@Oregonseed

Do you think shipping seed in the middle of Winter and having it freeze and thaw would do anything adverse to it? Maybe reduce the shelf life? I've always hesitated to buy any at this time of year.

 

I wouldn't be concerned, as long is its not warming up or going somewhere really humid? Unlikely this time of year.
As other mentioned check the sale date or year harvested/germ date.

 

I have often bought seed from them this time of year, to save costs, and I've never had an issue. Here are my thoughts:

1. I don't think it's an issue because the seeds aren't saturated with water — they are pretty dry.
2. I've also read that you don't want to use seed just harvested, because the seed needs to dry and have time to prepare for later germination, and that a cold cycle will help later germination (as it does with many other types of seeds).
3. Also, most seed bag tags I've seen show testing done in January, presumably of seeds harvested the previous year (although it's possible that it's older seed — I say this because I once got a bag of Mazama from CD Ford, and the listed germination rate at the time of testing was only 80%, which seemed too low for seed less than one year old, and I saw someone else on this site show a tag from CD Ford showing 85% germination for Mazama, leaving me with the suspicion that they retest older seed, and then tag it with the lower germination rate). I have had some seed tags showing testing in June.
4. All of the seed that I've gotten from Twin City was grown in Washington. I can't imagine it not freezing at least once after harvesting.
5. Over-winter seeding reportedly is often very successful, especially in northern states, and that seed presumably becomes saturated or nearly saturated before it germinates, and it undergoes many freeze-thaw cycles before germinating. The Purdue extension has some free publications that are related.
6. Twin City seems to sell a lot of seed, and it's hard to imagine they would be that successful if they sold seed that did not germinate as tagged. I've even tested KBG seed I had from them that was a few years old, and it germinated extremely well.
7. Finally, most of the seed from Twin City is now pre-order, since most sold out the previous year, so it won't ship for another month or so, when weather will be warmer. I think they are waiting for the January tests before tagging.
8. I usually buy a lot of seed each year, so their sales save me significant money.

The above said, I would be interested to see if anyone has had an experience that suggests freezing of dry seed may be an issue.

 

I just bought 50# of blue resilience for a front lawn renovation next fall. Never even thought about the freezing thing, but I'm not too worried.

 

Last October, I put in their Resilience II over 5M of shaded area, and it did very well. I think it's the same less the KBG added to your mix.

This spring I'm going to put in their Total Eclipse over a different shaded area, about 7M. Three of the four types (After Midnight, Starr, and Blue Gem) in the blend were three of the four highest rated for shade in the latest NTEP trial, and the fourth type, Mazama, was the highest rated in the preceding NTEP trial. I know several people have expressed concern about the color of Starr, but if you look at the shade trials, it was darker than almost all others, including Midnight, etc. They shipped the mix out today, and they told me it already has seed tested in January 2024 (they haven't updated the tags listed on their website).

 

If anyone has 2 or 3lbs of Bewitched and Mazama KBG around and would be willing to ship to Canada. They would be doing me a huge favor.. Thanks

 

I just checked prices on Twin City……..anyone know if they are Sale prices or regular prices? Wondering if I should pull trigger now or wait. Shipping is free