Carolyn, have you heard of the seed vault? That's kept at −18 °C (0 °F). They should definitely be the experts on seed storage and viability.

Seed vault:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

Karen

Yes, I had heard of the seed vault.
Those seeds are probably treated better than the commercial ones are treated.

Well, those folks should know the optimal conditions for storing seeds. And they keep the seeds at cold temps. Cold doesn't hurt the seeds.

Karen

I hope not! I scattered quite a few!

Only seeds I can think of offhand that don't seem to like cold temps are the japanese morning glories, I. nils. Never, ever had a volunteer from them. Oh, and come to think of it, I grow four o'clocks every year from seed and they drop seeds all over the place, but I never get volunteers from them either. If I collect the seeds in the fall, they do fine when I sow them in the spring, but I never get volunteers. Maybe they rot before they get warm enough to sprout?

Ugh! Four o'clocks don't mind my winter, which can get down to 0°F. I had so many volunteers everywhere- in flower beds, in the lawn- I had to stop growing them to get rid of them. This was from 2008


Karen

amazing they never re-seeded for me once

Shoot, I'm lucky if I can get them to grow here. One year I has some 4 o'clocks that were time zoned challenged and they blooms would open in late morning.

yeah I guess that could happen.. with my part shade in front they would stay open from evening until almost noon

Mine did that sometimes, too. And considering what a pain the volunteers became, added to the fact that they were at their peak performance while I slept, I evicted them.

They mostly stayed closed and had no fragrance during the day when I was awake. I couldn't see the flowers at night, though they were fragrant then. Their pretty time was while I was unconscious and couldn't enjoy them.

Karen

I plant them just for the mere fact of killing Japanese beetles

Wow, Allison - thanks!

I hadn't heard of trap plants for JBs. I have some larkspur, just by chance...now, I know what else I can add.

Someone start a new thread and tell us about "trap plants".
I had not heard of that.

Getting back to cold tolerance of seeds.
What about tropical seeds such as canna seeds-Would they survive freezing?
I direct seed for temperate zone plants, but not more tropical plants.

Carolyn, I know people on gardenweb who wintersow cannas, so apparently they don't mind the cold. I'm not aware of any seed that can't take cold temperatures, but what do I know? Like perennials that might be tender in your zone, that's the plant, not the seed.
wintersowing cannas
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/f...

Karen

Thanks , Karen----I appreciate the link.
I'll have to try a WS of canna seeds.
I really do not have room for indoor starts and
digging the roots and saving is work!

I agree, digging up tubers/bulbs in fall is more work added to an already busy garden time. I've never been very good about doing it.

Karen

It would be great if they were a WS.
I may keep the jugs in my closed in car port which is a little warmer than the outdoor temperatures.
Our growing season is shorter.
Worth a try definitely!

I'd think cannas would do well WS; the seeds are so very hard. I grew some last year, but didn't bother digging them 'cause I wasn't too impressed with them. There are some really pretty ones, but mine were boooorrrring! And I hate digging things anyway!

I nick and soak the canna seeds ordinarily--I'll investigate that link to see if they do that for the WS ones.

Annuals? Hmmm
I think I had lots of larkspur and Limnanthes douglasii reseed for me.
The others (Echinacea, Digitalis, Lychnis and a few more) are not classified as annuals.