Plants

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

bogweevil — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:54:48 GMT

If only you could sow a row of carrots and have them come up year after year. Sadly not, one year's seeding etc, etc only applies to weed seeds that produce enormous numbers of seeds and have complex dormancy mechanisms to ensure staggered emergence over many years. Seeds of garden plants have had the dormancy bred out of them, at least in part. Also seeds differ in longevity - delphiniums barely last a year, cabbages at least seven. I have no idea how long aquilegia seeds last. Boggy

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

Celtic Heart — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:11:45 GMT

If you think of the old saying "one year's seeds is seven years weeds" then it stands that even if your seeds are five years old they should be in with a chance. Don't give up, I often find things just starting to show as a new plantlet in the spring. I think I am correct in saying some seeds often lie dormant overwinter only germinating after the cold or even a frost. Of course, I am only a beginner myself, and trying desperately to remember things that were taught to me as a child by my grandmother!

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

philip99a — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:29:32 GMT

Gr8 advice. I'll not give up hope yet!

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

miranda — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:28:06 GMT

Aquilegia seeds can take ages to germinate, Philip. Just keep them somewhere they won't dry out and let them get on with it for a few weeks.

4-5 years can seem old for seeds, but some of them can last a surprisingly long time so, as Phot's says, don't give up hope yet.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

Phot's-Moll — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:20:35 GMT

It's too early to lose hope.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

philip99a — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:57:50 GMT

Planted the seed exactly 3 weeks ago now. I've kept the soil well watered. The weather's been very warm. Not a single shoot!! Not looking good. The seeds could easily have been 4 or 5 years old :-(

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

philip99a — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:26:03 GMT

They're scattered on some well dug-over sheltered ground, raked in and watered. Thanks for all yr help. I'll let you know if/when I get any green shoots!

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

Celtic Heart — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:22:42 GMT

I've always found scattering the seeds where you want the plants to grow at the same time the plants would be seeding works best. I've never had much success growing flowers from seed in trays, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but scattering the seeds in the ground works best for me.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

sue1002 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:56:27 GMT

If you haven't got room for a seed tray phillip99a, have you got space on a windowsill for a pot? you could sow the seeds in a pot. Or you could sprinkle them on the ground where you want them to come up and hope for the best.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

chriss — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:45:28 GMT

Get sowing. If you sow them now and then pot them on before winter, they will be ready to plant out and flower next year. Good luck.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

philip99a — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:39:48 GMT

So the advice is sow them in a seed tray (not the open ground) and see?? Is it?

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

sky fencer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:34:38 GMT

I wonder how old your seeds are? If too old they may not germinate. I sowed aquilegia seed around this time of year once before in a seed tray, but from a bought seed packet. Why not just plant them and see? You won't have lost anything! If they grow, they should be ready to plant out in the garden by September or so this year, and then they'll flower next May.

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

bogweevil — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:09:34 GMT

Some aquilegias germinate easily but some work best if sown fresh and if they don't germinate by winter leave under a sheet of glass so they get chilled and up they should come in spring. Three months in the fridge is a rather poor alternative. Boggy

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

philip99a — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:36:00 GMT

Do you mean sow them in the ground (my preference) now or in seed trays (nowhere really to put seed trays)??

Re: Aquilegia seeds - too late to plant??

sue1002 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:07:37 GMT

The Aquilegias is my garden are now setting seed pods after flowering and if I don't deadhead them soon, they will be seeding themselves all around so now would be a good time to sow them to get some flowers from them for next year.

You could leave them until autumn to sow, the plants would be ready to plant out next spring but won't actually flower until the next year.