Hey y’all, so I am currently in the process of turning my garden into 100% native plants, including grass, which I’m turning into white clover. I drove all the way to Kearney, NE yesterday to pick these bad boys up (a 6 hour round trip btw 😅). It does say they need to be stratified for best results. I’m kind of new to the game a little bit and I’m seeing a lot of different ways to stratify seeds, so I’m wondering what the best method is/ if it’s too late in the season to stratify them. Thank you!
by xyelem
6 Comments
Planting them while the weather is still cold will stratify them naturally. And the ones that don’t get enough cold will likely just hold out until next year. I think the stratification advice is for someone starting in the spring when the ground is already warm. Cheers!
I hail from NE, but am up in the pnw now.
I stuck echinacea seeds in a Ziploc bag with a trowel scoop of yard soil, and put that in the fridge on 2/4. Should be good to go by mid March. Your last frost date is much later than ours, so you could probably still stratify depending on how wonky your winter has been. My parents told me Thursday was like 60°?!?!
You can see if some need like 120 days or longer and set those asid. But even if they don’t come up they should next year.
If you want really great germination, mix this seed blend into a container of damp vermiculite and store it in the fridge until mid April.
When you have your space prepared, you can sow them mid April and water as needed. There is no need to wait until the last frost date as the seeds that need warmer soil temps will just sit there dormant and germinate when the soil warms.
with a mixed packet I would likely just spread them outside now and hope for the best! lots of seeds can potentially germinate without their full stratification period and if they’re all native to your they should hypothetically be fine with some temperature cycling. you could split some off to spread and save some for next year or some to try the fridge method. i’ve done damp sand in a ziploc in the fridge, just want to check on them occasionally to see if any have started popping off.
I usually look up the seed’s stratification code(s) on prairiemoon.com, and its associated definition. Different seeds have different stratification requirements. For instance, Butterfly Weed’s stratification code is C(30), meaning it needs a cold, moist environment for at least 30 days to germinate.
https://www.prairiemoon.com/how-to-germinate-native-seeds.html