Been using them too. Reliable. RJ

Hi,

I can't praise Silverhill Seeds enough. I do not always get germination from everything, but consider that is not the fault of Silverhill.

Seeds from wild plants are often cranky, there are some very complex dormancies built into drought adapted species, even if the drought is only seasonal. Likewise, some South African plants respond to fire and this further complicates dormancy. Of course, we're all familiar with the temperature requirements of some of the plants, some will only germinate in cool weather. Finally, you have to factor in the "great unknown," requirements and conditions that may not even be known.

I did tetrazolium tests on some seeds of South African plants a few years ago. They seeds had not germianted, but the tetrazolium test indicated that most of the seeds were viable. I think of native hollies when I have trouble with South African plants. I recall a colleague who told me that that some holly seeds he had personally collected when fresh took 3 years to germinate, and then only some did.

Cordially,

Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Fire and Smoke and Seed Dormancy

I have also bought a couple of times from Silverhill seeds. I would recommend them highly! I've had especially good luck with bulb seed: crinums, brunsvigia, etc. I also had good luck with several species of Acacia, and Cabbage Tree seeds. The service there is great -- it takes a little while to get here, but it's been worth the wait!

I hear that animals & birds propigate 3/4 of the world seeds......I cracked some jujube seeds with some plyers & hammer. It normally takes these seeds a year or two to come up...These came up in a month........Marvin

My husband was on a trip to S Africa a year or so ago & I arranged via email for him to go pick my seeds up. He said SilverHills is in a house in a residential neighborhood & the people were very nice. He brought back my seeds & a few tried to grow but I think I was too dumb to do it right. Any ideas how to get the rest to start? They are mostly moraea.