Hi, Trudi. This is waaaay to funny; I thought it was just me (I mean just my penstemon, not ME)! My 'Husker Red' just reeks. I warned the recipient so that she wouldn't think I sent rancid seeds, LOL.

What to do? I don't think we're supposed to do anything, except maybe warn the recipient, if any...

Say, off topic I have a WS question for you, so please check in and take a peek, okay?

Constance.

I sat down with my Print Master Program and made a mini-label with two skunks surrounding the words STINKY SEEDS!

I'll use plastic for packing the seeds and add a label to each.

Hopefully I'll be forgiven ;-)

T

Good idea about the plastic, Trudi; although sometimes you can smell right thru it, LOL. Thank goodness the flowers don't stink!

Con.

I often wondered why my cat always goes over to my "Husker Red" after opening the deck door. She's generally an indoor cat, but I let her out once in a while. Last year I harvested my "Husker Red" by cutting off the stem and sticking in a paper bag to harvest. It was truly a rude awakening when I went to get some seed! I don't think anything works to de-scent them. When I trade them, I put them in a plastic ziplock wrapped in a piece of coffee filter, and too, label 'STINKY' seeds, lol...

Just an idea...next time I get a 'stinker' of a trade, I think I'll send a charming thank you note, and include some 'Husker Red' seed just to demonstrate no hard feelings, LOL

Just kidding, right?

NOW I'm going to HAVE to try saving Penstemon seeds. I've got P. palmeri, P. eatonii, P. parryi and P. strictus growing happily in my garden. I'm a biologist by profession, and like most biologists, I have a certain weakness for Really Bad Smells.

Curiously, Fritillaria agrestis (common name Stinkbells) seed does NOT smell of anything.

Some Salvia varieties, specifically S. clevelandii, have a pleasant scent.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I know that some people can detect scents that others can't. Hubs and I often walk at beautiful Old Westbury Gardens, where they have a boxwood garden. I say they smell like a month old catbox on a rainy day, Hubs doesn't notice them at all. Some folks say that cleome stinks like that, but I can't notice it. I did open up my rubbermaid container of penstemon seeds for him to whiff and he agreed they're stinky, but he said just a bit. I think they are downright awful PU Gross. As usual we have a tendancy to argue over everything, including how bad seeds stink.

To each their own, but keep a nose-pinching clothespin nearby!

I think that centranthus ruber (red valarian) stinks like rotten toe cheese...
... and society garlic smells like skunk...

Amanda 'romando'

do your husker red come true from seed? or are helf of them green? i like the leaves better than the flowers :)

My penstemon hirsutus seeds are stinky for awhile but it seems to go away after they dry a bit more. I think I was harvesting them a little too early. Do they need cold before they sprout?

I've not noticed that they need it. MAny of the pentemons I have were started outside in July, I also start them with Winter Sowing. They are, like many perennials, very easy to get going.

Thanks Trudy, some new houses are being built behind me and most of mine were killed during the wiring (I'm the lucky one with the box at the corner). Had a few seeds so I stuck them in a pot to see what happened.