Fall Bird Migration Signals Time For Native Seed Collection

When the fall migration arrives, and we begin to see birds not normally occurring in our area, we find ourselves discovering excuses for spending more time out and about outdoors. One of our favorite fall activities while birding is collecting native plant seed. Collecting and planting fall seeds is a great way to inexpensively add a variety of native plants to your landscape. Seeds can be selected that add plants for butterfly larval hosts, reduced watering needs, for attracting birds and wildlife, or simply for the beauty of the flowers.
We collect our seeds wherever we see them. Favorite spots are landscapes around parking areas of local office and retail development, roadsides, or from our own property. We have several favorite locations where we return each year to collect seeds of target species. Later today we will collect Morning Glory seeds from the fence along the RR at the campus parking lot across from Aquarena Center. Below is a photo of seeds collected at two San Marcos area landscapes last weekend. You need not take too many only take as many seeds as you are able to provide pots and soil for. Hundreds of Red Yucca seeds come in a single pod, and almost all will germinate. Over collection is to be avoided. It is convenient to keep a handful of small brown paper sacks or baggies in your car for collection purposes. Paper bags are preferable over plastic baggies. Plastic bags trap moisture and heat that can spoil seeds.

We get our containers at Barton Creek Nursery in Austin. They have a recycling box next to their dumpsters where customers and landscapers can drop off used plastic nursery pots. They have begun to charge a small fee for these recycled containers. If we see a landscape crew putting in plants we will often stop and ask for their containers, they are happy to be rid of them and load us up with all the containers we want for free.

We do not spend money on expensive potting soil mixes. Instead, we buy the cheapest bagged topsoil available at local builder supplies, usually <$1 a 40 lb bag. Native plants evolved in and do better in our native alkaline soils, so we will usually transplant seedlings into a larger container using native soil or top dress the seedling containers with native soil. We are always on the lookout for places where road construction has disturbed the soil to a depth where we can expect to collect soil relatively free of seeds. We keep a 5 gallon plastic bucket and small shovel in the car. We also dig soil on our property, removing a foot, and then taking the soil below that.

Once we have our seeds, containers, and soil ready, it is time to plant. Many seeds require some type of preparation before they can be placed in the ground to help insure germination will occur. Every seed comes with internal or seed physical characteristics that control timing of germination. This is known as seed dormancy and there are methods of “breaking” this dormancy and causing the seed to germinate and sprout. The best source of this information, in our opinion, is, “How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest”, by Jill Nokes.

Scarification and Stratification are the two categories of treatments for seed. Scarification is a mechanical, chemical or soaking of seeds. Stratification is a moist chilling process to facilitate germination. Seeds of various species have specific chilling requirements. We tend to forget things left in the refrigerator, so we usually opt to plant in the fall and let Mother Nature chill our seeds in the pots over the winter. Scarification can be as simple as placing seeds in a coffee machine and running a batch of hot water over them to treatment with sulfuric acid to dissolve extremely hard seed coats. Information on requirements of each seed is available from reference books such as the one mentioned above. We tend to prefer collecting seeds we can soak and plant right away. Some seeds are surrounded by a fleshy fruit that should be cleaned from the seed before planting. A blender is useful for this. Simply add the fruits and water to the blender and blend away. Strain off the liquid, pick the seeds from the remaining mush and spread on paper towels to dry. In nature, removal of fruit from around seeds is accomplished when the fruit is eaten and digested. A fruit goes in one end and cleaned, acid scarified seeds, with a dose of ready-made fertilizer come out the other. You may have noticed seeds in animal scat while hiking.

Some tips for specific plants. Sulfuric acid is hard to come by, but a must for dissolving the coats of hard seeds such as Mountain Laurel. Our sulfuric was purchased along with a riding lawn mower battery. We recycled the battery and kept the separate container of sulfuric acid. We add only enough water to an acid safe container to wet the seeds and add a small amount of sulfuric, stir to coat seeds and then watch for the red coats to dissolve begin to show the white underneath. When the white appears we add water to dilute and to thoroughly rinse the seeds. Sulfuric Acid is a dangerous chemical. Do not breathe fumes. Do not use indoors. Always protect skin and wear eye protection. Research the use of sulfuric acid for seed scarification before you attempt. We dispose of diluted acid and wash water by pouring over our caliche drive, where the alkaline road base will neutralize the acid. Do not pour down drains.

For seeds that require use of hot water (such as Cypress) we place seeds in a coffee filter and run a pot or two of water over them (this requires the purchase of a new coffee machine if your spouse discovers what you have done). In fact, since many seeds are poisonous, you should not use the coffee machine for preparing liquids for human consumption after it has been used for seeds. Clearly label the coffee maker as for nursery use only, in case it ends up in others hands one day, they will know the history of use. For oak acorns, we collect and plant immediately, but we wash the acorns in a 5% bleach solution before planting. Easy seeds to start with include Red Yucca and Mexican Buckeye, these may be planted as soon as collected with no additional preparation and will germinate quickly. We start most seeds in 4 inch pots and transfer into 1 gallon pots a few weeks later. We mulch the pots with the oak leaves that fall into our nursery area. For plants that have a long taproot, such as buckeye and oaks, we start in the one gallon. Pots need to be placed where the roots will not grow out of the pots bottom and into the soil. Moving these plants will cause root damage that may kill the plant. We use tables built from Cedar posts and treated lumber, the tops being some left over wire fencing so water can drip through and the roots are air-pruned. One gallon pots are moved to wood enclosures with heavy landscape fabric underneath (we have a fenced area we use as our natives nursery where the entire ground is covered by the nursery fabric).

Fertilize your plants regularly as required so they will root out quickly to the container they are in and can be either moved to a larger container or transplanted to your yard. Getting the plants into larger containers also makes it easier to keep them hydrated as the smaller containers require more frequent watering. Remember, plants and seeds want to grow. Not all of your seeds will germinate, and not all of your seedlings will survive, but for those that do, you have the satisfaction of knowing these native plants were produced from local seed you collected and they are ideally suited to your location. Good luck and happy planting!