Your liatris should be fine WS even if last years, they aren't short viable that I know. Druse (Making More Plants) does suggest that if sowing fresh you may side step the long cold period if you can provide a substantial temperature reduction at night - he says 75 day, 55 night, germination possible in 30 days.

I don't think you have to worry about the cup or compass plant being short viable either, apparently it's a fairly hard seed coat but you've got plenty (all :)) of winter for that to break down still.

I don't know of any one list with 'short viable' being the criteria.

As to the seeds maybe being last years - I think it depends on the vendor, and would hope if you were sent last years seeds it was at a reduced price unless you had agreed to a back order from something you tried to get earlier. My Plant World catalog came a month ago - it's seeds packed for this year.

Hi Christie, I WS'd Liatris pychnostachya, L. ligulystylis, and S. perfoliatum in 2008. My records show sow dates of Jan 4th, Feb 4th, and Feb 14th and all 3 sprouted well between April 11-19th. AFAIK, these seeds do not have to be sown fresh - fully dried seeds sprouted fine. The seeds that need to be sown fresh are hydrophilic - many of the woodland plants for example - and they need to stay moistened by the soil and leaf litter until they sprout.

I purchased some seeds last fall from Prairie Moon nursery that were packed for the year before and they sprouted fine. If you wait a little later in the season, then they are packed for the current year. Don't worry too much about the date on the seeds - even if they are a year old, no doubt the seed company stored them under optimal conditions and I think they are required to perform germination tests on the seeds they sell each year.

My experience has been that seeds last much longer than references say, when stored well. I store them in a produce drawer in the refrigerator, with the humidity lever set to low, and throw those dessicants from vitamins, packaging, etc. in the drawer. I've been storing my seeds in the fridge for nearly 25 years and routinely sprout seeds that are 10 years old or older. For example I've sprouted the same Big beef tomato, basil, and parsley seeds the past 3 years that were packed for 1998 - 12 years old! - and herb seeds supposedly have a very short shelf life. And they sprouted like crazy!

Thank you both. I'm sure they stored them in the fridge. They were packed for 2010 but it's my fault for not paying attention. It said 2010 seeds on the website very plainly. I called the company which I'm not going to name because I don't want to make them look bad. They really didn't do anything wrong. They're going to send fresh liatris ligulistylis seeds. He thought I might have trouble with that one. I thought it was nice that they're going to go ahead and send them instead of waiting to see whether they germinate.

I made a mistake. The liatris pycnostachya seeds were from a trade, not purchased, so those are fresh.

I store only a few things in the fridge. The rest of my seeds I double bag and keep in a cardboard box. The fridge might be a better place but that's premium space. It's always full. lol

I'm still interested in finding a seed database that shows which seeds HAVE to be stored in fridge or fresh sown.

Thanks

It's be great if we could find the condensed information we need wouldn't it - but I'm a book junkie and I've never seen a list like you describe. If it helps at all, out of all plants, there are not many that have to be sown immediately. Included there are things that develop such a deep dormancy if allowed to dry they may take years to germinate. There are even fewer that won't germinate if sown fresh and require some dry storage....but the majority of things will germinate whether fresh or dried with just a little difference in sowing method some times.

I understand that still brings you back to needing to look up information for each plant you sow. Druse, Making More Plants, is a great reference for sowing fresher seed. The Clothier's Site equally as good and his suggestions are most often for dried stored seed unless noted otherwise.
The propagation notes in both Dan Hinkleys Explorers Gardens books will give many of the requirements for things less common.

Or you can always ask here on GW and someone is probably going to know :)

That's wonderful you are getting replacements seeds, it sounds like a step beyond what your vendor might have been required to do.