Hi Dell, Were the cyrtanthus seeds refrigerated? I know that I have germinated refrigerated seeds years after I collected or obtained them, for example I collected seeds in 1993 (many of them geophytic spp) in S Africa and germinated many of them last year with good results. Not everything came up but most did. Now that we have a big enough place I have one refrigerator dedicated to seed storage in the basement (wife still gets the freezer though) so the kitchen one is for food only. Before when I had to use the kitchen fridge the one rule I had was no fresh fruit in the fridge as ethylene gas given off by ripe fruit can damage seeds. I don't know in actual fact how much of an effect it really has but I didnt want to risk it. Having at least some refrigerator space for seed storage is a good idea for serious plant collectors, as plants do fall out of fashion or cultivation and then no one can find them because no one is growing them. Even though they are not geophytes, I often think of the situation with the Mexican phloxes, P. mesoleuca, where back in the 80s there were orange, bright yellow and red cultivars that were found in one location in Mexico that I have heard is now suburbia. They were grown by rock gardeners and sold in Denver, I hear, in commercial quantities, now no one can find any of them save for a white one I have seen in a private garden that was less than overwhelming (the plant, not the garden). If only someone back then had the foresight to cross them (most phlox are not self fertile) and save seeds, then they might still be around. No doubt the same is true for other plants that I might not be aware of. Ernie DeMarie Briarcliff Manor NY Z7 but more like 8 or 9 so far this year, still have some frost resistant flowers in bloom, and the gomphrocarpus and some gladioli leaves are still green. Even Crinum bulbispermum has not died back all the way yet and various kniphofias are bright green with no dieback. Dieramas also look fantastic right now. -----Original Message----- From: Dell Sherk <ds429@frontier.com> To: pbs <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thu, Dec 17, 2015 3:41 pm Subject: Re: [pbs] Seed longevity fm SX Well, not from the SX, but I recently found some seeds of Cyrtanthus clavatus that I received from Silverhill nearly 10 years ago, and floated them as an experiment. Six of ten seeds germinated! Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Dennis Kramb Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 2:57 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] Seed longevity fm SX I had a very similar experience with 2-year-old Manfreda sileri seeds. They germinated very easily! Dennis in Cincinnati On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 11:42 AM, Cynthia Mueller <cynthiasbulbs@hotmail.com > wrote: > Seeds of Manfreda maculata SX 4 #699 received and planted a few weeks ago > have germinated and are about one inch tall. Don't know how long they were > in "storage," Dell, but they certainly weren't adversely affected! > Cynthia Mueller, Central Texas > > Cynthia W Mueller > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >