Subject: Re: Starting Columbine from seed

From: [email-masked] (Dave Whitman)
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 21:01:56 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
[email-masked] (Meredith Morris-Babb) wrote:

> In Article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Keith
> Kowalski) wrote:
> >Has anyone out there started species Columbine from seed? Hate to let 
> >all that came through winter hanging in the seed pods go to waste. 
> >By the way, I saw them planted with blue balloon flowers in the Atlanta 
> >Botanical Garden and the comb. was really nice. Any help would be 
> >appreciated. 
> >Keith Kowalski at <[email-masked]>
> 
> Keith - I always open up the pods and scatter the seeds in the fall.  Given
> decent soil (and if you are in the South, that's not always a given ;-)  ),
> they will be blooming the next year.  I had great success with this and now
> have sixteen plants of my white Showy from a single plant two years ago.
> 
> I vote for stickin' 'em in the ground and go!
> 
> Meredith
> >

My parents have a huge collection of columbines, and at my request, once
sent me several little plastic bags of seed pods.  The seeds came with
long, detailed descriptions about how to germinate and plant them, then
care for the resulting plants.  The instructions began something like
"Break up the pods.  Pick up each seed and look closely - one side is
slightly darker in color from the other.  This side goes DOWN when you
plant it in sterilized potting soil..."

The seeds are TINY.  My folks let me stew over trying to figure out which
side had to be on the bottom when I planted them for about two days,
before calling me up and telling me to just go outside and dump the seeds
on the ground in late summer/early fall and forget them.  I did that, and
had an incredible mass of plants the next spring.  

As I recall, the first year, none of the plants blumed, but the second
year, they were beautiful.  They seem to be reseeding and/or surviving and
I have lots of blumes every year.

-- 
dave whitman             "The opinions expressed are those of the 
[email-masked]     author, and not Rohm and Haas Company."
                          They made me say that.  Really.