northern spicebush - seed (#2)

Seed sold in quantities of 20 and 50. Requires 120 days cold stratification.

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) offers medicine and food, as well as being a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail.

In our experience growing from seed, spicebush swallowtail caterpillars will eat the leaves of young seedlings, at times defoliating them quite a bit. Here at the nursery we let it take place without intervening and it does not harm the plants, though you can protect them if you like. Spicebush seedling growth typically looks like this: emergence in Spring shortly after sowing, then pretty fast growth to about 4 to 6 inches tall, followed by a halt of growth with hot weather, and caterpillars moving in. At this point they can look rough, and then toward the end of peak Summer, around late August here in NC, they perk up again, leafing out and taking part in a second growing phase eventually topping out around 9 inches for the first year in most cases.