Seed Exchanges in 2010...what are you ordering?

The seeds I got for Achillea ageratifolia ssp. aizoon look like chaff, so I'm not too hopeful for that one.

P.S. Gee, it's sort of gratifying to finally have evidence that people actually want the seeds I donate - I see quite a few of them here this year, which is just lovely! (Not that I ever questioned donating seed, but wow!) What more does an alpine gardener need to be convinced to donate seeds? I hope this observation encourages others who may be undecided to do the same. :>)

This message was edited Feb 19, 2010 9:15 AM

Todd, I'm trying Delosperma alpinum as well. The "alpinum" bit gave me hope that it might be as hardy as D. congestum, nubigenum, basuticum... or whatever the yellow ones are that I'm growing. (I guess there is much doubt as to whether these commonly-grown yellow-flowered ones are accurately named or even valid species at all. They may be nothing more than garden cultivars/hybrids(?), apparently.)

Example:
Your Silene nigrescens went on my want list the first time you posted a pic years ago, Alta.

I feel guilty for not just sending you some seeds, Rick! (On the other hand, I would have also felt guilty about flouting your seed import laws... though I know it is done regularly.)

I must say the Silene nigrescens packet looked to have 3 specks of dust! I am not holding out hope for seed germination. Your yellow Delosperma is probably basuticum..that is the hardiest of the three yellows you mentioned. Panayoti sent seeds of a couple of the named hybrids...they were planted about a month ago and have filled the pots with tiny seedlings. I'll try them in the alpine house at work as it is doubtful they would survive the wet winters outdoors. I actually overwinter my ashtonii and sutherlandii in my unheated basement window...they have been in pots for 4 years now and doing fine.

Could all be... the three types of plants seem to have different characteristics, so it may be that there are at least 3 different cultivars or hybrids or whatever, possibly. The "D. congestum" came from Gardens North years ago; actually, it was listed as D. aff congestum, so definitely a clue to an assumed ID there.

In the last 4 days the following have germinated - again, these were stratified first

Penstemon whippleanus (thanks Alta!)
Silene dinarica (were those donated by you Alta?)
Allium beesianum
Geum reptans
Silene keiskei

On Feb. 18 I sowed, without stratification, a pile of seed and today Townsendia nuttallii is already germinating....just 5 days!

Latest update: Loads of seeds germinating; some are still in stratification stage. The list of germinated species:

Allium platycaule
A. pyrenaicum
A. subhirsutum
A. subvillosum
A. bessianum
A. macranthum
Androsace pedemontana
A. bulleyana
A. rotundifolia
Campanula hondoensis
C. makaschvelii
C. choruhensis
C. anomala
C. autraniana
Dianthus pindicola
D. glacialis
Delosperma alpinum
D. karooicum
D. 'John Profitt'
D. 'Beaufort West'
Draba lasiocarpa
Eremurus himalaicus
E. robustus
E. stenophyllus
Erigeron nematophyllus
E. caespitosus
E. leiomerus
Gazania linearis
Geum reptans
Lesquerella alpina
Kniphofia hirsuta
K. rooperi
K. citrina
K. typhoides
Lychnis yunnanensis
Morina longifolia
Myosotis traversii
Osteospermum barberiae
Penstemon whippleanus
P. albertinus
Petrocallis pyrenaica
Primula brevicula
P. kisoana
P. flaccida
P. reidii
P. viallii
Rhododendron molle ssp. japonica
Saxifraga media
Silene dinarica
Silene keiskei
Townsendia montana
T. nuttallii

This is only about 1/3 of what is sown and I just ordered 80 more packets from the NARGS surplus...I'm nuts!

Yep. You're nuts. But you're in good company here. I'm
not doing as well germination-wise. Besides the dianthus,
I have Edraianthus pumilio and Edrainanthus graminifolius
germinated.

Tam

Todd, care to annotate any of those that you remember coming up during stratification?

One of your Claytonia sibirica still in a pot got dumped this fall accidentally. I replanted it and brought it inside. It died a couple months ago, but now a couple seeds have sprouted in the old pot. I'm really surprised because I hadn't been keeping the soil moist. But they came up anyway.

It's time for me to start sowing inside now. Days are long enough and such. And I have a cold frame to play with now too.

Rick

I went nuts too this year - first SRGC, then NARGS, then Pavelka and Holubec. Well, at least I've controlled my seed greed enough to ignore the NARGS second round! (I'm going to be seriously challenged for room as it is, until I can chuck seedlings outdoors, which won't be for some time yet.)

Oh, BTW, Todd, I don't grow Silene dinarica so did not have it to donate.

I have germination on the following as of tonight (all easy, warm germinators):
Acantholimon kotschyi ssp. laxispicatum
Achillea aleppica ssp. zederbaueri (I had this but it got bitten off by a rabbit and it didn't come back; sort of a woody stem)
Achillea falcata
Agoseris glauca
Ajania tenuifolia
Ajuga lupulina
Alyssum lepidoto-stellatum
Androsace bisulca var. aurata
Androsace spinulifera
Arabis androsacea
Arenaria pestalozzae
Arnebia densiflora
Arnebia kansuensis
Asyneuma lycium
Aubrieta canescens
Bolanthus cherlerioides
Campanula argyrotricha, kirpicznikovii (biennial), kowkinsiana, orphanidae, seraglio, stricta ssp. alidaghensis, topaliana
Cheiranthus roseus
Christollea flabellata
Codonopsis bhutanica, grey-wilsonii
Convolvulus holosericeus
Cyananthus macrocalyx, microphyllus
Delosperma alpinum
Dianthus arpadianus ssp. pumilus, petraeus ssp. noeanus, pinifolius ssp. serbicus
Diapensia purpurea
Didymophysa vesicaria
Dracocephalum foetidum, heterophyllum, poulsenii
Ebenus cappadocica
Edraianthus serbicus
Eremostachys speciosa
Erigeron aureus
Gentiana siphonantha, striata
Incarvillea compacta, younghusbandii
Inula acaulis ssp. caulescens, heterolepis
Krascheninnikovia lanata
Lagotis yunnanensis (only 1 seedling, may be a weed?)
Laserpitum siler
Limonium perplexum
Lindelofia longiflora
Linum spathulatum
Lobelia sessilifolia
Lupinus lepidus utahensis
Lysimachia lichiangensis
Michauxia campanulata
Minuartia erythrosepala
Napaea dioica
Omphalodes kuzinskyanae
Onobrychis argyrea
Ononis spinosa
Onosma paniculata
Phlomis sieheana
Phyllophyton complanatum
Potentilla caulescens, divina
Pulsatilla kostyczewii
Primula algida
Rheum rhizostachyum
Salvia campanulata, verbenacea
Satureja montana illyrica
Saussurea eopygmaea, graminifolia, stella
Scutellaria hypericifolia, zhongdianensis
Sedum pilosum
Senecio polyodon
Silene macrantha, pusilla
Soroseris umbrella
Tanacetum tibeticum
Taraxacum pseudoroseum
Teucrium hircanicum
Thlaspi kurdicum
Townsendia minima
Trifolium alpinum
Vella lucentina
Verbascum fontqueri,roripifolium, rotundifolium haenseleri

It's difficult to even find out what some of these things look like... so I figured I'd have to grow them to find out!


This message was edited Mar 10, 2010 8:21 PM

wow. I thought I was bad with my 60-70 seed packs. You
guys make me feel so normal.

Tam

Lori, you have plants I never heard of! Some I would have thought needed strat like the Gentiana....I just sowed that one but put it outside for a brief winter.

Seeds arrived today from a Botanical garden in France and Austria...another 24 pots! It's a sickness!

I used an overnight GA-3 soak (a few drops of water, a tiny toothpick-tip amount of GA-3, as per Kristl Walek's directions) for the gentians.

Yeah, it's definitely crazy! I expect some of the things I'm growing will not turn out to be especially garden-worthy (others were described glowingly) but it will be interesting to see what I can grow here!

The Pavelka and Holubec lists were really fascinating - high elevation plants from China and Turkey, mostly. I'm pleased that I have gotten what I think is quite good germination from them, even though some of the seeds were from expeditions some years ago (both indicate the year of collection). I got the Pavelka order first, so have more germination from those, as compared to the Holubec seeds planted later. All of those noted were obviously ones that (fortunately) required no conditioning, so I got some instant gratification!

I've come to automatically question the identity of any one seed germination too, Alta. Unless of course, I know what the seedling is suppose to look like.

Tammy, I am also feeling more normal after these long lists too. But I sure appreciate yous taking the time to list them.

I opted to finally get some conifer cuttings started today. It's either now or wait til mid June for semi-softwood. Just walked around the yard, a snip here, a snip there.

Rick