Midland Shooting Star are tough little buggers

19 years ago

Hi-thought I would give an account of my venture to grow Dodecatheon meadii in case it helps anyone here.

They germianted in abundance and I spent all last summer dealing with flats upon flats of teeny weenie pain in the butt seedlings that never got beyond one little leaf. I tried everything-putting them in peat pots, putting them in larger pots. They got washed out by rain, eaten by insects, dried out, drowned. I hate tiny seedlings. I have great patience in April but come july they were in dried out piles, upside down, drowned in mud - you name it.

I had pretty much given up by fall, but I buried the peat pots and buried the other pots into the ground intact. What was left in cell packs was so far gone I just left them under the picnic table.

A couple weeks ago the seedling reappeared in the buried pots. Then I found one in a dried out pot on its side in the garage. Then another in a milk carton by the garage. Then about thirty in the dried out cell packs-upside down, on their side, potting compund half washed out.....

What incredibly durable little being they are!!!!! I am overjoyed!

I dont think they will flower this year but they do have four or five leaves so its an improvement over the one little pea sized leaf that endured the last summer with me.

I think they are so "original" and "creative" and mark a high point in God's career as Creator Diety. (holds up a card that says 9.5)

Thought I would give the account in case anyone else here thinks they are special but gets daunted by the slow growth combines with its ephemeral nature and gives up or decides not to try to grow them from seed.

In LVX

Laurette

Here is a link that might be useful: Dodecatheon meadii

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Comments (7)

ArborBluffGirl
19 years ago
I have dodecatheons in my yard and they are one of my favorites! This is the first year for just about all of them to bloom. Those in more sun have been blooming for about 2 weeks and are on the downhill slide, bloomwise. Last year, I sprinkled the seeds around the parent plant and I am noticing tiny seedlings this year. The shooting stars that get less sun are just starting to bloom. It will be interesting to see if the blooms last as long as the others.

On a side note, my sun thought they were cool and picked the stem off of one and proudly handed it to me. Needless to say I was bummed. I put it in a vase and it has continued to bloom for about a week. Didn't realize it would last so long as a cut flower.

I'd like to get some different colors besides the hot pink.
Hooti
Original Author
19 years ago
Dear ArborBluffGirl,

I have never seen one "in person", only in pictures so far. Do you know how long yours took or take to bloom from seed? Mine are still very small the second year but they were not well taken care of as I didnt know what I was doing.

I don't know what color mine will be, but if they arent hot pink I will trade you for some!

NEWS had three species of dodecatheons. I didnt order any of them this year but I may try another next year. I have five acres to fill. That is one a year?!?lol.

In LVX
Laurette
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MarcR
19 years ago
Dodecatheon, like Peony, have a double dormancy. This means that after they sprout, they need 8 or more weeks of chill before they will begin to mature.
kwoods
19 years ago
I thought double domancy referred to two conditions needing to be met for seed germination caused by 2 seed dormancy factors?

I think (not sure) what it means is the plants set seed early in the spring, then they go through a warm moist stratification where the seed ripens followed by a winter cold stratification then they germinate the following spring. The 2 dormancy factors are usually something like a hard seed coat (which moist warm strat breaks) and dormant embryo (which cold start breaks).

Could be wrong but that is my understanding of double dormancy.

Thought I lost my favorite shooting star this year after letting all of it's many flowers go to seed last spring. Now it is coming up late but strong along with a large brood of babies. YAY! No idea how long it will take before the little ones will flower, by the size of 'em looks like it will be next year.
ArborBluffGirl
19 years ago
I had what I thought was questionable luck with starting shooting stars from seed. I had excellent germination but then they just died off, probably due to the dormancy thing discussed above and I threw the planter out. I am kicking myself now as I realized I should just have let them go until the following year. I ended up receiving one as a mothers day gift and it's done well. When I want new plants, I take the seed heads and scatter them where I want them to grow next year and I find that works best. I believe that I have the jeffersoni variety. I would be interested in trading a pink for a white or light pink.
Hooti
Original Author
18 years ago
I totally know what your mean ArborBluffGirl. I knew they were ephemeral but when one is faced with tons of pots and cell packs full of dirt it is hard to have enough faith to keep taking care of them. Luckily I never throw anything away *grin*.

Good information is so important. I would have had way better results last year if I had known things like which are slow growing or tiny, if ephemerals die down the first year (as they do not flower), etc.

The New England Wildflower Society uses the term "double dormancy" to refer to seeds that need two cold periods (with a warm period in-between). Some of these, such as trillium, do send out roots after the first cold period. Then they send out shoots the second.

The Dodecatheon germinated well for me after a typical wildflower stratification, but they did not send out anything but one leaf the first year.

I will post the link to the NEWS germination codes. It is a great reference guide to the germination needs of native plants. Just click the link to index of names on the top and match the codes with the directions for each species.

PAX
Laurett

Here is a link that might be useful: NEWS germination codes
MarcR
18 years ago
Hooti,

I believe both usages are correct. If not, I'm the one in error. In any case regardless of the correct term for it, Dodecathion either needs or benefits from a period of chill after sprouting.

Midland Shooting Star are tough little buggers

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Midland Shooting Star are tough little buggers

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