2026 May 3 Winter Sowing Seedling Update

Since my last post, more seedlings from my Winter Native Seed Sowing have emerged! I’m keeping a record of what comes up when and how it looks right when it emerges. Some years I am lazy with labeling and then can’t figure out what I planted when it sprouts. It’s helpful to be able to identify things early in the garden too, so spreading perennials don’t get mistaken for weeds. 

I’m excited to see some of the shrubs coming up already! Staghorn Sumac Rhus typhina has sprouted! I was wondering how it would do. I pulled a dried cone from the fall and carefully extracted each tiny seed from the outer shell by hand. I read that it needed scarification, so I did my best to rub about half of the seeds on sandpaper. We’ll see if only half of the milk jug sprouts.

The Staghorn Sumac seedling has a lovely red glow to it!

The Carolina-allspice Calycanthus floridus also has two sprouts! This was part of a scarification experiment too. So far there is one sprout in my “scarification” jug and one in my “no scarification” jug. Why am I taking the time to experiment with scarification? Well, if I start my dream nursery, I know time will be critical. The careful scarification process might not be worth my time. 

The non-scarified sprout from a Carolina-allspice shrub. It’s a bit hard to photograph because they are popping straight up from the soil with the outer seed still attached.

Below are some of the other seedlings that have recently emerged:

Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata 

Northern Sea Oats Chasmanthium latifolium

Prairie Dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis 

Hoary Vervain Verbena stricta

Wild Quinine Parthenium integrifolium 

Poke Milkweed Asclepias exaltata

Narrow Leaved Cattail Sedge Carex squarrosa 

Indian Grass Sorghastrum nutans 

Orange Coneflower Rudbeckia fulgida

New York Aster Symphyotrichum novi-belgii