@Morz8 and Dave (digdirt): Thank you -- this is, of course, very helpful... no freezing them. I think what I will do it sow 50% of each species now, and the other 50%: place in zip lock bags with vermiculite that has been moistened; leave at room temperature for 24 hours and then refrigerate until the first week of May; then sow. For the very few species that require a period of warm-stratification followed by a 3 month period of cold-stratification, I will keep in vermiculite for 2 months at room temp, then put in refrigerator for 3 months, then sow indoors and grow them in a green house for a year. Since I have a very small amount of GA-3.. enough to treat just a few ounces -- whereas I have 3.5 pounds of seed, would it be a bad idea to add this comparatively small and therefore dilute amount to the vermiculite so that there is a trace amount of GA-3 during the process of stratification. i.e. since I have it, since it will be a minimal amount, etc.? Thanks!

Those aren't "tricks" but different types of stratification. I'm aware that different seeds require different types of stratification: scarification (nicking, scratching the outer covering), soaking or using acid to emulate natural wearing/decomposition or in the case of certain seeds even being exposed to fire/extreme heat. In all these cases the reason is usually fairly obvious; in order to allow moisture, etc. to penetrate the outer coating. My question pertains specifically and exclusively to "Cold stratification". By "tricking seeds" I'm wondering if the seed can be "fooled into thinking" it's been dormant a season or two though, in actuality, they've only been in the freezer/refrigerator for a week or so. If it is merely a matter of expansion, contraction, cold-induced cracking --- a transition from one state to the other and back--- one day'd be as good as 90. I always do (usually fairly extensive) research before posting on any forum. On this subject, I mostly found answers to the "what is?s" and "how?s" but not so much the "why?s". Here I thought I might find others with anecdotal experience from experimentation. Just as one example, right now I have a large patch of Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) that, though I grew it in order to use the (Cilantro) leaves, has already gone to seed. There's still plenty of growing time left this season. It'd be nice if I could harvest this year's seed, do a "Quickie Cold stratification", plant and get a second crop this year. This is an experiment I plan to be trying .

Oh what fun, snakes in the bed. My elderly neighbor is afraid of the garter snakes in the yard. You can hear her scream all the way to the moon if she sees one. Funny thing with my daughter, she teaches genetics and microbiology in HS. They have to do stuff with flies and that doesn't bother her at all, CAUSE THE D##N THINGS ARE DEAD, SO SHE CLAIMS. She was visiting her roommate from college last summer, the roommate is from Florida and lives there now since graduation. One night the phone rang and on the other end of the phone was her old roommate and all I could hear was my daughter screaming at the top of her lungs. Roomie says, "just wanted you to get a good laugh, she's staring down a huge palmetto bug and it's so funny." I was laughing for days. Must admit though, I kind of freak if a see a spider, but have a good reason. I'm allergic to spider bites, you don't want to see what happens if I get one. That's why I'm not allowed to prune any bushes that will have my face near or in the bush. One bit on my forehead or around my eye and the eye is swollen shut for 2 weeks and massive infections. OH yes, freeze those malva seeds too. Weevils and their eggs die in there too. Alison, you are crazy. Didn't you know that part of the definition of a gardener is crazy? Think about it, we try to beat mother nature by growing things that the 4 legged critters love to chew up, we die of the heat, sweat like you know what, water, water, water, all to try and have beautiful flowers in our gardens. Half the time we loose the battle with mother nature. Now we've become addicted to seed trading, Winter sowing, and we have even more seeds to start. For Pete's sake, we are outside in the freezing cold in the winter, climbing through snow to put containers full of dirt with seeds in them outside to "germinate when mother nature says to germinate" and you wonder if you're nuts. Yup, we're all nuts, and love every minute of it, don't we? Fran

I have never had lupines before, so I might come here later for questions on growing them. But as far as germination goes, here is my experience. I have used a small gravy bowl made of stainless steel (thought I'd use something non reactive) to soak the seeds. I did not do any of the recommended things like freezing or chilling them or scarifying them. I have tried these techniques before for a variety of plants and I simply find them too intense - I don't think to check the fridge all the time to take them out of there just in time. Too much effort to keep track of that, I guess. Besides, if these plants have survived so long in the wild without scarification and such, that is because they don't actually need those extra steps. So, back to the gravy bowl. I added half an inch of water and popped fifteen seeds into it right out of the packet. I left them in the water and checked the bowl once a day. It took about a day for one of fifteen seeds to swell. I sowed that one right away, but I was still left with fourteen more that were just soaking there. A few days later, three more swelled, so I planted those, too. Yet another few days later, another four swelled, and some of them actually had a tiny white root sticking out on the side. I sowed these, too. By this time, the seeds have been soaking for a week. But I just let them be. A few days later, all but three of the remaining seeds swelled and showed a tiny root. I planted these, too. All the ones I planted went into 2" soil blocks on a capillary mat and later into 4" pots. I am happy to report that they have all sprouted and are now handsome young plants without any sign of disease or lack of nutrients. They are growing quite fast, too. So, to sum it up, I find that the best way to germinate lupine seed is to soak it until it swells and/or has a root sticking out and then either plant them in their final spots or plant them to raise as seedlings. Don't worry if they soak for weeks on end, they will eventually sprout and they will not rot. Just make sure they are always covered by water, so you may have to top the water up once in a while (mine are relatively close to a fan, so the water does evaporate). You can easily distinguish seed that is about to sprout from seed that still needs time. The ones that are going to sprout swell to about two to three times their size very quickly (within about 24 hours). They look like little beans that would be excellent to eat (but they are poisonous, so please resist the temptation to eat them).