No-DOD’s

DOD meaning: Dead on delivery

I don’t know precisely if the DOD term was coined by the renowned Prof. Norman Deno but surely he reminded me of it while reading a delightful Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society from 1991. Various seeds require to be kept moist after collecting, for storage if not sown right away and for delivery (by Seed companies or in Seed exchanges). Otherwise, they will be actually non-viable when sown later or shipped. There is little to expect of such seeds in terms of germination; hence the DODs. In his article named – “Fatal Treatments of Seed” :) he elaborates on how to kill seeds of 12 species by practicing wrong techniques of storing an germination. 

This is valid for many North American wildflowers, including Trillium species, and among them, Trillium grandiflorum. After collecting (see how the fruit looks when it’s ready), such seeds should be either sown right away or stored moist. When kept at room temperature, some seeds will emerge radicles by fall; then in the spring will send up the first leaves. The rest of the seeds (like in other hypogeal germinating species) will grow a radicle/baby rhizome or tuber in the coming season, and then send up the first leaf only after another cold cycle (that means complete germination in their second year).

These are a few Trillium grandiflorum seeds with emerged radicles that I found last week, during my routine check of the moist stored seeds. A few more pots were added to my collection and I am looking forward to see these little Trilliums sending up their first leaf next year! The other seeds are still in moist storage, awaiting…

Providing moist-packed seeds it is a lot of work but BotanyCa will not be responsible of any DOD’s! See all the Moist-packed Seeds from the Shop.

And here’s the link for the ARGS Bulletin -1991 (open as a pdf). It contains great articles like: Saga of a Woodland Garden by Harold Epstein and Hepaticas and Anemonellas by Jeanie Vesall to mention just a few…