Not all seeds will germinate easily just by sticking them in a planting medium. Some with hard coats need to be scarified or scratched/abraided before they will germinate. Many more require a specific cold/moist period known as stratification before they will germinate. Some require heat. And some just take a long time to germinate - upto 6 months or more. The linked website will connect you to a seed starting data base that will provide the seed propagation details for a whole host of perennials and other plants.

Also, I'd wonder a bit about the suitability of your planting medium. Most seed starting soils are soil-less - just a very fine textured mixture of peat, perlite, vermiculite or sand.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clothier's seed starting data base

sugarmags, take heart -- your list includes some of the most difficult to germinate, especially Caltha palustris! Basically, anything in the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family (Clematis is as well) is very difficult to germinate. Fresh seed is usually an important issue in this group.

Mertensia virginica is one that I've never had decent succuess in germinating.

Iris versicolor and Polemonium reptans are difficult but possible. Irises typically require the scarification that gardengal refers to.

you say you are just getting started... seeds.. or garden perennial newbie all around .????

check out what i typed at the link below ....

you need to start with easier stuff .... i dont even recognize a few of those you are trying to grow ... are they all z5 ..

one of the reasons perennials are more expensive than annuals.. is that they require 2 to 3 years of growth to become salable ... and because they are near impossible to germinate .... for all but the professional who has all the right tools and experience ... that would mean a temperature controlled greenhouse ....

if you are going to try for the hardest thing.. the key is... dont worry about failing .... sooner or later you will succeed .... but complain not.. and dont worry ...

visit some local gardens... to get a better flavor of what is easy for your area ...

ken

PS: i think there is a forum for winter sowing.. and that might be a whole lot easier than trying to do this in the house ...

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I can't speak to the seeds you are trying, as I have never tried them, but I would like to second the Winter Sowing suggestion. Again, I don't know how those particular seeds would fare with WSing, but WSing in general is a great, easy way to get lots of plants, perennial or annual.

Good luck to you!
:)
Dee

Many of us without temperature controlled greenhouses get a great deal of satisfaction (and success) from growing perennials from seed. Most just take some patience and as gardengal suggested, a little research into the best conditions for germination...the Clothiers site is especially helpful. You may find the only important piece of technical equipment you might want if not doing your stratifying outdoors is something you already have - your refrigerator.

The iris (most iris in fact) are warm, cold, cool germinators. They will germinate most reliably if given a period of warm moist (like on your desk) for 2-4 weeks, followed by a period of moist chill, approx 39F for 4-6 weeks, move back to cool, approx 45-55F for germination. (It's not complicated, just think of it as trying to mimic the conditions the seeds would get naturally if dropped from the plant outdoors)

The same steps work for caltha palustris - warm moist, cold moist, return to cool for germination.

Mertensia virginica seeds lose viability more quickly if kept dry and sowing fresh in summer for germination the following Spring may work best of all, but try 6 weeks moist chill before placing in warmer conditions.

Polemonium reptans needs only moisture and temps of approx 65-70, but germination is slow with these and you need to give them some time.

I'm stumbling a little on the 'commercial soil-based mix' too...did you mean soilless? Almost all commercial mixes for containers and pots are soilless these days.

Please read through the articles on sowing techniques etc at the Clothiers site too...quite helpful. If you find this is a lasting interest, you may want to invest in a good book - Making More Plants by Ken Druse is great (should also be available at your library if you are not ready to purchase)

This is my first year wintersowing and I have had much success with perennials. I have sprouts on Iris seeds that I put out on Dec 27. I see that you are in zone 5 so you still have lots of time to wintersow - again, check out the FAQ in the wintersowing forum as well as wintersown.org. Best of luck! Nikki

Thanks to all that responded. The Clothier's site is especially useful.

Just to clarify a few points: I'm new to perennials and growing perennials from seed--have had other gardening successes so I thought I would try and grow my own this year; I just chose what I like without realizing that they were on the difficult end of the spectrum; the mix I used is not soilless, so next time I will change that.

You've all given me a lot to go on here. I have many more I want to try and I want to eventually find success with these listed here (especially the Marsh Marigold).

sugarmags - in zone 5, it's not to late to prod these guys into action. Water the flats enough so that the soil is moist (but not soggy), then sit them outdoors with something to cover them so they don't get waterlogged - a board, a deck chair, the porch or even just put them in an unheated garage. You want them to go ahead and freeze and thaw a few times as the weather changes. Leave them until May 1, then bring them indoors and see what happens.

I had great success with germinating Clematis virginiana and Polemonium reptans via the winter-sowing method last year. Seeds were purchased from Prairie Moon nursery and sowed into containers in early-mid February, and then placed outside. Both started to sprout in late April. The Clematis germinated sporadically for a couple months, for a total of 6 baby vines. The Polemonium reptans was a prolific germinator, and I got dozens of seedlings (some of which were promptly munched by slugs when planted out during the summer, but fortunately I waited and planted about a dozen in the fall, and they are doing fine - in fact their foliage has remained evergreen over the winter).

According to the Prairie moon website, both these seeds require cold stratification (30-60 days). Winter-sowing works great especially for temperate perennials that require a cold, wet period to germinate.