Prairie Moon Nursery provides authentic, wild native plant seeds. With a network of growers across the Midwest, they supply over 700 North American species. We are thrilled to carry a selection of native plant seeds with various stratification needs.
GERMINATION CODE A
No pre-treatment is necessary:
Seed should germinate upon sowing in a warm location.
Andropogon gerardii, grass, big blue stem
Carex muskingumensis, palm sedge
Dalea candida, white prairie clover
Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower
Helenium autumnale, sneezeweed
Hypericum prolificum, shrubby St. John’s wort
Monarda punctata, spotted beebalm
Oenothera pilosella, prairie sundrops
Rudbeckia maxima, great coneflower
Salvia azurea, blue pitcher sage
Schizachyrium scoparium, grass, little blue stem
Symphyotrichum drummondii, Drummond’s aster
Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, calico aster
GERMINATION CODE B
Hot water treatment helps break open the hard seed coat. This may happen naturally with freeze/thaw cycles, but better germination can be expected if hot water treatment is done before fall planting outside, or artificial cold-moist stratification in a fridge.
1. Bring water to a boil, remove from heat, and pour over seeds.
2. Soak the seeds at room temperature for 24 hours.
3. Filter through a coffee filter and fine mesh strainer.
4-5. Proceed with germination code C instructions (below).
Callirhose involucrata
GERMINATION CODE C
To naturally stratify seed, plant outdoors late fall on a weed-free site and allow seed to overwinter.
To artificially stratify seed, place seed and medium in a labeled, sealed plastic bag and store in a refrigerator (33-40°F). Stratification medium could be a damp paper towel, coffee filter, sand, vermiculite, or other horticultural-use medium.
Mix equal parts sand and seed, or slightly more sand than seed. Whatever stratifying medium you choose, be sure to moisten the mixture slowly to a damp but not wet consistency. You should not be able to squeeze any excess water out of the medium.
Stratify for the number of days indicated. If two months stratification is required, C(60), one month may work for many species if time is a constraint. Some seeds may sprout in the storage bag. If this occurs with more than a few seeds, plant immediately.
10 DAYS
Desmodium glutinosum, pointed-leaf tick trefoil
30 DAYS
Agastache foeniculum, anise hyssop
Asclepias exaltata, poke milkweed
Asclepias hirtella, tall green milkweed
Asclepias sullivantii, prairie milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa, butterflyweed
Eutrochium purpureum, sweet Joe-pye weed
Penstemon calycosus, calico beardtongue
Rudbeckia laciniata, wild golden glow
Rudbeckia triloba, brown-eyed Susan
Silphium terebinthinaceum, prairie dock
Symphyotrichum shortii, Short’s aster
Verbena hastata, blue vervain