What hasnt germinated for you so far?

16 years ago

Ive had about 80% which really isnt all that bad.

However, Im dissapointed with a few I tried.

bergenia

Artic primrose

Astible

Asters

Sea Holly

Siberien Iris

Clematis

even a bunch of columbine, I had better success just direct sowing these.

Im most dissapointed in the Bargenia, Astilbe , Artic Primrose I really wanted these to work! They were all from swallowtail or valueseeds and I wanted to expand my shady area garden!

Im not given up on them yet but I was hoping for something on these.

On the up side, checked this morning and I got a japanese iris seed germinated. It was a mixture of yellow and purple seeds I got from someone, Interested in a year or two to see which one actually germinated!

Silverkelt

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Comments (24)

albertar
16 years ago
Hosta and Iris have not germinated for me. I dumped the containers the other day.
Alberta
vera_eastern_wa
16 years ago
Sea Holly is one that did ok for me....planted out 5 seedlings. Smooth Blue Aster was about 100% germination and is planted out too...

I'm disapointed with these non-germinators:
New England Aster
Liatris (2nd time a no go)
Canadian Milkvetch...dumped out in bed
Lamb's Ear....dumped out in bed
Bells of Ireland....dumped out
Winecup....about to be dumped out
Hosta (2 types)....still holding out hope though
Rose Orach....dumped out
Oriental Poppy....dumped out

Vera
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jenfee
16 years ago
The only thing that didn't go for me (this is my first time) is butterfly bush. All of the rest I got at least some of.

From Trudi's Newbie project:

Echinacea
Flat Sea Holly
Asparagus (took a long time, but now they're doing great. I think I got 100%)
Clarkia
Flat Italian Parsley
Wildflower Mix
MANY kinds of tomatoes (I got at least one seedling from every kind)
Anise Hyssop
Amaranth Hopi Red Dye

Bought Seeds:
Alyssum
Sweetpea
Larkspur
Beets
cinda66
16 years ago
My Blue Sea Holly was a no show, and my agastache's (Gold Jubilee, purple pigmy, tutti fruiti, orange) had very poor germination. Very disappointed as those were the ones I was the most excited about WS and I had a special bed prepared for just the agastaches.
I understand they can be spring sowed, but I only had sample amounts of seed.
highalttransplant
16 years ago
For me the no shows were Agastache rupestris, Heuchera 'Palace Purple', Aquilegia chrysantha, and a couple of peppers and chives. I think I may have waited too late on the columbine, as I believe they need cold stratification, so not too surprised about that one. The Heuchera I sowed twice, and am really disappointed about that one, and the Agastache. I even mail ordered some transplants of 'Apache Sunset', but when I received my order that item was left off, so I remain Agastache-less. I haven't completely given up on the peppers, they may be waiting for warmer nightime temps, and I have no clue what happened with the chives, I thought they were supposed to be easy to grow.
liza070831
16 years ago
I noticed that the ones I sowed in Jan. have not made an appearance yet(larkspur,sweet william,anaranthus,columbine,impatients and nemesia). Most of the things I sowed in March have sprouted. Yeah! But I am still waiting for sunflowers,delphenium and petunia.
kek19
16 years ago
scarlet runner bean, impatients, and balloon flower. Everything else has at least one sprout. A bunch that I was about to give up on, just started sprouting. Even my purple coneflowers that i found a bunch of loose seed in a bottom of a drawer and figured, why not try? Oh and I dumped my moonflower vine, they were mush.
sheltieche
16 years ago
Arctic primrose from valueseeds were bad seeds, no germination for anyone who bought it so you are not alone. Asters from valueseeds were no shows for me. Knowing that valueseeds is extention of T&M, it is not a first time when I had mixed results from their seeds- some of them are great and some are no show.
Astilbe needs a very high humidity to germinate well and no cold period needed. I tried few before and got zero results, this time I got some from Gardens North and have bunch of astilbes growing.
Siberian Iris and clematis- those will need another cycle, keep them- as long as seed is viable- take one out, they are big anough and gently press, if the seed is firm, you good to go- just wait.
Heuchera seeds are funny, some say they are short lived seeds. If you did not get yours from reliable source, it very possible they were not collected properly- very hard to do so anyway. I have best results on heuchera fomr indoor sowing- seeds are tiny, easily displaced, if you let rain come into the container, your seeds will wash out.
Agastache does best for me when sown late, like April, germinates pretty reliably.
Some hosta just started to germinate- they might be slow.
I have bunch of containers that not germinated yet, probably close to 40%- most of them long term germinators so I am not worried. Some containers gave one or two seedlings- I pricked them out and keeping containers for while yet.
From past years experience some seeds will wait whole summer and germinate late.
Also when it comes to not so easy grown seeds, your source of them becomes really important. I am very pleased with Gardens North, which I tried for first time this year- germination instructions are precise and results are great, considering they sell lots of toughies.
Hardyplants, JL Hudson are another two seed sources that are reliable for me.
Tried Swallowtail seeds and had good results, although seeds from them were easy to germinate annuals. Same goes to Summer Hills seeds, results were good
on all seeds, no toughies got from them either.
bonnys
16 years ago
no wave petunias yet
no larkspurs yet
no cleomes yet
no hollyhocks yet but they were old seeds
no black eyed susans yet (very sad about this)
no butterfly weed yet
no campanula "white bells" yet
no pratense geraniums yet
no monarda yet
no purple sensation alliums yet

but I do have three containers of sprouts that the names washed off the knives

I really have an awful lot (now that I need to plant them) that did sprout though.

I consider this a very successful first year at winter sowing and am so glad to have found this site.

Bonny
spartangardener
16 years ago
Bergenia, astilbes will not germinate yet. Siberian iris always takes a while and takes several cycles of wetting and drying to leach chemicals that prevent germination out of the seed. Regular iris too. Clematis might not germinate until next year - those are commonly multiple season warm-cold-warm germinators.
sheltieche
16 years ago
forgot about bergenia- had best luck germinating indoor- same as heuchera seeds are tiny, easily washed up.
I started astilbe early April this year and had germination in 2 weeks.
flowerchild5
16 years ago
i noticed someone said clematis. i've got about 15 types of clematis not up. BUT...some of them take up to 3yrs to germinate. i just don't know which ones. i know there is a website that is super about the germination rate but it's all scientific names. so no help there.
the things not up for me:
triple yellow and purple datura
stokes aster
rudbeckia maxima and a few others as my brain cells just left my head.
rosebush
16 years ago
Okay, I dont know what I did wrong, but ALL of my seeds came up EXCEPT:
Blanketflowers
Love-in-a-mist
Feather grass
Butterfly bush
docmom_gw
16 years ago
We should organize more plant swaps. I've got tons of liatris and Black Eyed Susans and a bunch of stuff I can't get rid of. I wish I could mail some to some of you.

Martha
bakemom_gw
16 years ago
Sea Holly is a no brainer for me now. I just harvest fresh seeds in early summer and use the winter sowing method to grow dozens of seedlings for fall plantout and fall swap/gifts.

That's how it works for me and it's a delight. I'm on year three of doing it and was so happy to see my babies shooting up stalks and preparing for their ghostly bloom.

BTW, these babies are great, g,g,g,g,g,grandbabies from plants given to me by Storygardener.
mamimo
16 years ago
Bonny, do you by any chance live in central IN? If so, I have tonnes of black eyed susans sprouts to share. I love those cheerful flowers too and have tonnes of tsprouts now, both ws'ed and self-seeders. Let me know.

My no-shows are
white penstemon
star of persia
and possibly, Joe Pye Weed

There's 2 sprouts in the JPW milk jug (out of the generous handful I ws'ed!). And they sure look different from each other. I'm hoping one of them is a JPW. But with my luck recently, I'll bet they're both weeds. Though on the bright side, weeds are fast-growers right? One of them is just sitting there in its cotyledons doing nothing. Dare I hope?
nightingalemom
16 years ago
Well, I can't go check due to the rain that is *STILL* pouring down... Off the top of my head, some that haven'e done anything so far are:

elderberry (which I was really looking forward to)
white liatris (the purple actually germinated, albeit late)
monarda
butterfly bush
spilanthes
peppers
the tomatoes I WS'd in Feb (but the ones done in early April are fine - live and learn!)
kniphofia (red-hot poker)
lavender
garlic chives (which I thought were foolproof)

I'm not dumping anything yet - I've heard too many stories from you veterans about jugs germinating months (or a year!) later than you expected.

Off to start construction on the ark...
Nightingale :o)
highalttransplant
16 years ago
Lindalana, thank you for all of those great seed sources!!! Both the agastache, and the heuchera seeds were from Park's. Probably at least half of my seeds came from them, the rest were from my newbie packs, and a few from Walmart. Looking over my seed records, there was good and bad germination results from all three sources.

I just planted a few seeds from T & M yesterday. I used the $10 off coupon and ordered about $10 worth of stuff, so if nothing germinates, I am only out about $4 for the shipping. I have not ordered from Valueseeds and did not know they were affiliated with T & M.

I am so new to growing from seed, that I didn't realize that some suppliers had better seeds than others. Thanks for the additional resources and info.
mo_girl
16 years ago
I'm most disappointed about wild bergamot and evening primrose not germinating, although I'm not giving up just yet.

Others:

arctic primrose
larkspur gentian blue
aster chrysanthemum mix
blackberry lily
crape myrtle
chives

I think there are a few others that I can't think of right now. Overall, a successful year though :)

How long do most of you wait before dumping containers? I'm just about to the point I'm gonna want to dump everything. I'm thinking I'll wait until June 1st. What do you all think?
wendy2shoes
16 years ago
I think it was a bad winter in my case. We had a super warm January, and then the deep freeze hit. All my earliest w/s containers rotted out. I think the seeds were swelling and doing fine in March, then we had a really cold and rainy April. Most things I sowed from mid-April on did just fine.
Things that have been easier germinators in the past (scabiosa, dianthus, black-eyed susans, poppies) were no shows. Datura was a big disappointment as well, but they are successfully reseeding in my beds.
I lost a beautiful climbing rose, and my rhodo ain't too happy this spring. My wisteria has 1/3 the blooms I had last year.
Oh well..Mother Nature gives and takes..my lilac has never been so spectacular.
Just gotta go with the flow!
gee_oh_nyc
16 years ago
My first year wintersowing and I've been pretty happy. My big disappointments:

candytuft
spotted jewelweed

Other than these, and pansies, (which only get a few weeks here before it is too hot) it's been a great first run.
deborahz7
16 years ago
Also my first year and I think a great success. Probably about 90% germinated. What didn't:

2 out of 3 Siberian Iris - somehow 1 lonely sprout came up.
Baptisia - nothing
Some kinf of blue iris
1 salvia whose name I can't recall.

Wave petunia's were horrible much to my surprise. Almost none out of 5 different kinds. I don't think I'll bother with them again.
mmqchdygg
16 years ago
Don't give up on those Siberian Iris yet, Zone 5ers...mine were totally MIA until this weekend, and then they shot up.

That aside, my list is quite long:

Tidal Wave Petunia x 2
Pansy Faces & Can Can
Zinnia Profusion White
Marigold Lemon Bush (??? another container IS up)
Sedum Neon
Cosmos- Snow Sonata, Dazzler, Sonata Carmine, Dwarf Sonata, Sensation Radiance, Summer Dreams, Cosmic Orange...I think I might be having issues here.
Malva Zebrina
Versailles (what is this? another cosmos?)
Calendula Lemon Beauty & Citrus Cocktail
Anemone September Charm, Anna Bella, and Canadensis
Alstroemeria Purple Rose
Astilbe Red Fanal
Astrantia Flowering Red and Sunningdale Varigate
Siberian Iris- one container of Purple, and one of Blue- the rest are up
Butterfly Bush- Red, Yellow, and Nanho Blue
Delphinium Summer Blues & Bella Donna
Barbara's Buttons
Amaranthus Globe Pink
Scabiosa Purple & White
Money Plant- White
Columbine Rocky Mountain
Liatris Kobold
Jewels of Opar
Daylily Crosses up the wahzoo
Rudbeckia Prairie Sun

Sigh.

But of these 30+ non-performers, there were about 200+ that DID come up, so I'm good with that.
SusanC
16 years ago
It's been a good year for me, despite what feels like a winter of plagues; freak hard freezes, fungus gnats, containers attacked by slugs and snails... Out of the 122 sowed thus far, only these are not up.

Adlumia fungosa 'Bleeding Heart Vine'
Ageratum - White (Suspect dud seeds; blue ageratum planted the same day came up.)
Aristolochia fimbriata, 'Dutchman's Pipe'
Asperula orientalis 'Blue Woodruff'
Calamintha nepeta 'Catmint'
Campanula - 'Odessa' (All my other campanulas came up, and took about the same number of days to do it, so I suspect old/bad seeds.)
Cimicifuga -Pink Spike
Cyphomandra Betacea 'Tamarillo', 'Tree Tomato' (Think this needs more time.)
Digitalis parviflora 'Chocolate' (I never have trouble with digitalis, so I think these were duds.)
Geranium -Coconut scented
Impatiens glandilufera -Wine red (Second year in a row I've failed with this.)
Knautia macedonia -Maroon
Meconopsis cambrica 'Welsh Poppy'
Mirabilis viscosa
Monarda citriodora
Monarda didyma - Red Beebalm
Nasturtium 'Apricot Trifle' (I planted 'Salmon Baby' on the same day, and it came up gangbusters.)
Perilla -'Red Shiso' (Third year in a row failing with this!)
Pinelia pedatisecta 'Green Dragon'
Rodgerisia aesculifolia
Sabatia angularis
Saponaria officinalis 'Bouncing Bette'
Tanacetum niveum 'Silver Tansy'

What hasnt germinated for you so far?

Comments (24)

albertar

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