It's true, Jane. As a Penn State grad in Horticulture, myself, it would take almost unlimited resources , years of research, and maximum space to achieve the results many of us hope would reduce our germination times, increased productivity, and an edge on cultivating difficult species. Sometimes their's nothing like the old tried and true sowing the seed, and hoping for the best. On Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 6:43 PM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>wrote: > Norman Deno's seed germination studies have been much perused by the > rock gardening community for many years. Some of the findings are > valuable, but many of us have found that the procedures recommended > there are not absolutely necessary to obtain a good rate of > germination for some of the species covered. > > It is well to know that Deno didn't grow on many of the germinated > seeds, just counted and discarded them. It would have been difficult > in any case to transfer some of the species from the paper towels on > which they were germinated to a growth medium. > > One notable exception to the reported findings is that when Deno > describes a species as having seed that does not remain viable in dry > storage, it is still possible to obtain some germination from such > stored seed. The percentage will be low, but if the plants are very > desirable, it's still worth trying. Even being able to raise one > Adonis from much-mistreated exchange seed is valuable, and I obtained > three species of it that way. > > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >