NARGS SeedEx

Got my seed today too.  All, or almost all first picks, but then I upped the odds by being a seed packaging volunteer.  Now if it would just warm up enough so I felt like going out to get the potting mix etc to plant the seed.

Jan

Wow, already?  What seeds are you most excited to get?  

I wasn't so quick off the mark in ordering, so I don't expect to receive mine so rapidly.  The seeds that will delight me most (if I am so lucky as to get them) are:
4107 Bukiniczia cabulica Pakistan: Batura Glacier
2042        Onosma nana

Mine arrived on the 8th as well! I might have gotten all first picks but didn't keep a copy of the order form so I'm not sure. But it's close. I'm pleased to have received Campanulas morettiana from the Dolomites and zoysii from the Julian Alps as I'm a Campanulaphile and have ancestors from both locales.

And I am still waiting too . . .
Last year I either forgot to post my order or it disappeared in the mail, the result was I didn't get any seeds at all! - I assumed it was too late to get what I wanted when I discovered the blunder so I didn't send another order.

This year, on the other hand, I am positive I sent the order!

Jeremy wrote:

... from the Dolomites and zoysii from the Julian Alps as I'm a Campanulaphile and have ancestors from both locales.

Three of my grandparents are Slovenian, and I favor the plants from there (the Julian Alps), too.

I'm very happy ;D - the NARGS seeds arrived on Friday - all 35 first choices! That's a first! There was even an extra packet which must been "stuck" between two others which I'd ordered.
Thanks to the Seedex Team for their hard work and to all the seed donors who make the exchange possible!
cheers
fermi

Seems to be shorter to Australia than Europe!

Hi all!

I didn't think these would get here this early but I am so happy that they did.  Most of the species don't require any (or only a few weeks) of cold stratification.  I've got my alpine soil mix and 3" pots ready to go and I start tomorrow!

I received every one of my first choices except for one that came from the alternate list.  Wow!  Thanks to donors 261 (Panayoti Kelaidis and Mike Bone, PKMB) who fulfilled some of my fondest wishes by collecting seed in Kazakhstan. 

Happy Germination!

James

Seeds have arrived to Vermont!! Mostly first choices. The potting mix is inside defrosting, I've gone through the packets noting down germination requirements from the Ontario Rock Garden Society websites seed index...I am ready to get started! YAY!! I love seeds!  ;D

Seeds arrived in the UK at last. Ordered on the first day the list appeared online. Package has Jan 19. 11 on it. I guess my order spent a long time in the Christmas post getting to Nargs and things won't improve until we can order online, or email it through, but better than in the past when I recall not getting the list until well into January some years.
As a seed order "picker" for some time, (and past packer) with the AGS I know the effort put in by volunteers. Thanks everyone over there.

Brian Whyer

Got mine too :D

Seed arrived in wet and windy Lancashire, U.K. this morning ... many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers, donors and organisers.

Lis wrote:

Ah, so there's still hope for mine? Haven't seen anything in the mailbox yet and I'm keen! I know it's a lot of work and I'm grateful so I shouldn't be impatient!

But. . .    ???   :(

;)

I'm starting to wonder where mine is too... hope it's not drifting around aimlessly out there!  You are in Canada, too, aren't you, Liz?  Maybe it's just a function of the cross-border transport, somehow.

Everyday for the past week, here in central Ontario, I've excitedly checked the mailbox and nothing :(  Last year's order arrived February 4Th so I'm not panicking yet.
But speaking of 'wandering around', in 2009 the NARGS seed order had not arrived by mid February so I made some inquiries.  Yes, my order had been filled and sent out!  Weeks went by and I assumed it was stuck in customs or lost.  But it arrived in April!  Our rural mail delivery person came to the door with a very soggy and dirty bundle of mail.....the NARGS seed package and bills.  It had been found two concessions away, in the ditch, revealed by melting snow, near someones mailbox! Talk about being thrilled ;D
This mail lady now receives a lovely bonus every Christmas!
Sharon

Mine haven't arrived either :'(
Sent my order in the day the list came out but I think it takes something like 2 weeks each way for mail to get to destinations between US and Canada. :-X
Am so hoping the online ordering starts next year. :)

Lis wrote:

Oh, well, patience IS a virtue, and I'll continue to work on getting some. Patience, that is. Too late for virtue.

:D

Middleton wrote:

It had been found two concessions away, in the ditch, revealed by melting snow, near someones mailbox! Talk about being thrilled ;D

Mail delivery has been very good around here for last few years... so I'm not yet tempted to start checking the gutters and back alleys.  ;)
(... Although some time ago, we did have a sociopathic mail carrier who would park on our boulevard (lawn at that time) or blocking our driveway - despite extremely ample parking space in this neighborhood - and preferred to bash through people's hedges rather than use the sidewalks.  Instead of using an organized mail pouch as other carriers do, she had loose mail thrown in the backseat of her car and would grab handfuls to deliver at each stop.  We'd get at least one mis-delivered piece of mail each week...  Had the mail been delivered by aerial drop, I think it would have been only slightly less accurate and much less damaging to the landscaping.  :rolleyes:)

maggiepie wrote:

Am so hoping the online ordering starts next year. :)

That would be a great feature!

Middleton wrote:

Our rural mail delivery person came to the door with a very soggy and dirty bundle of mail.....the NARGS seed package ... had been found two concessions away, in the ditch, revealed by melting snow...
Sharon

So, you got a head start on the cold-moist seed stratification(!)

(Sometimes, you have to look hard for a bright side.)

I meant to add, regarding seed packages lost in a snowbank for weeks, that they were fine, nice & dry inside the inner plastic bubble lining!  Just the outer cover had suffered.
Yes Rick, germination of those seeds was excellent, even though they received frigid temperatures....dry. One package of Calceolaria arachnoidea from Chile did not germinate but can't surmise it was too cold for them.

Tuesday's mail had come......no seeds ???

A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who make the Seed Exchange work.
I am delighted with the seeds which arrived yesterday when we were at minus 25ºC.
It is fun to go through the packages and look them up on line and plan how to germinate them.
Thank you to all the volunteers!
                                Caroline

Hi, Caroline!  Great to see you here!  If you have got your seeds, I guess I should be hopeful... ?
I echo your sentiments... thanks to all the volunteers who make these seed exchanges possible!

My seed turned up this morning here in the UK. Was just starting to wonder but it has arrived just as I'm getting started on the Spring issue of the Quarterly so I'll have to take some time out to sandpaper some Astragalus, and sow Castilleja and Towndsendia together in companion sowing (which I read about from Stephanie Ferguson in the Fall issue - it inspired my choices). It's such a great time of year - looking forward.

Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago.  The first pots (those that didn't need strat) are germinated already.

I got my order on Feb. 8... and just realized last night while entering sowing records in a spreadsheet that I had received rather fewer packets than I anticipated because I had forgotten to add my donor number to the order... acckk!  
(Just as well- I already had more than enough seeds to play with anyway, and in addition, my order from Vojtech Holubec just arrived today. :))

I am ashamed to say I have never ordered from Vojtech...mostly he has drylanders that just won't go here anyway.  However, I am now on the seedex list for Goteburg BG...I heard they have a great list.  Have to wait until next year though as they have already sent out this years list.

All,

for those of you lamenting not being able to order seeds online, please be advised the NARGS online SeedEx project is about 25% complete.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances there will be an electronic means of ordering your seeds this year.

To facilitate online ordering, please make sure Bobby Ward is in possession of your current/preferred email address.

Chris Klapwijk
NARGS webmaster

Excellent news!  Thanks very much to those who are making this possible!