Don't dig them up, ambbutterfly!
Fall before last I gathered seeds from off one of my little trees, and put them in an envelope which I stored in my closet. I planted the seeds in containers in the spring, and every one of them came up, with no cold stratification, nicking or soaking - I just kept them in the sun and the soil moist.
I found out that none of those things you read you should do are true!
MissSherry

misssherry, Whew, I'm glad that I waited for an answer instead of going ahead and digging them up! I really had been considering doing it. :O I loved reading how yours sprouted so fast. I might actually have some little trees this year after all! I'll be sure to keep mine in the sun and monitor things closely to make soil the soil is moist. So do you think it matters one way or the other if I have them in the milk jug? Can you remember how long you waited after yours germinated to transplant them? I hope to plant at least 20 wafer ash trees around here and hopefully those along with the rue that I have will attract some GST's. Oh, and I'm going to soon start tossing seed sowing directions! :)

There's a lot of misinformation out there alright, ambbutterfly! I think having them in a milk jug is just fine. I originally planted mine individually in little 3" containers, then planted them to bigger and bigger containers as they grew and the roots reached the edges of their pots. I planted them all out around my property this past fall. Down here, wafer ash is strictly an understory tree or shrub that thrives in mostly shady places, and the only time I ever killed any was when I planted them in full sun. In Zone6, however, the sun isn't as intense, so you might experiment and put them in various sunlight situations to see which they prefer - I'm guessing about a half day to 3/4 day's sun would be right for you.
When my wafer ash seeds sprouted, they all came up with two sprouts to each seed, very odd!
MissSherry

Yes, there sure is a lot of misinformation floating around! I think what my common sense tells me is right is what I will go by from now on rather than the packages. I thought that two years sounded like a really long time for those to germinate so wanted to ask here to make sure and I'm glad I did. I will try various light situations to see which the wafer ash prefers. We have a small stretch of woods beside our lawn, so I will plant some in there and also some out in the open. Thanks for your advice and sharing your information how you planted yours. Yes, that is indeed strange that they came out with two sprouts to a seed. I'll have to remember that and see if mine do the same.

Are wafer ashes pretty common on the coast? I'm not sure that I know what they look like. Do they sell them or do I need to order them? After I ordered 4 sassafras trees I found somebody who had them on their property in Poplarville.

I received my wafer ash seeds today. I hope that they will grow. The directions said they needed cold, even as much as 3 months in the refrigerator. I am going to plant some in pots and leave them outside. I will put some seeds in the frig and plant some in pots in the garage.