6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I wonder if I have a few Mexican Marigolds myself! Or Crackerjack... this flower confuses me, lol! For two years straight now, our marigolds haven't exactly reached that stunning 8 feet (and growing!!) that yours have, but they have easily grown slightly over four feet. They aren't like those bushy, yellow marigolds- they are multi-colored and very spindly, and grow like weeds. I wonder if, aside from certain varieties growing very differently, seeds that were re-planted right from the last plant tend to grow more wild. I love marigolds- you keep 'em in the pot over the winter and they'll grow some new ones come spring all by themselves. ;)
The CalFlora database shows over 130 species of lupines just for CA, so it helps if know exactly which species of lupine you want to germinate. I've had sucess with both hot and cold water soaking, but if its more that 24 hours I find the seed so soft that it sometimes fall apart. Few CA species need stratification, but yours might.
Like Al says, germination for me has been slow and variable, but I've had success both direct sowing and growing in flats.
I have checked my references from America, Europe, & Australia & can not find any reference to leucadia. There was an introduction of "Sensitive" plants at that time. They were a mimosa that reached 6 foot. & you needed to presoak the seed & keep soil temperature between 65-70F
Bookmark these links for both seed IDs (finding what is what in there) and for germination info --
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html
You'll need the latin name for some of these - to find that, do a search on google for the common name.
the best book I have seen is called seed to seed. The book is incredible. each chapter is a type of plant and it will tell you how to polinate, how far away to plant to keep from cross breeding, how to save the seed ect..... hince the name "seed to seed"
One other thing about the winter sowing method - for us northerners, it really is not worth the effort. You are only gaining a few weeks at best, over direct sowing into the garden and if your growing season is only 3 months long, waiting until August for flowers is just not an option.
I sow my tomatoes so that I can plant them outside in WOWs at least a month before my last frost date. That way I can actually eat some tomatoes in July. With winter sowing, I would be lucky to have green tomatoes before the first fall frost.
There ARE advantages of winter sowing verses direct sowing though, Kay. Direct sown seeds can get blown away, washed away, eaten by birds or bugs. By sowing them in a container, you may not gain a lot as far as the bloom date, but you have more control over the germination process as a whole. Tomatoes and peppers are about the only things I may sow some of indoors. All of the cool season veggies and herbs will be WS, along with all of my perennials, and annuals. The annuals won't be sown until March or early April, and yes the blooms will be a little behind the nursery bought plants, but the plants will be stronger and many will bloom well past the first frost. For those of us that don't have room for sowing indoors, or have a green house, wintersowing allows us to still grow from seed.
Primgal, I hope that you won't give up on growing from seed. It's just a matter of finding a way that works for you. We are all learning as we go.
Happy sowing,
Bonnie
Dry shade holds them back a bit.
I'll never grow them again! I grew them 5yrs ago and every year since, i pull them up. They are very very invasive!
All i did was throw them ON the dirt and they grew.
As stated in the post or 2 above; the 1st year they dont look like anything. But the next summer and thereafter, you are just about stuck!(forever)
And they dont look all that great either!
Just my 2cents.