by Ashley Killian
These seeds of Calycanthus floridus were collected at the North Carolina Arboretum (with permission). Photo: Keith Kurman
This cone of Sciadopitys verticillata was collected at the perfect time. Cone-bearing plants are called Gymnosperm which means 'naked seed'. So when the seed is mature the cone opens and the seed just falls out. Here the cone was collected before it lost its 'payload'. Photo: Keith Kurman
January 2020, Vineyard Gardens attended the Martha’s Vineyard Seed Library’s seed talk at the MARTHA’S VINEYARD Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury.
We always take an opportunity to learn and play an active role in our community. The MV seed library is a resource for native seed. Island residents are welcome to collect seed and contribute to the library. It would be great to see native wild flower seed, perennial seed, and woody plant seed contributions. It is always recommended that when you collect seed you should label where you found the seed, when you found the seed, and any other information about the seed. Keep your seed somewhere that is cool and dry. If you did not get a chance to collect seed last fall, you may check out seed from the library as well. It was interesting to see what different seed strains look like. I discovered Garlic seed, Poppy seed, Hypericum seed, Asclepias seed, Turnip seed, and many others in the seed library last year.
Seed stratification on collected marigold seeds demonstrated by MV Seed Library. Photo: Ashley Killian
THIS YEARS Annual Seed Swap is Saturday March 6, 2021
At the seed talk they demonstrated a stratification process on marigold seed that was found after it had experienced a hard frost. Although the seeds did not have as high of a germination percentage as seed that would have been collected in the fall, some seed did sprout! The annual Seed Swap is set for this Saturday March 6th from 10am-12pm on the West Tisbury Library Porch. I am excited to see what seed has been collected on island since I attended last year. I feel lucky to have such a supportive community at my fingertips. Gardening with fedco or botanical interest seed is fun but it’s also really cool to experience the seed library and to check out seed that was grown locally on our beautiful island!
The Martha’s Vineyard seed library. The library is labeled with stickers so we know the difficulty of saving the seed strain. You can check seed into the library and check seed out. Photo: Ashley Killian
The perfect example of how to fill out your collected seed card. More Information is better than less. Photo: Ashley Killian
Organization and labeling is an important step in the process. Keeping track of dates along the way will follow the new plants all the way to to being planted out, and beyond. Photo: Keith Kurman
Here you see Magnolia grandiflora seeds nestled into their peat/pearlite medium, sealed in a ziplok bag. They will receive at least 6 weeks of cold treatment before we bring them out to sow. Photo: Keith Kurman
Seed talk with Vineyard Gardens
When starting plants from seed you must mimic nature’s perfect conditions. Seeds are alive, just not actively growing. They are in a state of dormancy until they can take in air, water and nutrients. Dormancy is a delayed period before sprouting. A chemical reaction within the seed, breaks this period and can be triggered by temperature and light. Germination begins a pants life cycle and without perfect conditions your seed will not grow!
Right plant, right place is a method used by gardeners to get the most out of their property. Gardening can be flexible, the more you learn, the easier it is to work gardening into our everyday schedule. We’ve learned that plants have a unique set of requirements individually and we respect that. These requirements start at the very beginning of their life. Some seeds need a series of freeze and thaw cycles to break dormancy. We could plant them in the fall or we could speed that process up and simulate our natural weather conditions. This act is known as practicing seed stratification. Every seed can be different and might need a different amount of time or method to reach germination. For example, the Purple Top Verbena perennial on the Fedco seed website that recommends a 3-5 week stratification process in order to germinate.
Stratification
If you have seed that you can try experimenting with, then start by dividing it into separate bags. If weather conditions are in your favor put one bag of seeds outside in a mixture of moist soil and peat. Let these seeds experience a freeze and thaw cycle outside. A mix we have had success with is half milled peat moss and half pearlight that is slightly dampened. With the other bag of seeds, slightly dampen some paper towel and place your seed in the moist paper towel. Put that paper towel inside the bag and put it in the back of your fridge. Keep a close eye on this seed. Often seed stratification can lead to fungus and mold because of the wet conditions. If you start to experience this, get a fungicide and start with a new piece of damp paper towel. Some native seed can have a dormancy for up to 2 years, and some seeds have a hard seed coat. Hard seed coats are broken down by the wet conditions of a freeze and thaw cycle. Another way a hard seed coat is broken down naturally is by birds or other wildlife eating and processing the seed. We can simulate natures conditions with the process of stratification. Stratification breaks down the seed coat to allow air and water to get in and allow the seed to grow out through the seed coat to take in light and grow into a plant.
This group of woody plant seeds were collected from various locations in the Fall of '19, cleaned, properly labeled and stored cool and dry wrapped in newspaper. Our medium for stratification is 1/2&1/2 milled peat-moss and pearlite just slightly dampened. Photo: Keith Kurman
Here at Vineyard Gardens we try to offer many plants that are relatively rare from commercial growers. It can take many years to bring them to saleable size but there's no time like the present to start! Here is the charming Stewartia rostrata. Photo: Keith Kurman
Scarification
To scarify a seed you can take a sharp knife and nick the outside shell, then by soaking the seed in room temperature water over night, you can help soften the seed shell and allow light to stimulate growth. Depending on the seed strain, scarification could be enough to plant the seed after soaking. For other seed strains, you may need to process seed stratification, as well, to break the seeds natural dormancy before planting. Often seed is carried over year to year. Germination rates decline each year that seed is stored. Vineyard Gardens always starts left over seed before we start new seed because of this. If your left over seed did not germinate last year it may mean you should try practicing seed stratification or scarification to promote germination rates. Practicing these methods before planting native collected seed can produce better germination results, saving you time and money.
The seeds of some plants can be as showy and ornamental as their flowers. The flowers of this Clematis 'Guernsey Cream' are really beautiful but so are its seeds. Photo: Keith Kurman
Seed collected is stored in bags and organized alphabetically. Photo: Ashley Killian