When you get a minute, why not come on here and tell us about what went down on the LA? I've won a few this year, most of which I knew why I wanted it, and what I was gonna do with it. But for a few of them, I was like...

Here's one...

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Looks like a great cross to me! Can't wait to see if DS will pass its striping and dots down to this cross offspring.

I hope it does, Karen! I'm so in love with Chubby Cheeks!
I have the pod parent as well, "Made You Blush", new to my garden this year. Can't wait to see that one bloom!

That looks like a great cross to me too! I can see a beautiful blend of traits.

Fun thread! I always find it interesting to see what crosses/plants are popular with seed buyers on the LA. That looks like a good cross Mary. you get some "strangelove" with the seedlings.

After making 6000+ seeds I really, really shouldn't have bought any seeds. The sellers make some great crosses though and I find myself getting into the bidding every once in a while. Here's a few I picked up....

Love your image of Inner Spirit Betty.
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Emperor's Crocodile is tender in the north, but sdlgs from an earlier purchase of Texas Feathered Fancy X EC have been hardy. This should be another great cross for cristate forms.
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Another cross for cristates, even though Lioness is out of Impossible Dreamer I'm not sure if Lioness would be hardy here. So I figured why not....
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and one of those that-looks-interesting wins.....
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Char! Char! Char! Those crosses are stunning! Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see them blooming!

I'm looking forward to seeing them as well! I've sorted my own seeds down to 1/2, the best crosses for my goals, and left a little wiggle room to add a few outside crosses.

some highlights -
Cranky Rooster X Clown Pants
Heavenly Vampiress X Master Of Arms
Something in my Teeth x Macaan (Matton)
Heavenly Vampiress X Clown Pants
Architectural Digest X Uto
Voilure X Tiger Shark TwiSt
Gender Equality X Pray Without Ceasing
5 seeds new Green-Chartreuse seedling (Matton)
Quoting Hemingway x Master Bold Ruler
On The Brink X Roha

And quite a few more that I do not have room to plant, have to figure something out. Then there were the bonuses.....

Sue, I've seen some of those! Wow! I love them! I'm gonna go look em up in the database!

There's an auction ending tonight that I can't resist! I might need a new furnace, so I'll limit myself to 20.00!

Like A Gee Six x Written In Stone

That's a good one, Mary!

This year, I got interested in some of the huge blooms, like Master Bold Ruler and Purple Goliath. Then of course Clown Pants and broken patterned DLs. Steve had so many incredible crosses.....
And you see that I was after Matton crosses, which are not too available on the LA, but I got a few. The teeth/claws/antlers on them are amazing.

And when I looked at the background on his crosses, quite a few started out with Bass Gibson a couple of generations ago. Which came from Forestlake Ragamuffin, which he is still directly crossing back on his seedlings.

And so I bought a Bass Gibson X Bass Gibson cross, just to see if something interesting came out. Forestlake Ragamuffin had 25 pages of results for child plants in the ADS database.

I can't buy any more!!!

Well I was out of control on LA this year... i purchased from 20 sellers and there must be 200 crosses... Public Service Announcement... dont drink and buy seeds if you have impulse control issues.. Here are a few I am really looking forward to seeing... a couple of these were offered on FB pages by LA Sellers:























Vampire Cloak x Blood Sport


Amazon Fury x Heavenly New Frontiers

Those are some great crosses Sue and Jeff. I was so tempted by the Pray Without Ceasing listings this fall, maybe I'll find something later this winter. I will definitely be interested in seeing the sdlgs from Cranky Rooster X Clown Pants, Sue
Lots of good looking toothies and cristate forms in your collection Jeff!

thanks Char!

I am hoping that they all germinate! This year for some reason, I had quite a few crosses show up with moisture in the bag! Visible humidity in the bag, and paper towel pieces that felt cool/almost moist to the touch. I replaced these paper pieces and put them all back in the fridge but who knows.
I am not going to germinate until at least late January, to hopefullly reduce work for myself.

I have read several comments here and there about drying seeds for 2 days, and this might be what is happening. I think it takes longer than that, if they are harvested from a non-dry pod. But I am certainly not an expert on this.

An aside: a couple of years ago, I was taking a master class in cheesemaking in France. We were instructed to feel for moisture by using the tops of our fingers - curl your hand slightly and touch the cheese or other object with the part of your fingers between the first and second joint. You will be surprised how accurate this is.

Sue, "antlers"! I got Forestlake Ragamuffin last year for a bonus plant, and I made crosses with it this summer!

"dont drink and buy seeds"! Jeff, love them! Feathered Serpent, Memory of Trees! I won Heart at Rest X Avianna Grace, plus, I got some Pray Without Ceasing seeds as a bonus from Mr. Todd cuz I begged and he is the best!

Guess I lost out on that auction. It's over my limit. See, I'm not out of control!

SueVT,
It sounds like the moisture and the paper towel pieces were placed there when placing the seeds in a fridge for Stratification.

Edited to say,

I have to admit my amateur understanding of these things. They have been stored under refrigeration by the seller, and then I add water and peroxide to the bag for 3 weeks prior to planting....

I just didn't see this last year. Some of the experienced sellers like Steve and Ed, had all perfect packets.

SueVT,
Seed of course can be stored under refrigeration in a dry baggie. The moisture is added to the baggie after the seed have dried (to prevent rot) but to break dormancy moisture and refrigeration are recommended. I know when I ship seeds it would be common I would think to find moisture in the baggie still. Too much moisture I have found can cause mold and cause the seeds to actually sprout in the baggie. I used moist vermiculite in the baggies this year for the first time, so far no mold and no sprouted seeds, but it is early yet before spring planting.

Not sure this thread was started for this purpose, but it seems like this happens on the LA. In another thread I asked about single fans being offered and it was suggested that you needed to buy from a lot of vendors to determine which ones normally only shipped single fans and which ones commonly shipped any extra fans that might have been included as the single fan multiplied.So I was hoping to maybe save a few of us from having to learn the hard way. Not asking anyone to "out" the "stingy" ones but to maybe praise the ones who have been generous with the fans when listed as single. I know single fans are often listed for new intros and high in demand plants, so ruling those out in general (unless there are some sellers who still include more than single fans). Also as a side note, shipping on the LA seems to vary quite a bit, some may shipp larger plants or have other reasons for having high shipping rates, any standout vendors on shipping rates?

yes, I have added vermiculite when I intended to sprout them in the refrigerator. That seemed to work pretty well!

This year I found several mushy seeds in a couple of the (moist) packets from one seller, but I think most of them were in the bonus packets.

I would not necessarily attribute the mushy seeds to the moisture in the packets, it could be the seeds were just not viable to began with? Not sure the moisture actually causes the seeds to become mushy, but I suppose if the seed were not good the moisture could certainly contribute to them becoming mushy. I think good seed stored in the refrigerator with some moisture would not become mushy.