Confused about when to start flowers

10 years ago

I've never had much luck growing flowers from seed with the exception of Sweet Pea, Nasturtium, and Morning Glory. Either they don't germinate or they end up stunted and don't get flowers until the end of August. I think a big part of my problem is that I don't know when to start them and whether I should start them inside or wait and direct sow them. Last frost is supposedly in late April/early May, we usually plant stuff outside on mother's day weekend, so around May 11th. I prefer starting seeds inside but know that not all types of plants do best this way. So what can I start inside and when should I start them? What should be direct sown?
These are the seeds I have:

Marigolds
Sunflowers
Zinnia
Sweet Pea
Nasturtium
Morning Glory
Tithonia
Larkspur
Chinese Lantern
Bachelor's Buttons
Alyssum
Foxglove
Portulaca
Flowering Cabbage
Gaillardia

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Comment (1)

digdirt2
10 years ago
The seed packet will tell if they should be direct seeded or started indoors. And for those that should be direct seeded the standard instructions is "after all danger of frost is past" which usually means approx. 10-14 days after your last frost date.

On your list marigolds, portulaca, alyssum. sunflowers, zinnias, nasturtiums, and morning glory are normally direct seeded outdoors and work best that way. All the others can be done either way.

You might want to post over on the Annuals forum here and see if any of the growers there are in your region and can give you their experienced info on planting dates.

Dave
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