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Which Flower Seeds Should I Sow Now?

18 years ago

Hi. Looking for advice from other gardeners living in Zone 6B (SE Michigan) or similar. My last frost date is 5/12 or 5/15. We're at 3/6 now. Which flower seeds are you going to be sowing now or in the next week or so? I'm interested in common varieties such as petunias and common perennials.

I have already sowed pansies and snapdragons and poppies a while ago. They are doing fine. I believe these are the earliest to start and flowers like nasturtiums and zinnias are last.

Any lists would be appreciated.

Chris

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Comments (3)

faltered
18 years ago
Are you sowing indoors or are you winter sowing these?

Tracy
sedum37
18 years ago
Nasturiums should be direct sown in the grownd. They don't like to have their roots disturbed. They are fast to grow so it shouldn't be a problem - you can also soak the seeds before sowing to speed up germination. If sowing inside, I would only sow the zinnias 4-5 weeks before putting out in the garden (based on your last frost date) or else they will get leggy. You can put the pansies and snapdragons out before the last frost so it is good you have started those. If you are growing marigolds I would sow 4 weeks before the last frost. I tend to like to put out smaller plants so these are the rules I use. I do this partly to prevent leggy, weak plants and not have them root bound.
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it took me years to figure this out ... pre WWW and all .... you might be embarrassed when i say it ... but sow the seed when the PLANT IS SOWING THEM ... and you will NEVER fail ... dont you think??? we fail.. or struggle.. when we buy the pack of seed in spring.. which is about 6 months AFTER when the plant is doing it ... soooo.. if the plant doesnt think it needs 3 weeks of cold.. why would you ... and if the plant is genetically predisposed to creating a seed that will lay there on the soil.. until it gets its cold treatment.. why would it be better to put them in an envelope ... and store them for later???? IMHO ... the biggest problem with the WWW is TOO MUCH INFO... lol ... be the plant.. ooohhhmmmmm .... good luck ken ps: the only way to fail ... would be to not mark the spot.. so you dont cull them all out as weeds in fall ... or next spring ...been there.. done that .. lol ... MORE THAN ONCE ... EDIT: the reason this works for THIS plant.. is that it is NOT an annual ... its a biennial.. and will over winter ... with real annuals... the seed or young plants.. may or may not winter over ... those are the seed that need to be stored if they can not handle your winter .... wherever you may be .... EDIT: .. i learned the most thru experimenting... and i presume you will have fistfuls of seed ... so direct sow some.. [like the plant isnt doing it right now anyway] ... save some for fall planting.. and try some next spring or winter sowing ... a great.. EASY plant to experiment with ... This post was edited by ken_adrian on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 8:16
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California Poppies, alyssum (will not survive a hard freeze, but only do well in my area during the cooler times of the year), and forget me nots. These are all cool weather flowers that are typically recommended for this time of year. You could add Shirley Poppies and Breadseed Poppies to this list too.
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A note on the cosmic ones (and the bright lights, too). They will need to be deadheaded every couple days to keep the show going. I redo an entire bed in July with the Bright Lights, and if I don't deadhead regularly, they go to seed on me. When deadheaded, I can get the entire patch to look gorgeous right through frost. Cosmic I've used also, and they require the same care. But the reward for your efforts is a long season of beautiful flowers. The other styles (mainly the taller ones) I haven't wanted to keep, so I did NOT deadhead them, but I did have the taller double-clicks, and they also benefitted from the frequent haircuts. Enjoy!
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I'm just north of you, in GR. I started all my perennials already. I tend to buy my annuals. I used to start them myself at the end of March, but decided that I don't have the room. Plus, there are lots of good nurseries in my area that are really reasonable. Perennials take so long to get going and are so expensive that I'll start from seed. Best case scenario is, of course, to get a division from a friend!
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PRO
Lavoie Boho
18 years ago
Try going to the forum for your region. I do believe there is a Great Lakes or Northern such region forum? There, you can get the locals to advise you who are doing the same thing. Make a post something like "looking for garden buddies near [city], MI for advice re seed starting" and they should be able to give you a Spring timetable. From my experience living in zone 6 MA, my last frost was around May 15th. Are you sowing outdoors in situ and/or indoors in a flat? Need to know more. Maybe you are doing both. Email me for my old schedule, as I am now in NC z7, but can still help. It is still too early to do much in z6 indoors without a greenhouse and heated mats, and almost nothing outdoors except for Nigella; cool season annuals which will germinate when ready. Sure, go ahead and sow your Cosmos. They will know when to germinate. Mine in zone 6 MA germinated in April sometime. Hope that helps.

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