Gomphocarpus from seed

One of several plants I started from seed last year was a milkweed nicknamed Hairy Balls or Balloon Plant (Gomphocarpus physocarpus). The nicknames are from the appearance of the large pods that form when the flowers set seed. This plant is native to southeast Africa, but is a good food source for Monarchs here in the United States. I ended up with two very tall and lanky plants. They did not branch and just continued to grow taller throughout the summer. At one point there were a few small flower buds but they aborted before opening. I don't know if this plant wanted more sunshine or something different. It seemed healthy and grew steadily, but I didn't get any flowers. I read that if you are growing these from seed it is best to start them indoors early because the growing season may not be long enough for flowers and new seed pods. Maybe that's what happened in my case.

My tall and lanky Hairy Ball plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in August of last year.

Thankfully, the plant has stayed happy in my greenhouse this winter so maybe next summer I will get some flowers. Ideally those flowers will set seed pods so that I can start new plants from seed and maybe prune my two existing stalks to get a fuller plant.

Open seed pod of Gomphocarpus physocarpus.
Like many other milkweeds, the seed are attached to a fluffy piece of cotton-like material

that helps them disperse in the wind.

Milk Jug Germination

Spring will be here before we know it. Already I am seeing a few blooms on my quince bush, buds on our Daffodils, and leaves from our tulips are breaking through the surface of the soil.

I have seeds of several milkweeds that I would like to grow this year, including three native Asclepias and one Calotropis native to Africa and Asia. The American natives all require cold stratification. I have most of the seeds in the refrigerator, but I am starting a few others using a different method. 

I cut open two milk jugs and added soil to the bottom of the jug. I scattered some of my seeds on the top of the soil, watered them in, and then taped the jugs closed. I’ve sat the milk jugs outside on the ledge of my greenhouse. Hopefully they won’t blow over or become dog chew toys there. With any luck, they will experience the requisite cold period and then will germinate in about a month when the temperature begins to climb and the days get longer and they’ll have a head start in their little biodomes. If it doesn’t work, no big deal. I only used part of my seed stash on this experiment.

I did a little more reading on this technique and apparently it's important for the top cap to be removed. I was assuming more of a close greenhouse/terrarium setup was desired, but I will stick to the recommended method and remove my top caps.

Treaty Oak update 1

I've been trying to be patient and not disturb my little Treaty Oak seeds. I managed to go a couple of weeks without looking at the pot. Over the weekend I stole about 30 minutes to give my greenhouse a thorough watering and glanced at the Treaty Oak pot to see what was happening.

Seedlings from the Austin Treaty Oak
Texas Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis)

Yes! Four little seedlings have broken the surface and have leaves! Even at this tiny size, the leaves have a unique shape. The stems were growing towards the light, which was coming mostly from one direction, so I snapped a few pictures, rotated the pot, and put it back on the shelf. I am very happy to see that they are doing well. These are Texas Live Oaks (Quercus fusiformis). I plan to give one to my mother-in-law for Mother's Day, since this tree has some special significance to her. I will look for other homes for the other ones. I am not quite sure if they are hardy in central Oklahoma, but I think they will do well in southern Oklahoma, so I could plant some at my parents' lake cabin.