The Gardens on Spring Creek

  What’s Blooming:   Seed Stratification by Sherry Fuller, Curator, Gardens on Spring Creek   In January, the majority of blooms at The Gardens are indoors.   But a lot is still happening behind the scenes (and under the ground) in preparation for the beauty, color and fragrance of blooming times ahead.   Most varieties of annuals and vegetables are very easy to germinate and grow, but some kinds of perennials have seeds with built-in dormancies that prevent them from germinating with just warmth and water.   These dormancies are an inherent protection that prevents the seeds from growing right when they are dropped from the mother plant.   This is often done in autumn – not an ideal time to begin growing.   Their dormancy period allows them to hold off on germination until the spring when they have the full year ahead to grow.   Most often, this dormancy is broken by a wet / cold cycle – winter in the natural world – called stratification.   When starting perennials from see