I direct sowed mine about 4 weeks ago in an area where I had spread some top soil over an existing bed. The temp was unusually high for March. They germinated in two weeks. Please don't give up. I used to direct sow them and had no germination because the soil was not raked clean. Now I have no problem at all as long as the soil is freshly raked. I don't want to WS them since I have a abundant collection of seeds and my garden is too stuffed to fit in small seedlings one spot at a time. I simply direct sow them so they'll grow at will. Good luck.

Well for a more courteous answer, LOL. Here in zone 7 my little neighbor that has beautiful poppies each and every year says to direct sow them in February. So for you in zone 9 I would say if you are wanting the blooms in the spring you could probably direct sow yours in January or still even in February. Also how she recommends direct sowing them is by tossing them on the ground where ever you are wanting them then lightly press. Now I will also mention her area is amended so she isn't just tossing them on bare dirt. If you were to go by the guidelines stated above it would make no sense, each plant has various germination rates. Various time from germination to bloom. Not all plants are the same.

Terrance, I've heard that Lavendar is very hard to propagate from seed. Have you tried it successfully before? I'd love to, but don't want to waste my time if it's that temperamental. Gosh, it was VERY windy yesterday and today. I would be afraid to just throw seeds on the ground right now. I think that is one of the reasons behind WS'ing. The seeds are not susceptible to being scattered by the wind, doused by the rains, or eaten by the birds. Lisa, are you saying we should start now with some of our seeds in containers, or just direct sowing in the ground? I tried sowing Larkspur one year by just planting the seeds in the fall, but nothing came up the next spring. I have no clue why not. Anything that is cold hardy could be sown now I would expect. Sages, winter savory, thyme, lemon balm, mints, agastaches, rue, fennel, and so on. I have some astilbe, cimicifuga, hardy cool weather plants like that I could probably sow now as well. What do you guys think? Susan

I would wait until late August because we want germination then a long, slow winter growth...not germination then a quick burst and attempt to flower THIS year (and although annuals can be sown right up until late May, I would generally consider the sowing season over by now. By growing slowly over winter, the roots get big and the resulting plants are infinitely larger, more floriferous and stronger than spring sown hardy annuals. Sowing right now is the worst of all because the plants will likely attempt to still complete their growth cycle in one season and neither the roots nor the shoots will be worth the candle (although they probably will put out some late August/September blooms. So, what I do is prepare a nice clean and friable seed bed then simply broadcast or sow in drills (I prefer to sow in short rows/drills because it is easier to determine what are flowers and what are weeds and by the time of flowering, all the rows become melded together anyway). Poppies and larkspur prefer to be uncovered...in fact, poppies insist on it...which is another reason for holding on a bit since those tiny seeds easily dry out in June and July heat whereas the milder damper autumn season still holds enough soil warmth for germination and rains to keep the developing seeds moist.. eta - a neat trick is to split the seed and do an autumn sowing AND a spring sowing for successional growth - big early flowers in May and another later crop in June/July.