Here are my results from Bluestone on what was delivered this year (this doesn't count hostas, etc., where the bloom is unimportant): Bloomed ASTILBE White Gloria ASTILBE Rheinland BUDDLEIA davidii Harlequin COREOPSIS verticillata Alba DIANTHUS gr. Bewitched (PP# 13,159) BUDDLEIA davidii White Ball HYDRANGEA Sadie Ray (one bloom) MONARDA Aquarius (one plant out of three) ERYNGIUM Sapphire Blue (bloomed until eaten by a groundhog) LYCHNIS coronaria Angel Blush (2 out of 3) HEUCHERA Chatterbox SEDUM spectabile Brilliant GERANIUM striatum Lancastriense (sparingly) Hasn't Bloomed/Doesn't Have Buds ARUNCUS sinensis Zweiweltenkind ALCHEMILLA Mollis ECHINACEA White Swan HYDRANGEA macrophylla Mariesii Variegata

I had quite a few perennials bloom in the first year (last year). Aster novae-angliae - New England Aster Aster laevis - Smooth blue aster Aster oblongifolium - Aromatic aster Eupatorium rugosum - White snakeroot Conoclinium coelestinum - Blue mist flower Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly weed All the Rudbeckia hirtas - Indian summer, Cappucino, Irish Eyes, Prairie Sun, Gloriosa Monarda punctata - Spotted bee balm Some of them only bloomed a little, but at least I got to see what the blooms looked like. Getting them planted out early seemed to make a difference whether they had enough time to bloom or not.

thanks quilt mommy! I did sow some phlox so I am good in that department. Below is my seeds I sowed or plan to sow. Wow, I cannot believe I plan to have all of this sowed! I did most already but still have a lot! Karen 4 o'clock mirabilis - 2 4 o'clock mix agastache foeniculum agastache foeniculum agastache, apricot sprite amerarthe red 4' arctotis venusta, blue eyed daisy asarnia, chickabiddy vine aster Crego aster, dwarf mixed baby blue eyes basil bean, purple bush beans poledaylilly beans, Kentucky pole beans, tender green bush broccoli bunny tails grass annual butterfly bush, purple cabbage calendula, green heart and pink surprise canterbury bells canterbury bells celosia celosia, plumosa chico tom Cilantro cleome - spinosa cleome - spinosa cleome violet queen cleome, purple, pink, white columbine purple coreopsis coreopsis tinctoria coreopsis yellow coreopsis, dwarf red coreopsis, gold and reds cosmos cypress vine, red datura hybrid delphinium dill Dill- bouquet Echinacea purpua echinecca unknown eyeball plant fennel feverfew Gaillardia Blanketflower garlic chives globe amaranth purple globe amaranth strawberry fields glorosia daisy - black eyed susan goldenrodd, rough stemmed gourd heliopsis hibiscus manihot hollyhock - majorette ice Plant -mixed incarvillea sinensis, cheron ipomoea, alba moonflower jewels of opar jobs tears annual grass joe pye weed kiss me over the garden gate larkspur liatris spicata lime basil love lies bleeding lunaria silver dollars malope, glacier fruits malva pink, false mallow malva sebrina malva, white perfection marigold, tagetes Melampodium butter daisy mexican hat mexican sunflower -tithonia millet limelight, spray type Nicandra shoefly nicotiana alata nicotiana, deep purple nicotiana, variegated green flowers opal cups peas, little marvel pepper, colored bell pepper, early jalape pepper, hot wenks yellow pepper, mini bell pepper, red ruffled pimento pepper, sweet cho petunia - purple petunia mix phlox, drummondi poppy California poppy California poppy fairy wings, mix poppy, pink peony Portulaca pumpkin, round medium size rose of sharon - mix Russian grass rutabaga salvia blue bedder salvia, coral nymph salvia, lady in red shasta daisy snapdragon, mix snow on the mountain euphorbia Spearmint squash, yellow crookneck sugar snap peas sweet basil sweet pea vine takota daisy thyme, orange toadflax, baby snapdragons tom giant paste tom golden jubille tom Jeff's mystery pink oxheart Tom lil pink tom mortgage lifter Tom nyagous tom orange banana paste tom red home sweet tom roman candle TOM spear Tennessee green tom super sweet cherry tom tigerella tomato ace 55 trumpet vine turnip, purple top vinca Virginia yarrow yarrow mixed larkspur Amsonia tabernaemontana False Indigo, Blue Wild Indigo-Baptisia australis

Pam, if you purchased the seeds commercially, they will often indicate if they bloom the first year because it's a selling point. Many perennials do not bloom the first year as they focus energy on building their root systems. As far as the influence of early sowing, yes, there are some that can be impacted. For example, the verbascum I sowed said that it may bloom the first year if sown as early as January in a mild climate. Not sure how that translates for WS seeds in my zone 6b/7a, so I'm really expecting that they won't bloom. Thanks so much for all of the feedback. I think I'm going to take a variety of approaches. I may pot some up where I don't have beds ready yet. In the front gardens, some I'll plant and appreciate the foliage this year, while filling in with annuals that I also WS'd and direct sowed. I already ordered a few delphiniums in addition to the ones I WS, so I'll take quilt mommy's approach there! I have extensive plans for new beds in my back yard, so I'll probably plant a lot of my wintersown perennials back there and won't have a ton of bloom this year. When they bloom next year, I'll have the advantage of seeing their bloom color before I consider moving some to the front garden. Of course I'll have to consider which resent transplant before I take that approach (like lupines). Thank you all, again! Lisa