Here's what's popping up, or not, for me so far, roughly in the order I planted them.

Trachelium, Black Knight and Shine
Digitalis, Camelot
Asclepias,
Dianthus, Amazon and Sweet
Lobelia speciosa, Compliment
Millet, Purple Majesty and Jester
Rudbeckia, Cherokee Sunset and triloba
Stock, can't remember variety
Statice, various
Gomphrena, Bicolor Rose
Statice Suworovii
Ageratum, Blue Horizon

Pitt, do you have good results with starting bupleurum ahead of time? I have heard that it doesn't transplant very well.

ThinMan

Nice list, ThinMan. This is my first start inside with bupleurum after several years. First time I had minimal success, but I always run short on bouquet fillers so I started a couple of trays again and am hoping for the best. I have read that they do not like transplant, also. I'll let you know the results in June.

How do you do with stock? I would love to try this, but always shy away from it! pitt

This is my first year trying stock and I only planted one tray. They germinated pretty well and are looking good so far.
{{gwi:621325}}

My understanding is that if I have a fairly cool early summer they will do well. There's also the issue of selecting out the doubles, but I'm not worrying about that. I'll just take what I get this year.

In another two weeks I'll be planting the next batch of seeds: Cosmos, amaranth opopeo,snaps, godetia*, malva*,agastache*, asters*, scabiosa, and Gold Coin marigolds. The * are new ones for me this year.

I won't be anywhere near 6000 seeds like you, though. That's a lot of seeds!

TM

I just wanted to comment on Bupleurum. Last year was my first time growing it and I left some of it go to seed so that I could save seed for this season. I collected quite a lot of seeds but apparently I missed a couple plants which must have dropped all their seeds on the ground. Now there is a really thick patch of Bupleurum growing where this plant was. It came up on it's own at the beginning of March! I had no idea how cold hardy it is. (We've had temps down to 22 degrees since then.) You guys should try direct sowing some Bupleurum really early even in your Northern zones.

- Steve

Thanks for the info, Steve. I'll try the direct seed, also.

Thanks, Steve. I meant to sow some bupleurum last fall, but forgot all about it. I did get some in a few weeks ago, along with some centaurea cyanus, so I'm hoping for some results from that.

I tried peat pots with bupleurum one year and had fair results from those.

TM

OK, here's my list of most of what I've got started so far:

- Agapathus 'Headborned hybrids' (good germination)
- Alstroemeria 'Dr. Salters hybrids' (Low germination so far but the literature does say to expect that.)
- Lisianthus 'Cinderella Mix' (good germination but growing slow)
- Trachelium (good germination but growing slow a la Lisianthus)
- Dianthus 'Bouquet Rose' (good germination, average growth rate)
- Dahlia seedlings 'Pompon Mix' (good germination, average growth rate)
- Craspedia (good germination, average growth rate)
- Hypericum (good germination but growing slow)
- Helichrysum, King Sized mix
- Limonium 'Pacific Mix' and 'Sunset Mix'
- Celosia 'Century Mix'
- Lagurus ovatus
- Ptilotus exaltatus
- Hippeastrums, from seed (just starting to sprout)
- Lilium formosanum, from seed (just starting to sprout)

Winter sown container sprouts:

- Yarrow 'Cloth of Gold'
- Gypsophila white and red
- Dianthus - several varieties for next year
- Limonium suworowii
- Eryngium planum
- Baptisias (various colors)
- Aster 'Seastar Mix'
- Alchemilla mollis 'Thriller'

Direct sown sprouts:

- Buplureum
- Bells of Ireland

New bulbs I'm trying out this season:

- Dahlias (various new colors)
- Amaryllis belladona
- Crocosmias (various colors)
- Nerines
- Tuberoses
- Euchomis
- Eucharis grandiflora
- Alliums (various new varieties)
- Curcuma zedoaria 'Indian Suprise'
- Gladiolus nanus

A fair number of the plants I'm trying out this year are experimental for me. I've learned that it's a good idea to try small test lots of seeds or bulbs first to see if they grow well in my climate or if they are marketable. A couple years ago I planted a whole bunch of Ranunuculus only to discover that they hate my climate. My winters are a little to cold and then in the spring it suddenly gets too hot for them. I did a lot of seed trading this winter and acquired an interesting selection of small packets of seed for new plants to try out. Should be an interesting season. Sometimes seed swappers send along bonus surprises/challenges. In one trade I received 5 Bird of Paradise seeds! I'm not sure if I'm up to that challenge or not. Maybe if I ever get a little greenhouse built... ;)

I'm also trying to be a little more forward thinking this season by starting some plants this year for next season or even two or three years down the road. (Agapanthus, Alstroemeria, Dianthus, Hippeastrums, Lilium formosanum, Eryngiums, Hypericum, etc.) I find it easy to fall into the trap of mostly just growing plants that will bloom during the current season so I'm trying to push myself to look to the future!

By the way, I'm now starting to transplant the hardier seedlings into the ground outside since it's warming up here. :)

Great list, Steve from VA. You have such a variety. Are you a grower for markets? I envy you because you can get in the field with your plugs. . . . we just walk the beds, sticking a finger in the soil here and there, knowing that it is still way too wet, with more rain coming. I have hardened off some cool weather items, but will just have to be patient! Pitt from IN

Hi Pitt,

I do grow some flowers to sell, but I'm rather small scale. I sold one year at the farmers market but this year I'm focusing on direct sales. I have around 2000 square feet of intensively managed raised beds and I've amended the soil substantially from the native clay we have here. Some of the beds now have enough organic material (and in some cases sand) that I can work in the beds even right after it rains. (Certainly not possible in my native clay.) Another trick I've occasionally used for dealing with wet spring weather is to prep a bed in late winter after a week of warmish dry weather and then cover it with sheet plastic to keep it dry for the next month or two until I need it for early spring plantings.

Steve:
Sounds like a nice operation there in VA. We aren't too large either. We have 60 active beds each 4' x 50'. Ten beds are perenniels and the rest we rotate with annuals each year. We also work at keeping our soil in good shape with amendments, knowing that this is crucial to a good final product! We love to try new things each year and always looking to increase production. Hope you have a great growing year! Pitt

Hey Pitt, how do you like that Frosted Explosion? I've seen it in the Johnny's catalog the last couple years and was tempted to try it. Seems like it might make a nice filler. Does it grow and cut well for you? How long does it last when cut?

This is our third year growing Frosted Explosion -- great filler. Farmers' market folks really like it and some people look for it each week in our bouquets. Seven of the ten florists buy it from us -- some do not like it because it will drop small black seed after a period of time. This year we are succession planting it. It does start to give out after about 6-8 good weeks of pushing out the "explosions" of grass. It's a little laborious to harvest, but we think it is well worth it. We charged $4.00/10 to florists last year. Each plant produces quite a few individual grasses for cutting. We cut the bottom "grass" shoots off of the stem and left the "explosion" with several grasses high on the stem. Took awhile to get fast at this! ; ) Pitt

Thanks Pitt, that's a very helpful first hand experience report!

As of today, April 18, inside I have:

False Indigo
Rudbeckia
Salpiglossis
Lisianthus

Small numbers of the above.

The following I have a lot more started (100+ per) and I am hoping to have success with for my first year of farmer's market.

Digitalis (for next year)
Gomphrena (red)
Snapdragons
Celosia

Outside I planted 250 sweet peas, and 1 bed of harlequin marigold, plus a small amount of larkspur and nigella.

We have about 8000 sq feet of lawn to dig up and are putting 4500 into flowers the other 4000 to veggies.

We are able to remove sod and turn/add compost to about 75 sq feet an hour, so we will be VERY busy the next few weeks, so that we can get everything that has to go in the ground for May.

Looks good, MAGZ88. Each season I think about getting a bed of False Indigo going and then I forget. What a beautiful flower. You must have warmer weather and less rain than Zone 5--Indiana. It is now 34 degrees and water everywhere. I bet we will be wishing for some of this rain in August!

pitt,

Not such great weather this morning! Snow on the ground! Ack! It warmed up during the day though and we got some more digging done. Only about 5 of the false indigo came up. But better than none - I think I will put some more straight into the ground in the fall. I really like that they are native to North America.

I've got two nice mature Baptisia australis that I like a lot. They are very drought tolerant and don't seemed to be bothered by any pests. The only real drawback is getting them established. It can take 3 or more years until they develop into a nice sized clump. Kind of like peonies that way.

This winter I winter sowed several other colors that I got in seed trades. 'Screaming Yellow' and 'Twilite Prarie Blues' have both germinated. I planted 3 seeds of these varieties in 2 liter bottles and I've gotten about 1 out of 3 seeds germinated. Today I put my Baptisia 'Alba' pots into the freezer to try and give them some more intense stratification. Usually I just stratify seeds in the fridge but these are really hard seeds and I wasn't getting any germination anyway so I thought I'd punish them a little. ;(

Oh, I just took a look at what Armitage has to say and he suggestions scarifying the seeds. He also says that commercially they use acid scarification. Yikes!

Yikes is right. My first thought was that maybe this acid scarification is no big deal, as there are a lot of different acids out there and very likely the acid they use is pretty mild. Wrong, beaker breath. They apparently use concentrated sulfuric acid which, take it from an old chemistry teacher, is about as nasty as acids get. I don't imagine any of us will be using that particular technique.

Thanks for mentioning that, Steve. It was interesting to find out about.

ThinMan

Oh by the way, one of my flats of Alstroemeria wasn't doing anything at all so I put it back in the refrigerator for more cold stratification. (The other flat has 17 out of 48 seeds germinated) I'll let you know what happens. According to the Thompson and Morgan Seed Germination Database germination time is 30-365 days at 65-70 degrees covered 1/16 inch. There is also a special note that I'll cut-n-paste:

------------------------------------

6. Alstroemeria; Bonsai; Clematis; Hardy Cyclamen;
Eucalyptus; Flower Lawn; Helleborus; Hosta; Primula;
Iris and similar.

Sowing OCTOBER-FEBRUARY. Sow the seeds in John Innes seed compost, covering them with a thin layer of compost. After watering place the seed container outside against a North wall or in a cold frame, making sure they are protected against mice, and leave them there until the spring. The compost should be kept moist but not wet at all times, and if the seed containers are out in the open then some shelter has to be given against excessive rain. In the spring bring the seed containers into the greenhouse, or indoors on to a well lit but not sunny windowsill and keep the compost moist. This should trigger off germination. If the seeds do not germinate in the spring keep them in cool moist conditions throughout the summer. As each seed germinates we would recommend that you transplant it almost immediately into its own pot.

Sowing MARCH-SEPTEMBER. Sow in John Innes seed compost, or something similar, and place each container in a polythene bag and put into the refrigerator (not the freezer compartment) for 2-3 weeks. After this time place the containers outside in a cold frame or plunge them up to the rims in a shady part of the garden border and cover with glass or clear plastic. Some of the seeds may germinate during the spring and summer and these should be transplanted when large enough to handle. The remainder of the seeds may lay dormant until next spring.

------------------------------------