I'm still having buyer's remorse over how much I paid for 'Pow Wow Wild Berry' seeds two years ago. Germination from wintersown seeds was bleh at best and the 2nd year plants' performance did not inspire any further urges to try others. By contrast, wintersown regular E. purpurea plants grew 3-4 ft. tall and produced abundant flowers.

hmmmm...

when seeds/plants are extremely expensive.. given the quantity [which in a catalog is usually called 'rare'] ...

my first thought is usually along the lines.. HEY!!! ... if it were a vigorous grower .. it would have prolific flowering.. and abundant seed ...

its the same thought process ... with grafted conifers ... why is one $25.. and another $100??? .. because the failure rate on the grafting is 90% on the $100 and 10% on the 25 ....

oh wait.. lol .. no i am not trying them this year .. lol ...

did you actually ask a question.. lol .... i will go to my room now.....

ken

I know, I know. They are expensive and this seems to be the first year they are widely available, so I really should wait. However, if only half the seed were to germinate the price per plant would still be very reasonable. And they do look very appealing - really - they do.

I found the original thread (with lots and lots of photos).

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheyenne

In Canada, the seeds seem to be twice the price Kevin quoted. Maybe I should wait before trying these from seed. If they are any good, the price of seeds (and plants) should come down within a few years.

We had no problem germinating them this past summer...95% or so.

We potted up about 75 to force this spring to see if we like them with another 400 plugs waiting if we do.

As more catalogs arrive, I keep checking for these.

Jung's has 15 seed for $4.95 and plants in 3 inch pots for 7.95. At first, I didn't even consider this source because of the terrible reputation they have had in the past. I've ordered seeds from them in recent years and have been pleased, but I assumed everything else was crap - again from what I've heard.

Just for the heck of it I did a Google search for "Jung's reviews" and was pleasantly surprised. There were an awful lot of positive comments from 2011 -2012. Maybe I need to reconsider them for some of my plants??

Kevin

Johnny's has them - 25 seeds for $7.95. Can't tell you anything about the reliability or hardiness of the plant, or germination rates, but if you are not familiar with Johnny's they are a great company.

Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheyenne Spirit at Johnny's

These seed seem to be popping up in just about every catalog I've been receiving. Just got the Scheepers one and they have them for $5.95. I think I'll go for it. Why not right? Tis the season to waste money.

Kevin

Kevin, as you said above, while the seeds seem expensive, if you get even 50% germination the price of the plants would still be more than reasonable, if you are willing to be patient - although if I remember from the catalog these may be first-year bloomers.

I thought last month was the season to waste money....Do I get to waste some more this month too? Where to start...?

Good luck, and let us know how your plants turn out. How do you start your seed, btw? Do you wintersow?

Dee

"How do you start your seed, btw? Do you wintersow?"

Dee - That's part of the problem. I don't winter sow and got rid of all my lights years ago, so I have to be careful about starting too many plants inside. I can manage a couple of tomato plants in a sunny window and then moving them out to a big sun porch when temps warm up, but starting too many seedlings inside would just be inviting disaster.

I use to have a huge light set-up in my basement and would start up to 600 plants each spring. It was fun while I did it, but then I lost interest in the whole process. Those huge spikes in my electric bill also made me reconsider the whole thing.

If I do buy these seed, I'll probably sow them rather late so they don't spend too much time indoors which also means I probably won't get flowers the first year - but oh well, I'm used to the waiting game.

Kevin

Well, Kevin, I think it's time for you to start wintersowing! Are you familiar with the method? Since I tried wintersowing I'd never go back, lol. Awesome, economical seedstarting method, and nice hardy plants to boot! I recommend it to anyone who wants to start seed but doesn't have money for setups, room indoors, etc. Actually, I recommend it to anyone who wants to start seeds, period.

Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Wintersowing FAQs

Dee

I have never looked into winter sowing, but I should. It's just one of those things I never got around to doing. My biggest fear would be the huge squirrel problem around here, but there must be a way to protect the seed-sowing-vessels. I know if I wouldn't, squirrels would chew them to bits just like they do everything else. (hate 'em, hate 'em, nothing cut about 'em)

Kevin

Kevin - I'm plagued by both chipmunks & squirrels but they've never bothered any of my wintersown containers. They have easy access since my WS milk jugs are placed at ground level on my breezeway concrete. You could try just a few jugs and see if they go near them.

OK. I've been doing some reading this afternoon on winter sowing and I'm motivated to try it. This looks kind of fun. I'll still do my 2 tomatoes inside, but I definitely want to try the echinacea, some delphiniums and maybe some mums. Ever since the delphinium thread last summer, I've been thinking about these. Seed sowing would definitely be a cheaper way of getting a bunch of plants.

Kevin

I've been WSing for about ten years now and I've never had a problem with squirrels or critters getting into my containers, which are, like gardenweed's, on the ground. And trust me, I DO have squirrels, lol; I guess they just don't bother the milk jugs.

Glad to have you on board, Kevin! But I think you should give your tomatoes a try this way as well. Works great. I do all my veggies except green beans this way; I usually wait till the end of March to start the vegetables, as well as my herbs at that time too. I do all my perennials first, starting around mid to late January, then annuals, then herbs and veggies. I like to sow a little at a time to enjoy it all season long.

I have successfully wintersown delphs as well. It was the actual growing of them later in the season and overwintering them that I had trouble with! Mums were a winner, though, on both counts!

Dee

These are awesome!

Anyone start these this year?

I tried the winter sow method, but screwed it up big time. Not one germinated. Maybe next year.

Kevin

Sorry to hear you didn't get germination.

That was exactly what I was considering doing--getting seed for winter sowing. I have not done much winter sowing and the few successes I have had have been rather accidental. I have also been considering starting them now. Geoseed has pretty fast shipping. I have started biennials now and had good results planting them out in late sept-early oct. Hmmmm...too hot to go outside so I will look into how hardy they are proving to be.

Bought a couple before they were in bloom.

Got a few orange like this

This post was edited by eclecticcottage on Sun, Aug 4, 13 at 21:37

And this yellow

I know, I know, Cheyenne Spirit may not come back but the price was good and they are so darn pretty. I got 4 for $10, gallon pot.

I bought approx. 2 dozen 'Cheyenne Spirit' seedlings at a local farm last fall, they were in 3 inch pots, on sale for $1.50 each. I scooped up all of them that were left. After reading this thread I now realize that is a pretty good price for these seedlings.

I could have started them from seed cheaper myself, and am growing other Ech. cultivars from seed with great success, but the farmers did it for me, and I didn't want to wait.

They are growing well and almost all of them are budding. They aren't huge, because they're only 2nd year plants, but I'll see some blooms. Can't wait!