Re: Seed Viability

>Sharon wrote a very informative article on this subject, which appeared
>in the 1994 Aril Society Yearbook. The essence of her germination technique
>is cycling through warm and cold stratification until the seeds sprout.
>Many aril growers prefer the simplicity of planting the seeds directly
>
>So yes, Sharon is a good one to ask, but like she says, it's a big
>subject!

Mainly I was trying to get a feel for how long to keep the things around if
they fail to germinate. My seeds look healthy and are swollen. Thank you for
the reference. No one here seems to grow these Iris, although I noticed that
Schreiners grows some hybrids. I have high hopes for trying some because we
do have dry summers here and it is possible to protect them from our winter
rains.

I forgot to tell you all about an excellent seed-growing reference- A book
by Norman Deno called "Seed Germination Theory and Practice". It is geared
towards rock gardeners and parts are technical, but I have found it to be
very valuable, even if some of his techniques are controversial. For
example, I have run into problems using his technique of placing seeds into
damp paper towels and "baggies" for their requisite cold conditioning. It
presumes a greater degree of watchfulness than I am prepared to give to
seeds. His methods can be adapted however.

I will track down the Aril Society article since it is very rewarding to
grow challenging species. I saw some of them at a show in Germany
twenty-five years ago and they have "haunted" me ever since.

A little bit off topic: My "spooky iris" (Hermodactylus tuberosus) are
blooming. They smell wonderful-like a fine rose. I have to caution folk who
want to smell them because the upper ?leaves (not sure of my terminology)
are sharp and extend above the flower. Herein are the genes for lovely truly
black velvet falls and glowing green stds for someone willing to produce
"test tube babies".

Cheers, Louise


Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333  USA
USDA zone 7 (at least!) Emerald NARGS, transplanted Oregrowian
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