The plant in the photo germinated in the spring. I've started them from seed in mid summer and spring. They like warm soil. My limited experience with starting this plant from seed is that the first year the top growth is VERY small and weak looking. After watching the same plant come back and perform beautifully the second year, my guess is that the first year it concentrates on root development. Good luck with your planting. Once this plant is established, it seems to be quite hardy and drought tolerant. ... Mary Here it is in it's second growing season. This plant bloomed and bloomed over a long period of time and many types of butterflies nectared on the blooms. You can judge the size of the plant by comparing the plant markers next to it. They are made from cut pieces of plastic mini-blinds.

carla, I winter sow my hollyhock seeds in December. I understand that there are two cultivars that will bloom the first year: 'Indian Spring' and 'Summer Carnival.' The first one has single flowers; the second, double. Both are mixtures of colors. In another month or two (when this year's seeds have been collected), check the Exchanges here because lots of us offer seeds for SASBE. It's possible to search for specific seeds, too. Here is a link that might be useful: Searching the Exchange Pages

Good question but the answer depends on your local winter conditions. It would be best to get someone in z6 and your region to respond but here is a general response. When direct sowing some of your seeds may germinate now, others may need winter freeze & moisture to break dormancy so you would see them in the spring. If the seedlings are northern hardy they should make it through the winter even if they germinate now so long as they have enough time to get good roots established before freezing weather sets in. That is also a dependency on your local region. Since it can take several weeks for seedlings to sprout & then to develop true roots you need to calculate if you have enough time before frost would drive them into dormancy. In my area, winter is our driest season with very little moisture but too cold to use a hose to water. Because of that I would only direct sow after freezing weather sets in so they won't sprout until spring or else sow in the spring to make sure the seedlings have plenty of root developed before they have to go through their first cold/dry winter.

I'm starting my tomatoes, here in Irving, today after I get up (1 AM and about to go to bed here), as well as my peppers, cukes, and a few other things. My brassica and salad beds are still going from last fall, so it doesn't look like I'll need to replant anything there. I've been wanting to try winter sowing flowers this year since I don't have room to start those indoors too, but it's been so warm, I'm scared they'll start growing already. =( I should probably just ask this in the winter sowing forum, but am I just being a Nervous Nelly about it? Will the fact that it still gets pretty cool at night keep them from germinating? ...it's seriously supposed to be in the 70's all the latter half of next week, only dropping into the 50's at night. I'm starting to wonder if we're going to have any sort of winter at all at this rate. I hope it's not an ominous sign of what we're gonna get this summer. =(