Those are lovely- their stems and buds are very elegant and they almost look like roses :)

Lovely is the perfect word! Envy-inducing also.

OM Gosh! That is beautiful! I've never seen those before. It does indeed look like an elegant rose. How lovely!
How hardy is it?
~Annie

Annie - they are officially perennials, and I plan to try to keep them alive inside over the winter, but Parks is selling them as annuals with no zone listed, and I haven't seen anyone else list zones for them either! There were some threads in the cutting garden forum, with discussions between professional growers, and they seem to all grow them as annuals too.

I did some web searching and came up with this page that is pretty informative, but by a chicago gardener, so more attuned to my growing seasons than yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisianthus discussion page

Yay!!!! Finally someone has taken them from seed to bloom!! I have tried to grow these little pretties for about 10 years now with no luck! You must have the magic touch! Just curious if you stratified them first? They are beautiful!!! TFS!

PS They are advertised as annuals here in most or all of the Canadian seed catalogues and are readily available.

honalee - no I didnt stratify the seeds. I just lay them on top of the mix, kept them moist, and under light. This is only my 2nd year of growing from seed under lights, Maybe I just got lucky. I'm hoping the same conditions work next year.

I've always drooled over these when I see them in catalogs. Six months to bloom, huh? I wouldn't get to enjoy them long. Please let us know how keeping them over the winter goes.

Thanks for coming back with pics of the blooms. They are lovely! But I doubt, if they take that much care/time, that they are for me. I just never have much luck with starting from seed. Darn.

I have what we call the Texas bluebell. It self-sowed for me and have found some at least 15 feet from where they bloomed last year. I've tried sowing them in pots but no luck.
I so happy they returned this year. I've collected some of the seed pods but left some on to self-sow. I'll try sowing in pots again.
I enjoy them very much and they last a long time.

Mandoll, if you collect the seeds and would like to trade, LMK.

Mytime - dont I remember that you had Dahlias blooming in your greenhouse in May? If you can do that these wouldn't be an issue for you at all.

Mary_lu - I read (again in the cutting garden forum) that a lot of the growers were getting starts from green houses. Take seed to a local nursery and you could probably get them to get them going for you if you dont want to baby seedlings.

Piksi - I havent done much in the way of seed saving, but if I manage, I'll let you know.

I am so glad I have them in pots! It got close to freezing here last night, but the are now inside and still "lovely"