RE: New catalogs

RE Adam's Eden comments:  
> what happened to the cost of zinnias?  Comments.  
My guess is that you are responding to the price of the Profusion zinnias.
These are interspecific hybrids, bred by Sakata out of Japan.  The seed
count per unit weight is very different between the two colors.  Hence, the
decision to sell by the count.  If I recall correctly, one color is 7 or
8,000 per ounce; the other is 11 or 12,000 per ounce.  I could be wrong in
this recollection: there have been a lot of catalogs crossing the desk in
the past few weeks.  You COULD call Stokes directly --- or Sakata in Morgan
Hill, CA (408-778-7758).  

> Does anyone know how to determine seed counts 
> by weight?  Example: Stokes catalog.  Is there a
> formula?
You need a count per ounce (or gram).  This will change BY COLOR AND VARIETY
for most flower species.  It will also vary considerably by seed lot in some
species.  Let's say that Zinnia Profusion Cherry is at 10,000 seeds per
ounce.  One-quarter ounce would then be 2,500 seeds, more or less (10,000 x
0.25 = 2,500).  Packing seed by count is a real pain: most seed distributors
figure out a weight that approximates the count, and actually weigh out the
seeds, even if they are selling by count.  In this example, a tenth of an
ounce would be 1,000 seeds --- most seed sold as "1000 seeds" would actually
be weighed out as 0.1 oz.  There are automated seed counters available, but
these are incredibly slow to operate (as you might imagine: counting 1, 2,
3, 4 ... 999, 1000).  

> I'm looking for Cascade petunias.
Pan American may have finally dropped these, in favor of Supercascades.
Ball would be your best bet, if you have a Ball sales rep working your area,
since Ball and PanAm are sister companies.  Burpee or Park's may also have
them in retail packets.  Another alternative would be Grimes in Mentor, OH.
216-352-3333.  Very broad selection.  

Rick Grazzini
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