Well the failures are half of it - the ones that are successes mean more that way. I tried to get a gailardia going for years - too dark, too crowded, too wet, etc. finally found the right spot for her and then she went wild. Even had some of her seeds sprout and grow to bloom!

I think the hardest part of doing seeds is moving the newly sprouted things up into the first cells.

One has to handle the babies very very carefully, not to touch or squeeze the stems but hold them by a leaf (which is replaceable).

Some things don't like to be moved. And not all seed packs tell you this. So if you get one variety that doesn't like being moved, well...failure is upon you.

The germination process is not so bad, if you get good seeds.

I just moved 18 Catmint (from my album) that I harvested upNorth. We'll see within 2 days if they die now or not. ( I tend to lose 10-20% of transplants at this stage when things are good.)

I gently break the root balls up with a little plastic fork, and move to a 6pk cell.

Tomorrow will be the Butterfly weed... which doesn't like being moved. I got those free from a grower who sent me infertile JoePye weed (dark variety)... so what I paid for is not working out. But her freebees all came up, more than I can use.

I'm going to put these 3 to a large peat pot, and hope at least one survives moving (in each pot). I have 2 wild spots that they could do well in. IF they survive tomorrow!

Things are going well.... far better than I expected!

Here is a picture of some of the transplants I did this week:
They are all doing well so far, knock on wood, and this week will be critical for success.

They are in a cool room under special fluorescent lights.

I wish I'd seen about the butterfly plants sooner. I know, tough to move when young. But you can move them easy when they're over one foot tall. What I wanna know is, my first one grew 8' high. none of them since - all from that ones seeds - got over 3-4 foot high. What gives?


Also, do you ever start daylily seeds indoors? I have a couple from plants I crossed. Wondered if it's easier or more successful indoors or out. I usually forget where I put them outside, lol.

Yes, I did daylilies years ago from seeds I bought from Park's.

They need to be cold treated for best results.
http://www.shieldsgardens.com/DLPlace/stratify.html

As I recall I lost about 10% of the seeds during stratification.
They rotted. I checked them frequently and removed quickly so as not to have the fungus spread to the others. It helps to put a little square of paper towel in the ziploc and to separate the seeds from each other so they don't touch to prevent spread of any fungus/or rot.

The seeds are large and easy to handle. And after they finally germinate they are easy to move around. I thought the transplanting was much easier than with other more tender type plants. It was the cold stratification that is the tricky part.


I just started 7 more perennials this week.
2 more ornamental grasses, a dwarf black eyed susan I bought at a nursery and saved seeds from (this is small enough for container growing), a new plant I've never done before called Agastache Purple pygmy, and two types
of forget me nots for my son's wet yard, and globe thistle seeds gathered from my plants, to naturalize in the wild garden across the street.

Also I should add that I am using a special seed starting mix. I bought MiracleGro seed starter, and mixed it 1/2 and 1/2 with fine vermiculite. I notice that the vermiculite encourages the roots well, and falls off easily when transplanting so there is less damage. I think this is helping with my success rate. I gave the little babies a shot of very dilute fertilizer a few days before moving. I mix the soils in their own tubs (one for seed starter and a separate one for transplanting soil). I bought the tubs cheaply at WalMart and they have lids. I have to do this indoors so I wanted to control "mess". I moisten the mediums a few hours before planting, so watering is kept to a minimum. I use a water bottle with a nozzle for drinking and put only drops in each cell as needed. Park's directions say to bottom water, but if done carefully like I do it, top watering works too. I also open the scones containers a bit now and then and let them air out.
It is a fine mix of keeping fungus down, but humidity up for germination success.

Sounds like ground planting is probably just as easy. I used to just let the pods mature on plant until mostly dry, pick them and dry in the shed. Take the seeds and plant with some kind of moisture holding whatever - if I had leftover compost, I'd use that, or just good soil - under some other foiliage for protection. Keep it watered.

I guess mine didn't need to be frozen first. I have 9 or 10 daylilies and started out with 3.

That was one of the fun things about this plant. I was surprised it took me so long to *discover* it, once I figured out how easy it was to propagate. Great fun to garden with kids with this one. Always a flower to let them pick, seeds easy for little hands to manage, and this year we can divide and replant together.

I used to do this when I had more time. I bought some lettuce seeds that I'm going to start outside today. I have the seeds you sent me and I'm going to make a spot in the yard to plant those.

Oh, those are beautiful, Wiz!

Ours are just starting today. Hubby uncovered them yesterday afternoon. It will be really warm today too, so we should see more open up as well.

I put one of the yellow ones up for my avatar this week, and the purple ones in my siggie banner.

Those seeds from the Campion, go on the surface... don't bury them. But do cultivate and break up the soil so it is aerated for them to penetrate and keep them moist. If you have some old carry out plastic containers? The tops make mini greenhouses and keep the moisture in. Just put a rock on top so they don't blow away ( and pray the squirrels stay away!!) They need some light to germinate. I saved some really nice high domes, from the rotisserie chicken we get at Costco....perfect little greenhouses! LOL

I just started some indoors yesterday. Gotta keep them going in case some died over winter

Mrsd,

Does the rose campion seedling look sort of fuzzy like lambs ear? I have three spots of that coming up where I put the seed in early spring. I'm hoping that's what it is anyway.