The back of seed packets is a general guide. I can't think of a site, but perennials can often be started in autumn and wintered over. There are lots of spring flowering plants you can also start now from seed:, stock, wallflower, pansy, aquilegias, carnations and more. Petunias can be started all year but can be tricky as the seed is so fine. I'd just buy plants. Some seeds give better results than others. If you are near a library there are some good books with lots of info on individual seeds as some need light and some dark and some even need refigeration!!!! This year I used wet paper to germinate seeds a few at a time before planting. Good enough results for what I need but the heat may have been too much for some.

I try to follow nature's way as much as possible. In the wild, seeds are broadcast by the plant in Autumn and winter over to germinate in spring. I collect flower seeds from plants in late summer, dry them out then broadcast them in autumn. Seeds for vegetables I grow in seed punnets with a mixture of sand and commercial seed raising mix. When depends on the variety. No point in germinating tomatoes in autumn! Read the germination time on the packet then add three or four weeks for them to grow to a manageable size before planting. Keep the surface damp. I do this in a cold frame so I can regulate the temperature. The trick is not to let them dry out but not to overwater - I use a spray bottle and don't feed them. I don't transplant too early despite the temptation as the longer they have to search for nutrient in a starvation growing medium, the better roots they develop - then 2 days before I transplant I give then a foliar feed of Seasol or worm pee to boost them through the stress of transplanting. I have found the folks at Eden Seeds very helpful and buy most of my seeds there. Other than that, you could google in words like - 'plant carrots' and search Australia only. Peter Cundall has a nice book out written in a month by month diary style in which he suggests what to plant each month. I find it useful because it includes maintenance tips too. You can get it from ABC shops.

Hope this helps.
Linda

I think you need a book dedicated to growing plants from seeds. The problem with using a library is that the best books are likely to be checked out or reserved. You could search the catalogue of your local library, using a general term such as 'growing from seed', 'propagating' or even 'seed', and then reserve the book that seems to best meet your needs. Or you could browse thru a good bookshop and either buy the book that seems to best meet your requirements, or note its title and then reserve it at your local library or submit a request for your library to buy it.

For what it's worth, my copy of Botanica says that petunias are frost-sensitive plants, and can be raised by seed sown under glass in early spring or by planting shop-bought seedlings at the beginning of summer. I wouldn't recommend this book for you, though, as the cultivation guide is too general--it's intended as a general encyclopedic reference, and best used for plant identification.

Another of my references is Propogating Plants by Alan Toogood (published by the Royal Horticultural Society). It has an enormous amount of info on all methods of plant cultivation, including growing from seed. However, its major drawback is that it's clearly a UK title that has been 'adapted' (badly) for the Australian market, so plants that are commonly grown here often have only 1 or 2 sentences describing how they are propagated. (And many aren't listed at all, esp. the warm-climate ones, e.g. poinciana, murraya and ylang ylang.) If you're interested in this book I suggest you borrow rather than buy it, as a genuine Australian title is far preferable. FYI, this book also says that petunias can be grown from seed sown in spring at 15 deg C, and should germinate in 10 days to flower in the same season.

Once you find a good book it's worth buying, as you'll probably keep referring to it for years.

MY FAVOURITE READ AT THE MOMENT IS MAKING MORE PLANTS, tHE SCIENCE, ART AND JOY OF PROPOGATION BY KEN DRUSE - ALTHOUGH THIS IS AN AMERICAN BOOK ALL INFORMATION IS IN SEASON/TEMPERATURE/TIME TO GERMINATE FORMAT SO CAN BE APPLIED ANYWHERE. IT HAS A VERY USEFUL PLANT PROPAGATION GUIDE AT THE BACK - BUT DOES NOT MENTION PETUNIAS - JUST 700 OTHER GENERA - GOT IT OUT FROM MY LOCAL LIBRARY -

A good reference for australian gardening is Yates Garden Guide...this might be the answer to your prayers..contains charts and times for seed planting and individual flower and vege descriptions including times to plant seeds etc

Greetings,

Another gardening site that I refer to often is Global Garden - they're an Aussie site and have planting guides for seeds and seedlings in the Australian climates. The only downside is that they update their pages each month - it's quite clever because you need to go back there at least 12 times per year if you want to get the whole planting list. Pain in the neck if you want to plan ahead a bit though...

Oh, I have no financial interest in the site - just thought I'd point that out in case I get in trouble for promoting a different gardening website...

All the best,

Here is a link that might be useful: Global Garden