Their Time to Sleep

By Eileen Ellsworth

It’s February. You glance outside. All is cold, covered in snow, and dark. But the marvel of plant dormancy is once again unfolding, unseen. Plants need their rest and recuperation. It’s an annual phenomenon, a common thing, but that doesn’t make it any less of a miracle. 

Dormancy in plants is ancient. While estimates vary, seed dormancy emerged roughly 360 to 370 million years ago and seems to have developed at the same moment seed bearing plants arrived. The strategy allowed the early seed plants to survive the more lethal environmental perils. Their ability to push “pause” whenever extreme cold, drought, flood, or any other earthly or celestial catastrophe occurred gave them a huge advantage. Plants could wait out the worst and only wake up when conditions were better.  

How long, exactly, can a seed lie dormant? It’s a good question. Most of our garden plant seeds are probably good in the ground for 1-5 years. After the recent California wildfires, certain “fire-follower” species germinated after 100 years of dormancy and bloomed in large carpets of spectacular color across the landscape. Some documented lotus species whose seeds enjoyed optimum storage conditions sprang back to life after 1,300 years!

No one actually knows how long a seed can lie dormant and remain viable. But it really doesn’t matter. The sheer brilliance of an adaptation that allows a plant to literally pick its go-time is mind-boggling when you think about it. Wish we could do that.

And, of course, plant dormancy goes well beyond the realm of seeds. There is “bud dormancy” triggered by shorter days and cooler temperatures that makes trees and shrubs want to stop growing and shed their leaves. There is “organ-dormancy” forcing above ground rest in some perennials. There is a kind of “pseudo-dormancy” where plants are poised to grow but pause due to unfavorable environments. There is a hibernation-type dormancy that enables plant survival in extreme heat or drought. And so on.

Many strategies, one goal. Keep living. And it is lucky for us that they have. With ancient bacteria as their partner, they figured out how to photosynthesize and turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. They are the reason we can exist, why our cells have glucose to fuel them, why our lungs have oxygen to breathe. Plants, not animals, are the reason this astonishingly beautiful planet is still blue, emergent, and alive.

Our dependency upon their health certainly calls us to be the best possible stewards of the land. There is no doubt that planting and preserving native plants directly advances the goal of restoring biodiversity across our region. Only their magic can do it.  The Plant NOVA Natives campaign is all about that, and its website has all you need to know to take action.

Even in the dead of winter, let’s hear it for the plants! Let’s cheer them on and wish them well as they sleep. We owe them everything. They’ve earned their rest. Lay dormant, dear friends. Pick the time when all is well and come to greet us again. We hope it’s soon. We love you so. We couldn’t live without you.