I suspect the seed companies wanted us to buy new supplies each year and inferred, by dating their packets with a particular year, that fresh was needed for germination. Not only geophytes but also perennials and annuals maintain their viability longer than we expect. You may get a smaller percentage of seeds germinating, but you still may be pleasantly surprised. So at least give them a try. Last year at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, CA, I saw some 40 year old seeds they had germinated after being stored in a deep freeze. Almost 100% came up. They were part of the Center for Plant Conservation project to save endangered plants and restore them to their natural habitat. Shirley Meneice ----- Original Message ----- From: "piaba" <piabinha@yahoo.com> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 2:03 PM Subject: [pbs] old seeds > marguerite, > > i wouldn't try this, but i read that some scientists a > few years ago germinated seed from a magnolia tree, > that was a few thousand years old (the seeds, that > is). so yes, some seeds do maitain amazing viability. > >> I found a package of seeds, including some old BX >> seeds, while >> cleaning this winter, and decided to try some of >> them before I threw >> them out. Good thing! I planted 5 pkts of >> Romulea species and 2 of >> Lachenalia from BX 5, sent in August, 2002. They >> all germinated and I >> have full pots of small seedlings growing strongly. >> I was amazed at >> the excellent germination rate from seeds so old. >> What a miracle >> geophyte seeds are! Now to try the remainder. > > > > ========= > tsuh yang > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > >