Winter Sowing Native Seeds: Trees & Herbaceous Perennials

Date: January 26, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Cost: Free, in partnership with Thetford Conservation Commission & West Fairlee Conservation Commission

Link: https://cedarcirclefarm.org/wintersowing

Tobi Schulman of Birds and Bee Native Plants and Brooke Fleischman of Intervale Center Conservation Nursery, co-host this hands-on demonstration workshop on winter sowing native trees and herbaceous perennial plants.

Participants will actively learn to propagate a variety of native species and, by the end of the workshop, will be equipped to propagate their own native trees and plants at home, enhancing their own gardens’ biodiversity and resilience.

Topics covered will include:

• A discussion of how a native plant is defined and why this definition is important ecologically.
• The big WHY—why we care and why we are doing this.
• What is cold stratification and how are we going to achieve this? What other methods could we use?
• Other seed dormancy issues that need to be considered: light dependence, darkness dependence, and scarification.
• Recommended resources for: finding species-specific information about germination requirements; and, where to buy seeds of straight species native plants, both local ecotype and from further afield when local sources are not available.

Participants will learn how to plant, care for, and overwinter their seeds, plus basic seedling care, from germination to transplanting into pots or garden spaces. Everyone will get to take home a pot of native tree and herbaceous perennial seeds, ready to overwinter and grow.

This workshop is ideal for gardeners of all levels looking to deepen their understanding of native plant propagation.

This workshop is part of the Cultivating Purposeful Gardens with Native Plants learning series with Tobi Schulman and the Woody Plants of Vermont: Native Seed Learning Series with Brooke Fleischman of the Intervale Conservation Nursery.