Ryse I kind of like that idea. I've got so many of them that I was out there carefully removing stalks before they shattered, otherwise they would be coming up everywhere as thick as grass. I ended up with an entire grocery bag stuffed full of seeds and had to wear thick gloves to separate the seeds because the stalks are so stickery. I sent some to a friend and took the rest to a desolate place close by and spread them around right before our first snow hit so they'd stay put and not wash downhill. Its my current guerilla gardening project and one of the things I am most looking forward to this spring, seeing what takes hold. I planted many bags of different types of annual and perennial seed, its a rocky downhill slope leading to a stream at the far untended end of the park I walk in each day.

i used to cut a hanger... to get two soil staples .... [once on the straight bottom.. and once on each side of the hook ....

and then take the seed heads.. and staple them to the ground...

which .. I THINK ... is what you are also saying.. though at first.. i thought you meant to bury the whole thing ...

keep in mind.. most reseeding plants.. do not require that the seed be buried ...

that said... you are leaving your entire seed crop to vermin ... one bird.. or one hungry squad of mice can be off with your crop faster than you can keep track ... so i would spread a few smaller pieces around ... spread your odds...

ken

Ken, I do bury the stalk under the mulch. I know self-sowers don't need to be buried, but many are by the end of the season with leaves, etc. It has worked for me many times in many places with liatris. Will try this year with other things such as baptisia.

many need light to germinate.. so even burying them in mulch.. defeats them on some level .... of course.. who needs a bazillion of them anyway ... lol ...

but leaving them on top ... was an ID trick for when they sprout ...

if i was coming back 6 moths later.. and saw what looked like a bunch of grass.. they would be long gone ... weeded out ...... BEFORE i remember what i planted ... i hate when that happens.. lol ...

its seeing the stalk.. that remind me.. that i did something... intentionally ... whatever it might have been.. lol ..

regardless ... experimenting is how i learned most my stuff ... so.. do it every which way.. and try to remember which ends up best.. and it might even be your way.. since you .. on some level.. retard high germination ...

whatever works.. works ...

ken

Ken, you are an expert and I value your opinion. Some seeds need light for germination I understand but I wonder which ones? I winter-sow in Milk Jugs every January and love doing it. They sit for several months covered in snow and all the seeds are covered lightly with ProMix which is what I use for this project.

Most years I have germination in all of the jugs (usually plant about 50-60) and obviously the seeds I use don't care if it is dark or light. Do you know of any perennials that definitely won't grow if covered?

Now as I think about it, perhaps as the germination happens, the seeds are pushed up to the light. Does that sound reasonable?

Most seed packs I've bought will specify something like needing light. I use the various seed tables you can google when in doubt or I don't know. I think Jellito has a good one and here is one I pulled up the other night. J.L. Hudson has specific instructions on many seeds.

Plants of the SW has Liatris spicata as one needing light to germinate but Liatris punctata doesn't need light. Cleome and Achillea need light. Some seeds need dark, on the other hand.

Winter sowing works well for lots of seed but not all. There is no such thing as a 100% successful seeding method that covers all seed and some resent transplanting so they are better planted in situ. For seeds needing very warm temps I still can't see the point of winter sowing but some people get defensive whenever I say that as if I am threatening to come through the computer screen and dump out their jugs. Personally, I would worry about seeds planted in winter rotting and I really do think its a whole lot of unnecessary extra work for seeds only needing two weeks warm to germinate based on my own time limits and habits. Ryse, I am NOT talking about you, its just that sometimes I have had people get defensive if other methods are suggested (like planting a whole stem covered with seeds right in the ground.... ha!:)

Liatris is one I would definitely sow in situ too and besides, if it works, I say do it and share the idea. Next year I will just plant the stems and forget taking those seeds off, I was picking stickers out of my fingers this year separating the seeds from the stems.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm1.html

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Sun, Jan 5, 14 at 15:46

as a very general rule of thumb, tiny seeds (begonia, campanula, digitalis, nicotiana) can lie on top of the soil while larger seeds (lathyrus, agapanthus, baptisia, hemerocallis) get covered by soil (at a depth roughly the same as the size of seed). I do cover nearly all the seeds with a thin layer of alpine grit.

I have heard that pulsatilla are often sown as entire heads...but I find the seeds easy to handle and are easily germinated so I tend to separate them.