Tiniest seeds carry abundance of magic

Are seedlings popping up by the dozens under grow lights and along windowsills in your home? Life bursts forth from the tiniest seeds, ready to look a new season straight in the eye and give the world a shot. This season is a miraculous wonder, really, all because of the dormant life embodied in seeds. Spring encourages the soul, inspires the mind and propels the body into another season of work in the garden.

Nature packages its precious offspring in innumerable, incredible ways. Seeds are plants-in-embryo, babies waiting to be born. Some seeds are smooth, velvety-looking, precisely shaped. Others are gnarly, odd-shaped things that can look unworldly and intimidating. Some seeds are borne in copious amounts on drooping flower heads. Others are carefully packaged in tidy pods that protect the precious cargo from the elements. Some seed is found in or on the surface of plump delectable fruits.

More than anything, seed tells a story about the plant from which it comes. More to the point, seed provides clues to what ecologist term “survival strategies” of a given plant. For example, some seed, like burdock and Chinese forget-me-not, sticks to the fur of animals, hopping a ride to another location, where it is rubbed off, falls to the ground and may root in.

Seed may have an outrageously hard coat. “Soak seed overnight or nick the seed coat,” your packet might say. This activity assists germination in seeds that have a built-in coat of armor, a thick, hard seed coat. Ecologically speaking, tough coats may aid seed in successfully passing through the digestive tract of an animal that has eaten it, or may guarantee seed viability through periods of difficult and unpredictable weather.

Seeds may float by wind and water. Dandelion and milkweed are excellent examples of seeds prepared to disperse on the wind. Each tiny seed is made airborne with an attached wispy, downy “parachute.” This survival strategy helps the plant extend the geographic range in which it lives. Comparatively, the coconut has adapted to disperse by water. Its large mass and relatively light weight may keep it buoyant for hundreds of miles and for extended periods of time.

Seeds, through evolutionary developments, seem to embody a certain level of intelligence that ensures the survival of its species. But the garden is not a natural environment, really – it is highly manipulated. Thus, seeds really need our help.

A garden should be grown from “fresh” seed and obtained from a reliable, reputable seed source. Quality seed has been allowed to mature on the mother plant, is harvested, dried and stored under environmental conditions that help maintain vigor. Old seed tends to lose vigor. Germination rate tends to decrease over time.

That said, by all means don’t throw away unused seed this spring. Although the duration of time in which seed maintains its viability varies greatly from species to species, you may want to save leftover seed from this spring for successive plantings later on in the season or for future use. Opened packets should be folded over twice and fastened with a paper clip. Store loose or packaged seed in reclosable plastic bags in the refrigerator or a cool location. At all costs, protect the seed from high humidity and high temperatures. These elements will decrease viability or outright ruin seed.

Seeds teach so much about the cycle of life. Tidy, self-contained and protected in infancy, they burst into the world with incredible vigor. If we pay proper attention, seeds play out a story during this season of spring. They tell us,”Live! Dig in! Get to work! There’s not much time!”

Indeed, this season is one of wonder and encouragement. Dash out into your garden! Sow your seeds. Then, wait and wait some more. Produce patience, arouse awe, reap reality!

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941, or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.