Long before winter sowing became a trending gardening topic online, Wild Ones members were already experimenting with seeds, soil, and seasonal cycles. In the Winter 1993 issue of The Outside Story, contributors shared practical guidance on seed stratification, cold-weather sowing, and hands-on ways to help young people understand how plants grow and move through the world.
More than 30 years later, these lessons remain deeply relevant.
This post brings together three archival resources from that issue: two short articles on seed starting and winter sowing, and a youth activity worksheet designed to spark curiosity and observation. Together, they remind us that working with native plants is both practical and profoundly educational, especially when we involve the next generation.
This is an excerpt from the Wild Ones Journal
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Experimenting with Cold Weather Seed Sowing
By Lucy Schumann and Carol Chew
Native seed can be sown outdoors during the winter months and even into very early spring. The combination of cold weather, ice, and snow provides natural stratification conditions needed for germination, which occurs during warmer spring weather. Stratification refers to chilling seeds that have absorbed some water.
Wild plant seed often requires a period of one to four months of dormancy, when the seed is alive but inactive. Protective seed mechanisms, such as thick seed coats or germination-inhibiting chemicals, ensure that young plants do not sprout during fall rains and freeze in winter. Cold weather and repeated exposure to moisture soften seed coats and dissolve inhibiting chemicals when conditions are optimal.
To do winter planting, find an area in your yard with bare, humus-rich soil that is free of snow. If you have special seeds that would be difficult to replace, reserve a portion to “winter” in the refrigerator and plant later in flats or use for reseeding if needed.
Mix seed with vermiculite, sand, or sawdust so the light color makes the planting area more visible and the added bulk helps with even spreading. Sow the seed mixture evenly by hand in two directions for good soil contact. Since the ground will likely be frozen or wet, it may not be possible to rake seeds into the soil.
Birds may relocate seeds to new, unplanned areas, which may add to your enjoyment, but some experts recommend covering the planted site with hardware cloth to deter wildlife.
Remember that wildflower seeds, unlike uniform commercial hybrid seeds, vary widely in appearance, hardiness, growth patterns, and germination rates. They have adapted over long periods of time to specific sites and climates, such as moist or dry, sunny or shaded, acidic or alkaline soils. Keep biodiversity in mind and try sowing seeds in different locations to find the best conditions.
Some seeds suitable for winter planting include New England aster (Aster novae-angliae), golden alexander (Zizia aurea), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), goldenrods (Solidago), blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), spiderwort (Tradescantia), violets (Viola), and turtlehead (Chelone).
Getting Wild Seeds Off to a Good Start
Many Wild Ones members gathered seeds in October or picked them up at holiday exchange meetings. For those new to natural landscaping who want more information on what to do next, here are tips from David Kopitzke:
- Store seeds in a dry, cool place in paper bags or jars.
- Activating seeds for planting requires stratification. This simple process is done eight weeks before planting. Mix a teaspoon of seed and a teaspoon of moist sand.
- Rub sand and seed together for a minute to expose the seeds to moisture. Seal the bag, label it, date it, and refrigerate it.
- Eight weeks later, clean a flat with a 10 percent bleach and 90 percent water solution and fill it with moistened, sterile potting soil.
- Spread the refrigerated seed and sand mixture on the surface of the soil. Cover with vermiculite and mist with water.
- Label the tray with the plant name and date. Cover with a sheet of paper, not plastic, and place where warmth will enter from the bottom. Place a light over the tray.
- The top surface of the refrigerator is an ideal out-of-the-way place for the tray, with room for a lamp.
- In a couple of weeks, seedlings will sprout. Replant them into six-pack trays, with one plant to each section.
- Allow growth until they have developed three or four leaves, then move them to larger containers.
Wild Ones – The Next Generation
The Winter 1993 issue also included a hands-on youth worksheet designed to help children explore how seeds grow, move, and survive through the seasons. This activity invites young learners to observe winter plants, understand seed dispersal, and discover what seeds need to grow.
You can download the original worksheet here (PDF).
The worksheet invites young learners to ask simple but powerful questions:
- Are plants really dead in winter?
- How do seeds travel from place to place?
- What does a seed need to grow?
Through drawing, coloring, and observation, kids explore wind-dispersed seeds, animals as seed carriers, stored energy inside seeds, and the role of sunlight, water, air, and soil. The worksheet treats children as capable observers and budding naturalists, not passive recipients of information. It also models something Wild Ones continues to value: learning through curiosity, direct experience, and relationship with the living world.
Why These Resources Still Matter
These short pieces reflect a philosophy that continues to guide Wild Ones today. Native plant education works best when it is hands-on, seasonal, and grounded in real ecological processes. Seeds are a perfect entry point. They connect gardeners of all ages to patience, observation, uncertainty, and hope.
By revisiting and sharing these archival materials, we honor the long history of Wild Ones members who were already teaching, experimenting, and inviting children into this work decades ago.