Wildflower seed paper

Today I received a promotional mailing from Google, presumably because this blog is hosted by Google’s Blogger service. I almost threw it in the recycling bin but then I realized that the paper the offer is printed on is not just regular paper. The mailing says:

This card was printed on 100% recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds. Plant it in a sunny spot with a thin layer of soil, add water, and watch it grow—while you watch your business grow with AdWords.

Google mailing on wildflower seed paper; the dark specks are the embedded seeds

Usually I’m as jaded as they come as far as advertising is concerned, but I must admit that as a gardener I was impressed by this particular twist. A web search—on Google.com, no less!—revealed that wildflower seed paper isn’t all that uncommon. There are quite a few vendors that sell all kinds of paper products embedded with seeds. Quite often the paper is recycled, which makes for a perfect green package.

Among the products I saw online, this wrapping paper caught my eye:

 

I have a conflicted relationship with wrapping paper (too expensive, too glossy, too environmentally unfriendly), and I was delighted to see this. However, at $20.00 a roll, it’s outrageously expensive, so I’ll stick to my tried-and-true method of using the Sunday cartoons as wrapping paper.

As for my card from Google, it’ll go into one of our raised vegetable beds where I can keep a close eye on it. I’m dying to find out whether anything will grow.

If you’ve tried this kind of paper before, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what happened.