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any success in growing coneflowers from seed?

20 years ago

Hello gardeners and thanks for reading my posting,

I live in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada, zone 3 or 4. I have tried to grow White Swan coneflowers from seed for a couple years. I never get any sprouts! I have tried seeding right in the garden, and I have tried seeding in little pots, with a mix of peet and dirt. The seeds do nothing. I have bought the seeds from a couple different sources, Stokes, and from Walmart, I forget the package name now. Is there some kind of secret to growing these plants from seed?

from Katy

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Comments (8)

birdgardner
20 years ago
I never had any trouble with them, and they re-seed themselves in the open ground. Winter-sowing makes it easy, see the WS forum.

You might try to get a local or far north source of seeds.
huzzah
20 years ago
Echinacea seed needs to be stratified before it will germinate.
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Congrats. I grow all my Impatiens from seed. I used to grow them from cuttings. They were fine for the first 10 years or so and then the dreaded spider mites found my Impatiens. I tried everything but I got tired of fighting them and went to growing from seed. The first year I didn't have near the luck you did, but I finally learned how to grow them successfully. I grow the Tempo series because they are the earliest. I buy my seed from Stokes seeds--$7.65 for 250 seeds. The cheapest seed I've found. The seed is always good and germinates well--just in case you want to grow more. They do ship to the States. I have dealt with Stokes for 30 years and can vouch for them as a good place to order from. By the way the best way to grow Impatiens from cuttings is to put the cuttings right into the soil. Cut below a leaf--the roots come from a leaf node. Strip off the bottom leaves, dip in rooting compound, dibble a hole in moistened soilless mix, slip in the cutting and cover it in. In a week or so you will notice new growth and you will know your cutting has started to make roots. Leave for a couple of weeks until it's rooted well and then you can harden off and plant outside weather permitting
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prairiepaintbrush
20 years ago
I've just thrown mine out on the ground in the fall, and for a long time I thought I wasn't getting any, but they just take a looong time to become noticeable. Not sure if geography makes a difference.

I thought one could only stratify hard lumpy seeds. hmm.
huzzah
20 years ago
what does hard or lumpy have to do with it?
oogy4plants
20 years ago
I believe PPB means scarify- to scratch the surface of the seed. Echinacea needs to be stratified- to undergo a cold period before sprouting when it warms up. If you plant the seeds outside in the late winter they will then sprout when the weather warms up in the spring. That's why they reseed themselves outside so easily.
thirdmajorgirl
19 years ago
Would anyone have any extra seeds for Red or Yellow Coneflowers? They are just beautiful and I would love
to get some of these new colours!! Please e-mail me at:
thirdmajorgirl@yahoo.ca . Thank you.
philmont_709n2
19 years ago
any seed can be stratified, if its natural habitat has seasons. I have successfully stratified acorns, cone flowers, impatiens, and just about everything else, even cactus seeds.
kek19
19 years ago
I agree w/ birdgardener, Winter sow them!

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cold stratification?

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