List below:

These are all my oddballs that either needed double stratify or needed to sprout immediately and then go out in the snow or are hemiparisitic and so on. I get nervous planting these- but told myself I had to get these started if I want to buy more seeds.

  1. Angelica atropurpurea Great Angelica
  2. Castilleja coccinea Indian Paintbrush
  3. Lilium michiganense Michigan Lily
  4. Ceanothus americanus New Jersey Tea
  5. Actaea rubra Red Baneberry
  6. Claytonia virginica Spring Beauty
  7. Allium tricoccum Wild Leek
  8. Callirhoe involucrata Purple Poppy Mallow
  9. Corydalis flavula Yellow Fumewort
  10. Collinsia verna Blue-Eyed Mary
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  • What host plant did you end up mixing the Indian Paintbrush with?

    The Blue Eyed Mary is a pretty unusual germination process as well; I started mine in the fall... Or maybe it was late summer?

    parent

    I went with Path Rush for Indian Paintbrush. It seemed like that was what I saw most frequently from places selling potted ones.

    I'm definitely late starting blue eyed mary. When I tried to find it earlier in the season, I couldn't. I am starting it under grow lights. I have a fairly long winter, so I'm gambling that I can keep it inside for about 6 weeks and then stick it outside for the rest of winter. Same deal with the Yellow Fumewort. Person I bought the seeds from has done similar and had a few make it, and really, that's all I need to have make it. If none make it, I'll try again in the summer now that I have found somebody who has it. June to August would have been a much better time to start it. You know how it is though, if you are already ordering 20 seed packs, might as well tack on a couple 'eh' ones. If these don't make it I'll just place an order for all those weird ones in June or so and start them at the right time in the summer.

    parent root

    Good luck. You've picked some very interesting and special plants with very limited information or commercial availability, so trial and error is essential.

    parent root

    Thank you- I always have a lot of fun with these. Usually I'm lucky and end up with at least one survivor. The perennials are easier of course because if you don't manage to get flowers one year you can always hope for next year. These weird annuals are a bit more high pressure, but fingers crossed.

    parent root

    From personal experience, little bluestem works with Indian paintbrush as well. But it was seeded in and boss thought it was lost. Just took a few years to show up.

    parent root

  • interesting list; good luck. A few comments:

    "double stratification" from a seller is a big red flag -- those seeds are ideally collected and immediately sown, never dried. You may get sprouts of course, but if you want them, do your best to find someone nearby with some.

    Your list includes some plants that, as I think you know, are slow and tricky. A first year spring beauty, for example, will have ONE leaf and be just over an inch high, with a lentil-sized bulb. If you pull an adjacent weed, you're very likely to accidentally pull it. They are also delicious to chipmunks; I've moved some from where they were growing all mixed up with pen sedge and other things, and then had them snagged immediately.

    Lilies too -- slow, finicky, and absolutely delicious to the right animal. I bought several full quarts from Wildtype in Mason MI and they were promptly devoured by chipmunks. Annoying for me to lose $100 of plants, but I'd be even more upset if I had carefully tended them for two years and planted them and then immedatly lost them.

    Site selection and preparation is super important for tricky stuff, as is the maintenance in the first years. Good luck!

    parent

    Oh yeah, this whole list is all the sketchy ones I don't really expect much success with. These are all those 'eh, why not?' when you already have a full cart anyways and what's $3 more dollars?

    I'm very lucky to not have chipmunks or squirrels which does make all of this a whole lot easier. I'm in a damp location and there aren't any of the nut trees that would support those populations. I've never seen either animal here at all. I have deer- but, I'm a couple acres between corn fields so I get some light deer browse, but, not the crushing pressure that the neighborhoods get. I do have some mice- but they tend to focus on my bird feeders. I also have some rabbits, so I tend to cage up anything they really like. But again, hay field behind, corn field to the side, my rabbit pressure is similarly light. My biggest pest pressure is my spouse and his weed eater and flame torch. I mostly cage things and stick a lawn flag so that he knows it's a plant and not a weed.

    But, yeah, the chances they actually sprout AND survive two years without accidentally getting walked on or weeded are pretty slim. Either way though, it will be a fun experiment. Maybe next year I'll buy the plants instead.

    parent root

    I love Wildtype! Good to know if I pick up a lily from them it might be chipmunk fodder though…

    parent root

  • Are you saying that you winter sowed these? Note that Michigan lily will form a bulblet after 2-3 months of warm stratification, and the cold stratification will break the shoot’s dormancy. If the seeds are put into cold stratification before the bulblets have formed, no germination will occur.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/plantpropagationproject/p/growing-lilium-michiganense-michigan?r=5448xl&utm_medium=ios

    Bulblet production is highest when seeds first get about 8 weeks of stratification at summer temps (~30c daytime 15c nighttime) and then 4-8 weeks of autumn temps (~20c day 10c night)

    I’ve got opinions about castilleja host plants, but I’m sure I’ve bored you enough already :)

    parent

    I want to know your thoughts on the host plants!

    parent root

    Hi, no, none of these were just winter sown, most of what I've been doing is winter sowing, but these are all oddballs that got treated a bit differently.

    I'll make a comment explaining my process for each one- sorry, didn't even think of it at the moment.

    The Michigan Lily is sitting up against my heat register which fluctuates between about 74 and 82 throughout the day. I did the same with the Spring Beauty and the Wild Leek.

    parent root

    Let me know if you get bulblets from that method! I test everything at rigid 30/15 and 20/10 temperature regimes, so I’m very curious if they’ll germinate with a more consistently warm temp. I’ve tested Michigan lily with 16 weeks of 30/15, and germination was only 4%. My hypothesis that, after their very warm stratification, they require at least 2 weeks of autumn temps to germinate. But I’m always happy to be proven wrong!

    parent root

    Yeah, I debated this a bit and then ended up doing path of least resistance. If I have no success, I will probably order the seeds again in summer and plant them directly outside with a wire mesh cover to prevent the mice. My spouse finds my hobby a bit annoying, so I'm a bit limited when it comes to my ability to use heat mats and similar.

    parent root

  • Process used for each:

    1. Angelica atropurpurea Great Angelica - this one is in the fridge, plan is 61 days cold, 61 days warm, 61 days cold and then I'll move the pot outside.
    2. Castilleja coccinea Indian Paintbrush - this one was planted with Path Rush, some just outside direct and some in a pot with both seed types and then placed outside.
    3. Lilium michiganense Michigan Lily - this one was potted, bagged with a couple air holes and placed against my heating register which fluctuates in the 70's and 80's. I'm in Northern Michigan, so after 61 days on the heat register I will move outside which should still be cold enough for an additional 60 days. If we experience an unusual warmup early I'll move to fridge.
    4. Ceanothus americanus New Jersey Tea - Poured boiling water over, allowed to soak 24 hours, then winter sowed.
    5. Actaea rubra Red Baneberry - this one is in the fridge, plan is 61 days cold, 61 days warm, 61 days cold and then I'll move the pot outside.
    6. Claytonia virginica Spring Beauty - this one was potted, bagged with a couple air holes and placed against my heating register which fluctuates in the 70's and 80's. I'm in Northern Michigan, so after 61 days on the heat register I will move outside which should still be cold enough for an additional 60 days.
    7. Allium tricoccum Wild Leek - this one was potted, bagged with a couple air holes and placed against my heating register which fluctuates in the 70's and 80's. I'm in Northern Michigan, so after 61 days on the heat register I will move outside which should still be cold enough for an additional 60 days.
    8. Callirhoe involucrata Purple Poppy Mallow - Poured boiling water over, allowed to soak 24 hours, then winter sowed.
    9. Corydalis flavula Yellow Fumewort - winter annual - planted under grow lights. Plan is to let grow around 8 weeks and then put outside. These should have been planted in summer, but I couldn't find them. Found a supplier and added these on even though it's the wrong time to plant. Following the suppliers instructions for how she's made them work at the wrong time- only expecting very limited success.
    10. Collinsia verna Blue-Eyed Mary - planted under grow lights. Plan is to let grow around 8 weeks and then put outside. These should have been planted in summer, but I couldn't find them. Found a supplier and added these on even though it's the wrong time to plant. Following the suppliers instructions for how she's made them work at the wrong time- only expecting very limited success.
    parent

    Also trying wild leeks this year. I put them in a milk jug next to my furnace (similarly fluctuating warm temps). I was going to move it outside after 5 weeks to start cold strat. Hoping I get just a few to plant out.

    parent root