Radicle Developments

Just before bed last night (3/14/16) I remembered that I hadn't checked the daylily seeds yet. Lo and behold, a few of the seeds are showing more radicle. There is still nothing more than a few millimeters, but it's progress.

Most of that progress seems to be in the ones at room temperature. The ones without the paper towel seem more developed, but the sample size is so small I can't be sure of the significance.

Due to time constraints, I am going to let the seeds progress a little more before I start planting. I will wait until one of the following happens:

• All of the seeds in one bag have a radicle showing
• A seed's radicle is about a centimeter long (or somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5 inches)
• I feel like planting them

On Friday (3/18/2016) the ones in the fridge should be planted, radicle or no radicle.

Daylily Update

On Saturday (3/5/2016) I bought some daylily roots, which is a form of daylily purchase that I have not read about anywhere. There were 4 packages: Pardon Me (3 plants, dip.), Frosted Vintage Ruffles (3 plants, dip.), Final Touch (3 plants, dip.) and Blackberries and Cream (2 plants, tet.). All of them but the Frosted Vintage Ruffles were trying to sprout in the packages. I potted them up in a compost/wood chip mix.

Today, I took some of the daylily seeds out of the fridge as per my original plan. 5 of sets with paper towels had dark spots on the paper that may have been mold. I replaced the paper towel pieces in those bags. They should show signs of sprouting by 3/23/2016.

Sprout Report

Within 24 hours of Hemerocallis stratification commencement, the supposedly tell-tale white spots began appearing on the seeds. As of this writing, no further indications of radicle emergence are evident.

As of yesterday (3/2/2016), one pair of dicotyledons has appeared in each of the Primula containers. I have no idea whether they are Primula rather than weed seeds. It's only been 10 days (11 days shy of expected germination time), so I suspect they are weeds.

Initiated Hemerocallis Stratification

I ordered some daylily seeds from T's Flowers & Things (tsflowers.com/daylily_seeds) and today is the day I started their stratification.

The seed packs contained between 50% and 250% more seeds than advertised, which was a pleasant surprise. I may find myself a little overwhelmed when it comes time to plant them, but I intend to make it work.

I started some of the seeds as instructed on the packet, placing a few seeds between two layers of moistened paper towel. I placed the sandwich in a plastic baggie and put the bag in a refrigerator. After 2 weeks in the cold, I will let them sit at room temperature until they sprout. At that point, I will pot them up.

For the rest of them...

I started the rest with a couple of variations on the many techniques I found.

Some I started by placing them in zip-close bags with a bit of filtered water (a teaspoon or less, not measured). The bags were sealed and refrigerated. I will pot them when they sprout or after 3 weeks of chilling, whichever comes first.

A few of the seeds were bagged with a little water like the second group, but I intend to take them out after 2 weeks, like the first group.

Here are the seeds I ordered:

-Diploid-

• Blooddrop x Little Trooper
• Indian Giver x One Eye Willie
• Prairie Blue Eyes x NOID
• Siloam Plum Tree x unknown

-Tetraploid-

• Danny's Song x New Paradigm
• Fooled Me x [either Fooled Me or Black Ambrosia]
• Forestlake Ragamuffin x Spiny Sea Urchin
• 2008-001 Seedling x Precious Candy
• aka: [(Red Volunteer x Spacecoast Starburst) x Eight Miles High] x Precious Candy
• 2008-085 Seedling x Little Trooper
• aka: [Tuscawilla Dave Talbott x Castle Chocolate Taffy] x Little Trooper

First Daffodil Bloom of 2016

So that I may make informed decisions regarding future daffodil acquisition, let it be noted that the daffodils of uncertain pedigree that grow in my garden began blooming on February 25th of this year of our common era, 2016.

May future daffodils extend the blooming season.

Winter Sowing Primroses

Starting Primula seeds 2/22/2016

Attempting "winter sowing" with 25 P beesiana and 10 P acaulis (which I understand to be synonymous with P vulgaris).

I'm sowing the seeds on the surface of moistened compost in a reclaimed juice bottle and an empty jug that once contained white vinegar. Both have been cleaned and a section 3-to-4 inches from the bottom has been cut from the top.

I've included a photo of one container open, showing the plastic knives I taped to the inside. When these are driven into the soil, it keeps the top on. The jug's bottom is in another container to catch drips while I'm working indoors. I removed it when I took the jug outside.

Gourds Sprouting

I've pricked out 16 Nicotiana seedlings and set them out on the porch. I'll wait a bit to see if any more stragglers sprout before I give up on the tray.

I forgot to post about it, but yesterday I saw several gourds sprouting. They may have started on 4/10, but I wasn't sure until yesterday. The Mini Bottle gourds are sprouting the best (I think there are 4 sprouting). The Snake gourds are next best, followed by the Long Handled Dipper gourds. The Birdhouse gourds have not started sprouting yet.