Many amateur gardeners say that growing alpines from seed is a complicated procedure, not to be attempted in the home garden. I have grown thousands of alpines here in my Pennsylvania garden, and find that raising them from seed is both a simple and pleasant pastime.
The first, and one of the most important steps, is to purchase seeds from the most reliable sources. Usually, it arrives in the late fall or early winter, and as soon as it comes, I place it in glass preserve jars, with rubber sealing rings so that they can be tightly closed.
The jars are then placed on a shelf in the refrigerator, where they remain until late winter, usually until the first -good thaw in February. On a mild day, the seed is taken out and a label is made for each packet.
The next step is to plant the seed in cold frames. For this purpose, ashes or stones are placed at the bottom of the cold frames, before they are filled with my rock garden mixture of soil, which is a loose sandy compost, plus a half inch of the same soil sifted over the top and smoothed off.
To sow the seed, I first make rows by pressing a slat into the soft soil, allowing about two inches between rows. After inserting the label at the back of the row, I shake the seed delicately out of its packet and spread it so it will not be too thick.
If the seed is very fine, I press it into the soil. If larger, so that it is easily visible, I sprinkle sand over it until hidden from view, and then I press it down. Next, the soil surface is sprinkled with a line spray until it is thoroughly wet, and covered with two layers of newspapers. Lastly, the glass is placed on the cold frames.
Check Your Cold Frame
Every day I examine the cold frames to see that there are no marauding creatures present and that the soil is still moist. As soon as the first green sprouts appear, the newspaper is removed from that row.
Thereafter, I water daily, or twice a day, if the weather turns hot and dry. It is important not to allow the little shoots to dry out.
Homemade cold frames are not too tight so they never need additional airing. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, they are moved into a nursery bed, where they have spaced an inch to three inches apart, depending on their probable growth, and cultivated, watered, and weeded until large enough to go into the rock garden.
Two To Ten Weeks
Most of the seeds require two to eight weeks to germinate, though some take longer. I do not change the soil in the frames, but any moss that collects is removed. Fresh soil, however, is added each season.
Sometimes, the long-dormant seed will show up a year or two later, but if you start with fresh seed, this is not likely to happen.
When the weather turns warm, the glass covers are removed and slat covers put on to provide shade and protect the seedlings from two or four-footed creatures. The covers are left on as long as there are any seedlings in the cold frames.
It is interesting to dwell for a while on the reasons for following this procedure with alpines. Since the seed is accustomed to lying under the snow all winter, it is placed in the refrigerator where conditions are similar. It is planted out in February, or March at the latest, to allow for the alternate freezing and thawing it would receive in its native habitat.
Germinating Alpine Seeds
This is only necessary for the most difficult primroses, gentians, and other alpines. Although germinating alpine seed requires careful watching, it is no different from that of annuals and ordinary perennials.
Some of the seed, however, is excessively fine. In some cases, some of the seedlings are very slow growing, in others, they require three or four years before reaching blooming size.
Perennial Seeds
Yet the majority bloom the second year from seed, like any other perennial. With an early start, some even flower the first year.
Since the seed is fine and difficult to collect, it is frequently more expensive than that of larger growing perennials and certainly more than that of annuals.
Rare and Expensive Seeds
For this reason, I would never think of taking this rare and expensive seed and broadcasting it under shrubs or where it could not be cared for and watched.
In each instance, it is necessary to study the needs of each plant so that when it is ready to go into the garden it can be given the sun or shade or the wall or waterside condition that it prefers.
Growing Alpine From Seeds
There is nothing exceptionally difficult about growing alpines from seed. Perhaps more patience and careful watching are necessary, but that is half the fun.
The other half is the satisfaction that comes from growing these lovely plants from all over the world.
44659 by Doretta Klaber