Do any of you start a few perennials from seed? What are you starting this year?

Might try a few Hosta seeds this Spring.

doing some winter sowing of some natives for my pasture project
coneflower
baptisia
cupflower
ironweed
ziza
greyhead sunflower

I'm trying just a few of the Green Twister Coneflower this year when I start my annuals. I have quite a few of the native purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, which I generally prefer going with, but thought a few other colors mixed in would be nice.

Delphiniums several varieties.
Heucheras several varieties
Hosta s a few varieties.
Orientale poppies
Pulmonaria…..the not spotted one
Blue poppies if old seeds germinate
That is the ambition or winter plan!

Caroline ~ Ooh! I sure hope they germinate for you. I know in general, that "poppy seeds" aren't viable for long. Still, if you stored them cool and dry, it would be worth a try. Do you have any growing now?

Achillea 'Colorado Mix'
Delphinium 'Connecticut Yankee'
Digitalis "White" (biennial)
English Lavender
Golden Feverfew
Leonotus leonurus
Malva 'Snow White'
Rubbeckia hirta

And a bunch of very old seeds that most likely won't be any good. However...the Leonotus seeds were old (no date) and one came up!!! That was pleasant surprise.

I grew Leonotis leonurus last year as an annual.
It was small flowers.

I do not have any blue poppies on the go right now.
The seeds have been stored in the frig so I am hoping that maybe one or two will germinate. They take 3 weeks at 60' F. and do better in peaty acidic soil.

I have obtained seeds for some relatives of Leonotis Leonurus.
Hoping to try them this year…..probably as annuals up here.

The other Leonurus are:
Leonurus siberica which has white flowers in those whorls.
The packet says it is not frost tolerant and I had hoped it would be a perennial with that name. The packet calls it an annual.
It is also called Honeyweed or Siberian Motherwort.

Leonurus cardiaca. Called Common Motherwort
Purple whorled flowers? Says zone 5 to 9

Leonurus japonica Called Chinese Motherwort
Pink whorled flowers. Says zone 5 to 9

I bought one Delphinium mixed, Black Hollyhock, double Hollyhock, Cypress Vine, Snapdragon, Red Bell Peppers, Yellow Bell Pepper and a few tomatoes. Rachel from "Douentza Garden" in Ireland did a recent video on youtube about starting Blue Mechonopsis poppy seeds.

Mike and Caroline ~ Oh how I would love to grow those blue poppies. (Meconopsis spp.) But I do not have the climate for it. I hope you both "get some and grow some"!!!

Be aware that most seed sold/traded as Leonotis leonurus is actually its weedy, annual cousin Leonotis nepetifolia. Leonotis nepetifolia is cute in its way, but a bit tall and rangy and sets gobs of seed inside the ball-like clusters of calyces that feel like they were designed by the devil! (Ouch!!! ).

Oh yes, I dream of growing Meconopsis, too. Unfortunately, in this climate, it would end in nightmare!

Thank you Danita.
I did not know that.
My plants last year looked like the second picture.
I was hoping they would look like the first!

The leaves differ between Leonotis nepetifolia and Leonotis leonurus.
Mine must have been the nepetifolia because it had those heart shape leaves and not the narrow leaves.

Oh, no, Caroline!

I kept both a blue (M x sheldonii) and an orange (M cambrica) meconopsis alive just long enough for each to eke out a flower, then both predictably croaked. But I got pictures before their respective demise.




I just set a bunch of seeds from NARGS seed exchange in my frig for moist stratifying. I'm still pretty new to the process, so we'll see how it goes...

Scott those are two beauties.
Lion's Tail fits my business model beautiful orange and lots of blooms.

SL_gardener said: I kept both a blue (M x sheldonii) and an orange (M cambrica) meconopsis alive just long enough for each to eke out a flower, then both predictably croaked. But I got pictures before their respective demise.


I just set a bunch of seeds from NARGS seed exchange in my frig for moist stratifying. I'm still pretty new to the process, so we'll see how it goes...

Scott ~ Beautiful Meconopsis!
Oh, what seeds did you get?

Evelyn, I got a whole variety of them - 25 species.
Multiple species of Antennaria, Dianthus, Globularia & Iberis - mainly because I've been successful with others of these species in the past.
But I also have branched out with a bunch of others which I either haven't tried or wasn't successful with in the past. This whole seed-sowing thing is new for me, so I'm just diving in and crossing my fingers.