Collected some seeds

I visited a local swamp yesterday and collected some ripe seeds from various swamp plants. I am going to cold-stratify them in the fridge for a couple of months and see if they will germinate in the greenhouse afterwards. Seeds collected include:

American water plantain (Alisma subcordatum)
Halberd-leaved rose mallow (Hibiscus laevis)
Curlytop knotweed (Polygonum lapathifolium)
Shortbeak arrowhead (Sagittaria brevirostra)
Unidentified sedges (Carex and Cyperus species)

There were some spikerushes (Eleocharis species) and swamp knotweed (P. amphibium) blooming but not yet fruiting. I wanted to get some burr-reed (Sparganium americanum) seeds, but none of the plants I saw were fruiting; several had fresh vegetative sprouts though, so I might try to transplant one or two. I also inadvertently collected hundreds of seeds of Bidens species (beggar ticks). The blasted things were higher than my head, so every bit of my clothing was infested with them.

Cool!

Before you throw them in the fridge, I would mix them with some damp soil. When it is time to plant, put new soil in the bottom of the cell, then a layer of the stratified mix, about 1 cm thick or less. Stratifying them while moist will work much better than alone.

Sorry about the Bidens... I bet you looked like a porcupine! Hope you didn't get in trouble at home. That's happened to me before. (Be sure to get all the seeds off before throwing your clothes in the laundry...)

You know, alternatively, you could probably pot the seeds up and just leave them outside for the winter. I do that with a lot of tererstrial seeds, like grasses, Echinacea, Rudbeckia... anything else from the garden. I found these great cheap planter boxes at Dollar General; they are about 1 foot long and 5 inches wide. Drilled a couple holes in the bottom. Fill mostly with potting soil, then a layer of seed starting mix, seeds, and lightly cover with seed starting mix. I sometimes even do this for stuff that's easy to start early on the porch, as our porch has a carrying capacity (which has nothing to do with its size or how many seed trays will fit).

Either way, be sure to keep the soil moist come spring. You may want to water daily.

Thanks Laura, I will try that! It certainly makes sense that moisture would help break down or loosen the seed coat. I think when I plant them I will use a clear cover on the planting tray, like my grandmother did with her fern sporelings, to keep the moisture up.

While trying to make space in the fridge at work I came across a bag of dry arrowhead and water plantain seeds from last fall. I'll plant them with the others and see how they do.

I considered putting them outside, but I'm just not sure how much effect my goofy continental weather will have on them. We usually get a few 70 F plus periods in the middle of the winter; I don't want my seeds to sprout prematurely and get frostbitten. Likewise, this fall has been wetter and warmer than usual following an early cold snap. The crocuses, daffodils, and forsythias are blooming all over the place now, and the spring peepers are calling up a storm. They're going to be pretty sad when December rolls around.