6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Snaillover, there are different kinds of milkweed (Asclepias) and they don't all have the same germination requirements. A good place to look up the different types for reliable suggestions on how best to germinate is the Clothiers Germination database, I'll link it for you. The seed sowing articles found there are good too, you may want to read through them.
If stratifying a type seed is recommended, storing dry in your garage won't help, that's only storage. In order for the chill to be helpful the seeds must be moist. Can you sometimes skip that step and get (some) germination, Yes, in a very few cases...but the databases will give you suggestions for methods shown to provide the best and most complete germination.
It's hard to advise not knowing which poppy too. The oriental perennial types will germinate without the moist chill, are fine sown in pots, while other perennial types may need the chill - and the annual poppies are often best direct sown. In my milder climate I'll direct sow in Fall, Winter, earliest Spring. You can sometimes very carefully transplant the annual types into the garden but for the most part they don't do as well with the roots disturbed.
Here is a link that might be useful: Clothier Germination Database
Regarding the frugality issue, it can be cheaper in time, effort, and frustration to buy a tuber or other vegetative offset of a really great named variety, grow it well, and divide the plant. Just depends on what you want to do - if you want more of the exact same plant, start with a tuber - if you want to exercise your green thumb and/or surprise yourself, start with seed.
For some plants, you'll never see seeds available commercially - chocolate cosmos comes to mind. In fact, although my chocolate cosmos flowers prolifically, I've never seen it set seed.
A big advantage to starting from seed is that you avoid the possibility of propagating disease along with tubers. A big disadvantage is that seed can take longer to reach flowering size. By definition, a tuberous plant is perennial in its own climate, and it may not flower from seed until it is several years old.
Never tried canna, but dahlias are straightforward from seed, they usually reach flowering size the first year, and it sure can be fun to see what you get.
Regarding the frugality issue, it can be cheaper in time, effort, and frustration to buy a tuber or other vegetative offset of a really great named variety, grow it well, and divide the plant. Just depends on what you want to do - if you want more of the exact same plant, start with a tuber - if you want to exercise your green thumb and/or surprise yourself, start with seed.
For some plants, you'll never see seeds available commercially - chocolate cosmos comes to mind. In fact, although my chocolate cosmos flowers prolifically, I've never seen it set seed.
A big advantage to starting from seed is that you avoid the possibility of propagating disease along with tubers. A big disadvantage is that seed can take longer to reach flowering size. By definition, a tuberous plant is perennial in its own climate, and it may not flower from seed until it is several years old.
Never tried canna, but dahlias are straightforward from seed, they usually reach flowering size the first year, and it sure can be fun to see what you get.
Excessive heat is about the least of my gardening issues here in this cool summer Z8, but you may find this chart helpful, indicates approximate guidelines for your Fall crops. It appears you are early for the Fall lettuce, and for several other things too
Here is a link that might be useful: Texas A&M Extension
Hi suzanne and welcome to GardenWeb! That's a nice looking plant and the double purple flower is truly beautiful. I agree with florauk, it appears to be a Datura. Although a beauty, you really need to do a little research on the web regarding the toxicity of the plant; especially if you have small children or pets around. All parts of the plant are toxic if ingested.
I've grown Datura from seed every year, for the past four or five years (my kids are all grown and I have no pets). I've grown the white, purple, and yellow and love them all. The yellow datura flowers are often triples!
Art
Yes, and I've sown them from my spice jar - I have a nephew who loves lemon-poppy seed pound cake :)
But while they grow and bloom, the colors weren't terribly inspiring from that jar, mostly washed out pastels, many white singles, a few of pink or pinkish lavender. If you have an area in your garden where the subtle mixed colors will work for you, you can certainly sow them though.
I have used berry containers in the same way, except just line them with newspaper and put the seeds in potting soil in there. It is a good start before transplanting into individual pots. I have a lot of pots I have saved over the years from nurseries and garden centers.
Nurseries control the environment. As veeta mentioned, have you tried starting them indoors where the temperature is cooler? They don't need light to germinate and once they sprout you can move them out, be sure to harden them off.
SCG
The only other method you could try is to treat your seeds with gibberellin. We were going to try this experiment in class but never got around to actually doing it. However, I don't know how feasible it is for you to find gibberellins.
A much more feasible solution for your problem is grafting. This will only work if you know somebody who can give you a fresh cutting. You can germinate regular cherry seeds and graft a scion of Prunus serrulata onto it. This has to be done when the plant is about to break its winter dormancy. I'm assuming that these two species are related enough for the graft to take. For this reason, it is not advisable to use other members of the genus Prunus, such as peaches or apricots, as rootstock because of genetic dissimilarity.
This post was edited by jai854 on Sat, Aug 24, 13 at 22:06