I plant them immediately. I'm in central FL so they sprout easily here. Just sprinkle them on top of a pot with potting soil in it and stick it outdoors in partial shade. They sprout for me within 1-2 weeks.

Yes. They do best if they are sown fresh. I do cover my seeds with a light dusting of potting soil and then pat the whole thing down into the pot. Water daily. Don't let them ever dry completely out. I keep them in their pots in the house under lights through their first winter, though, since you are in zone 9, you may not need to do that. They will bloom in three years. Two if you are lucky.

Thanks, I'll get them planted today! Donna, our winters are usually pretty mild, but occasionally we have a whopper of a freeze, so keeping them under lights their first year sounds like a good idea.

I bring in my seedling trays during freeze events. Otherwise they remain outside. Once they have been planted into the ground, I don't protect them at all. The ground never freezes here, so they are fine.

I would like to expand my RL patches. could I just sow seeds inground where I want to expand? I tried that a couple of years ago and haven't seen much expansion, so I don't know if I did something wrong. I have grown seeds in containers then transplanted but I'd rather save me some steps by just dumping inground. Who has tried this successfully?