You have tons of seeds, why not plant half or more and save the rest? I've done that with some of my special seeds and always feel better knowing I have extra stashed away in case I don't get germination using that particular method of seed starting (be it winter sow or whatever).

Usually what happens is I get great germination, find I have sown plenty and don't need the extra seeds, and am then able to add them to my seed list to share and trade ;-)

Never grown delphs from seed, but have grown Echinacea. I say go for it. I've even sown coneflowers in fall and have had wonderful results.
CMK

Both of the seed can be planted now. They need cold stratification esp. Delphiniums. They were the last to spring up for me (Last week of May).

Thank you for encouragement, I'm going to give them the best treatment I can and go for it.

How well do Delphiniums germ?

And what about the specialty ech's, I don't know if Pow Wow is considered special or not, but how is its germ rate compared to regular Ech's and other plants in general?

Delphinium does better for me when wintersowed than when sowed inside. I have been wintersowing delphinium for 3 years and always get good germination. On the other hand, I might be the only wintersower in captivity who got zero echinacea germination for 3 different jugs from 3 different sources. Luckily I was able to try again in spring and the second batch came up.

So I agree that your best bet is to keep some back when you wintersow. The nice thing about echinacea is that in our climate we have a second chance to sow it in spring if winter doesn't work so we don't have to wait a year to try again.

I understand Delphinium seeds need darkness to germinate, how will I assimilate darkness if I put them outside? I was thinking to cover them with something or put them in the doors going down to my basement where they would get the very cold temps but would be in relative darkness during the day. Or should I put them in the frig in wet soil to gaurentee darkness for acouple weeks them sow into white milk jugs?

I understand there are questionable germination rates with Delphiniums.
Thank you Micki

I made sure the seeds were covered with soil. I got little germination. (Now they did not survive my transplanting) However, I'm having a soil test to find out why.

I did not have much luck with columbines either.

Duane456 said to cover with soil and that is all the darkness they need. Sometimes seeds just don't germinate. I also think some are harder than others. I'm only a newbie but that's what I've heard. You can do everything right for 4 yrs and only get germ the last yr.
I've also heard this about Columbines.
How about Gallardia?

Unfortunately I sowed a lot of Delphiniums already and will have to open a sampling of the containers to see if I covered the seeds.

Following is part of an article on vernilization:
I'm wondering if WSing achieves this?
This is different from Stratification.
I bring it here for those who have had trouble with Columbine, notice what is said...
Micki

The flowering of many cold-hardy herbaceous perennials is initiated by an extended period of cold, known as a vernalization treatment. Some perennials will not flower without a cold treatment, while others flower more rapidly and have a stronger flowering response (such as more flowers) when provided with a cold treatment. This article contains tips for successful vernalization treatments of cold-hardy (USDA Zone 6 or higher) perennials that are propagated by seeds or cuttings.
Most perennials propagated by cuttings can be satisfactorily cooled in their plug trays. However, some perennials propagated by seed must develop a minimum number of leaves before they become sensitive to a cold treatment. For example, several varieties of columbine (aquilegia) should have at least 8-10 leaves per plant (not per cell) before starting a cold treatment. Less mature plants may be juvenile and not responsive to the cooling treatment. In many cases, subsequent flowering is improved when plants are cooled in larger plug sizes rather than smaller ones. Highest plant quality, regardless of propagation technique, is usually achieved when plants are planted in their final containers, allowed to grow for three weeks or more at warm temperatures and then cooled.

Effective Temperature Ranges
In the past five years, researchers at Michigan State University (especially Beth Fausey, Sonali Padhye and Art Cameron) have methodically quantified how many perennials respond to a range of cooling temperatures and durations (visit www.hrt.msu.edu/floraoe/articles.htm for more info). The most effective cooling temperature range for a large number of species was between 41� and 46� F, especially when short durations (4 or 6 weeks) of cooling were provided. With longer cooling durations, the effective temperature range broadened. In general, 6-8 weeks of cooling at 41� F saturates the vernalization response of nearly all species; however, a few exceptions exist.

I have found that seeds of delphiniums which did not germinate in the spring will sometimes germinate after the next cool spell. So keep those ungerminated delphinium containers at least another year.

Last year we had a cool spell in the fall then another warm spell and my ungerminated delphinium seeds all sprouted.

I have ws delphinium for many years and had good results. Sorry, lost my record book so no exact dates to share.