Spores from tropical plants blow into the Jocassee Gorges in NC from the Caribbean and some actually can survive there because it is a protected sub-tropical rainforest. Seeds also travel thousands of miles with the help of ocean currents. You'd be amazed how far wind and water can take seeds and spores!

It really isn't a stupid question -- it is an awesome one.

Let's not forget another source that's important - birds. They eat the seed, and with a little imagination you can picture the rest :)

The digestive tract of a bird can be a very efficient way to remove the hard shell thus the dormancy of seed.

That was such a beautiful reply, thank you!
Nature is amazing isn't it? I find it a little less likely given that Ohio doesn't have the currents or the mild winters, but maybe I'm wrong. It's certainly fascinating to say the least!

Oh birds too! Hadn't thought about that either. How often does a bird clear its digestive tract I wonder? So interesting to think they could fly across the world and bring us seeds.

And animals via fur as well!

Definitely animals and birds transporting seeds but also if you are out in the open the wind can carry seeds pretty darn far.
My mom has 5 acres out in the middle of corn and bean fields and she gets all kinds of stuff popping up in her yard-Eastern red Cedar, Virginia Creeper, Dogwood, Pokeweed, Canada Thistle, Wild Raspberries, Cottonwoods, Bidens, Cockleburs, the list goes on. Nature is amazing!

Rhonda

ok.. mistascott cracked me up.. great observation.. but i would suggest.. IA isnt near an ocean.. to say the least ... i know what you were saying about how they move.. but still.. it cracked me up ...

besides the birds ... and the oceans of IA.. lol ... think about the seed form itself ...

something like what the kids call a santa claus seeds ... those light as air hairy things.. could probably drift for thousands of miles.. [milkweed is a good example .. see link]

so when they go to seed.. simply observe the plants own ability to disperse itself ...

and also.. if you bring in soil or compost.. if it was not properly cooked ... 'finished' ... it can also bring in a lot of things ....

did you move from the city ??? i did about 12 years ago.. to the country ... but my area is about 50% soybean .. and 50% corn ... mile.. after mile.. after mile ... its wonderful ...and its so stinking quiet at night..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

A cheap way of getting a hedge - string a wire between 2 posts and wait......for a decade or so - birds will perch on the wire and.....well, you can imagine the rest.
Vehicle wheels can carry seeds a long way too.

Bags of bird seed are a great spreader of "weed" seeds!

Plus, before there were cornfields and your garden there was something there. Prairie? Forest? whatever. There may well be seeds in the ground from before the area was settled just waiting to be turned up. My house was built in 1820 on fields. I get plants in the garden which must have been here before the town spread. e.g. wild garlic and celandines.

Another source is bought in plants which bring seeds in their potting medium.

This might be my favorite thread ever. It's so eye-opening. In NE Ohio we were probably prarie originally. My house is from 1878 and the surrounding fields would be at least that old, I imagine. I love to think about seeds traveling through time and space.