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Re: Pulsatilla

Dear Robert

I put all my pots in a cold frame (in the summer the frame lights are
covered with screen instead of plastic). The reason is not to keep the seeds
from the cold, but to keep the critters and driving rain from the pots.
Cats, squirrels, mice, chipmunks, you name it, just love to dig into pots of
seed. And driving rains will wash all the seeds to the sides of the pots and
down the edges and even over the top, despite the granite grit covering. The
screens deflect the rain, slowing it down while still allowing it in, so the
contents stay intact and the animals can't get in. 

Most seeds of perennials are perfectly cold hardy and will not be damaged by
winter temperatures as long as they are in a moist state. If the seeds have
had a chance to absorb water they should be fine - after all they are in
nature. However, never place dry or freshly sown seeds directly into
freezing temperatures, and avoid the household freezer. Sudden freezing
temperatures may rupture the seed membranes. If you sow seeds now, they will
be fine over the winter. They are here, and we don't have dependable snow
cover and occasional dips down to -20F. 

The pulsatilla seed you received through the ephemeral exchange will be
fresh seed, and will germinate much faster and less erratically than dry
stored seed. Pulsatilla vulgaris sown fresh usually germinates for me in the
fall. Other species may not, but will germinate in spring. If they do
germinate in fall, you may want to give them the protection of a cold green
house or cold frame until spring arrives. 

Best of luck!
Amber

P.S. The Ephemeral Seed Exchange is not a program run by the NARGS as it was
explained to me by Tom Stuart who administrates it, although many of the
participants are NARGS members. The Ephemeral Exchange appears in the spring
on Alpine-L and is more closely associated with it, although unofficially,
than any other group. A call goes out for people to send in lists of seeds
they are willing to donate in late March or early April. Tom Stuart then
compiles a list and publishes it on Alpine-L in late April. The actual
exchanges are done privately between participants. The NARGS only runs one
exchange annually - in the winter, open only to NARGS members. 

  
>Thank you for your timely advice regarding Pulsatilla. I recently received
>four varieties from a kind member of the NARGS Ephemeral Seed Exchange.
>Many more seeds than I had anticipated. I have sown them in four inch pots
>with a peat/vermiculite mix. Your advice regarding placing them outside and
>just forgetting about them makes allot of sense. Will they survive bitter
>cold hard frost if I just place them outside now and forget about them
>until next spring or should I protect them from freezing this winter. I
>haven't gotten to the point of buying a fridge for seed propagation. (yet).
>Thanks.
>
>
>Robert Tonkin
>Juneau, Alaska
>A Very Wet Zone 6
>
>
>
>> Pulsatilla are reported to be best sown fresh, but I've not had any
>trouble
>> germinating the dry stored seeds I've purchased. I've also been told to
>> de-tail the seeds and rub the hair off, but I don't bother with that
>either.
>> I sow them, give them 5 months of cold (fridge) and return them to warm
>> temps. I keep the pots moist, and every couple of weeks I run water
>through
>> them to leech away any inhibitors. 
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Amber & Wayman Hearn                    jadare@accessus.net
Whippoorwill Creek Nursery              USDA Z-5
943 Foxville Road                       mintemp = -15F/maxtemp = 102F
Kell, IL 62853
618-822-6000
Our catalog is finally up - http://www.wcn.simplenet.com/Welcome/welcome.htm
Perennial Editor, Suite 101, http://www.suite101.com/
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