Gazania sprouts!

Tonight I decided to peek at the gazania seeds I started last week (the packet said to keep them in the dark for 7 to 14 days so I was deliberately not looking at them). It's a good thing I did because as you can see they have all sprouted, and it looks like they've been up for a while. They're awfully etiolated but hopefully they'll be able to recover now that they're under the lights.

First annual seeds of 2011: Gazania rigens 'Daybreak Pink Shades'

While native plants are my passion, I can't resist growing some annuals from seeds as well, especially since most natives need a few years to grow from seed to flowering size.

This is my first attempt at growing Gazania rigens (gazania or treasure-flower, gazanie) from seed (or any other way). Gazanias are low growing brightly coloured daisies (these ones are pink), and I'm hoping that like other daisies they will be attractive to pollinators as well as humans. G. rigens is native to South Africa and Mozambique, and grows as a weed in Australia, but has not naturalized in North America.

I was surprised by the pale yellow colour of these seeds; they don't look ripe somehow. According to the package they need a week or two of darkness to germinate, which is just as well as I haven't figured out where I'm going to set my lights up yet. They're currently sown in flats hidden in one of my kitchen cupboards!

PS: The natives I've started so far are Agastache foeniculum, Allium cernuum, Anemone virginiana, Aquilegia canadensis, Asclepias sp. (syriaca?), Asclepias tuberosa, Baptisia australis, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Desmodium canadense, and Helenium autumnale. They're stratifying in flats outdoors, hopefully they will get enough cold weather before spring starts in earnest.

Thunbergia alata 'Blushing Susie' seedlings are thriving!

Seven of the ten black-eyed Susan vine (suzanne aux yeux noirs) seeds I planted sprouted. Weirdly, on many of the seedlings the cotyledons emerged practically underground so the first I saw of the plants was the true leaves. It's gratifying to see them doing so well.

Lobelia erinus 'Sapphire Pendula' seedlings

I didn't see seeds for that gorgeous sky blue lobelia for sale, but hopefully these will provide a good approximation! (And I'm still hoping I can get my native Lobelia siphilitica seeds to sprout; I recently had a dream about it!)

Antirrhinum majus 'Montego Pink' seedlings!

As you would expect from a plant that is capable of volunteering out of nowhere, the snapdragons (mufliers) germinated quickly and easily.

Hypoestes phyllostachya 'Splash Select White' seedlings!

Polka dot plant (plante aux éphélides) is sometimes recommended as a good plant for children to grow from seed because it is easy. I can confirm that is the case! Here are my lovely healthy seedlings, about a week after sowing. No markings yet, but I expect they will come with the first true leaves.

Antirrhinum majus 'Montego Pink' seeds

Since snapdragons (mufliers) liked the front garden so much that they volunteered there last year and were still blooming in November, I've decided to plant some deliberately.

This is a dwarf cultivar with pink flowers, you can see it at Stokes, where I purchased my seeds.

Monarda fistulosa seeds

I was enchanted to see wild bergamot (monarde fistuleuse) blooming in High Park last summer, so when I saw this packet of seeds from the High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program at Seedy Saturday in Scarborough, I snatched them up!

Matthiola incana 'Vintage White' seedlings: growing like weeds!

I had to leave town suddenly for two weeks, but these babies did fine without me! (Covered with cling film to prevent drying out). It was great to come home to brand new healthy seedlings (although now that they're not covered I see the cats are pruning them). I'm not sure if I should prick them out now or wait until they have true leaves. Thoughts, anyone?

Maybe one of these is a Zizia aurea seedling?

Well, the gardeners at the Dave's Garden Plant Identification Forum confirmed my suspicion that the first crop of seedlings that came up in the pot I planted my golden Alexanders (zizias d'oré) in were actually Oxalis. Looks like I didn't clean the pot out properly before planting in it.

So I weeded out the oxalis, and ended up with these three plants. There seem to be two species—the plant on the left has smoother narrower leaves than the other two.

Could either of these be Zizia?

Matthiola incana 'Vintage White' seeds: a promise of a fragrant summer!

I've grown Matthiola incana (stocks, giroflée) in the past from bedding plants (here's a pretty picture of 'Midget Lavender' from 2007), but this is my first time growing these tender biennials (treated as annuals in Toronto) from seed.

Stocks are not native to North America, and I don't know if they have much wildlife value apart from being a larval host for the cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae, petit blanc du chou, also not native). But I am a sucker for fragrance, and this flower smells heavenly.

I was pleased to find that the seeds are easy to handle, about the same size and a similar colour to fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum, fenugrec), so much so that I thought they must be closely related (they aren't).

I've picked up a window box cheap at Value Village and I'm planning to fill it up with home-grown sweetly scented stocks outside my bedroom window (along with some Nemophilia menziesii 'Penny Black' (baby black eyes, némophile) for contrast).

Probably not Zizia aurea seedlings

After putting my stratified native seeds under the grow lights, I was thrilled to see a lush crop of seedings of Zizia aurea (golden Alexanders, zizia d'oré) springing up in only a couple of days. Now that they are getting true leaves, however, they look suspiciously to me like Oxalis (wood sorrel, oxalide). I discovered a nifty resource, Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants (PDF), published by USDA, which seems to confirm that these are not Zizia aurea.

I'm going to keep them around a bit longer; maybe they'll look different with age, or maybe more seedlings will come up later? I'm not expecting much though. What a disappointment.

Tradescantia ohiensis seedling!

It's only one seedling, but that's one more Tradescantia seedling than I got last year, when I managed to screw up most of my native plant seeds by putting them in peat pellets outside (which were impossible to keep from drying out).

My son Nicky doesn't usually appreciate native plants, but I piqued his interest in this one by telling him one of its common names in English is "snotweed", because the flowers disintegrate into slimy goo. He was also impressed by the gorgeous photos at Missouri Plants—scroll down for an amazing close-up of the stamens.

Which natives are easy to grow from seed?

Although I really botched this last season's attempt to grow native plants from seed, I'm not giving up. I was pleased to see that William Cullina's Growing and propagating wildflowers of the United States and Canada (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000) lists which genera are easy to grow from seed. Here's a summary of the genera relevant to Toronto gardeners:

Genus	Species native to Toronto
Agastache	Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop, anis hysope) Agastache nepetoides (yellow giant hyssop, faux-népéta)
Ageratina	Ageratina altissima (white snakeroot, eupatoire rugueuse)1
Antennaria	Antennaria howellii (Howell's pussytoes, immortelle)* Antennaria neglecta (field pussytoes, antennaire négligée)* Antennaria parlinii (Parlin's pussytoes, antennaire de Parlin)
Asclepias	Asclepias exaltata (poke milkweed, asclépiade très grande) Asclepias hirtella (tall green milkweed, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed, asclépiade incarnate) Asclepias purpurascens (purple milkweed, asclépiade pourpre) Asclepias quadrifolia (four-leaf milkweed, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Asclepias sullivantii (Sullivant's milkweed, asclépiade de Sullivant)* Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed, asclépiade commune) Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed, asclépiade tubéreuse) Asclepias variegata (white milkweed, asclépiade blanche) Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed, asclépiade verticillée) Asclepias viridiflora (green milkweed, asclépiade à fleurs vertes)*
Baptisia	Baptisia tinctoria (yellow wild indigo, indigo sauvage)
Campanula	Campanula aparinoides (bedstraw bellflower, campanule faux-gaillet)* Campanula rotundifolia (harebell, campanule à feuilles rondes)
Chamerion	Chamerion angustifolium (fireweed, épilobe)2
Chelone	Chelone glabra (white turtlehead, galane glabre)
Conoclinium	Conoclinium coelistinum (mist flower, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)3
Coreopsis	Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis, coreopsis à feuilles lancéolées) Coreopsis tinctoria (calliopsis, coréopsis des teinturiers)* Coreopsis tripteris (tall coreopsis, coréopsis trifoliolé)
Dalea	Dalea purpurea (prairie clover, petalostemon pourpre)
Echinacea	Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower, échinacée pâle)*
Eupatoriadelphus	Eupatoriadelphus maculatus (spotted Joe Pye weed, eupatoire maculée)4
Eupatorium	Eupatorium altissimum (tall boneset, eupatoire élevée)* Eupatorium perfoliatum (common boneset, eupatoire perfoliée) Eupatorium purpureum (sweet Joe Pye weed, eupatoire pourpre)*
Geranium	Geranium bicknellii (Bicknell's cranesbill, géranium de Bicknell)* Geranium carolinianum (Carolina geranium, géranium de Caroline)* Geranium maculatum (wild geranium, géranium maculé) Geranium robertianum (herb Robert, géranium de Robert)*
Geum	Geum aleppicum (yellow avens, benoîte d'Alep)* Geum canadense (white avens, benoîte du Canada)* Geum lacinatum (rough avens, benoîte laciniée)* Geum macrophyllum (large-leaf avens, benoîte à grandes feuilles)* Geum rivale (water avens, benoîte des ruisseaux) Geum triflorum (prairie smoke, benoîte à trois fleurs) Geum vernum (spring avens, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Geum virginianum (pale avens, benoîte de Virginie)*
Gillenia	Gillenia trifoliata (Bowman's root, gillenia à trois feuilles)5
Helianthus	Helianthus decapetalus (thin-leaf sunflower, hélianthe à dix rayons)* Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower, hélianthe à feuilles étalées) Helianthus maximilliani (Maximillian sunflower, hélianthe de Maximilien) Helianthus nuttallii (Nuttall's sunflower, hélianthe de Nuttall)* Helianthus pauciflorus (stiff sunflower, hélianthe raide)* Helianthus strumosus (pale-leaf wood sunflower, hélianthe scrofuleux)* Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke, topinambour)
Heuchera	Heuchera americana (American alumroot, heuchère d'Amérique)
Hibiscus	Hibiscus laevis (halberd-leaf rose mallow, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français) Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow, ketmie des marais)
Hydrophyllum	Hydrophyllum appendiculatum (appendaged waterleaf, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Hydrophyllum canadense (broad-leaf waterleaf, hydrophylle du Canada) Hydrophyllum virginianum (Virginia waterleaf, hydrophylle de Virginie)
Liatris	Liatris aspera (rough blazing-star, liatride rugueuse) Liatris cylindracea (Ontario blazing-star, liatris cylindrique)*
Lobelia	Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower, lobélie cardinale) Lobelia dortmanna (water lobelia, lobélie de Dortmann)* Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco, lobélie gonflée)* Lobelia kalmii (brook lobelia, lobélie de Kalm)* Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia, lobélie syphilitique)
Lupinus	Lupinus perennis (wild lupine, lupin sauvage) Lupinus polyphyllus (big-leaf lupine, lupin polyphylle)
Mimulus	Mimulus alatus (sharp-winged monkey-flower, mimule ailé)* Mimulus glabratus (round-leaf monkey-flower, mimule glabre)* Mimulus moschatus (muskflower, mimule musqué)* Mimulus ringens (square-stemmed monkey-flower, mimule à fleurs entrouvertes)
Monarda	Monarda didyma (beebalm, monarde écarlate) Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, monarde fistuleuse) Monarda media (purple bergamot, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Monarda punctata (spotted beebalm, monarde ponctuée)
Oenothera	Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose, onagre bisannuelle)* Oenothera clelandii (Cleland's evening primrose, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Oenothera fruticosa (sundrops, onagre frutescente) Oenothera nutans (nodding evening primrose, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun en français)* Oenothera oakesiana (Oakes' evening primrose, onagre d'Oakes)* Oenothera parviflora (small-flowered evening primrose, onagre parviflore)* Oenothera perennis (little evening primrose, onagre vivace)* Oenothera pilosella (meadow evening primrose, onagre piloselle)* Oenothera villosa (hairy evening primrose, onagre velue)*
Penstemon	Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue, penstémon digitale) Penstemon grandiflorus (large-flowered beardtongue, penstémon à grandes fleurs) Penstemon hirsutus (hairy beardtongue, penstémon hirsute)
Phlox	Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox, phlox divariqué) Phlox pilosa (downy phlox, phlox nain) Phlox subulata (moss phlox, phlox mousse)
Physostegia	Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant, physostégie de Virginie)
Potentilla	Potentilla arguta (tall cinquefoil, potentille âcre)* Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil, potentille du Canada)* Potentilla norvegica (rough cinquefoil, potentille de Norvège)* Potentilla paradoxa (bushy cinquefoil, potentille paradoxale)* Potentilla rivalis (brook cinquefoil, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun en français)* Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil, potentille simple)*
Pycnanthemum	Pycnanthemum incanum (hoary mountain-mint, pycnanthème gris) Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain-mint, pycnanthème à feuilles étroites) Pycnanthemum virginianum (Virginia mountain-mint, pycnanthème de Virginie)*
Ratibida	Ratibida columnifera (upright prairie coneflower, chapeau mexicain)
Rudbeckia	Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dress&eaucte;e) Rudbeckia lacinata (green-headed coneflower, rudbeckie laciniée)
Scutellaria	Scutellaria galericulata (marsh skullcap, scutellaire à casque)* Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap, scutellaire latériflore) Scutellaria nervosa (veined skullcap, scutellaire)* Scutellaria parvula (smaller skullcap, scutellaire minime)*
Sibbaldiopsis	Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (three-toothed cinquefoil, potentille tridentée)6
Silene	Silene antirrhina (sleepy catchfly, silène muflier)* Silene virginica (fire pink, silène de Virginie)
Sisyrinchium	Sisyrinchium albidum (white blue-eyed grass, bermudienne blanche)* Sisyrinchium angustifolium (narrow-leaf blue-eyed grass, bermudienne à feuilles étroites) Sisyrinchium montanum (strict blue-eyed grass, bermudienne montagnarde)*
Solidago	Solidago arguta (sharp-leaf goldenrod, verge d'or à fines dentelures)* Solidago bicolor (silverrod, verge d'or bicolore) Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod, verge d'or bleuâtre) Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod, verge d'or du Canada)* Solidago flexicaulis (zigzag goldenrod, verge d'or à tige zigzaguante) Solidago gigantica (giant goldenrod, verge d'or géante)* Solidago hispida (hairy goldenrod, verge d'or hispide)* Solidago juncea (early goldenrod, verge d'or jonciforme)* Solidago macrophylla (large-leaf goldenrod, verge d'or à grandes feuilles)* Solidago nemoralis (grey goldenrod, verge d'or des bois) Solidago patula (rough-leaf goldenrod, verge d'or étalée)* Solidago puberela (downy goldenrod, verge d'or pubérulente)* Solidago rugosa (rough-stem goldenrod, verge d'or rugueuse) Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod, verge d'or toujours verte) Solidago simplex (Mt. Albert goldenrod, verge d'or simple)* Solidago speciosa (showy goldenrod, verge d'or splendide) Solidago squarrosa (stout goldenrod, verge d'or squarreuse)* Solidago uliginosa (bog goldenrod, verge d'or des marais)* Solidago ulmifolia (elm-leaf goldenrod, verge d'or à feuilles d'orme)*
Stylophorum	Stylophorum diphyllum (wood poppy, célandine)
Thalictrum	Thalictrum dioicum (early meadowrue, pigamon dioïque) Thalictrum pubescens (king of the meadow, pigamon pubescent) Thalictrum revolutum (waxy meadowrue, pigamon à feuilles révolutées)* Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone, isopyre faux pigamon)* Thalictrum venulosum (veiny meadowrue, pigamon veiné)
Tiarella	Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower, tiarelle cordifoliée)
Tradescantia	Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort, tradescantia de l'Ohio)*
Verbena	Verbena bracteata (big-bract verbena, verveine prostrée)* Verbena × deamii (Deam's verbena, verveine de Deam)* Verbena × engelmannii (Engelmann's verbena, verveine d'Engelmann)* Verbena hastata (blue vervain, verveine hastée) Verbena × perriana (vervain, verveine)* Verbena simplex (narrow-leaf vervain, verveine simple)* Verbena stricta (hoary vervain, verveine veloutée) Verbena urticifolia (white vervain, verveine à feuilles d'ortie)*
Vernonia	Vernonia gigantea (giant ironweed, vernonie géante)*
Veronicastrum	Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root, veronicastre de Virginie)
Viola	Viola adunca (hooked-spur violet, violette à éperon crochu) Viola affinis (pale early violet, violette affine)* Viola bicolor (field pansy, pensée des champs)* Viola blanda (sweet white violet, violette agréable)* Viola × brauniae (Braun's violet, violette)* Viola canadensis (Canada violet, violette du Canada) Viola cucullata (marsh blue violet, violette cucullée)* Viola labradorica (alpine violet, violette du Labrador) Viola lanceolata (lance-leaf violet, violette lancéolée)* Viola macloskeyi (small white violet, violette pâle)* Viola × malteana (violet, violette de Malte)* Viola nephrophylla (northern bog violet, violette néphrophylle)* Viola novae-angliae (New England blue violet, violette de la Nouvelle-Angleterre)* Viola × palmata (palmate-leaf violet, violette palmée)* Viola palustris (alpine marsh violet, violette des marais)* Viola pedata (bird's-foot violet, violette pédalée) Viola pedatifida (prairie violet, violette pédalée)* Viola populifolia (Peck's violet, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français)* Viola × porteriana (Stone's violet, violette de Porter)* Viola pubescens (downy yellow violet, violette pubescente) Viola renifolia (kidney-leaf violet, violette réniforme)* Viola rostrata (long-spurred violet, violette rostrée)* Viola rotundifolia (round-leaf yellow violet, violette à feuilles rondes)* Viola sagittata (arrow-leaf violet, violette sagittée)* Viola selkirkii (great-spurred violet, violette de Selkirk)* Viola septentrionalis (northern blue violet, violette septentrionale)* Viola sororia (wooly blue violet, violette parente) Viola striata (pale violet, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun français) Viola sublanceolata (lanceleaf violet, violette sublanceolée)* Viola triloba (cleft violet, je ne peux pas trouver le nom commun en français)*
Zizia	Zizia aptera (heart-leaf Alexanders, zizia des marais) Zizia aurea (golden Alexanders, zizia doré)

For references for which plants are native to Toronto, see my native plant list. (Here I'll insert my usual caveat that I'm not an expert, the native plant list is still under development, etc. Corrections are always welcome.)

---

*: although Cullina says plants in this genus are easy to grow, he does not discuss this particular species.

1. Listed in Cullina as Eupatorium rugosum.
2. Listed in Cullina as Epilobium angustifolium.
3. Listed in Cullina as Eupatorium coelestinum.
4. A synonym for Eupatorium maculatum. This species is not listed in Cullina, but he does say the eupatoriums are easy in general.
5. Listed in Cullina as Porteranthus trifoliatus.
6. Listed in Cullina as Potentilla tridentata.

Gaillardia aristata seedlings

My gaillardia seeds from Wallflower Studio Seeds germinated, but something apparently finds them quite tasty. I hope at least a few survive to blooming age.

Verbena stricta seedlings

The hoary vervain, which I started from seed from North American Native Plant Society, is doing very well—and no one's eaten it yet! I'm looking forward to the blooms. Maybe next summer?

Coreopsis lanceolata seedlings

My coreopsis seeds from Wall Flower Studio sprouted and are doing well! I really waited too long to prick them out; these little guys had roots about 30 cm long twining around the bottom.

Echinacea purpurea seedlings chomped by cats!

My poor little echinacea seedlings, which have been through so much, have fallen victim to the cats! Most of them are still alive, so I'm hardening them off in the hopes of saving them from further suffering.

By way of contrast, here is the happy healthy old echinacea plant that's been growing outside for a few years. Although one of the cats has been sneaking outside a bit to enjoy the sun, he hasn't tried chomping this plant.

Solenostemon scutellaroides 'Wizard Mix': foliage

Wow! Six weeks after sowing, the colours on the coleus seedlings are really popping! My favourite is the white with green edge ('Wizard Jade'); I wish I had ordered another seed packet just of this variety.

Dianthus chinensis 'Double Gaiety Mix': foliage

The China pinks were doing well, but apparently they are quite palatable to cats! This is the healthiest seedling, probably because it was right under the lights and the cats couldn't get at it. I've started hardening them off; hopefully once they are outside and have less cats nibbling on them they'll all bounce back.