Deep into the winter season, we are all craving a bit of green. With spring still months away, growing wildflowers indoors from seed can satisfy emerald longings with the added result of a winter garden ready for transplanting outdoors in the spring.
Seeds carry eternity - not only because of the remarkable endurance of some (seeds found at the ancient pyramids of Egypt were still viable and germinated thousands of years later) but they are a symbol of regeneration - a perfect theme for the start of the new year. As a major element to ecological landscape practice, bringing native plants into our gardens is one of the most enjoyable ways to make good choices for the environment.
William Cullina, New England Wild Flower Society's Horticultural research director and author of "The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers," writes, "Plants 'want' to grow and reproduce and have been doing so without (man's) help for millions of years. There is something vaguely parental about plant propagation that connects you with the plant far more profoundly than purchasing a blooming specimen at the nursery."
Many wildflowers and woody native plants are easily grown from seed, and there are plenty to provide challenges for the more advanced gardeners, as well. Cullina lists a few favorites for 2008:
ULiatris ligulistylis (meadow blazing star) - Time and time again, this easy summer-blooming meadow or border perennial proves its amazing ability to attract monarch butterflies. Customers in the Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm sales areas have even had monarchs follow them into their cars as they tried to leave with a few of the blooming plants. This is a good beginner species to grow from seed, often blooming the first summer at its full 3-foot height.
URhododendron atlanticum (coast azalea) - Coast azalea is one of the earlier of our many native species to flower. The trumpet-shaped flowers are a blend of white and shell pink, and they release a captivatingly sweet perfume. The battleship blue leaves are an attractive addition that, along with its compact habit, makes this a worthy addition to foundation plantings and mixed borders. The seed germinates quickly upon sowing in a warm, bright location.
UTrillium flexipes (upright form) (bent trillium) - The flowers of this extremely robust trillium look similar to showy trillium but they are of thicker substance and perch above the leaf like big white pyramids. The leaf rises to over 20 inches on a stiff stem, its three leaflets overlapping to form a 12-inch green saucer to set off the bloom. It is one of the best garden trilliums, as it holds its own with many other woodland wildflowers in mixed plantings. Like all trilliums, this plant requires patience to raise from seed.
Winter is the ideal time to share a winter gardening project with the whole family. From now through March 15 NEWFS, through its online catalog, offers hundreds of wildflower seed species and fern spores ecologically collected and prepared at the society's Garden in the Woods in Framingham and Nasami Farm in Whately.
If you prefer to start your garden with nursery plants discounted volume orders (with a minimum of $500) are accepted in advance of opening day. Contact shop@newenglandwild.org for details. View and purchase plants at Garden in the Woods in Framingham beginning April 15.
Debra Strick is marketing and public relations director and curator of visual collections at New England Wild Flower Society. E-mail native plant questions to nursery@newenglandwild.org or visit www.newenglandwild.org.
