Moved to Washington

I've moved to Washington state, and we live on an acre lot, so I have a lot more room to grow stuff outside. I have discovered that it takes more than dropping some seeds into the ground to make a garden. I guess I don't remember all the things my mother did long ago to make her garden grow, but I'm learning. I love listening to Cordi's podcast. She also has a great website.

Fragrant Spring or Chinese Toon Tree

I didn't know they were one and the same. Thank you Greenblogosphere.
Now I have a 5 foot Fragrant Spring tree that I got from Raintree Nursery and two little Chinese Toons that I've grown from seed I guess I'll have a Fragrant Spring grove in a few years. The great thing about them is that their leaves are edible. I say the more edible perennial plants you have the better.

Can't anyone grow an Avocado from seed any more?

For the past 4 or 5 years I have been trying to grow an Avocado tree from seeds of avocados that I buy in the grocery store. None have sprouted. I remember in younger years doing this frequently, and I'd say about half of the seeds sprouted. They usually succombed to negligent care later on, but it was not hard to get them started. Now, I cannot get any to sprout. Is this because of they are being irradiated? They are not labeled as being irradiated. I have even bought organic avocados with no sprouting success.

I bought the book The After-Dinner Gardening Book by Richard W. Langer some years ago. (Actually recommended by a reader of this blog.) The book is out of print, but you can buy used copies. It tells about a New York City man's obsession with growing plants from seeds and remnants of foods eaten. It's an engrossing read, but I doubt that Mr. Langer would have as much success these days.

More on Gac fruit (Wooden Turtle)

I found a source for Gac fruit seeds as in my post last year. They call it Wooden Turtle. I love perusing the Horizon Herbs site. The guy talks familiarly about almost all the plants they offer.

Another source for Lemon Grass

I found another source for Lemon Grass. They sell the Cymbopogon citratus variety. Tropilab also has seeds for other tropical fruits like Barbados Cherry and Guanabana.

Lemongrass and Added new link

Sand Mountain Herbs has lots and lots of seeds of useful herbs. Actually many will be recognizable as common weeds. Is someone really going to plant Dandelion? On the other hand, there are plants that supposedly grow in the wild that I don't know how to recognize such as Mallow and Feverfew. I'm going to get some of these seeds, grow them and then maybe I'll be able to recognize the wild plant.

I don't have much of a problem with mosquitoes where I live, but if I did, I would certainly get some lemongrass seeds. These people swear by its use as a mosquito repellent. Lemongrass has also been scientifically tested. Sand Mountain sells Cymbopogon flexuosus but the mosquito repellent articles refer to Cymbopogon citratus. Apparently they are very similar and interchangeable for most uses.

Sweet Prayer, Katemfe--I give up

The Sweet Prayer, aka Katemfe (or Katempfe) or ego, is a Western African plant that is 1500 times sweeter than sugar. But I give up; after looking high and low on the Internet for months, I can't find a supplier of the seeds or plant anywhere. The scientific name is Thaumatococcus daniellii. Apparently some company has synthesized the sweet ingredient thaumatin, but it does not seem to have been commercialized much. For the conspiracy minded, maybe aspartame interests are paying someone off.

In Australia there is an invasive plant they call sweet prayer, but there is some kind of mistake, because they say it is Thaumastochloa danielii which does not show up anywhere on plant indices. It is the correct family Marantaceae, but it appears that the genus is wrong. So if someone in Australia wants to check this out, I would like to have some seeds from this "weed" if it really is sweet prayer.

Grow your own soap tree

Newstarget came out with an article about soap nuts. They contain soapy substances called saponins. You can use them to wash your clothes and make a general purpose cleanser. They also can be used as a shampoo and skin cleanser; you have to be careful as the nuts are poisonous to eat. But it seems uneconomical to import soap all the way from India. Top Tropicals has seeds and says the tree can be grown inside in large tubs or outside in warmer climates. There are also seeds on ebay.

Apparently there are several different varieties, because I've come up with Sapindus mukorossi, Sapindus detergens and Sapindus saponaria, and there is a native soapberry tree in the Southwest USA (New Mexico, Arizona and Texas). There are actually quite a few plants that have these saponins and can be used as soap. Plants for a Future has a good article about them, and here's and interesting article about several soap plants but mostly the soap lilly.

Free Ginkgo Biloba seeds

My Ginkgo seeds are growing. I've had them in the fridge since last fall when I picked them up from a park that has several ginkgo trees in downtown Portland. I put them in plastic bags (out of the fridge) until they started to sprout roots and then planted them. I have about 6 growing now.

I still have about 50 seeds left, so for about 10 of my wonderful readers that wander by, I'll send you some seeds free if you send me an email (kdavidhizaratgmaildotcom) with your mailing address. Some things just can't be done virtually. No guarantees, about a third of mine have sprouted so far.

Update: I have just sent out the last of my seeds for this year. Not sure if I will do this again or not. Have to get downtown at the right time to pick up the seeds. Hope all those who have received seeds are enjoying their little trees.

Have a Hoodia sprout

The plastic bag method is just the best for getting seeds started.

I had a few Hoodia seeds left over from the ones I bought last year, so a few weeks ago I planted all but two in small pots. Nothing has happened with them. A few days ago, I put the last two seeds into a plastic bag with a damp paper towel. In just a couple of days I have roots popping out. So from now on that's how I'm going to propagate everything.

I also have two pomegranate seedlings that I started that way coming up. I got the seeds from some pomegranates I bought at the grocery store. Now I'm waiting for my Ginkgo biloba seeds to sprout. I picked up a bagful of them from a park in downtown Portland, where they have a bunch of beautiful old ginkgo trees growing.