Seed starting chronicles 2012

[Todd Boland]

Lori, you are not stratifying a bunch of genera that I thought had to be...for example, I strat all my Saussurea, Patrinia and Campanula.  I have to seriously revisit my germination practices.

I have about 45 pots that have not sprouted after 4 weeks in the heat...they were all previously startified for 8 weeks.  Guess I'll stick them outside now to freeze-thaw until April and maybe they'll sprout then (unless the seed are not viable).

My seed from Goteborg's BG and Graz BG just arrived.

[Lori S.]

I usually stratify Campanula... although I've gone the other route occasionally and found the odd species that doesn't seem to need stratification at all, e.g. Campanula topaliana.  With Saussurea, I think it was the absence of much info that caused me to start them in warm conditions, although not always successfully by any means.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if you get much better germination than I do, overall, with the stratification.  In some cases, the one or two seeds that germinate for me in warm conditions may just be the "oddballs" among the population in the seed packet...  At any rate, stratification is certainly not harmful (which seems to be something people often wonder about).

Edit:  I have only got one seedling of Campanula scoparia, which may suggest that stratification would have been the way to go for it!  Time will tell if it really even is Campanula scoparia.

[Lori S.]

Updates and a few new ones:
Thlaspi bellidifolium - germinated in ~10 days at room temp

http://www.zrehacek-alpines.cz/os/obrT/Thlaspi_bellidifol.jpg

Mathiola anchonifolium:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4810.msg130562#msg130562

Aster asteroides - germ in 11 days at room temp

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Aster+asteroides&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1916&bih=956&tbm=isch&tbnid=e04GcdyVc7nTEM:&imgrefurl=http://www.eecrg.uib.no/projects/AGS_BotanyExp/Qinghai/Slideshows/SubAlpMeadow/pages/Aster%2520asteroides.htm&docid=mnpDh7-4QKMn5M&itg=1&imgurl=http://www.eecrg.uib.no/projects/AGS_BotanyExp/Qinghai/Slideshows/SubAlpMeadow/images/Aster%252520asteroides.jpg&w=367&h=575&ei=RwtTT4DbFqvTiAK_ldy0Bg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=175&vpy=108&dur=1776&hovh=281&hovw=179&tx=104&ty=149&sig=115291501252237693237&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=88&start=0&ndsp=55&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

Helichrysum noeanum - germ in 10 days at room temp


Gentiana straminea - treated with GA-3 (I meant to leave these in the solution of a tiny bit of GA-3 in a few drops of water overnight but forgot and left them 3 nights); germinated in ~7 days at room temp.

http://www.gentians.be/index.php?page=plant_portraits&pic=282

[Tim Ingram]

Really wonderful to see all those seeds germinating - and to see someone else with Lactuca intricata! Who but an alpine grower would want to grow a shrubby lettuce. I have this germinating too and really look forward to seeing what it does.

My experiences are that only around 50% of seed generally germinates (although I get much better results with home collected seed). Peter Erskine in one of his articles in the AGS Bulletin quoted a similar figure, so it seems reasonable even when you try every which way to improve germination.

We are having superb warm sunny days here and a lot of seeds are beginning to come up. The amsonias quite surprise me - tomentosa - the seed is very large relative to other species I have grown, and Alplains advice to sow warm has worked well (others I have always sown outside over winter). Eriogonum caespitosum and Saussurea I received late and put in the fridge after sowing for 4-5 weeks; they are coming up nicely now. Similarly Edraianthus pumilio, one of my all time favourites. The Dudleya was very old seed from Ron Ratko, and like Buddleya utahensis, tiny! These have germinated with bottom heat in the greenhouse but are growing on very slowly. Quite a bit more to come (and quite a bit more to sow!).

[McDonough]

Such fun to see all these seedlings popping up.  Tim, your mention and photo of a "Buddleya utahensis" sent me googling, and some interesting things came up.  First, is the genus spelling, which a wikipedia entry asserts is commonly misspelled Buddleia, but it is actually Buddleja (as you have spelled it on your label). The reference goes on to say "Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Reverend Adam Buddle (1662–1715), a botanist and rector in Essex, England, at the suggestion of Dr William Houston. Houston sent the first species of buddleja known to science (B. americana) to England from the Caribbean about 15 years after Buddle's death".  I wonder how it got the "ja" ending to its name?

Regarding genus classification, it says "The genus Buddleja is now included in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae; it had earlier been classified in either the Loganiaceae or in a family of its own, the Buddlejaceae."

Checking IPNI.org, there are only entries for Buddleja, none for Buddleya or Buddleia.  Checking The Plant List, both Buddleja and Buddleia are listed , stating that the Genus Buddleja is in the family Scrophulariaceae, and that the Genus Buddleia is in the family Loganiaceae, yet these are supposed to be one and the same!  What a muddle of a buddle

I never gave it a thought that there are western American "Butterfly Bushes" or Buddleja species, now I'm enlightened.

Regarding Buddleja utahensis, here's a link showing what it looks like, a subtle dryland shrub; the flowering stems are floccose with tiny yellow flowers peaking out, intriguing.  On the link below, check out Buddleja marrubifolia, that one looks very ornamental with bright orange-red flowers and as expected, nice Marrubium-like foliage.
http://www.worldbotanical.com/buddleja.htm
http://www.worldbotanical.com/images/Buddleja74.jpg
...Buddleja marrubifolia:
http://www.worldbotanical.com/images/Buddleja_marrubifolia-731.jpg

[Tim Ingram]

Mark - I'm not sure where I got the 'y' from, especially since I labelled the plant with a 'j'. I must have been halfway further on in the sentence! Very interesting to hear more of the background of the genus and family(s). I have always liked the genus, quite apart from its attraction to butterflies and other pollinators, and we have grown a number of more unusual species over the years, including crispa, a lovely thing that I first saw at Beth Chatto's, and colvilei, which has relatively enormous flowers. I hadn't come across some of these American species before, and there are several more in South America pictured on the Chileflora site. There is a book on the genus, published by Timber Press, which I have been meaning to get for some time so will have to check it out again.

[McDonough]

Tim, maybe because in your sentence about Buddleja you first mention the genus Dudleya, practically a rhyming anagram for Buddleya/Buddleia/Buddleja   But the revelation for me, when researching the name, is that it really is Buddleja, while all these years I used the common misspelling of Buddleia, but then again, The Plant List seems equally confused, not sure how such an authoritative resource can be sitting on the fence and presenting both Buddleia and Buddleja as valid, it is one or the other as far as I'm aware.  Regardless, all interesting stuff. 
http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/search?q=Buddleia
http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/search?q=Buddleja

[Lori S.]

Everything is looking great, Tim!  
What does your Lactuca intricata look like?  Here's mine, looking very lettuce-like indeed at this stage.  It's transformation into a subshrub should be interesting.

http://www.pavelkaalpines.cz/Photos/Turkey2009/lactucaintricataturkey.html

Aethionema saxatilis ssp. oreophila - seeds from Pavelka (collected:  2300m, Aroania Mts., Greece; small glaucous plant, 3-6cm, pale pink flws, limestone rocks); seeds germinated in 11 days at room temp.


Anthemis cretica ssp. leucanthemoides - seeds from Pavelka (collected: 1700m, Kaz Dag, Turkey; very dwarf plant woody at base, linear silvery-green lvs, solitary white flws, 3-8cm, stoney places, 2008 seed); germinated in 6 days at room temp.


Bukiniczia cabulica - germinated in 10 days at room temp.  I got seed from both the NARGS and SRGC seedexes and put both in the same pot; the SRGC seed looked like Acantholimon (and has not germinated yet - perhaps not fertile) while the NARGS seed appears to be the real McCoy; either way it seemed I would get something very interesting!

[RickR]

Ya know, Lori... that Lactuca is big enough to nibble.

It looks pretty tasty!

[Tim Ingram]

Hi Lori - yes that really does look lettuce-like! My seedlings are still very small. We have grown for many years a big herbaceous 'lettuce', Cicerbita plumieri (also sometimes labelled Lactuca). This is a very robust plant to 2.5m or more, with the typical violet-blue flowerheads. I've always liked it so I look forward to seeing what this species does. In the past I also grew Cichorium spinosum, and this is very attractive and neat, and would be nice to get again.

[Lori S.]

Ya know, Lori... that Lactuca is big enough to nibble.
It looks pretty tasty!

A pretty meagre salad though... those are only 2 5/8" pots.  

A few more including a couple that have been potted on:
Linum viscosum - seeds from Alplains; started germinating in the cold, after 1 month in the cold room:


Draba tomentosa - seeds from Pavelka (collected: 2500m Korab Mts, Macedonia; dense grey cushions, big wh flws on scapes 3-8cm, limestone rocks); germinated after ~20 days at room temp.


Androsace bisulca v. brahmaputrae - seeds from Holubec (collected: China, Gyamda, Tibet, 3700m, mountain grassland, unique plant, rounded cushions, 3-8cm wide, 1-2cm rosettes, large rose-red flws on 2-4cm long stems, 2010.  Also China Zhoka, Tibet, 3500m, rock terraces, 2010); started germinating in the cold, after 33 days in the cold room:


Anarthrophyllum desideratum - seeds from Holubec (collected:  Argentina, Col. Belgrano near Perito Moreno); scarified then germinated in 10 days at room temp;  so far, so good, though only one measly seedling... poor thing probably won't stand a chance in the real world outdoors!

[Tim Ingram]

Oh what dreams are made of if you could grow the Anarthrophyllum! I did try this once from John Watson's seed, but like a lot of South Americans the seedlings became very drawn and out of character (I think you need to put a UV lamp over it!). I am really attracted, like Anne Spiegel, by dwarf legumes, and the adesmias are another group that would be exciting to grow. There are also some excellent South American lupins and one we grew back in the 1990's was L. oreophilus, which I have seen again recently on the Chile Flora site. This grew well in the garden but like most lupins (well all) was relatively short lived. Unfortunately I only have slides from the dark ages of film!

[McDonough]

I once germinated Anarthrophyllum desideratum, a single seedling that lasted about 1 month, huzzah.  Lori, I hope you have better success than I, one of the more amazing plants on this earth.

[RickR]

Globularia trichosantha - uniformly germinated in 9 days at room temperature.  This was my third try with this species, each from a different source.  The first two times (other years) they were winter sowed without any success.  They might have been bad seed, I suppose, but more likely rotted over the winter.  These first two batches were seed lightly pressed into the soil surface, then covered with #2 granite grit.  In the third try with the same soil mix, seed was sown on a bed of #1 granite grit, and covered with the #2 grit, and put directly into 68-70F temperature (not winter sown).
              

I received Eranthis hymenalis seed from Wim last year.  He sent me some in moist packing and some dry seed in May, so the dry seed couldn't have dried that long, I would think.  They were promptly planted 11 May 2011 in pots and left outside.  With the crazily warm temps here (a week of 70-79F days and 55-60F nights) both lots came up simultaneously 16 March 2012.  
              

Oxytropis nana - germinated at room temperature in 2 days after scarification and 2 hour soak.  It was quite amazing how quickly they absorbed water.  In the 2 hours it seemed like they doubled in size, but in reality they increased in size by about 50%.

I did a second trial at room temperature with an equal number of seed from the same batch (NARGS Seed Ex seed wild collected in Wyoming) unscarified and not soaked.  One seed emerged in 35 days, so far.
              

I am a bit puzzled by this one: it's supposed to be Oxytropis campestris.  Scarified, and germinated in 7 days at room temperature.  It looks like a monocot to me.  Oxytropis is a dicot.  Any ideas?
              

[Hoy]

Rick, it is a dicot and a Fabaceae. The pea (cotyledons) often remains in the soil. But I can't tell if it is an Oxytropis