This Spring I planted lots of seeds gathered in the Autumn from our Virginia
creeper. I only thought a few would germinate so planted hundreds in a
couple of seed trays. Similar with Rosa Rugosa pips and some seeds donated
by our neighbour from one of his shrubs - I don't know what it is called but
the seed pods were very much like those on laburnum.

Yesterday I pricked out and potted 87 Rosa Rugosa seedlings which will
eventually make a nice hedge but 103 Virginia creepers have got me
pondering. I can probably use half a dozen around our old stone barn, but it
looks like all visitors will be given a gift of one whether they like them
or not! As for the 60 or so shrubs, I don't even know what they are called
but look like ending up with a new shrubbery.

Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to let
the seedlings die.

David.

The bloody rabbits ate most of my "too many seedlings" when I planted them
out.

Mike

Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.

David.

The bloody rabbits ate most of my "too many seedlings" when I planted them
out.

Mike

Any seed trays or seedling that may be of interest to rabbits I keep within
the veg garden - it is enclosed with wire mesh fencing to keep them out.
Occasionally I see them lurking outside the perimeter, but they haven't got
in yet. Just a pity it isn't mole proof too.

David.

On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 14:45:50 +0100, David \(Normandy\) wrote
(in article ):

This Spring I planted lots of seeds gathered in the Autumn from our Virginia
creeper. I only thought a few would germinate so planted hundreds in a
couple of seed trays. Similar with Rosa Rugosa pips and some seeds donated
by our neighbour from one of his shrubs - I don't know what it is called but
the seed pods were very much like those on laburnum.

Yesterday I pricked out and potted 87 Rosa Rugosa seedlings which will
eventually make a nice hedge but 103 Virginia creepers have got me
pondering. I can probably use half a dozen around our old stone barn, but it
looks like all visitors will be given a gift of one whether they like them
or not! As for the 60 or so shrubs, I don't even know what they are called
but look like ending up with a new shrubbery.

Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to let
the seedlings die.

Oh David, a man after my own heart! I currently have about 70 Verbena
Bonariensis, about 30 Coreopsis, over 100 yellow alyssum (well, we do like
them g), and also much to amazement 40 healthy Bill Mackenzie clematis
seedlings. The last was really a freak, since we wanted one extra clematis
plant, the books all said to sow seeds in autumn, but I casually bunged some
of last year's seed heads in a pot before we went on holiday in May. The pot
erupted, I pricked them out and they are now all about 4 inches high and
trying to climb. I really don't know what to do with them next but I do know
that even in a garden our size 40 is too much!




--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church with conservation
churchyard:
http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
This Spring I planted lots of seeds gathered in the Autumn from our
Virginia creeper. I only thought a few would germinate so planted hundreds
in a couple of seed trays. Similar with Rosa Rugosa pips and some seeds
donated by our neighbour from one of his shrubs - I don't know what it is
called but the seed pods were very much like those on laburnum.

Yesterday I pricked out and potted 87 Rosa Rugosa seedlings which will
eventually make a nice hedge but 103 Virginia creepers have got me
pondering. I can probably use half a dozen around our old stone barn, but
it looks like all visitors will be given a gift of one whether they like
them or not! As for the 60 or so shrubs, I don't even know what they are
called but look like ending up with a new shrubbery.

Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.

Yes. I still have some tomato seedlings and no room for planting them -
after giving lots away.

Then there are the pine treeling grown from the seeds from a cone from
daughter's farm. I thought she might like some more but she said I must be
joking!

Mary

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
This Spring I planted lots of seeds gathered in the Autumn from our
Virginia creeper. I only thought a few would germinate so planted hundreds
in a couple of seed trays. Similar with Rosa Rugosa pips and some seeds
donated by our neighbour from one of his shrubs - I don't know what it is
called but the seed pods were very much like those on laburnum.

Yesterday I pricked out and potted 87 Rosa Rugosa seedlings which will
eventually make a nice hedge but 103 Virginia creepers have got me
pondering. I can probably use half a dozen around our old stone barn, but
it looks like all visitors will be given a gift of one whether they like
them or not! As for the 60 or so shrubs, I don't even know what they are
called but look like ending up with a new shrubbery.

Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.

David.

I have that problem too David, but usually manage to give mine away to
family and friends....maybe you could put them outside on a table with a
sign "free plants"
Jenny

I have that problem too David, but usually manage to give mine away to
family and friends....maybe you could put them outside on a table with a
sign "free plants"
Jenny

Interesting idea, though I suspect in France that would actually be illegal
and my first 'customers' could be the Gendarmes! They have some weird laws
here which are very alien to those from the UK.

David.

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...

I have that problem too David, but usually manage to give mine away to
family and friends....maybe you could put them outside on a table with a
sign "free plants"
Jenny

Interesting idea, though I suspect in France that would actually be
illegal

REALLY???


and my first 'customers' could be the Gendarmes! They have some weird laws
here which are very alien to those from the UK.

Oh Lord, we'll be next no doubt :-(

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...

I have that problem too David, but usually manage to give mine away to
family and friends....maybe you could put them outside on a table with a
sign "free plants"
Jenny

Interesting idea, though I suspect in France that would actually be
illegal

REALLY???


and my first 'customers' could be the Gendarmes! They have some weird
laws here which are very alien to those from the UK.

Oh Lord, we'll be next no doubt :-(

Mary


I'm only speculating based on the following French laws:
1. Businesses can only have two sales per year, the dates are specified by
beaurocrats.
2. It is illegal for businesses to sell anything at a loss outside of the
official sales periods.
3. Car boot sales are restricted to once or twice a year and sellers are
heavily regulated.
4. In France you just can't start 'trading' without joining the official
body for the trade, paying them cotisation fees and jumping through vast
amounts of hoops and a mountain of beauocracy.
5. Giving plants away may be considered to be starting a business or trying
to take trade away from registered garden centre businesses. There are very
strict protectionist laws regarding doing anything like that here.

You can't even mow your lawn on a Sunday here! It is illegal to make any
noise on Sundays or public holidays. While this law is often flouted by
those living in the countryside it is more strictly observed in Towns.

The strangest law we've come across here so far is regarding selling your
property - if you sell it within 2 years you have to share any profit you
make with the previous owners of the house! If you spend your own money and
time renovating a property (DIY) your own capital outlay is not counted. So
if you buy a house for 100k and spend 50k on it but end up selling it for
140k (in effect a 10k loss) it is regarded as a 40k profit and you have to
give 20k to the previous owners of the property! If you had registered
tradesmen do the same work, then cost would be allowed against the profit -
again an example of the protectionism towards trades here.

Weird laws aside, it is not a bad place to live :-)

David.

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...
Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.

Yes. I still have some tomato seedlings and no room for planting them -
after giving lots away.

Then there are the pine treeling grown from the seeds from a cone from
daughter's farm. I thought she might like some more but she said I must be
joking!

Mary


why not offer your seedlings on freecyle?

go to www.freecycle.org and choose your local group.

"Space" wrote in message
news

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...
Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.

Yes. I still have some tomato seedlings and no room for planting them -
after giving lots away.

Then there are the pine treeling grown from the seeds from a cone from
daughter's farm. I thought she might like some more but she said I must
be joking!

Mary


why not offer your seedlings on freecyle?

go to www.freecycle.org and choose your local group.

I haven't looked closely at this site, but I was under the impression that
it is UK based, the OP is in France.

On 1/7/07 21:29, in article , "David
(Normandy)" wrote:

snip

The strangest law we've come across here so far is regarding selling your
property - if you sell it within 2 years you have to share any profit you
make with the previous owners of the house! If you spend your own money and
time renovating a property (DIY) your own capital outlay is not counted. So
if you buy a house for 100k and spend 50k on it but end up selling it for
140k (in effect a 10k loss) it is regarded as a 40k profit and you have to
give 20k to the previous owners of the property! If you had registered
tradesmen do the same work, then cost would be allowed against the profit -
again an example of the protectionism towards trades here.

snip

This would explain why an English friend of ours, living in France, told us
that it could take up to at least two years to sell a house! I wonder now
if she knew this at that time.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 1/7/07 21:29, in article ,
"David
(Normandy)" wrote:

snip

The strangest law we've come across here so far is regarding selling your
property - if you sell it within 2 years you have to share any profit you
make with the previous owners of the house! If you spend your own money
and
time renovating a property (DIY) your own capital outlay is not counted.
So
if you buy a house for 100k and spend 50k on it but end up selling it for
140k (in effect a 10k loss) it is regarded as a 40k profit and you have
to
give 20k to the previous owners of the property! If you had registered
tradesmen do the same work, then cost would be allowed against the
profit -
again an example of the protectionism towards trades here.

snip

This would explain why an English friend of ours, living in France, told
us
that it could take up to at least two years to sell a house! I wonder now
if she knew this at that time.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)



The French property market doesn't have the high inflation of the UK housing
market, which is perhaps a good thing. There are several reasons, but
basically the taxes and estate agent fees are very high. They are on a
sliding time scale which makes it punitive to sell within two years after
the initial purchase (especially with having to share any 'profit' with the
previous owners). But the seller is still heavily taxed if selling within
five years of purchase.
We looked at selling on our old stone barn with a bit of land for someone to
renovate, but the amount of tax and fees we would have to pay made selling a
none starter, so it looks like it will just continue to crumble into
dereliction, like most old stone barns in France.
People just don't generally climb a housing ladder here, they are too
heavily punished financially with each move, and it is not uncommon for
properties to simply pass down the generations.

David.

* Alan Holmes wrote, On 01/07/2007 23:12:
"Space" wrote in message
news
"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...
Does anyone else get carried away planting seeds? I haven't the heart to
let the seedlings die.
Yes. I still have some tomato seedlings and no room for planting them -
after giving lots away.

Then there are the pine treeling grown from the seeds from a cone from
daughter's farm. I thought she might like some more but she said I must
be joking!

Mary

why not offer your seedlings on freecyle?

go to www.freecycle.org and choose your local group.

I haven't looked closely at this site, but I was under the impression that
it is UK based, the OP is in France.


It's actually US based but has spread to a good many countries,
including both UK and France. http://fr.freecycle.org/ will take
you directly to the French Freecycle page.


--
Cheers, Serena
My mind not only wanders, it sometime leaves completely.

On 2/7/07 08:50, in article , "David
(Normandy)" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 1/7/07 21:29, in article ,
"David
(Normandy)" wrote:

snip

The strangest law we've come across here so far is regarding selling your
property - if you sell it within 2 years you have to share any profit you
make with the previous owners of the house!
snip

snip

This would explain why an English friend of ours, living in France, told
us
that it could take up to at least two years to sell a house! I wonder now
if she knew this at that time.

--

The French property market doesn't have the high inflation of the UK housing
market, which is perhaps a good thing. There are several reasons, but
basically the taxes and estate agent fees are very high. They are on a
sliding time scale which makes it punitive to sell within two years after
the initial purchase (especially with having to share any 'profit' with the
previous owners). But the seller is still heavily taxed if selling within
five years of purchase.
We looked at selling on our old stone barn with a bit of land for someone to
renovate, but the amount of tax and fees we would have to pay made selling a
none starter, so it looks like it will just continue to crumble into
dereliction, like most old stone barns in France.
People just don't generally climb a housing ladder here, they are too
heavily punished financially with each move, and it is not uncommon for
properties to simply pass down the generations.


At least it must make it easier for young people to buy a house of their
own, or at least to have the hope of doing so. Prices here are ridiculously
high. A two bedroomed stone cottage in this village, with a downstairs
bathroom, all of it in a terrible state of repair, went for £360,000 a while
ago. We reckon it will take at least £80k to make it into a comfortable and
damp free home. IIRC, the asking price had been under £300k.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)