What did you mean by Burpee? That was the brand of seed you used, or you used the Burpee seed starting system? I started plants from seeds for the first time this year. I used the Burpee seed starting kit (tray of 72 soil pellets on a capillary mat, with a water reservoir beneath, no heat lamp, just set next to a window) and had great luck with zinnia (of course), shasta daisy Alaska, and hollyhock. At first, I thought the kit was a huge disappointment, as I got great germination rates but it was almost impossible to remove the seedlings without killing them. What ended up happening, though, was that after mid-late spring, I ran out of steam planting stuff outside, and I just left my seed tray outside, watering regularly. The seedlings continued to grow. Then, I went on vacation for 10 days and so I set the seed tray on the ground in a sunny area where it would get watered by our sprinklers which were on a timer. The plants grew like wildfire! That was early July. I finally got up the energy to plant the plants - the hollyhock seedlings are huge (I never thought they'd finally get big), and I repotted each shasta daisy in a 6" plastic pot leftover from other perennials I bought at a garden center. I now have about 16 plants in such pots - they're growing rapidly and I will plant them in the ground in early August. No, I won't get blooms this year, but I should get them this year. Delayed gratification. The zinnia, it goes without saying, are doing fantastically - if only they were perennials. I've also just planted purple coneflower seeds directly in the ground per the seed packet instructions, and hope they will come up, as it's very warm out and I am keeping them moist. I know that my other experience won't help you this season, but it's an approach you might want to take next year. When I transplanted seedlings into the ground in spring when the were very small, almost none lived. Now that they are much larger they're thriving after transplant. I wouldn't have thought seedlings would do well growing for 3.5 months in a 1" cell, but they did. I've got over $100 worth of shasta daisies for about $1. Worth it? In the end, yes. Of course $100 isn't all that much and it might have been easier to just buy the plants, but now that the plants are larger and look like they'll survive just fine, I'm satisfied with the effort I put in. I think I'll try it next year. It's an ongoing process. I'm not basing my entire garden on seeds, but since I'm in it for a fairly long haul, I figure I can help fill out my garden cheaply doing some stuff from seed.

Your bouquets will be more intersting if you add some other shapes. What about something tall and spiky like liatris or a mullein. I grow a creamy white one that is very pretty and not too refined for the wilder flowers. Something lacy like ammi majus or orlaya is very pretty mixed with them too and a bit less allergenic then Queen Anne's lace but with much the same effect. And eare some fabulous new echinachea hybrids, like Art's Pride orange meadowbrite, MAngo, Sunrise, sunset, Moon something, and among the pinks there is razzle dazzle, doppleganger, ruby giant, etc. I am also trying Frangrant angel white ones this year. I Also like rudbeckia triloba and Prairie Sun rudbeckias.They last a long time in a bouquet. I would go ahead and plant them now if you can keep the seed from drying out while it gets some roots grown. IF you lived closer I would give you some rudbeckia triloba seedlings. THis one is covered in sprays of mini black eyes susans. Cute as a bugs ear and they make a great splash of color or to mix with other rudbeckias. Totally trouble free for me.

Thanks Linda, I think I'll try pinching back some of the sedums to spread the bloom time out a bit. I do leave the seed heads on all winter but I like to watch the evolution of colors on them in the fall. I thought I would cut off all my next spring's blooms if I trimmed the spirea. Actually, I want to convince my husband that he isn't to whack the poor thing back. I'm the one who mows anyway. Last time he "trimmed it" it involved a chainsaw! :-) Maria

Rye germinates in 1 week. Fescue germinates in 2 weeks. Kentucky bluegrass germinates in 3 weeks. Had you started this in August (killing the crab), you could have reseeded this month and used October to evaluate whether you needed to fill in any thin spots. So give it a try. You will not have a second chance this season. Don't get tempted to seed in the spring, because that's what causes crabgrass to go wild.