Coneflower seeds

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gvaldeiro Mar 23, 2015

I brought a coneflower seed packet (Burpee) from Loblaws in Toronto. The instruction on the seed packet says to sow the seeds outdoors 8-10 weeks before frost (around late summer / early fall).

Can I sow the seeds now (March) and allow them to germinate indoors for transplanting to my bed in mid-spring?

giselle

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Cville_Gardener Clarksville, TN(Zone 7a) Mar 24, 2015

Yes, you could but they do best with a period of cold stratification.

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Terry Murfreesboro, TN(Zone 7a) Mar 25, 2015

Welcome to DG!

Cville_Gardener is correct about them liking a stratification period. You can approximate that by placing your seeds in a container with moist seed-starting mix, and introducing them to a cold environment. If you're from a colder climate you may still have a few weeks of really cold weather so you could put them outdoors in a spot that is consistently cool and protected from critters and wind.

If not, well...gardeners occasionally do seemingly odd things like put their seeds in a mason jar or ziplock freezer bag with some moist sterile medium: seed starting mix (no fertilizer); peat moss, vermiculite, etc, and put the bag or jar in your refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. Then you can sow the seeds, cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Or you can hold onto the seed until this fall and plant it according to the package directions. It just depends on whether you are willing to experiment with it now, or wait until later.

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