On Nov 24, 2011, at 6:04 AM, Bulborum Botanicum wrote: > Maybe an Idea to make something at the PBS > every plant get a number corresponding with the way it germinates > For example in the wiki on top of a family > > Roland > The first order thing I find I always need to know is if the plant is a winter-grower or a summer-grower (or more rarely evergreen, in which case I need to know when it prefers to be "dormant"--where it's growth slows down or stops and it needs reduced water, etc.). For the genera from South Africa that have species in both groups, it's essential to know this. Alberto Castillo often goes to the trouble of listing this for BX seed offerings. Silverhill Seeds will list this in the emails of their amaryllid seed offerings. For me, if it's a summer-grower, I plant the seeds in the winter or spring, unless it needs to pass through a winter cold period first. (I'm not good with those types of species, but others here are.) For winter-growers, I always plant them in the autumn. This works very well here in California where most of the native plants do this anyway and the other mediterranean climate areas have plants with similar needs and germination patterns. Some seed from these areas need the daily temperature swing between cold nights and relatively warm days that happens in the fall in order to trigger germination. If I get seed outside the autumn time period, I just store it until autumn, especially since for me it won't germinate until then anyway. It seems these kinds of seeds are used to having to wait until fall and so remain viable for long periods. Maybe it can be an ongoing project for everyone to add this information (growing season, seed sowing season and germinating information) to all of the species on the wiki, and include this information whenever new species are added, if known. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m