Data includes seed germination experiments observations from seeds collected during the fall of 2018 and 2020 at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, near Roswell, New Mexico. Seeds of Cirsium wrightii, Agalinis calycina, and Helianthus paradoxus were collected by manually clipping seed heads from plants across the wetland management units. Seeds were placed in brown paper bags and transported to the lab. In the lab, seeds from 2018 were immediately used for experiments by placing them in an incubator using petri dishes. Seeds collected in 2020 received cold stratification and salinity treatments. Following cold stratification, seeds were placed in the incubator and received salinity treatments. Seeds were monitored for germination.