Native Seed for Restoration

Discovering new ways to increase the success rate of ecological restoration efforts is paramount, and we in the Research & Conservation Department at Denver Botanic Gardens are excited about a new project that will contribute to this very area!  

In partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), we are growing several native plant species in an agricultural setting. The goal of this project is to develop best-cultivation protocols for mass commercial seed growers as well as to produce seed stock for local projects aiming to restore ecosystems post-wildfire. The seeds we are working with have been collected via BLM’s Seeds of Success program, which aims to preserve and increase the availability of native plant materials for restoration projects around the country and to capture as much genetic diversity within each species as possible. The more we know about the genetic background of our seed stock, the better we can predict which populations will do best in which geographic locations, and this will greatly enhance the effectiveness of our projects. 

We are currently working on four native plant species: Heterotheca villosa (hairy false goldenaster), Phacelia crenulata (scorpion notchweed), Sphaeralcea coccinea (scarlet globemallow) and Stanleya pinnata (desert prince’s plume). For the last few months, I have been working with Dr. Rebecca Hufft, our associate director of climate resilience, to develop a plan and design for growing out these species and experimenting with different cultivation practices along the way, from in-house stratification and germination methods to in-field planting and seed harvesting strategies.  

At this stage in the game, we have successfully grown at least 150 individuals of each species (for some that number is far greater) and have out-planted them in our research plots at Chatfield Farms. Plants are establishing now, being watered sparingly via our drip-line irrigation system, and some have even begun to flower and produce fruit. As this first season goes on, we will continue to collect data on the plants to track their progress as well as add to our protocol and observations anything from watering timetables to common pollinator species witnessed. We plan to work with these species for the next few seasons and are looking to put together a plan for a fall seeding event as well.  

Though this is just the beginning, I am excited and confident that projects like this have the potential to greatly improve our native seed stock deficit and give us the power to be more prepared and achieve far more lasting successes in the realm of ecological restoration!