Home » Plants & Animals » Virtual Gardening » Virtual Winter IV:: You grew *what* from seed??

Virtual Winter IV:: You grew *what* from seed??

© Carol Wallace

The first time I encountered a bright, red swollen object on my rose bush, I went running to my plant encyclopedia trying to discover what strange disease it had contracted. No disease--that swelling was a rose hip--a little favor the shrub does for us, giving winter color and providing food for the birds. Also, I read, a great source of vitamin C. I was impressed. But there came a day when I looked at that bright red swelling where a flower once bloomed and realized "This is a seed pod. Roses have seeds!" Then I was awed.

I'm not sure where I thought roses came from. Certainly not the stork. But the idea that this "luxury shrub" might be something I could grow from a tiny pellet enchanted me. I broke open that first hip, extracted the seeds and immediately put them in the ground. Nothing happened.

It wasn't long after that I realized that those swelling pods on my iris, tulips, daffodils, lilies and daylilies were also seeds. You never see these on the garden center seed racks. Nasturtium, delphinium, and most other perennials and annuals, yes. But the things we think of as shrubs, bulbs or tubers also start from seed--and anyone with a bit of patience, it turns out, can grow them.

As proof--I have 40 baby daylilies in my basement right now, all started from seeds I harvested in Fall. I have tiny baby hostas in my garden, a beautiful rose bush --even a baby waterlily in a tub in my basement--all started from seeds.

My mistake with the rose seeds was being too impetuous. I didn't even properly prepare either the soil or the seed. I came. I saw and I planted. These things need more forethought if we want to improve on nature.

This year I carefully harvested the seeds from daylily pods and let them dry on a paper towel in the warm kitchen for a few days. Then I dampened the towel, carefully folded the seeds into it, put it in a ziplock bag and stored it in the refrigerator for two months. Daylilies (and roses) need a period of chilling before they break dormancy.

Many professional hybridizers go a step further and soak their seeds in a mix of one part bleach to 10 parts water for a few minutes before putting them in storage. This helps to prevent fungus.

At the end of two months, I took the baggie out of the frig and laid it on top of the refrigerator where it was warm. In three days I peeked. There was life sprouting everywhere in that paper towel. Two seeds had already rooted in it. I planted the more vigorously sprouting ones in a mix of soilless potting mix and milled sphagnum moss and put them under lights in the basement. When the rest hadn't sprouted yet I put them back in the refrigerator for a week, then repeated the warming treatment. Most of them sprouted in this second go-round.

The copyright of the article Virtual Winter IV:: You grew *what* from seed?? in Virtual Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Virtual Winter IV:: You grew *what* from seed?? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.