winter sow torenia wishbone flower

How difficult is it to winter sow torenia? Sometimes, by the time I get my annuals up and growing, it's mid June. If anyone has any experience growing this seed, please advise. I think it's also called wishbone flower.

hi birder17,

I've not grown torenia but,
on plants that I'm not sure about, or can't find the info, I will try a few seeds in various ways (such as wintersowing or direct sowing in fall). that way I can still plant the leftover seeds in the spring if the wintersown ones don't take.

Wishbone flower looks like a wonderful shade flower for a pot or groundcover.

there's quite a bit of info here on DG: www.davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/249/
best wishes.

I wintersowed some last year. They did great, but be careful on how many seeds per container. Seedlings are like pinheads, and so close together they were almost impossible to separate. I did it but it was very tedious. I must have had 100% germination!

Here is a pic of some of them from last summer.

I'm in zone 6, so I'm pretty sure I'd have to wait until August to get flowers from winter sown Toreia. I usually start mine inside in February, a good 12 to 14 weeks before planting out, and that gives me blooming plants to put out. :-)

Thanks guys for the information. I wasn't sure it could be grown from seed w/o great difficulty. I am going to "try" to germinate some penstemon this year. It sounds daunting, but I really like the stuff and plants cost 7.95 at High Gardens. I have ordered some of my winter sowing seeds but still need to order others. I usually save my precious "grow light space" to grow some of my picky perennials under lights.
Yardqueen your little plants look so cute. Aren't Torenias just the cutest little flowers??

I love them! Will be doiing more this year!

I have never done Penstemon... Why are they hard?

From what I have researched, they don't have a good germination rate and they have to be stratified from anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks, depending on the species.
Penstemon, once established will grow in relatively poor soil, must have good drainage, but don't need to be watered. Hummingbirds love them. The no watering and hummers, is the attraction for me.
I'm thinking about planting some Penstemon, a white variety, and another a lavender blue variety with my red Chrysler Imperial rose (white) and the lavender blue with some of my yellow and coral roses. Fragrant Cloud and Molineaux.

Seeds that seed stratification are great for wintersowing. Why not try some that way?

I am going to. However, in my research, it suggested putting some in refrigerator as it is "more controlled".
I am going to do both: WS & Refrigerator. Also, one should sow heavily as germination isn't real good.

I wintersowed them a few years ago. They bloomed this summer for the first time and were really pretty. I moved it in fall and it's looking dead. I sowed another jug a few days ago.

Karen

Very pretty. Karen, that looks like Elfin Pink? Is it in partial shade?

It's Penstemon Smallii.

Karen