Updates on germination & thistles

Campanula rotundifolia
Germination starts in about one week at room temp. The sowing pot was kept at room temperature for good imbibition with the intention to place it outdoors later – the seeds have germinated fast and, of course, seedlings elongated in the process since they were in the dark.
These are seeds from the lot offered in the Shop and to ORG&HP seedex. Seeds of different provenience may have a different pattern of germination.

Campanula bellidifolia – the same, warm germinator at room temperature; keep an eye on the sowing pot and provide light when you notice the start of germination.

Jurinea mollis – it was tried before by using fall sowing (also for other Jurinea species), so I wasn’t quite sure about it. It is a ‘warm’ germinator; germination happened at +/- 8-10C (unheated garage). I will try a few seeds at room temp. as well to make sure it germinates or maybe it needs first a short cold stratification period.

If these species are sowed and placed outdoors right away, it is fine, no worry. They will germinate in the spring with the raise of temperatures.

Germination requirements are not always clear-cut. Sometimes, no treatement is required for fresh seed and/or germination may be improved with only a short period of cold/moist stratification. For the same species, it can happen that seed stored for a year or more may need 60-90 days cold-moist stratification for germination.

I am particularly happy about the Jurinea mollis germination because the seeds were from an older collection lot.
I previously grown seedlings and even had a plant in the garden at some point. Among so many others, I don’t know why it vanished. Same goes for Jurinea sordida; lack of good drainage may have been the reason.

In 2016 I wrote a few posts and declared it to be the Year of the thistle, speaking about the ‘true thistles’ and other relative species. They can be reviewed here:
The year of the thistle
The year of the thistle – update (Cirsium canum)

Since then I managed to also grow a few others wonderful species from seeds: Cirsium hillii (no seeds set unfortunately), Cirsium edule var. macounii, Carlina acaulis ssp. simplex and Berkheja purpurea (didn’t last long) and various thistle ‘relatives’ like Centaurea ( C. triumfetti ssp. simplex, C. orientalis, C. jankae) and few Echinops.

It is hard to find more pollinator friendly species than the thistles and their relatives, and there are many non-invasive species that can be grown without fear. More than this, the thistle seeds are highly in demand by birds, especially the American goldfinch. Goldfinches breed late in the season and time it with the availability of thistle seeds; also the down is used to line the nests.
They become quite territorial and remain close to the plants all day long to watch for intruders (see an older picture I found). They behave the same with most Centaurea. Collecting seeds from these species can only be done by ‘sharing’ :)

Why don’t you make 2023 your year of the thistle and try to grow as many as possible?! Goldfinches will say a big thank you!