Cold-Stratifying Seeds to Prepare for Spring Planting

 

Want to Start Your Own Flowers this Spring? 

Cold-Stratifying Seeds to Prepare for Spring Planting

Seed-Specialist Barbara Schaefer explains:

"Gardening with native plants is a growing trend (pun intended) especially during these navel-gazing times of Covid.  With so many of us working from home, staring at screens, and sitting far too long alone,  it’s a good therapy to branch out and let something else take root.

Our native plants are uniquely adapted to Canadian climate conditions and offer good value for your seed dollar.  They generally require less water and fuss.  But more importantly, they serve an ecological function in the battle against climate change.

Growing cold-climate native perennials from seed you have to mimic the seeds’ winter conditions and trick them into sprouting.  This is called cold stratification.  In nature, seeds would cold stratify on their own under a blanket of snow.  By putting seeds in the refrigerator or outside in cold weather for a period of time, you can simulate their experience of winter."

Read more of what helps seeds to prepare for sprouting in her blog:

https://gardensbybarby.ca/growing-cold-climate-native-perennials-from-seed/

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