On 18 Jun 03 at 10:07, Mary Sue Ittner wrote: > I agree that there are species like Trillium, Scoliopus, Disporum, > etc. that need to be planted right away and kept moist until they > come up. At least it has been my experience that if I let them go > dry they never came up. But many of these are woodland plants where > it is cool and perhaps they get fog drip too or as Jane points out > the ants have moved the seed underground. I've had excellent results from dried exchange seed of both trillium and scoliopus. In fact, I sowed Scoliopus bigelovii last year and got 100% germination (8 out of 8 came up). My secret, if it is one, is that I always give seed a long soak in water before sowing, and then put the pot outside in a coldframe -- no fussing with temperature regime for me. This method does not work with non-geophytes like the Labiatae that simply want a modicum of warmth and moisture to germinate, but it works very well with a lot of geophytes and many hardy perennials. Nor will I claim that this method always gives good results. A lot depends on how the seed was handled before I received it -- was it kept under refrigeration, for example? -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island