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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Garden -> Perennials From Seed
 Perennials: Growing From Seed
By Niki Hayden
Growing most annuals by seed is straightforward. Nearly every gardener knows
to nurture an annual until the last spring frost date. At that time, the tender
seedling can join the rest of the hardier clan outside. Not so with perennials,
which come prepared by nature to withstand cold. Perennials also may take two
seasons to come into flower so the ordinary gardener has to ask the question:
"Is this worthwhile?"
Here are a few good reasons. If you crave a sea of columbine, a raft of
penstemon or a meadow of coneflowers, you’ll get buckets of plants for the
cost of pennies. If you long for a rare plant that isn’t offered in any garden
center but sprouts on a seed jacket, you’ll want to take it home.
In a few cases, some perennials may be easy to divide, like purple coneflower,
but you’ll have to wait a few years for a clump to grow large enough to take
advantage of division. That’s another reason to consider seeds.
 And, here’s the final reason: even if some, or many, of your seeds die, you’ve
lost less than a dollar and you’ve gained an education. Chances are many will
survive and turn out to be hardy garden specimens. Plants grown from seed are
especially hardy because they acclimatize to your soil and garden conditions.
They do not go through the shock of transplanting.
But here’s the catch. Perennials differ widely in their needs when it comes
to planting seeds. And no single approach works for all of them. In some cases,
planting from seed is the wrong approach. Are you looking at daylilies, irises
or ornamental grasses? Does your perennial grow in a clump at the base that
could be divided into small plants? Division would be kinder to these perennials
and will renew the mother plant.
Is it a woody shrub, a rose, perhaps? Cuttings would be a better answer for
these plants. For a variety of reasons, even professional growers
balk at growing woody plants from seed unless there is a pressing reason.
So what you’re left with are the seeds of favorite perennials that have
recently come into favor. Prairie coneflowers, Rocky Mountain penstemons, native
columbines, salvias, Gazania daisies, blue flax or sunflowers—these are
the perennials that gardeners may want to consider planting from seed. Some are
easy. And some are not.
 Mike Bone, plant propagator at the Denver Botanic Gardens, lists a few easy
perennials to get you started: salvias, Delosperma (hardy iceplant),
sunflowers, poppies, Gazania, (only half hardy, so these may not really
be considered a perennial), holly hocks and Achillea (yarrows, also easy
to divide when large). But he acknowledges that finding information about
planting perennials can be tricky. So does Kelly Grummons, from Timberline
Gardens, who propagates all kinds of plants for the home gardener.
"Information is not that easy to come by," Kelly says and recommends a
book by a Pennsylvania professor: "Seed Germination, Theory and
Practice," by Norman C. Deno. That’s the same book that Mike refers to
when it comes to plant propagation for the Denver Gardens. There’s also an
informative German website from a perennial grower, www.jelitto.com.
 But what’s an
amateur gardener to do if you want to grow one, or just a
few perennials? It pays to buy seed from a seller that gives a great deal of
information on the packet. You’ll want to know if the seeds germinate in light
or darkness, for example. Botanical Interests does just that and Curtis Jones,
the president of the Broomfield-based company, says that his seeds have been
prepared by the grower to be easy on the home gardener. "The seed companies
both stratify and scarify the seed we buy," he says. That means if the seed
needs to be kept in cold conditions for a period of time to germinate, such as
Rocky Mountain penstemon, it arrives post cold. If the seed needs to be
broken just a bit so that water will penetrate and allow germination, such as
lupine seeds, then the grower has done that, too.
 The exquisite lupine hails from the pea family, which is notorious for being
encased in a coating protecting it indefinitely. In the garden,
microorganisms will break the coating down. But that requires a very long time.
Gardeners often take to rubbing the seeds between two layers of fine sandpaper
to scratch tiny holes in the coating.
So, read the seed packet carefully and keep it for future reference. But
suppose you already have seed that comes with few instructions, or confusing
directions? That takes a new approach, one that must consider the background of
the plant. "What time of the year is the plant setting seed?" Mike
asks, "If it’s later in the season toward the fall, that’s a clue that
they will need stratification (a cold spell). But if it’s early in the season,
that’s a clue that those plants germinate right away." If it's a crop,
like berries, that are eaten by animals, chances are it will require
scarification--nature's protection of the seed as it travels through the
digestive tract of critters.
Kelly points out that not all perennials need to be stratified, although
plenty of gardening books will tell you to do so. "Prairie and montane
penstemons need it. Southwest and high alpine penstemons do not. A rule of thumb
is that plants from areas like the tall grass prairie with twenty or more inches of
rain don’t need it. But those from the short grass prairie and foothills,
do," he says. Penstemons are abundant in the West, so it’s no wonder that their needs are so varied. Those that are
native to the Front Range of Colorado will require a cold spell. Although some
gardeners subject all their perennial seeds to a cold spell, Kelly says
sometimes the seeds will simply rot from the process if it’s not the right
approach.
 Suppose you have seed that you are quite certain has not been stratified,
perhaps the packet instructs you to subject your seeds to a cold spell, or
perhaps a neighbor has given you collected seed from a private garden. There’s
an easy way to stratify your seeds and check the germination at the same time.
It’s a technique that growers have used for years.
Dampen a paper towel and sprinkle seeds across it evenly. Roll up the towel
and place it in a plastic bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator (not the freezer).
The cool temperatures of the refrigerator will stratify the seeds, which usually
require even temperatures of about 40 degrees for four to six weeks. Check the
seeds each week by opening the bag. This not only allows you to watch the
germination process but permits fresh air to
enter the bag. Some circulation of new air is necessary to ward off fungus that
may lurk among the seeds. By the time you see a tiny tendril arching from the
seed, you’ll know you have complete germination and the seed can be planted in
a small pot outside, or even directly in the garden.
 If your seeds did not completely germinate, that’s not so uncommon, Mike
says. "It’s a misconception that professionals get 100 percent
germination," he says, so don’t be ashamed if you have to buy two packets
of seeds to get the bounty you have in mind. Some seeds, like columbine, are
wildly fertile for the first three months after they’ve drifted from the
mother plant. Then they sink into a deeper dormancy where germination is less
spectacular.
"Everyone’s environment is different," Mike says, so your soil,
water and sun exposure will all add to any future success your perennials might
face. Propagating plants is like reading a mystery novel, he adds, "you
learn so much by the time you reach the end." And, the extra boon is that
if you have any questions about sun exposure, soil or water, you’ll have more
than enough plants to experiment with to complete your education.
Photos from top to bottom:
Trio of plants: Jupiter's Beard or Valerian, Centhranthus ruber, a
European perennial that grows on bleak cliffs, also used in xeric landscapes and
easy to grow from seed. In front is a blue sage (easy to grow), Salvia
farinacea and in front the Missouri primrose or Ozark sundrop, easy to grow
and drought-tolerant, Oenothera macrocarpa.
Penstemons: Rocky Mountain (Penstemon strictus) and Scarlet bugler or
iron maiden (Penstemon barbartus), both natives to the foothills of Colorado and
require stratification.
Hollyhock, Alcea Rosea, easy from seed and often self-seeds. Subject to rust.
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, a native of the tallgrass prairie, so
stratification is not necessary. It does require regular moisture. Also, large
clumps can be divided.
Lupine hybrids, Lupinus, likes cool weather and moisture, but not
humidity. Since it is from the pea family, seed must be scarified. Check
with your seed supplier to see if this has been done.
Black-eyed Susan or Gloriosa daisy: Rudbeckia, a tallgrass prairie native, so does not
need stratification except for the fulgida variety (place seeds in a
plastic bag with most towel for two weeks in the refrigerator), but does require regular moisture. Clumps can be divided.
Mexican hat coneflower: Ratibida columnifera, also comes in an
all yellow variety, native to the shortgrass prairie, so requires
stratification, easy to grow, very xeric. Like blue flax seed, it can be
sprinkled into the soil in autumn and will come up in the spring. Prefers lean
soil.
Recommended Books:
"From Seed to Bloom" by Eileen Powell, Storey Communication,
Vermont, 1995
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