I sow petunia seeds in 9-oz plastic cups in potting soil, not seed starting soil. I water thoroughly before sowing, and then water with a gentle mist after sowing, until they're large enough to be watered without floating away or getting flattened. I don't cover them with anything. I put them in a very sunny window, and when daytime temperatures are in the mid 50's or higher I leave them outside and bring them in at night. They seem to tolerate fairly cold temperatures pretty well. Not long ago, for example, I left all my seedlings outside at night, thinking it would be warm, but it went down to 45 degrees. The cukes wilted, but the petunias looked very spry. I even had one overwinter after some surrounding plants that I hadn't cleaned up provided cover, and we get freezes here. That two-year old petunia was AWESOME. So I guess what works for my petunias amounts to: Plenty of light Good air circulation Soil checked every day and misted until moist, not soggy

my experiance of 4 years with royal colors says they have the best quality bulbs,if we talk about sizes, colors, exact breed and all. I purchased almost all my bulbs online from royal colors (netherland) and they arrange for me even those varieties that they dont have. So far in Large flowering Amaryllis I got Red Lion, Apple Blossom, Show Master, Charisma, Clown, Herculese, Mont blanc, Picotte, San Remo, Benifica and Susan. In Double Flowering I got Dancing Queen, Red Peacock, White peacock, Jewel, Promise, blossom peocock, Nyph, Lady Jane, Celica, Elvas, Double dragon, Mary lou Others are Papilio Butterfly and Lemon Lime. They send me all top quality bulbs size 36/38 cm. These days I'm trying to increase my each variety through cuttage. I would rather go for 8 pieces of each bulb than 15 or 30 I purchase every year atleast 5 new varities but from today onwards I'm focusing on increasing my lot through cuttage I would never think about using seed propagation method. I can't compromise on colors and breeds. when I have top quality bulbs and mother plants why would I go for self polination when i have cuttage method to maintain my quality. when you have top quality flowers with high colors they look wonderful in a bed, catches everyone's eye. But when you have one bulb of dim color and low standard variety it ruin the beauty of entire bed. I wasn't satisfied with my growing medium I have been working on it for the past few years but a week back one of the top most grower of Amaryllis from Netherland made me a new potting medium and he transfered half of my bulbs into new medium. He made my potting medium with his own hands with Sand, coconut husk, leaf mold, cow's well rotted manure, and lake soil. P.S. In a few days me and my friends are ordering 275 Bulbs from netherland and each bulb gonna cost us Euro Â6 to Â7 along with airfreight shipping charges. Bulb size would be 36/38 Cm , all mother bulbs. I have a complete list and I'm directly in touch with Commerial growers of Amaryllises, Lillium, Gladiolus,Iris,Tulips, Orchids. They are from Netherlands & Holland yaaaaaaaaaaaay. Take care all & Happy Gardening Best Wishes, Ammar.

Thanks for pointing out the peony faq. It answered why my newly planted peony have not shown any sign of life.... I do have a question. I have clay soil, and to alleviate the poor drainage situation, I've made a sort of raised bed, but the depth is about 2-3 in. above the clay soil. The problem is the raised bed drains too well--it's dry within minutes after watering, even though I've mulched it. Beneath the soil in the raise bed, I have mixed the amendment and potting soil into the clay, hoping that the plants in the bed will send roots down into the clay... Will the peony do ok under these conditions? Thanks in advance for your comments and advice. Lil

I just tried to collect some of these yesterday. And realised I had picked too early. I did have some swollen buds with immature seeds so know where to look for them now. Maybe you can pick a seed head or two and look and maybe find where they will grow too. The longer the flower has been dead the more likely you'll be able to find this. I picked the whole dead flower head off... carefully pulled away the petels of the dead flower. Inside of those petels you should see a swollen pod (mine were still green cause they were not ripe seeds...when ripe they should be brown). If yours are not ripe like mine were not you may be able to see the immature seeds still though for future reference. Open up that pod and you will see clearish/white itty bitty tiny balls (look hard!) those were the immature seeds. Now I know to wait longer and check on progress of the plant till I find the seeds are dark one day.