Seeds are a big part of our work year-round here at LREC. In the spring, summer, and fall, we are busy collecting seeds from many different habitats. Once the seeds are collected, we clean them to remove excess plant material. We also catalog the seeds so that we know what we have on-hand and can track where we collected different seeds from year to year.

Now, some of the seeds that have been stratified are being sown in the greenhouse. When seeds are stratified, they are refrigerated in wet sand for several months to simulate winter. Once these seeds are sown in the greenhouse, the seeds will germinate, even though it is still winter – they had their winter in the fridge!

Other seeds are stored dry in the refrigerator to be put in seed mixes that are sown directly outdoors. We have been planning these seed mixes over the past month or so. Once we have selected an area where we want to sow seeds and have decided what seeds we have that would do well in that habitat, we can prepare our seed mix.

As you can see, there are many seeds of different shapes, sizes, and colors that can go into a seed mix. Having diverse species in the mix helps ensure that, even if some of the species don’t do well in the place where they are sown, other species will likely thrive!

Several mixes have already been sown in the woodland and prairies with the help of students. After scattering a seed/sawdust mixture on the ground, the students enjoy dancing the seed into the ground. Then all we have to do is wait until spring to see what comes up!