They do self-sow, but it might still be a little cool for them outside. Also, they germinate best in darkness, which means either well-buried, covered by something that doesn't let light through, or in a cupboard.

Best lookin' utility pile of soil I've ever seen! Mine would be crawling with bindweed EEW! I do love how they volunteer in the strangest of places. We have some that seeded and return year and again--and we have NO idea how they got there. It's right on the property line, with bedding rocks on one side and our lawn on the other; it's not the kind of place that they ever would have been planted or flowerbox nearby; it's kinda of a "utility" area on the street-side--you know, the gate opens there, and that's the staging area for mowing, etc. Still, those sweet purple and yellow flowers bring a smile to my face, and I pay special attention so that they don't get any drift when I am out pounding on the bindweed with my lawn-safe weed killer (hey, I'll organic garden everything else but bindweed is my nemesis, and however much chemical it takes to keep it under control, I'm gonna use!). I've also got some big purple violets that keep volunteering year after year--hubby even has hit them with the round-up a time or two, but they're tough buggers. Good thing they're pretty; if they were as invasive as the bindweed, I'd really be out of my mind!

Sounds like you're on the right track -- they aren't hard to germinate. They do need darkness, so make sure they're lightly covered with peat or sterile potting mix (I usually cover my seeds with vermiculite, but other things work well, too). I'd let them germinate inside; you should get a higher percentage in room temps (rather than in the cool night temps they're getting outside). Make sure you keep them moist but not soggy. That's about it! If you want, you can always just buy a few plants or get some from a friend and plant them -- they should continue from there. I had them in Indiana (my grandmother always grew them and I love them); in mild winters they would pop back up, and after colder winters new plants would start from self-sown seed. I had them for 18 years and as far as I know they're still there. I have some started here, too :) Good luck!

So yeah, you can't just broadcast seed for some of the wildflowers and expect them to grow thru the turf. Especially when the clovers and bird's foot trefoil are supplying the lawn with lots of nitrogen, (and shade in the drought times) and keeping the turf lush! So I have transplanted quite a few tumble mustard, high knapweed, chicory, fleabane, smartweed, mouse-ear hawkweed, autumn hawkbit, etc. this fall. I transplanted some during the summer months with varying degrees of success - I hope these fall plantings work better. The problem with transplanting them during the hot sunny months: they don't take as well; I'm putting them in bare spots and disturbing the soil which leads to a lot of unwanted weeds; and of course they need to be watered which leads to a huge number of sprouting unwanted weeds! Next summer, I have a different plan. I will cover any bare spots with corn gluten meal which acts as a pre-emergent herbicide for several weeks and then decomposes to a fertilizer by the time the weather turns cooler and I'm ready to plant stuff without just getting undesirable weeds like plantain, knotweed, and crabgrass. My plan was initially to not have to water this lawn anyway and now I see that watering in times of drought really leads to unwanted weeds. The lawn is thin topsoil on top of pure sand so it has always died every few years when a bad enough drought hit. I have mulched endless leaves into the lawn for 3 years and with the great number of earthworms that brings, my soil is getting better. Also the shade and nitrogen provided by the clovers, vetch, and bird's foot helps the actual grass stay green. Some plants simply do NOT like to be transplanted - bird's foot is one of those. Fortunately, you can collect seed from the pods somewhere where it is growing and broadcast them over the lawn and it will eventually take hold. It is very small the first year (I haven't even been able to determine when it is sprouting), noticeable the second year if you know what to look for, and healthy and flowering by the third year. There is a saying: "the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, and the third year it leaps!" White and red clover and violets and of course dandelions will all grow easily if seed is spread over the turf, especially if it is mown very short first. The next thing I'm working on is which weeds help or kill other grasses and weeds. Obviously wide leaves like dandelion, plantain, and violets deny grass beneath them water and sun and can choke it out. But I'm more interested in chemicals that plants produce to fight or help competition. There is a lot of info available on companion planting for vegetables but for weeds - not much. So I'm just watching and watching. I had one patch of a lush green prostrate knotweed that killed everything beneath it. Another patch of lush pinkish knotweed that did the same. But regular knotweed is not as bad. Autumn hawkbit (like delicate dandelions) inhibits sprouting near it, even of its own seed! But it doesn't bother growing grass. Mouse-ear hawkweed does the same and so sends runners like strawberries to propagate itself into dense mats which will then smother grass. The first line of defense against unwanted weeds is to mow the grass very short, but this tactic is NOT available when the goal is to have lots of wanted weeds. Next summer I plan to try spraying leaves of dandelions, plantain, and violets with vinegar and a tsp. of dish soap on a hot, sunny day. This is said to kill the leaves but not the root. That's O.K. with me if it works. I just want to hold back these aggressive weeds from taking over.