OK here's the Skrocki method!
You gather all the ripe seed stalks in your garden and you gently crush the seedstalk over a huge shoe box letting the seed fall in and collect. At the end of this exercise you will have a shoe box full of seed! You then plant ALL THE SEED FROM YOUR YARD. You might get 20K seedlings and you pick out the 20-50 that are really good. Next year you repeat the process.
Of course this also means that you don't have to keep any records and you have lots of mediocre semps that you can sell to landscapers or give away (virtually every variation of tectorum types that you can imagine!). THINK OF ALL THE NOIDS GREG!! I'm sure a lot of the noids we are seeing might be from this source. There is another nursery that services the big box stores that does a similar process.
To me, rowing out lots of mediocre seedlings is not my idea of fun. I'd rather row out 1K and get the same 20-50 keepers from good crosses and/ or bee set seed from the best cultivars. Of course the Skrocki method does allow for EVERY combination of the parents, some that I might not conceive of giving pretty progeny.
I have an amusing story from my description of his method that I will use in my talk to the Salem Hardy Plant Society that gets the point across. Speaking of, Cynda Foster (Perennial Obsessions) and I will be speaking November 5th at the Salem Height Community Center at 7PM on Sempervivum. If you're in the area, come by! if you are not a member, say "I'm Kevin's guest."
Kevin
