cold stratification

 i am thinking about how so many seeds will be effectively cold stratified this year. i am so excited. we have had enough days 32 degrees and below for the seeds of so much native flora to have been properly cold stratified. when seeds don't reach this natural dormancy in the winter months, they may germinate poorly or not at all. i think there will be even more flowers this year than last year.

"as i get older i realize more and more how much i dislike the cold, when i was a kid i used to love winter"

yeah, i'm sniffling. my skin is so dry. eyes watering. can't feel my ears. but i think there will be more flowers this year than last year. 

i wish i could go where there is an eternal spring, but i can't, and that's fine, because i think there will be more flowers this year than last year. and i'm really excited about it.

in high school i took a long island native ecology class. we cold stratified our own seeds. i picked late figwort, scrophularia marilandica, characterized by their deep red/purple cavernous flowers. i mixed the seeds in a little bag with sand and some water. it sat in the fridge for 60 days.

if long island received enough consecutive cold days, maybe i will return in the spring to see new sprouts of late figwort.

thank you for the cold and thank you for the flowers.

late figwort for reference. not my picture.