How the ORG&HPS Seedex Seed Exchange Works

Updated

The ORG&HPS Seedex is the society's seed exchange, and the clearest public description of how members engage with it comes through the Members Showcase at the November 8 meeting. At that session, part of the program will describe some of the seeds being offered in that year's Seedex, and members are invited to send in photos of their own Seedex contributions so they can be shared during the meeting. Virginia Hildebrandt will describe the plants and explain why members should consider growing them.

What the Seedex Is

Seedex is the Ontario Rock Garden & Hardy Plant Society's member seed exchange — a way for members to share and receive seeds, with the annual offering presented and discussed at a members' meeting. The society is a chapter of NARGS, the North American Rock Garden Society.

How Members Take Part in the Showcase

Based on the meeting announcement, participation in the Seedex showcase works like this:

  1. Contribute seeds to the Seedex. Members who have donated seeds are the ones whose photos are being collected.
  2. Photograph your contributions. Take pictures of the seeds or plants you are contributing.
  3. Send the photos in. The announcement asks members to email their photos to the organizer (the address is listed on the page but protected from spam bots, so you need JavaScript enabled to view it).
  4. Attend the November 8 meeting. Submitted photos are shared during the Members Showcase, alongside Virginia Hildebrandt's description of the plants and the reasons members should consider growing them.

The expected result: your contribution is shown to the membership, and other members get a sense of what is available in this year's Seedex before deciding what to request or grow.

What the Showcase Covers

The Members Showcase is a regular slot at most monthly meetings, featuring 20-minute member presentations on horticultural subjects — native plants, seed starting, bulbs, spring or fall gardening, garden photos, and visits to noteworthy gardens. The Seedex segment fits that format: a short, member-driven look at the year's seed offerings.

Practical Notes

  • Login is required for meeting recordings. Recordings of Zoom meetings are posted within a week, but you must be logged in to view them; they sit under "Members Only."
  • Some content is time-limited. A video of Paul Gellatly's presentation "Unlocking the Potential: Big Ideas for Small Gardens" is on YouTube but was scheduled to be taken down on October 26 at the speaker's request — a reminder that member video content can be temporary.
  • The next meeting date shown is November 8, 2026, featuring Andrew Osyany's "A Taste of the Flora of Utah," with the Seedex showcase on the same program.

Common Questions

Do I need to be a member? The Seedex is described as a member activity, and the showcase invites members' contributions; meeting videos are behind a member login. The page does not state public access terms for the Seedex itself.

What if I don't have photos? You can still attend the meeting and hear the descriptions of the offered seeds and the case for growing them.

Where do I send photos? To the email address given in the Members Showcase notice on the site — it is spam-protected, so enable JavaScript to display it.

For the current year's Seedex list, submission deadlines, and any distribution details, check the site's Members Only area or contact the society directly, since those specifics are not published on the public home page.