Last year when I started my native plant commitment, I started looking for sources of native seeds. It is tricky to find quality sources of seeds for any unusual kind of plant. For example, I ordered Trillium ovatum seeds from Amazon and I received a little bag of rice. More recently, I ordered Crataegus douglasii seeds and strangely, they arrived from Turkey. They look alright, but will I invest a year or two before I find out they are another species?
While a slow process, I find growing plants from seed to be very rewarding and cost-effective and I intend to do a lot of native plants propagation from seed in the coming years.
One source that worked out wonderfully is Northwest Meadowscapes. They have a fairly extensive listing of perennials and annuals mostly designed for meadow growing, but many would be welcome in any home landscape.
I listen to Margaret Roach’s “A Way To Garden” Podcast and she is a big fan of native plants, and more specifically “locally native” plants. HERE is a recent episode talking about native early spring perennials. She is east-coast based and focused, but her thought processes will work for gardeners anywhere. She talks a lot about range maps. It can be very challenging to find accurate range maps for native plants.
When I am trying to determine if plants are locally native to King County, I look at the range maps provided by the Burke Museum Herbarium. I search by genus name and click on the specific plant to see the range map. I just placed an order with Northwest Meadowscapes for some locally native perennials to add to the many other seeds I’m starting.
I will stretch the map to fit my vision of what Washington looked like prior to being developed. Many plants seem to surround King County but haven’t been found inside it. It seems likely many have been extirpated in this highly developed County. So, I will give them a try in my garden and see if any pollinators or other insects find them a welcome addition to the garden buffet.
We had about 8″ of snow here at the house this weekend. I think the seeds I planted earlier are getting plenty of stratification from the weather finally. I did move the Collomia seedlings into the greenhouse to be sure they didn’t freeze. The snow is melting now and will likely be gone tomorrow. It was nice to have a few days of pure winter weather, though, with temperatures in the twenties. The tennis cans I planted my Quercus garryana acorns in were covered with quite a bit of snow.
