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 the shortest stratification needs.
GERMINATION CODE A
No pre-treatment is necessary:
Seed should germinate upon sowing in a warm location.
Andropogon gerardii
Dalea foliosa
Echinacea purpurea
Ipomoea leptophylla
Mentha arvensis
Monarda citricodora
Mirabilis nyctaginea
Nicotiana rustica
Oenothera pilosella
Opuntia humifusa
Salvia lyrata
Schizachyrium scoparium
Symphytrichum oolentangiense
Thermopsis Carolinians
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
Astragalus bisculatus
Baptisia sphaerocarpa
Chamaecrista fasciculata
Lespedeza capitata
Mimosa quadrivalis var. nuttallii
Senna marilandica
30 DAYS
Agastache foeniculum
Ascelpias hirtella
Asclepias incarnata
Asclepias purpurascens
Bidens coronata
Campanula Americana
Cleome serulata
Coreopsis lanceolata
Helianthus mollis
Liatris punctata
Penstemon Cuba
Penstemon grandifloras
Rudbeckia hirta
Verbena hastata