I grew Pulsatilla turczaninovii from seed. That was before I read you're suppose to remove the tails on the seeds. Wintered sowed in mid Feb here in Minnesota. Maybe a third to half of seed germinated in late May. Don't know if the tails had anything to do with anything. Pretty slow growing, but the tenacity of the little buggers was surprising. I don't fertilize, although others do. Turczaninovii is a reall honey. I seldom post pics on GW since the Ivillage takeover, but you (or anyone) can email me for a password to my photobucket account where you can see the pulsatilla and a lot more.

Be sure to use an excellent draining lean planting medium for all your alpines. A most excellent discussion on seed starting alpines is here. It starts with a different subject. Scroll down to Feb 3, and it continues on and on.

Good Luck!

Thanks! I had the Pulsatilla on my list, because I remember your picture.

The post you linked to was a good help. So it is best to grow the seeds outdoors as apposed to under lights or in a greenhouse? I have all of the above at my disposal...

Because alpine plants are what they are, they like the cool temps. Inside the house under lights would be the last option, as cool temps are non-existant (especially at night). Greenhouse would be questionable - does it get hot during the day in the sunshine? Alpines hate heat and humidity. A coldframe would be ideal, where you could regulate the temperature and airflow. I start mine outside on the north side of my house. Most are winter sown. Just acquired a coldframe that I will be putting up.

I think that thread listed good sites for germination advice for alpines, like the Ontario Rock Garden Society Germination Guide. Temps might seem warm for some to germinate, but that doesn't necessarily mean warm once they are up and growing. It may be just to get the up at all, and/or to get them past a disease vulnerability stage.

I've done Calochortus species, although not nutallii...yet. I patted the seeds on to moist jiffy-mix in a pot, covered lightly and set the pot outside all winter to fend for itself. They germinated. I think my oldest pot is on year 3--hopefully the little bulbs will be big enough to plant out in the open garden this year.

Lisa

OK...so outdoors it is!

Do you expect your 3yo Calochortus to bloom this year, Lisa?

Thanks!

Recently found another (though comparatively crude) germination guide, but it has tons of species on it. Really, it's the experience of one gardener, who recorded days to germination, and with or without a cold treatment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Magner Aspaker's Sowing Methods

I HOPE the Calochortus will bloom this year, but I don't expect a thing. Bulbous plants are slow to grow here in Northern Nevada, even under the best of conditions. As in slow to grow from seed--they do just fine from bulbs.

Lisa

I tried veratrum nigrum several times and am waiting one more time with winter sowing method- it seems to be tough cookie to germinate/ and I am reasonably good at it/