Lisa: I have some cottage mix poppies and some giganteum purple poppies as well as some orange marigolds and some flagstaff. I'd love to trade for your sea holly and your penstemon. PLMK Thanks Ann (aba563@aol.com)

Hi Savannaht. I haven't tried campestre species in particular. But with E. alpinum & giganteum cultivars, I have figured out that (unless seeds are not viable to begin with), if they aren't sown almost directly from the the bract, in which case some can germinate within weeks, they can otherwise be rather more difficult/slower, unless the outer seed coat is removed first. Try using a new damp coffee filter in a plastic baggy, if you aren't already. Carefully use your fingernails to gently remove the outer seed coat & once hulled, quickly place each on the moist filter, as it is important to avoid allowing it to dry out. The inner seed coat will appear much like a sunflower seed. Expose these seeds to afternoon or morning light, indoors in a windowsill, but be sure it doesn't make them get too warm. Then place back in the refrigerator, as the seeds should have started to swell & may turn pale green. I've noticed they can actually rot more easily, if they aren't cooled down, while in the process of producing a root. But, since you've pre-stratified them they may just germinate with ease, once the seed coat has been removed without requiring any more cooling & without rotting. You'll have to keep watch... If they don't start to germinate &/or rotting starts to occur- Chill again & be patient. Once the rootlet appears you can pot those up & they should do fine with afternoon shade. After several true leaves have grown, you may carefully plant them out, while trying not to disturb the tap root too much, in the process. hth

-wieslaw, yes, but a plant may be passive in one location of the globe and a pest or even invasive in another. I don't feel I exaggerated in the least. I'm simply reviewing my findings in my little part of the world and my experience has found Echinops to be pesky devil, lol. ;-) Perhaps the seedlings are easy to extricate in some soils, but in my rather hard packed tough soil they certainly aren't! Anyway, forewarned is forearmed and at least folks can know it does have the potential to become an annoyance... -Brenda, fantastic! What a gorgeous grouping. What variety of Eryngium is that? Is that 'Vera Jameson' Sedum at his feet? Lol! I had no clue they smelled so much like cat poop! I do have a couple plants that smell like skunk though. In the early days of their residence here (when I didn't know it was them making the stench) I really thought that a skunk must be living (or dying) around here! Lol. CMK

I meant to include this link, if you don't know what sea holly looks like, which I didn't - very exotic. Here is a link that might be useful: