I'm thinking I might turn the shady area under my maples into a 'ramp garden' and seed them there this fall - hopefully they will grow in the spring. Anyone else growing these?

I do not grow ramps, but are they something like a perennial onion?

Ramps are like green onions - I haven't grown them before so we'll see how it all goes! They grow wild around here in the forests area and kinda like truffles, most places only get them from people hunting them in the wild. A random farmer's market or coop might have them for a short time, though they are usually pretty expensive. They are only available in the very early spring. I asked this spring at my coop and they said they had some but no one bought them so they threw them away! AHHHH. lol.

I have never tried to grow Allium tricoccum ( Ramp/Wild Leek). While they grow well in the wild, they are quite choosey about conditions. Just recently have gardeners tried to domesticate them. There are several reports on growing them. This is one of better reports http://gardening.about.com/od/...

Thanks for that! I had read a few, some talk about how to get the seeds to germinate. They tend to germinate better with more sun, and then if left with more sun, a lot die off so you need the sun to germinate and then shade to grow. makes sense with a forest that would have sun in the spring before the leaves fill in and then a lot of shade. The seeds also take sometimes 2 years before they germinate, depending on conditions. They need enough warm time right away to let the roots grow, and then a cold time for the stems/leaves - so if I get them in early enough this fall, they will be able to sprout in the spring. I've got a nice 'forest floor' area for them to grow in that has always been problematic in growing other things so I'm excited about trying them there. I'll let you all know how it goes!