishing characteristic of this species). Its flowers are 1/2" wide.

Based on your photo, I think this is American wild plum, Prunus americana :D

Most of my flower beds are the Victorian cottage garden style, but behind our barn I have a rustic bed. I salvaged an old metal hog watering trough that I'm going to use to hold big pots of tall zinnias, either Big Tetra or Burpeeana Giant.
A couple of years ago 2 of my favorite large, decorative flower pots got broken, so I turned them over for toad houses. The broken piece is the door opening.
Another thought I have is to use parts of our 1800's barn wood for gnome houses or doors that can be placed at the bottom of tree trunks. For cute ideas check out ebay.
For my Japanese Maple tree 'forest' (about 75 trees I started from seed), I purchased tiny figures of fishermen, cranes, a little drawbridge, etc. to make it look like pen jing, the Chinese version of bonsai where they create little landscapes. But, with our free range chickens, I've been afraid to do it.
Ah, so many ideas, so little time, LOL!
Wishing for my seeds today - know I'll be pleased!

I got my seeds yesterday. Have not had time to open it yet. My husband came home from overseas yesterday.

Congratulations Lullaby! Your seeds will wait.

Mine will wait too. Well, just until after dinner. The mailman just came and I am going to make myself wait a couple of hours before I dig in.
Back with a report later.

Received my seeds today ! Its better than Christmas ! ;-) Wow, what a great assortment, so many of my favorites that I wished for ;-) and it is amazing how many packets you can get in a small flat rate box ! ;-) thank you all for sharing your wonderful seeds with me ! I love them all !

and ... thank you Patricia for taking time to hostess this and putting in such effort to make this a wonderful swap ! Once again I am reminded how much of a blessing Garden Web and this wonderful community of generous and caring gardeners is.

Love, Iris aka rane_grow

My package only shows it got checked January 22, 2014 , 11:36 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility
ABILENE, TX 79601, although it has a place for the 23rd it doesn't show anything......what's up with that? I was so looking forward to getting it today.
It only took 2 days to get down there......:( (whining LOL)
I have my fingers crossed it shows up Monday but I was hoping to be able to dig into it today....oh well.

Lullaby enjoy your time with your hubby, you have plenty of time to play with those seeds!!!

Anyone else get their packages? Come on folks let me enjoy the excitement through you LOL.

Thanks again Pat, I sure hope you got some cool stuff too.

:) Aqua

Got my seeds today !!!! Thanks to everyone, especially Patricia for putting this together.
Duane

Got my seeds. Thank you to all that shared your seeds with me.
Patricia, thank you for all the time and work you put in this swap.

aqua, my dc number gave the same results up until my package was delivered so I'm not sure the lack of updates on the USPS website means much.

Highlights this year: There were some very nice seeds in my package. The wide variety of single colored Zinnias is great! I plant o make islands of 5 plants of single colors in several gardens. Also, the nice assortment of green flowers and white/cream colors are perfect for my imaginary color scheme.
Thanks Patricia, and everyone!
Alana

I got my package today, and am totally blown away by what's in it - much on my list - artemisia ludoviciana, the great 'singular sensation' choices, the dahlias, oh, the dahlias! - and others I thought of too late to add - what, are you all psychic or something?!? Patricia, thank you soooo much for hosting, and you really didn't have to send back any postage; I included it for distributing extras.

I am one very happy camper!

Aqua, I hope your package and the others still enroute arrive soon! I don't understand why the mail runs quickly one time and slowly the next. Weather, of course, can slow it down, but I see that many packages sent to the Northeast and Midwest were being delivered today.

I did receive many of the seeds I wished for! Thank you, everyone, for sharing with me. It was like a little bit of Christmas every time I opened a package and found seeds for me too. I have not had time to go through and properly admire each packet, but I will. lol I'll even get around to sowing some of them! It's time to start tomatoes and peppers now to transplant outside at the end of March.

Yipeeee! My seeds came today. I had a grand time sorting them into vegetable and flower piles while dreaming of spring. I am amazed at the wonderful selection that I received and sincerely thank everyone who took the time to check out my wish list and package seeds for me. A huge thank you to Pat also for all the organizing and donation of her time involved in a swap of this scope. I will be posting on my wish list the varieties that I received and will thoroughly enjoy planting and growing each and every one.

Hello,

I have to say that I was not really paying much attention when I made my list for the swap. I breezed through 1 seed catalogue and ended it there.

I got my package today and what a pleasant surprise it was. I am amazed at how generous gardeners are. I wont name names BUT I got seeds that I never expected to get in a swap.

I will think of you all when I see them blooming in my gardens. Thank you to everyone that shared their seeds with me...

Patricia, you deserve a medal for a job well done!

Lisa/ishare

We were out all day, and when I came home late tonight I receive the package. Thank you, Patricia, and thank you everyone for sharing the seeds with me. I haven't gone through all the packets yet, and I'm already amazed with all the great selections of the seeds.

Thank you again everyone.

hey this is me =)
(see below quote)
i feel semi famous now =P

and yes you are probably right. either prunus americana, or myrobalan plum had been my guesses...and i thought it was possibly the klamath plum just because this is their homebase (i live on the klamath)....

and thanks for that description, the simplified version thats more clear than looking up pictures and trying to figure it out....maybe i will be able to positively id the klamath plum if i find it. yes the leaves on this one are toothed, and long, not rounded, and the tree has a graceful way. with long arching branches...unlike other wild plums i have seen which look a bit ragged... err something like that...

actually theres a stand of about 12 of those trees close by here, i gathered soooo many awesome amounts of those little yellow plums last fall.

i just havent been completely sure and tried to idenitfy them positively. well always learning and plant/tree id is tricky many times.... i think its possible there some slight variations too...like prunus americana can look a bit different depending on regional differences? some yellow some red...other difference...

there are lots of wild plums out here...theres also a lot of old homesteads where stuff that was cultivated is now gone feral and abandoned...so a lot of fruit trees and grapes are from an older homestead thats now abandoned.
i spend time trying to positively id wild stuff, but i am still learning and dont want to misidentify it.

but yay =) glad you enjoyed those and thanks for the id help.

cant wait to get my package =)

quote
To the wonderful participant who sent me âÂÂWild Yellow Plumâ from California:

Thank you so much for sending the seeds, along with the note about whether it is Prunus americana or Prunus subcorda, and the photo of fruit & leaves! Both species occur in that area. Klamath plum occurs there naturally. American wild plum, being the most abundant Prunus sp. in the US, has been planted widely even in California.

American wild plum has leaves that are sharply double-toothed with a long tapered point. Fruit is 1â in diameter (larger in some cultivars). Flowers are 1â wide.

Klamath plum leaves are round (broad with a rounded tip). Fruit is 3/4" in diameter and usually oval in shape (a distinguishing characteristic of this species). Its flowers are 1/2" wide.

Based on your photo, I think this is American wild plum, Prunus americana :D

Received my seeds today, and I too think y'all are a bunch of psychics - how would I ever have known to ask for those particular seeds? They are perfect for a small cottage garden, and quite a few special things came in the color ranges of orange/apricot, white or near-white, amd various kinds of blues...and others that introduce just enough chaos in my plans to avoid b o r i n g. I'm looking forward to them all, but my goodness - Nasturtium 'Troika'??? Y'all are Fairy-Garden-Mothers, for sure :) Thank you Pat and my fellow enabling swappers.
- - - - - - - -
ps - lovesblooms, no I don't have a particular example in terms of a place to illustrate what I mean by "architectural" - that abandoned bird cage was a serendipital find - I usually don't know something until after I trip over it.
----------------
pps - Pat - you made my day with that pic of ecstatic Max - thank you

Just a quick THANK YOU to Pat and Everyone. My huge envy arrived on Sat. I've only had time to peak and it looks awesome. It'll be a week before I can dig in though, since I'm leaving in 1/2 hour for the airport. Flying south for work for a week and looking forward to it, since we aren't going to be getting above zero for a few days again.

Thanks again Pat for your GREAT work with the swap

Sandy

My package arrived yesterday.Awesome.Thanks to everyone who sent in seeds for me and Patricia for doing a excellent job.Got several of my wishes,and some great suprises..

Got my seeds yesterday and was so giddy! What a great assortment. I started pulling the ones I have to wintersow pronto and making up labels last night. I'm hoping to get some done and outside before it gets below zero again on Monday. I haven't even sown anything yet this year. I don't want to be out there trying to dig out a spot for them and get them all lined up when it is that cold! Thanks so much to everyone.

I've received my package and opened it today. What an assortment! I'm still sorting through them and taking out those that will be wintersown or need to be started very early. There were some very interesting seeds in there that I hadn't expected. Excited!

I can definitely say that my wishes were fulfilled. Thank you, everyone!

Wow! Thank you so much everyone and Pat! I rec'd mine on Saturday. What an amazing selection! I am very pleased with everything, thank you all!

Received my package on Saturday as well. Briefly looked through all the seeds and definitely appreciate each one. Thank you Pat for hosting and for everyone who participated! I am going to have to spend some time planning out this year's garden. There is just too many seeds that I want to grow and just not enough garden space for it all.

I think it would be interesting if everyone in this swap wrote "found" in their wish list for every seed they were looking for. I definitely marked off several on my list and am very happy !!!!
Duane

Duane, I'm in the process of doing that now...have the veggies recorded and am still working on flowers. I can't resist looking them up online as I go. This will also help me in keeping track of my seed inventory. I'm amazed at all my wishes that have been filled. If we had to pay for all these seeds, it would cost quite a lot, especially when many packets are $2.50 - $3.00 each or more. Thank you everyone!

My package arrived today...many thanks to all you wonderful folks for your generosity. Special thanks to Patricia for keeping this swap going!

I'm glad so many have received their packages and are enjoying going through their new seeds! Hopefully the rest of the packages sent by regular mail will be arriving soon.

hello
I got my SEEDS today
yay SEEDS
thanks for my SEEDS
hope you all enjoy your SEEDS
michelle

My seeds arrived today! I am doing the seed dance! I'm so happy. Every time someone tried to tell me something at the dinner table I'd interrupt with, "Helenium! Red Helenium!" or "Cinnamon Sunflowers! Look! Look!" They didn't think seeds were that impressive, but they have learned to play the game and they said, "Very nice, mom. Be a good girl now and let everyone talk!" lol
Heidi

If any of you are interested, I have posted many of my seed envelopes on photobucket. If you type in 'photobucket seed envelopes" they will show up. It's saved as a picture so right click, save it to your computer and then print as many as you want. Just an option if you're interested. You may have to search photobucket, seed envelope and the flower or veggie you'd like. I also have some blank ones on there.

My seeds are here!
Thank You to all !
Will post more when I get a chance to look at them.
gmom

Got mine today! SOOOO many of my wishes were granted thank you ALL, this was so much fun, and our wonderful host: Great job, thank you so much, and I noticed I owe you a stamp, sorry about that. :-P

I received my seeds Monday (yesterday) since it is now after midnight LOL.
I can not tell you how blown away from the selections I was gifted. Thank you all so very very much, really. I wish we could express our gratitude in type. Just let me tell you I pretty much did a little happy dance!

Blue tomatoes THANK YOU ALL who sent the different varieties of those, since I found how healthy they are I truly wanted to grow those.
True Red Cranberry beans I honestly did not think I would ever get those, I only found one company online who sells them! THANK YOU!!!
Nasturtiums, y'all thank you so much! I absolutely adore them and no matter how many I receive of those it will never be enough, I went to Walmart the other day and purchased 8 packs as well LOL, I plan on planting them in a big swatch of the garden this year! But y'all sent me ones I did not have, THANK YOU!
Alana, you sent me something I can't remember what it was (I am not looking at them at the moment, old brain can't remember) but when I saw it all I could think was Bless her heart! Thank you.
I truly appreciate you all really, but one person I must give thanks to is jaynine thank you so much for ALL you sent me, you truly blessed me with all you sent. I can not thank you enough and all I can say is I think I am officially in love with you now LOL......but seriously, you humble me I truly felt blessed with each pack I pulled out from you.
Patricia I am glad you got some things, I felt bad because I didn't have anything for you. I hope you appreciate the gift I sent though, I know we can never have enough of that particular item LOL. Thank you again for taking the time to do this.

:) Aqua

Thanks Pat for all your hard work- I received my seeds yesterday. Typically I record them as I go- and I completely forgot until I was done. oh well. I cannot wait to start sowing and growing!

I got my seeds yesterday evening and was way too excited to post--well, I was way too excited to physically do anything other than go through every seed pack right then and there. The little one got new books the same day and after devouring them she was determined I should read them with her, but it was a futile effort, as I was lost until past her bedtime, lol!

Thank you all.

This was my very first group trade, and you all made it the greatest year gardening-wise I have ever had--and I haven't even sowed them yet. Just the generosity--and even the love I can see in some cases (someone sent me their very own family heirloom tomato!)--and the caring that someone else should have something you have, too. I didn't know for the first two years! I was ordering--and I'm happy I did or I would have had nothing to share myself this year--but I never understood the round robin trading and was kind of intimidated by it. Now I know and the seed catalogs have me for my want list only except in very special cases, lol.

I can't believe the variety. I asked for a lot of things in general, like cosmos and zinnias and alyssum, but seriously, I hardly got two of the same seed packet--it was incredible--and even things I added after the fact and just hoped to scrounge from subsequent trades. And then there were the pipe dreams come true, like angelica gigas, red yucca, and geum! These are plants I have never seen in real life--and many others I'd never even heard of.

You all must have the most gorgeous and bountiful gardens--or at least I'm wishing them for you! I've learned more about gardeners and gardening this year than I ever expected.

Thank you all.

Oh, and Patricia: You're special.

Got my seeds today went thru once and very much happy with what I got. The selection is good and it has almost all the varieties I was looking for.

I am so pleased with what I got. Thanks everyone for sending the nice selection for me.

I will sort it out and start sowing. Can't wait to grow them.

Pat, thank you so much. I never thought I will get Moringa and Kochia seeds. These are rare seeds and I was really surprised. Thanks for extras too.

Got mine yesterday. Nice selection. Thanks Patricia for all of the hard work.

Thanks everyone,
Debby

Received my seeds Tuesday, and many of my wishes were fulfilled. Thanks everyone and especially Patricia for putting this all together!

It will take a while for Sorellina's package to get to her in Canada, but I am assuming that everyone else has received theirs. Nearly everyone has posted that they did, and no one has contacted me that they didn't.

I hope everyone is enjoying sorting seeds and perhaps doing some winter sowing or planting indoors.

I enjoyed hosting this swap and appreciate all of you. I hope everyone has an early spring and fabulous garden this year!

hey all
i just went to the post office and got my huge envelope of seeds =)
thanks to everyone, i got some really excellent stuff!

now i have a major shortage of plant pots and places to plant all this! but i will manage to find some pots, and gift some seeds to a community garden project =)

Hi, all, will the person who sent the Maskacik pattypan squash please email me? I wanted to ask some questions, since I can't find much info on it on the net.

Thanks!

Hi,

I sent you the Maskacik pattypan squash which was from one of my international traders, Rob in Slovakia. It is dark green with some light spotting and will get fairly large if you don't watch it frequently. It must be very rugged since it was one of the few veggies that did well in our freaky weather last year. It was extremely wet, so the garden went in late. On the seed pack Rob had written Patison Maskacik. I surmised that Patison was Slovakian for pattypan, but maybe that isn't correct. I think that I posted a picture on my Dave's Garden page. Hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for all the info and for sharing this squash, Mary--knew it must be pretty exotic. I'll definitely need a pattypan that can get through weather like last year--mine did their best, but eventually succumbed to all that rain. Is this a short or long-vining one?

My (organic) Maskacik grew very much like a zucchini...didn't seem particularly long-vining, with good production. Expect to have several on each plant.

Would the person that sent me these Senna seeds please email with more information or a picture of plant/flower, if possible.
I did receive Senna Marilandica and several others from my want list and none of the other seeds look like these.

This post was edited by ruthz on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 14:38

Julianna (Sorellina) got her box today. She is in Canada and can't post in this forum, but she is delighted with the seeds that she received and thanks everyone. I'm glad her box arrived safely, though it took a while to make the trip through customs, etc.

As far as I know, everyone has now received their seeds. I hope everyone has a great gardening year and is ready for another WLOMWL Swap in the fall!