Gardening Plant catalogs

Yes, You Can Order Seeds in the Dead of Winter!

 

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Seeds can better support the cold than you can! Source: www.okclipart.com.

Don’t worry that the seeds you ordered by mail will freeze when they are shipped, even if they travel in freezing temperatures. With the exception of a very small group of tropical plants with seeds that are never truly dormant (and whose seeds are rarely offered by seed companies anyway), seeds are totally indifferent to the cold as long as they are kept dry.

In various experiments, seeds were sent on trips of several months to over a year into space at temperatures close to absolute zero (?460° F/-273° C)… and they germinated normally after they were sown back on Earth!

Therefore, although you may freeze your little toesies getting out to the mailbox at subzero temperatures, the seeds it contains won’t be bothered in the least!

 

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

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