One of the best things about this time year is the new beginnings it brings. This applies to life, and also to the garden. As we approach the solstice and the lengthening days beyond, now is the time to begin preparing for Spring.
One of my projects over this past week has been to sow the native perennial seeds I plan to grow this spring and summer. These are seeds I gathered myself, or ordered online, mostly from Prairie Moon Nursery, whom I highly recommend.
There are thousands upon thousands of amazing plant species native to Oklahoma. When it comes to deciding what to grow, I go with a combination of popular favorites — like Asters, Coneflowers, Milk Weed, and Bee Balm — unusual plants that I like — such as Rattlesnake Master, Ironweed, and Spiderwort — as well as a few species that I have never grown before — that, this year, include Cardinal Flower, Joe Pye Weed, and Golden Alexander. In total, I started thirty or so native perennial species for 2021, and will likely start a few more in the coming weeks as I finish my seed orders.
Many of these seeds need thirty to ninety days of cold moist stratification before they will germinate. My technique for starting them is to fill a container with good potting soil—I mostly used one-gallon fabric containers filled with Roots 707 Mix—then, I scatter the entire contents of the seed package on to the soil surface in the container, then I pat everything down with my hand, and, finally, cover with a thin layer of soil before watering and setting outside.
Placed outside the seeds in the containers will experience the passing of the season as they would in the wild and, hopefully, germinate when the time is right, come February, March, and April. At that point I will pot up the individual plants for growing on. I will post updates and a complete inventory in the coming weeks, once I start to get an idea of which of these little experiments are going to work or not.
