Rewilding My Lot

I don’t have a greenhouse, nor am I experienced in plant propagation. However, occasionally I encounter new opportunities to try.

The easiest situations are when plants self-seed, or grow runners that root. I have had success with moving baby plants of Salvia and Frogfruit to new locations, either by just digging them up in one place and planting in another location, or taking the intermediate step of placing a seedling or rootling in a pot for a couple of weeks.

Recently, I noticed that my Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides) had self-seeded, so I’ve put that little baby in a pot for now. I’ve also potted two Bluebonnet volunteer seedlings that weren’t in convenient places here.

I have had less success with growing seeds in pots, but that’s probably because I don’t have the patience or space to get them started under optimum conditions. My favorite way to grow seeds is actually to put them directly on the ground at a time when nature can take care of them. I have sown seeds here in both the front and back gardens, and now I am waiting to see what happens.

I did have an attempt at scarifying and planting seeds from a Texas Mountain Laurel tree. I planted three treated seeds in the ground and three in a pot. None has grown anything in months, although I can’t necessarily call that a failure yet, given that Texas Mountain Laurel seeds dropped naturally can take years to germinate.

I was also gifted seeds from a Giant Milkweed (Calotropis gigantea). I planted some in the ground and some in pots. None of them has grown yet either, although there hasn’t been enough time elapsed yet to know whether they’ll eventually germinate.

So currently what I have in my little “propagation station” near the patio is from left to right: three Texas Mountain Laurel seeds in one pot, two Bluebonnet seedlings, a Texas Lantana seedling, four pots each with four Giant Milkweed seeds, and a bucket of Frogfruit stems. I have destinations planned for some of these, but not all.