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The MGS seed list

Chantal Guiraud from Montpellier, France is running a seed exchange for MGS members. Chantal has a good selection of seeds, a list of which appears below, mostly provided by herself but also now from our members. Please read the instructions carefully before you order and remember that although you are not obliged to send seeds in exchange, only by receiving seeds from members can Chantal add to the list of seeds on offer. Watch this page for additions to and deletions from the list.

By now everyone knows of my passion for seeds, as well as the fact that the basement of my house in Montpellier is home to a rich collection of the seeds of 520 different species, available to members of the MGS. It seems to me entirely appropriate that the phrase ‘seed bank’ is used to denote those protected places where seeds are conserved ex situ – for I consider seeds to be a veritable treasure. Thus I’m going to write here about treasures: both small ones and the important booty brought back from Mallorca and the Costa Blanca.

Every single visit to a garden brings something. One might think one knows everything, but no, there is always a new discovery, a plant one has never seen before, an unusual plant, a novelty, sometimes even a well-known plant grown in an unusual context. So here are the little treasures in the form of seeds that I want to share with all gardeners who’d like to try their hand with them.

I’ll start with a fine deciduous tree that is not at all common in my region of Languedoc: Manihot esculenta, the cassava or manioc. There are several varieties of this plant, some bitter and some sweet, depending on the level of cyanogenic glucosides they contain – this particular one is bitter and inedible. M. esculenta is perfectly hardy, at least in the Languedoc where the temperature may fall to –8 °C. I discovered it at the Ets horticoles du Cannebeth at Mauguio (plants can be ordered from www.tijardin.com). I’ve been growing it outside in the ground for four years; it is now between 3 and 4 m tall, with a rounded shape and handsome divided leaves. It was watered only during its first year and since then has proved to tolerate the dry summers very well.

Manihot esculenta.

Eustachys distochophylla.

Next I’ll mention an extraordinary grass species, discovered in the garden of Pierre Chaize, a landscape designer who lives in Masclac-La-Garde in the Hérault region. Eustachys distichophylla is 50 cm tall, tolerates drought very well, grows in any soil and can withstand winter temperatures down to –10 °C. It produces its firework-like inflorescences in autumn. Pierre planted it in his trial garden this spring and will let us know how it gets through the winter.

But let me now get to the serious booty, in other words the seeds I collected in Mallorca and on the Costa Blanca in Spain. My trawl was rich indeed, the majority of the seeds being collected on the island of Sa Dragonera and in the gardens of members, all of whom I’d like to thank warmly, with special thanks to Cindy Evans. You will find the complete list below, but I’ve selected a few plants that are endemic to Mallorca and the Costa Blanca to describe in more detail.

• Bupleurum barceloi: When this umbellifer is seen without its flowers, the shape and position of the leaves make it look like a member of the grass family. But its pale yellow inflorescence is unquestionably that of an umbellifer. It is endemic to Mallorca’s north-west mountain range.
• Buxus balearica: This occurs only in Mallorca and Cabrera, in markedly different settings. In Cabrera it grows very near sea level, and in Mallorca always in the mountains. It is a species in regression due to over-harvesting for use in cabinet making. It was the basic fodder of Myotragus balearicus, a type of goat, now extinct, which lived thousands of years ago.
• Carthamus dianius (= Carduncellus dianius): This is encountered in the natural park of Montgo situated close to Jávea in the Costa Blanca. It is a thistle 50cm high with white flowers.
• Ephedra fragilis (Sa Dragonera Island): This is a plant of singular appearance: the leaves and flowers are rudimentary and insignificant. All one sees is a fairly dense multitude of vertical branches.
• Hypericum balearicum: The endemic St. John’s Wort has yellow flowers with numerous stamens like other species of Hypericum, but the young branches are square-sectioned and covered, like the leaves, with glandular vesicles which make them sticky to the touch and give them their characteristic resinous odour.
• Limonium caprariense: This endemic Limonium whose seeds were collected on Sa Dragonera island, is capable not only of withstanding the force of the wind but also of resisting the high concentration of salt which rises from the sea.
• Medicago arborea subsp. citrina: Mr Gradaille, the curator of the Botanical Garden of Sóller, gave me the seeds of this endangered species which is native to the Balearic islands of Ibiza and La Cabrera. This species has become rare in nature, probably due to uncontrolled grazing by wild goats. It is a perennial woody shrub with ornamental, dense terminal clusters of pale lemon yellow flowers followed by large moon-like seed capsules and trifoliate leaves.
• Pimpinella bicknelli: This umbellifer, together with Hypericum balearicum, is one of the most notable endemic plants of the Balearics. The seeds were given to me by Heidi Gildemeister.

The other plants whose seeds I collected on Mallorca are: Acacia podalyriifolia, Antirrhinum majus, Bauhinia variegata, Callistemon phoeniceus, Carissa macrocarpa, Daucus carota, Dichondra argentea, Dombeya burgessiae, Duranta erecta, Eriocephalus africanus, Euryops pectinatus, Fuchsia regia subsp. reitzii, Globularia salicina, Helianthemum canariense, Helichrysum obconicum, Hesperaloe parviflora, Ipomoea alba, Iris xiphium, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Lavandula buchii var. buchii, Lepechinia hastata, Maurandya scandens, Metrosideros ‘Springfire’, Paeonia daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii, Pandorea jasminoides, Parkinsonia aculeata, Pavonia lasiopetala, Phillyrea angustifolia, Pistacia lentiscus, Salvia coccinea and S. pratensis, Tecoma capensis and T. fulva subsp. garrocha, Teucrium dunense, Trachelium caeruleum with dark blue flowers, Vitex trifolia var. purpurea and Webbia canariensis (= Hypericum canariense).

From my visit to the Costa Blanca that followed, I came away with seeds of: Buddleja glomerata, Ceratonia siliqua, Cistus salviifolius, Clivia miniata, Globularia alypum, Pittosporum undulatum and Tipuana tipu.

The last plant I’ll mention here is certainly neither endemic nor native to Spain but is representative of popular gardening. The succulent Kalanchoe beharensis is cultivated by almost every inhabitant of the Costa Blanca. You see this superb plant with its thick, velvety grey foliage growing in a pot in front of every front door.

We also had the pleasure and the privilege of visiting the garden of Carol and Alan Hawes at Crevillente on the Costa Blanca; they generously donated to the MGS Seed Bank seed from their collection of eucalyptuses and acacias, as well as the seed of a small white-flowered Bauhinia species (name unknown).

In conclusion I’d like to thank all those who have donated seeds and who continue to send me exciting little packages by post. There is no closing date for sending me seeds, you can do it throughout the year. Indeed, in our Mediterranean climate we are lucky enough to be able to sow seeds in spring as well as in autumn. Moreover our members have gardens in both hemispheres.
Chantal Guiraud. (Translated from the French by Caroline Harbouri.)

Reference: Plants of the Balearic Islands, by Anthony Bonner, Editorial Moll, 2004, ISBN 84-273-0874-4.

Orders (without any closing date) should be sent to me at:
75 rue de la Vieille Poste, 34000 Montpellier, France
or to: mgsseedlist@gmail.com.
When you order your seeds, don’t forget to give me your name and address.

Members may order 10 packets, while donors may order 15 packets. There is no cost: this service is free for all MGS members. Don't forget to give me substitutes if you want to receive your full allocation. Most items are available only in very small quantities. All members are responsible for complying with their local laws.

It is a good practice to begin sowing in January/February/March (in the northern hemisphere); however, in a mediterranean climate, autumn sowing (in pots) is also a good choice.
Chantal Guiraud

Seed List - December 2011

(AGM = Award of Garden Merit, given by the Royal Horticultural Society)

Even if the ideal periods for sowing perennials are spring or early autumn, late August is a good season for beginning to sow. The trick is to learn how the plant would germinate and grow in nature. So try to sow the seed at the same time that it would be sown naturally.

For seeds needing cold stratification, like acanthus, the easiest way is to sow them and put the pots outside for the winter, letting Mother Nature do the work. You just have to make sure the pots don’t dry out. Seed only starts the germination process in the presence of moisture; once this process has started, drying out is fatal to the seed embryo.

Most perennials will need at least two growing seasons to reach flowering size, while some require more time. So, if germination occurs in autumn, over-winter the seedlings in a greenhouse or a cold frame. Don’t throw out a seed pot just because nothing seems to have happened, sonce some plants take two or three years to germinate.

Here is a list of some perennials to sow in late summer: Alyssum saxatile (syn. Aurinia saxatilis), aster, campanula, catananche, centaurea, gaillardia, gaura, geranium, gerbera, perennial grasses, nepeta, dianthus, papaver, salvia and scabiosa.

Biennals are best started in late spring or summer for transplanting to their permanent homes in late summer or autumn: violas, Cheiranthus cheiri (syn. Erysimum cheiri), Bellis perennis, Hesperis matronalis, etc.

Fast-growing hardy annuals are usually sown in spring but they can be sown in July and will flower later in the season, as for example: Eschscholzia californica, Centaurea cyanus, Delphinium ajacis (syn. Consolida ambigua), Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, Iberis amara, Linaria maroccana, Reseda odorata, Calendula officinalis, Chrysanthemum carinatum, Alyssum maritimum (syn. Lobularia maritima) or Tropaeolum majus.

Sowing in autumn
Some hardy annual flowers can be sown early in the autumn outside and stand the winter season without any protection; they will be stronger and will flower earlier. Generally they are meadow flowers that germinate in autumn and stay as seedlings during winter before flowering in summer. Others, less hardy, may be sown either in situ, covered with a light protection in case of frost, or in pots over-wintered in a garden frame.

Many perennials, most shrubs and trees from temperate or cold regions and some desert plants need a period of cold to break dormancy and encourage them to germinate. Sowing seeds outside in the autumn, usually in pots, allows them to experience the ups and downs of winter temperatures and encourages them to germinate in the spring. If germination occurs in autumn, over-winter the seedlings in a greenhouse or a cold frame. Don’t throw out a seed pot just because nothing seems to have happened, for some plants may take two or three years to germinate.

If you want to have a try, here is a selection from our new seed list of plants that can be sown in autumn:

Chantal Guiraud

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