What did you plant from seed that now thrills you?

I wonder what you planted from seed this year, that absolutely thrills you to see blooming?

I planted some impatient seeds, sent to me from someone in England. These I planted in January and did not expect much from them. WOW they have been in the greenhouse and yesterday looked at them (they were hidden behind the basil plants, so though they were basil???!!). They are all just about to burst into bloom, so I quickly transplanted them out into the garden in the hosta bed.

I am just thrilled I am able to grow impatients. Always though they were difficult to grown.

Last year was the Brug that thrilled everyone in the neighbourhood. Still waiting for this years to bloom, hopefully blue as well as white.

I think what tickled me more than anything was the tall white nicotiana I grew from seed last year. It performed so well and scented our nights on the patio with the most sweet perfume. And it didn't stop there...Two of the plants I missed when cleaning up the bed this spring ended up coming back from the roots! This year, I am going to be sure to save some seed from this terrific plant. When/how do you harvest nicotiana, and what's the best way to store it, anyway?

i managed to grow 5 spider chrysanths from seed 2 years ago,they are still with me LOL i am so proud of them (and me! :-)) they look really posh

The first year I planted Love Lies Bleeding all the plants ended up being almost 6 feet tall with ropes and ropes of crimson blooms. They were breath taking. I let them reseed and now I get normal sized plants...still breathtaking though.

I am still facinated with Love in the Mist too. Such a delicate looking plant with those dramatic seed pods. Wonderful.

Geez... I think it's all thrilling. Those tough germinators are what get me really excited. I have some gas plant babies (dictamnus) that I started this year but I'm afraid it'll be a few years before I see blooms.

I also love to find those ones I planted ... and forgot about. Just noticed some penstemons that I planted last year that never bloomed. They should put on a good show this year for me. Some others that will be blooming this year for the first time are pink Oriental poppies, Liatris scariosa (this is a white species), New Zealand Delphiniums, Angelica, and some different columbines. I think it's all thrilling and that's why I love to grow from seed. Just can't beat that warm fuzzy feeling when they bloom ;o)

As for flowers, I'd have to say that I'm most excited about my Daturas. My mom and I had snatches a seed pod from a plant we found in front of a Karate place in Blountville, TN. Out of many many seeds sown, only 3 seedlings were produced.

Well, these Daturas are kicking in with blooms big time now, and they are beautiful. White with purple on the tips.

Just last night, 3 blooms opened simultaneously, and I caught them in the act with pictures!

http://davesgarden.com/gj/dave/viewentry/3502.html

Look at the bottom three. The electric company had to send a crew out yesterday to do some work, and one of the guys just couldn't stay out of my garden. He wanted the full tour, but he stopped and his jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the Datura.

Dave

I have several perennial "babies" (seedlings) that I'm proud of: astilbe, strawberry foxglove and Bergenia are definitely among my pride and joy this spring.

This was the first year I tried starting seed indoors. I have been thrilled throughout the entire process! Impatiens, snapdragons, feverfew, cosmos, calendula, Dahlia Diablo, painted daisies, digitalis, and the list goes on! I can't wait until next year to see the perennials & biennials bloom as well.

I would like to thank everyone at DavesGarden for all their help getting me started, seeds, information & encouragement! Thank you everyone!

Julie

[ Removed by member request. - Admin ]

My favorite from seed this year is, as with Dave...Datura! I've never grown these plants and they are spectacular in bloom now, lilac colors. Not only was I surprised at how fast they grew and flowered, but they are like machines in producing buds and blooms, along with what looks like seeds pods already. Daturas get it hands down for me this year!

I also have to say that I grew my childhood plant from seeds and they are performing like beauties, as well...Lady Slippers, Balsam Impatiens. My elderly friend from many years ago first introduced me to gardening with these plants, and although she has since passed away, her love of gardening is remembered with each beautiful blossom :)
Trish

Starting things from seeds....got to be kidding....I just don't have any luck with seeds.....except for some mini blue morning glories that I have in hanging backets.. They are so cute and dainty looking and very pretty shade of light blue. Lost basically most of my seeds that I had planted in small pots....gone to the wind sort of speak. Lost during a storm we had awhile back so just gave up on trying to start things from seeds. I do have some Castor Bean seeds planted.....only 4 but not up yet and not going to hold my breath on those either on them coming up. Planted them the 21st of May and get very impatient waiting on things to pop through the soil. I want it up and I want it up now......hehe. So for seeds....all I have that has come up is the mini morning glory. Not very impressive is it? Giving up for now but will try again this fall to start things from seeds. I am not a quiter so will plug on and hope to have things up for next spring.

Watching seeds sprout is almost (maybe more) as thrilling as giving birth to a beautiful healthy baby...maybe more because it is so painless. Some of my pride and joys--the latest, Pride of Barbados; some others--sweet autumn clematis, stella d'oro daylillies, desert willow, hibiscus, kiss-me-over-the-garden gate, asclepias tuberosa, toad lilies, hosta, and a whole lot more. The daturas are special to me, too. I have grown the single white TX native for several years and knew of only the one other species, the stramonium (which I didn't have). I just got my computer last year and discovered the seed trading sites and went totally nuts trading. I also learned there are many, many different types of daturas and collected as many seeds as possible. Now I have sprouted (but not yet blooming) triple yellow daturas, blackcurrant swirl daturas, lavender daturas, double yellow, double purple...etc., etc.--you get the picture. Dave, I had trouble getting my seeds to sprout, too, and those that did wanted to dampen off. They seemed to do much better after the weather got warmer, sprouting and growing. They like the heat. They did very well throughout the last 3 years of intense heat and drought that we've had here. And another bonus is the grasshoppers won't eat them...a very big bonus as we have been plagued with these hordes right along with the heat and drought. I'm beginning to feel like I'm planting all these delicacies just for them. But I refuse to surrender! And liatris, and carnations, and hypoestes, and.............

CoCo, don't give up. If you're willing to try starting plants indoors again, there are several good threads on here about do's and don'ts of indoor seed starting, and there's always the propagation forum for specific answers to your questions.

In the meantime, here's a thread on damp off - a common problem when starting seedlings indoors: http://davesgarden.com/showthread/4989.html

And here's one with tips for healthy tomato seedlings: http://davesgarden.com/showthread/23720.html.

Another technique you might try is winter sowing. Here's a link to a thread: http://davesgarden.com/showthread/8847.html

This year I did not have ONE plant die from 'damp off'. I had read that if you water with tea it stops 'damp off' so decided to try it.

I did not have the fancy camomile tea they suggested as I cannot stand scented tea, just used Tetleys Tea, watered down to very weak tea. I wonder if that is the secret to healthy plants - Tea?

I have to be honest - I've been growing pansies from seed for several years, and they are still the plant that gets me going in the spring. I usually plant the Antique Shades and this year I added the pinks. So much return for such a little bit of work. I have a host of others things going, Meconopsis grandis and some salvias, lisianthus and osteopermums, but the pansies are the ones that will put on a show for me all summer. I appreciate hard workers!

I have been anticipating the blooming of some poppies I got from Poppysue. Have been waiting for months, first to sow them, then watching them grow into huge stalks, and finally yesterday I had a bloom, I was so excited I shrieked (scaring hubby half to death) and had to get on the phone and call friends over to see my lovely baby - it was a pink paeony poppy, I was so thrilled, I just stood there and stared at it, it was the first of many, i could see about 20 buds that were ready to burst. This morning, the first thought I had when I woke up was my poppies, and wondering how many of them bloomed. As soon as I was dressed I went out and spent several minutes surveying my poppies. 2 more bloomed, and additionally, some purple single poppies bloomed overnight ablso.
I was wondering if I were to plant some more seeds, if they would bloom this season.
Wondering if I am too late for the datura??? can I still plant some?
I have some love lies bleeding, am looking forward to those too, but so far, they are only about 4 inches tall.

I love spring....

The Agapanthus seeds I planted 3 seasons ago are doing great. One is actually getting ready to bloom for the first time!

Plant the seeds of kindness
and tend to them with care
for they are bound to prosper
with fruits for all to share

Plant the seeds of Friendship
Plant them everywhere you go.
Nothing can reward so much as
The friendships that you grow!
bse

This message was edited Friday, Jun 1st 3:00 PM

.......Yes! and Poppysue's poppies (aren't they beautiful?), and the hesperaloe (red yucca, from seed [beaming with pride], and the amni majus, and the yarrow....

No, it's not too late to plant datura...in fact it's probably the best time to plant. They like a lot of warmth to germinate.

Wooooo Hooooooo! Glad to hear you got some poppies opened Pebble!! You too Lantana!! I'm not going to have that many this year. I've been digging and disturbing my beds too much - (major over-haul @ poppysues). I might be after you gals to trade some seeds back to me ;o) I have a few here and there & I started some in peat pellets that I just planted in the ground - but it won't be like last years display.

Poppysue, your poppies are just breathtaking in my garden, and I am going to harvest seeds, when you're ready for some just let me know.....
I go out every morning to see what all is blooming, it's like Christmas every morning, thanks to all who traded/gave me seeds. I am having so much fun this year with my plants.

Happy gardening to all!

This message was edited Saturday, Jun 2nd 8:41 PM

I'm in the same boat as CoCo...seeds arereally tough for me.But I have one package of seeds that are currently growing that I'm extremely happy about. I have 2 spoiled manx cats and I found some seeds for cat grass about a month ago, but then I lost them, I had bought a flat of petunias the same day I bought the seeds. I only planted half the petunias, so I've just been watering the others in the flat until I get a chance to plant them, well lo and behold I went to plant them on monday and there was my cat grass seeds growing like mad in the bottom of the flat!!!! the grass actually sprouted right thru the package!! So I guess I've finally suceeded at planting seeds in an unconventional kind of way. So I'am thrilled my cats will have their own plants to chew on this summer!!!lol

I am a seed starting fanatic..think I enjoy propagation even more than gardening...About 100o seedlings this year, and like children I love each one equally. Have buds on mina lobada right now which is a thrill for this year. Other specials this year include peoies and treen peonies

I started seed this year form Lilac Wave Petunia, and impatiens (shades of pink and carmine) from seed saved last year, and now they are huge healthy blooming plants. Much nicer and fuller than the pricey ones I see in the nurserys. I grew some Datura from seed last year also, but found that the blooming time was short, as they really didn't start putting on a show until mid August for me.Will have to try to start some from seed indoors in Mid March next year. I agree, they are breathtaking.

Romneya coulteri , dicentra scandens , phygelius winchester fanfare , michauuxia , morina longifolia , glaucium flavuum , schisandra chinensis , desmanthus illinoiensis , 3 types of phlomis , 3 types of thalictrum , maral root , hibicus coccineus , Kosteletzkya virginica -Salt Marsh Mallow , crambe ( 2 types ) , many species of perennial & annual papavers , meconopsis cambrica yellow / orange , and tooooooooooo many more to list :)

I also planted a Datura and a Cleome for the first time. The Datura is blooming it's heart out and the Cleome is opening it's first bloom today. I have never seen these flowers before and didn't know what to look for in their size. I don't think I gave the Datura enough room, oh well.

Donna

Garden dragon,

You watering the seedlings with tea bought to mind a documentary I watched just a couple of months ago. When the industrial revolution hit Britain two hundred years ago many people moved from the country to live in squalid and cramped conditions in the towns and cities. Although disease was rife people were still able to continue to live a reasonably healthy life, Japan had similar results over the years and many countries who tried to copy the close living conditions our two countries had with disaterous results.

It was concluded by science that tea was the reason Britain and Japan was successful in this odd way of living. It has been found that tea has antiseptic properties that were unknown at the time. Hurrah for tea!

Maybe this is why your seedlings avoided damping off.

As for which seedlings I'm proud of...All of them! I try to grow the majority of my garden from seed, my particular triumphs in the last couple of years were, Meconopsis horridula and 5 year old seeds of Salvia patens 'Cambridge Blue'.

Gardendragon,
The best in this, the first yr I've planted seeds is a silly little deck box combo that paid off big-time: Snapdragon in soft orange, yellow, pink, white. Nemesia in deeper orange, Lobelia in soft lavender and Nemesia in purple. The colors together are to die for and everyone luvs em. The rest are about 50 perennials that all came up but won't bloom til next yr. I don't know how I'm going to wait! Guess I'll plant more seeds to keep busy LOL.

My Sweet Williams or Pinks if you prefer and sunflowers still get to me

This thread reminded me of what I once heard an "expert" say while speaking to a gardening group. I don't remember his name, but I remember his telling us that it wasn't worth it growing perennials from seed. They're just "too tricky" and you might as well just buy them potted - "they're cheap", he said.

Hmmmmm...I can sow and grow an entire flat of most perennials for less than it costs for six 4" pots of them, supplies included. And I can find a much wider variety of perennials by seed than I can find in pots locally. And if I were to buy them in a catalog, I'd pay out the wazoo!

Plus....Plus I get the satisfaction of knowing I grew them myself! They're all my chillun'.

Aspholedine lutea is one of my fav's for 2001 ...... rated an 11 out of 10 for sure . Rock On !!!

While visiting some tropical gardens in Hawaii, I picked a few palms seeds off the ground, not really expecting any to survive. Surprisingly many did, and now, 5 years later, I have a pretty large Pritchardia, a very tropical fan palm, that is now 4' tall and looks perfect in my back yard, nestled among a large patch of bananas, gingers and spider lilies (also collected from seed or seedlings same trip). Unfortunately I don't which species of Pritchardia it is, and won't until it flowers (in maybe 15-20 years)... but I like it anyway.

I planted some seeds called none so sweet...Have no idea what these will look like, but it's been really fun watching them grow..Maybe I should post a photo??....meplant :) :)

I received seeds labeled "Kiwi" and they were rather large so I was suspect. I went ahead and grew them and it turned out to be "kiwi blue- Honeywort. They are the Coolest plants and I am SO GLAD they really weren't kiwi........

weebus

[ Removed by member request. - Admin ]

FOXGLOVES!! all varieties, looking just gorgeous! I can't help myself...every year I throw handfuls of foxglove seed down and they are just breathtaking planted in masses. I plant bright electric purple-blue delphiniums with them and yellow coreopsis and white flowering penstemmons. The combination makes my garden in the late spring, early summer! I also plant hundreds of nasturtiums every year but they flower later.

I would say everything that I grow,from Dahlia's from seed to the tubers I get to dig in the fall,To the geraniums that I grow and give to my mom and my mother-in-law
so they can have early flowers, to the veggies that I start and watch grow until they are big enough to eat.
Basically it thrills me every time I take a small seed and it turns into a plant that pays me back with a beautiful bloom or a great tasting something to eat and wipe the juices from my chin! Keith

Rose Campion (now blooming)! I had planted them 2 or 3 years ago and they never bloomed, so I moved them to a sunnier location. They are on fire now. I had so many that I planted quite a few out at a historic site because they are an old-timey plant and appropriate for the time-frame (no later than 1865). They are blooming there beautifully there too. I wonder why my cleome isn't growing well this year?

My Verbascum phoenicium (species and Southern Charm) are both blooming, as is my Centranthus. It's almost as good as watching your babies their first step!

Poppysue, you can't imagine the enjoyment I have been getting from "all" the poppies you sent me!! I had to have Mz Happy toes come out and see them for herself becuase they are just absolutely spectacular! every time I look at them, I am in awe of them and the wonder of life.....from such a tiny seed bursts forth such a huge and brilliant flower (the peony poppy).......Simply breathtaking...
I would advise everyone to plant these poppies, because they are just so beautiful.
I alo got some Lacinatum poppies and they too are show stoppers, I have some in salmon, deeo carmine red. I told Karma I wouls send her a photo and have her scan it and put it on the photo forum, cause they are really incredible.

anyway, enough of my rambling about poppies - again, I want to thank Poppysue for her generocity above and beyond the call, she sent me seeds 2 or three times this past year, cause I was sharing her seeds with my sister who I might add is not as excited about the poppies as I am, (something must be wrong with her...)

happy gardening to you all

Lets see, what did I plant from seed this year, bunches of poppy seeds from a mix. Some daylilly seed I hybridized for fun, and of course the ussual Brugmansia hybrids of mine. I have planted and hybridized Datura species as well, but I have never been that struck by them. If I had to pick one datura though, I would say the D. ferox or the D. metel black with a purple corolla on the inside as well as the outside would be two of my favorites out of that genus.
Finally to answer the question, I have been most impressed with my Brugmansia hybrids from seed. I do realize there is some confusion amongst people about Brugmansia and Datura so here goes a list of the different species of both and hybrid types of a few.List of Datura species--
D.stramonium
D. quercifolia
D. ferox
D. leichhardtii
D. discolor
D. ceratocaula
D. wrightii
D. metel
D. inoxia
----of course many of the datura species can be hybridized to one another so when dealing with a hybrid traits can vary.
Brugmansia species
B.aurea
B. versicolor
B. suaveolens
----all 3 of the above species can be hybridized to each other in any combination
---Brugmansia species continued----
B. arborea
B. sanguinea
B. vulcanicola
----all three of the above species of Brugmansia can be hybridized to each other and in any combination.
B. candida = B. aurea x B. versicolor hybrid
B. insignis = B. suaveolens x versicolor x suaveolens
B. flava = B. sanguinea x B. arborea
Mehrfachhybriden= B. aurea x B. suaveolens x B. versicolor
Examples of this last hybrid are the Solid Gold, Dr.Sues, Sunray, etc
.......If I were to say the one thing that attracts me to Brugmansia more than any other flower--it would be the fragrance hands down. I have never smelled any flower as overwhelmingly sweet as a good Brugmansia hybrid. One flower can often be smelled from over 35ft away by a smoker no less. A full tree has thousands of blooms cascading from it. Absolutely intoxicating. My first Brugmansia as a Jamaican suaveolens, the fragrance woke me up from just one bloom and I had to rush into the other room to look at it. Not only was it extremely fragrant, it was beautiful as well. Large waxy yellow flower, and to think that was just my first one. Well to make a long story short, I now have over 30+ different Brugmansia hybrids by other people and a few hundred of my own hybrid creations from seed. Yes, I still have my butterfly garden, hummingbird garden, a few poppies and rosebushes scattered around. A few daylillies as well. And yes I still hybridize them from time to time as I can't stand to see a flower not set a seed pod, but I don't grow Datura anymore. I spend most of my time growing and hybridizing Brugmansia. The Double Brugmansia in pinks, oranges, yellows and such are the delight now of many growers and these are definitly not the same as the double Datura. Much more fragrant, many more blooms, and the list goes on and on. As a rule, Brugmansia will not self seed while Datura will quite readily self seed. If you have 2 or more seedpods forming on a Brugmansia and you did not hand pollinate them with a different species or hybrid you can be sure you have a Datura and not a Brugmansia.
----Ahh, the wild florida poppies are blooming out here as well, large fields of them, pretty to look at but not much on fragrance....
Just a Brugmansia lover at heart,
Brugmansia