Greenhorn Mountain November 16, 2014
After this snowy, cold week, it’s nice to think about starting seeds for next spring! This is the time of year we begin to sow seeds, especially seeds like Indian paintbrush that need a cold treatment. Catilleja chromosa, angustifolia, and scabrida are three species of Indian paintbrush that germinate best with four to six weeks of cold stratification.
In nature they would spend the winter outside, germinating when temperatures and moisture are right in the spring. Here in the nursery we like to speed that process along. The easiest way to do that is put the seeds in a ziplock bag, moisten them, and place them in the refrigerator.
Castilleja, Gilia, and Penstemon seeds.
Seeds in the ziplock bags with name and date.
Seeds after a few drops of water added.
Many people, or most people, or maybe even all people but me, add vermiculite or peat moss to the seed in the baggie. My method, without anything except seed and a minuscule amount of water, works for me.
Many of our native seeds benefit from cold stratification, including penstemons and columbine. If you try this yourself, don’t forget to add the moisture. Without moisture the seed will stay dormant in that cold environment almost indefinitely. Don’t overdo it, you don’t want the seeds floating in a puddle of water, that could cause them to rot. I add water to the seeds a few drops at a time. If I get too much in the baggie, I carefully strain it off.
As the weeks go by I check the seed to make sure it is still moist and to look for the first sign of germination. When the first root pokes out of the seed, it’s time to transfer the entire group to a flat of potting soil and put them where they can get light. We use our little solar greenhouse for most of the seed starting. In January it starts getting crowded in there!
