SEEDS!!!!!!

After realizing that my last few posts have been a bit on the morbid side coupled with the fact that I've had a bad past few weeks (packed full of towed cars, wisdom tooth infections, and unnecessarily large and unexpected bills) I decided to take a more positive approach this week and start to think about plants for next year. Figured it was also a good way to beat those end of summer blues that we all get 'round this time. So, with this coming year (in my head the end of summer has always marked the logical end of the year, apparently the fear of starting school has had a lasting impact on my chronological psyche) I'm determined to at least do a few things ahead of time, mainly buying seeds. Last spring, per my usual way of doing things, I waited to the last minute to order and (surprise, surprise) the majority of the plants I ended up with required months of stratification. Which would have put the actual germination time somewhere near the end of September, perfectly coinciding with the first frost..... thats what I get for not doing my research.

Ideally I want to start growing things in early March/late February this time around (indoors obviously) to give myself a good head start on the growing season. Add several months for those species that require complex stratification processes (processi?) and the best time to start thinking about ordering for the next growing season is, well,..... now. This year I've decided to stick (mostly) with plants that are native to the eastern U.S.. But before I get to the plants I'm thinking about, if your not too familiar with the complexitities of collecting and growing native plants from seed it's as much of an art as it is a science, one I have yet to master. But, in case you think you might wanna try, here are a few good primers to get yourself acquainted:

- Native Seed Propagation Methods (Missouri Botanic Garden)

- How to Germinate Native Seeds (Prairie Moon Nursery)

- Propagating Native Plants (Ion Exchange, Inc.)

- Seed Collecting (Ion Exchange, Inc.)

- Drying Native Seed (Ion Exchange, Inc.)

- Notes from William Cullina - Why you Can't Buy A Forest in a Can

- The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States and Canada (William Cullina)


Anyway here's a few of the plants and the companies I'm ordering from. Now for hard part....whittling down the list.


Epilobium angustifolium 'Album' - http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/ or http://www.plantexplorers.com/
The last time I saw this plant I was hiking in the White Mountains, so I'm betting that it's not very heat tolerant. But this picture I came across was way too seductive so I'm gonna give it a try anyway. The straight species is a bright magenta/pink. Ironically the white version is only available from a few companies based out of the U.K.. Hopefully it won't be a problem.


Hydrophyllum appendiculatum/virginianum - http://www.prairiemoon.com/
A little known reseeding woodland biennial of the northeastern states. Definitely looks like it's worth a try.


Symphyotrichum cordifolium, syn. Aster cordifolius - http://www.prairiemoon.com/
Always loved this late flowering aster. So long as the soils not too wet it seems to be happy wherever it finds itself.


Liatris pycnostachya - http://ionxchange.com/
In the northeast, given water generally isn't too limiting a factor (relative to other parts of the country), height is king. This is the tallest of the Liatris (5 ft) and probably the best best competitor if you're trying to naturalize in a meadow. Inherited a clump of these and took me a while to pinpoint the species.


Allium cernuum - http://www.prairiemoon.com/
Probably the best native allium, and given I have a pretty bad deer problem I've been waiting to give these guys a try (all alliums are deer resistant).


Chasmanthium latifolium, syn. Uniola latifolia - http://www.prairiemoon.com/
I've seen this grass doing well in way too many places not to grow it.


Lychnis flos-cuculi var. alba - http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/
This is a cute little european native that has naturalized in moist to wet meadows throughout the northeast. Usually comes in pink, but really like the white version. Re-seeds almost always.