Fresh Trillium Seed Available

[t00lie]

Available mixed Trillium seed I harvested locally ,but not on our property, last week from plants that show wonderful variations in colour and leaf markings of albidum, chloropetalum and kurabayashii which have been growing all together in a mixed fashion .
Here's a chance to raise youngsters from fresh seed that will hopefully exhibit or even extend their parents diversity.

A couple of pictures of some of the parents.

I'm interested in Galanthus seed as a swap.Please PM if interested .
Cheers Dave.

[t00lie]

Thanks to all of those folk who requested seed . Been a bit overwhelmed with the number of requests from various sources.      however all envelopes are ready to be posted early next week.
Best of luck in your seed endeavours .

Cheers Dave.

[t00lie]

An update to the seed I offered above .....

Despite promising myself I wasn't going to sow any seed ..... in the end I couldn't resist       and put a few seeds into a 'baggie' of moist vermiculte/perlite placed in the bottom of the super heater cupboard immediately after harvesting on 8 Feb 2017.

No activity observed two weeks ago however today I see there is/has been a tremendous radicle germination of over 200 seeds with just a small number yet to 'get going'. So that's a period of just over 13 weeks and with no cold period ......

Cheers Dave.
 
 
 

[Carolyn]

Hi Dave
Good to see those seeds germinating! Did you have a warm late summer/autumn? I have been wondering about trillium germination - some years I get germination during the first winter from fresh seed, other years I don't. I wonder if germination depends on warmth in late simmer? Last year I tried an experiment. I sowed 3 pots of T. hibbersonii and kept them in the greenhouse until late autumn, then they went outside in the open for winter. The "control" pot went straight outside, where it enjoyed our mediocre summer temperatures (ie, 15 or 16C most of the time!). The 3 pots which had a warm period germinated like cress in early spring, the control pot has got a mere 2 seedlings, which appeared much later. I will try this again this summer.
I would show a photo, but I can't get my head around resizing on my new android tablet. The photos are all too big.

[ashley]

Very interesting Carolyn.  I've also noticed wide variation in spring germination rates from year to year so will try this idea too. 

[Carolyn]

Ashley, I think it would be useful to try it with various different trilliums - some, such as erectum, always seem very reluctant to germinate,but others, like rivale seem much easier. I'm guessing that most trilliums in the wild experience much higher summer temperatures than we can give them outside here.

[ashley]

I agree Carolyn, although ideally it would be good to control for seed quality and provenance too. 
For example, wild-collected seed of T. erectum I received from Gabriela last August gave more or less full germination this spring (as did grandiflorum, also w/c in S Ontario).

[t00lie]

Hi Dave
Good to see those seeds germinating! Did you have a warm late summer/autumn? I have been wondering about trillium germination - some years I get germination during the first winter from fresh seed, other years I don't. I wonder if germination depends on warmth in late simmer? Last year I tried an experiment. I sowed 3 pots of T. hibbersonii and kept them in the greenhouse until late autumn, then they went outside in the open for winter. The "control" pot went straight outside, where it enjoyed our mediocre summer temperatures (ie, 15 or 16C most of the time!). The 3 pots which had a warm period germinated like cress in early spring, the control pot has got a mere 2 seedlings, which appeared much later. I will try this again this summer.
I would show a photo, but I can't get my head around resizing on my new android tablet. The photos are all too big.

Hello Carolyn

Thanks for your interesting comments .

From communications on Trillium L I understand some folk in climes that experience warm summer/autumn temps achieve a high percentage of success while most years I only get a small percentage of seed germinate underground a few weeks on from sowing . 21c warmth is mentioned .....

The summer just passed was a non event here and although autumn was wonderful with settled weather, fresh 'home' seed I sowed back in Jan, Feb, March and placed outside are showing no sign of movement .......

I'm currently in delicate negotiations with Mrs Toole for exclusive use of the shelf below the water heater so I can try some fresh Easterner seed next season.  .

In the meantime I have a pot of inactive T. ludovicianum seed sown back in 2013 that I'm planning to tip out this morning into a baggie and place in the cupboard so it will be interesting to see what happens as a result of the warmer temps and timing .......

Please say hello to David from us.

Kind regards Dave .     

[t00lie]

Carolyn I forgot to add that also I placed a separate baggie of the above mentioned seed into the fridge a few months back in Feb for sending to seedxs later in the year.

A check today and as expected there has/ is no germination occurring.

Cheers Dave.

[Carolyn]

Dave,
Your observations are very useful. I have a feeling that summer warmth is helpful for lots of these woodland species. I was reading that it is necessary for jeffersonia, for example. The temperature you mentioned of 21C would fit with my greenhouse summer temperature, which is usually in the low 20s by day.

I think you should definitely get the use of that shelf! Hilda surely can't have anything more important to use it for?

David says hi to you both.

[Gabriela]

I agree Carolyn, although ideally it would be good to control for seed quality and provenance too. 
For example, wild-collected seed of T. erectum I received from Gabriela last August gave more or less full germination this spring (as did grandiflorum, also w/c in S Ontario).

Ashley, I am glad some of the Trillium seeds germinated, the others will do next year. Trillium erectum even in out conditions germinates entirely in the second year (it has a double deep dormancy).

Trillium grandiflorum seeds (just like Sanguinaria) have combined simple and double dormancy. In case of seeds collected in mid July and kept in moist vermiculite/warm, about half will start to germinate in September-October. It is random and of course these will be the ones showing leaves in the first spring. All the others will germinate (root) in the summer and showing the first leaves in the second spring.

Regarding the N. American Trilliums, and other species with morphophysiological dormancy (like Jeffersonia, Anemone, Hepatica and so on...), there is nothing new that they need for the warm cycle temperatures above 21C and even more, just like it happens in their natural habitat. In summer time temp. go easily over 30C here.
It is normal that when seeds are purchased by people living in a different climate they won't germinate as well as when sown in their natural one - even when the seeds are fresh.

[ashley]

Thanks Gabriela.  Yes I should have been more precise and distinguished between germination (presumably last autumn) and appearance of seed leaves about ground this spring.  I didn't count seed numbers but there's a profusion of seedlings so presumably few if any remain to follow next year (T. erectum included).  Likewise, Anemone, Hepatica & Sanguinaria seed from you last year also germinated very well.

Nevertheless I like Carolyn's idea for our temperate oceanic climate in this part of the world, giving woodlander seed from continental climates more reliable late summer warmth by keeping pots in the greenhouse until late autumn.

[Carolyn]

I am going to gather up all my pots of ungerminated trillium seeds soon and give them a warm summer under the greenhouse bench.

I have been looking through the pots in my cold frames. I sowed lots of trillium hibbersonii in June 2014. We had a heatwave in July that year for several weeks. Germination was good the following spring. The fresh T. hibbersonii seeds sown in June 2015 didn't germinate until spring 2017. The summer of 2015 was not memorable for warmth.

Gabriela,
I have had sanguinaria seed germinate from the seedex after up to 5 or 6 years! I guess this stubborn dormancy is as a result of using dried seed and having cool summers.

[Gabriela]

Thanks Gabriela.  Yes I should have been more precise and distinguished between germination (presumably last autumn) and appearance of seed leaves about ground this spring.  I didn't count seed numbers but there's a profusion of seedlings so presumably few if any remain to follow next year (T. erectum included).  Likewise, Anemone, Hepatica & Sanguinaria seed from you last year also germinated very well.

Nevertheless I like Carolyn's idea for our temperate oceanic climate in this part of the world, giving woodlander seed from continental climates more reliable late summer warmth by keeping pots in the greenhouse until late autumn.

Yes, of course it is a great idea, same like the shelf close to the water heater, or any other available warmer spot. I was just expressing surprise that this hasn't become a standard practice in your region, given that so many people there are growing plants from seeds and many species are from climates with hotter summers/fall.

Carolyn - you deserve a prize for waiting 5-6 years for Sanguinaria! Don't get me wrong but I would forbid the selling of dry seeds of some species; it just gives many people the wrong impression that they are difficult to grow from seeds and they don't want to try them afterwards.

[t00lie]

The summer just passed was a non event here and although autumn was wonderful with settled weather, fresh 'home' seed I sowed back in Jan, Feb, March and placed outside are showing no sign of movement .......

I spoke too soon .....

Most of the 20 home Trillium maculatum seeds sown outside about 16 weeks ago ,(28 Jan 2017), are just starting to germinate ......