I'm a long way from Australia, but I have grown lisianthus from seed, and they do, indeed, grow VERY, VERY slowly.

I started seeds indoors under lights in January, which was obviously not early enough. Planted outdoors in early June, they only started to bud up in early October and no flowers had opened by the time frost hit a couple of weeks later. I knew they didn't have a prayer of surviving a Minnesota winter, so I potted three of them up and overwintered them in a sunny west window. It wasn't easy, they looked awful, but perked up in spring. I planted them outdoors around June 1 and they were in bloom by early July and were quite spectacular the rest of the growing season.

Since then I've bought plants. For me they grow best in rich, moist but well-drained soil and benefit from a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day. The ones I planted in sandy, poorer soil never did much in terms of growth or blooms. I fed mine with an extended release fertilizer with a high middle number.

I think in very mild (no frosts/light frost) areas they might be perennials. They are bred, I believe, from a native perennial Colorado wildflower, so I think your cool nights should be very good for them.

I hope others with a climate more similar to yours offer you information/advice. Good luck!

Kate

Many thanks for that Kate. 18 months from seed to bloom - wow! Not for the impatient gardener then. I shall leave them as they are for another couple of months and if there's still not a lot happening I'll transplant half of them into better soil and TRY to be patient!

I start them in January and get blooms in July. I start them under lights with a heat mat for 16 hours. The lights and heat go off together. The seeds germinate in about a week. After germination I take the off heat and continue with 16 hours light, ordinary fluorescent lights that is, around 68 degrees or whatever my basement temp is. The seedling do stay as little rosettes for several months but once outside in good, light soil with a little more than 6 hours direct sun and ample water i get a nice middle of the summer bloom.
BTW I'm in zone 7 Central New Jersey.

Many thanks jimcnj. Now that Spring is well and truly on it's way they do seem to be growing just a little bit faster. (it's all relative though!) I will just have to follow my instincts a bit here I think. At least they are green and NOT DEAD!

Greetings from Long Island New York! I share your love for these beautiful flowers...I do not have the space to start them from seed in January. My only way of having them is to buy them as seedlings through the mail. I found them at Burpee's and bought 12 plants. I will not get into the condition of the plants when they arrived...but will get to the bottom line:

They took forever to get going..I planted them in late May...the plants stayed very small until around mid-July. At that point they started to grown and bloom.

Personally I feel the extra effort was worth it...they are just divine and do look like blue roses. I will probably go through the trouble again because they are so different.

For me they're annuals. Right now it's getting cooler and I'm getting the garden ready for Fall...winter hardy pansies are replacing my annuals. It's killing me to pull out the lisianthus but that's gardening!

Ciao,
OITGAD

Many Thanks OITGAD (love that BTW). They are really starting to grow now and one is even about 7 inches tall. Yahooooooo! We are now up to about 21C (70F) during the day already and it's supposed to be a long hot summer.

One is being eaten by something, not sure what as they are all in the same barrel and the others show no damage. The edges of the leaves look like they are being chewed and it has gone from being the healthiest plant to the weakest. I might give it a quick spray with pyrethrum (eeek).

Can't wait to see the flowers!

Reilly in Oz

Hi there,
I saw them at last years flower show in 2010. I am planning to buy a whole heap this year. The lady I spoke to said they need lots of sun. The more sun the better. That's why i didn't buy them on the spot because I wasn't sure where to put them as I have an east/west block.

I have decided to pull out 3 plants in the front yard and stick them in there. The lady said free draining soil, if in a pot, a deep pot at least 50cm. if in Melbourne's clay soil dig out the clay to over 50cm and fill with soil. NO MULCH. and LOTS and LOTS of Sun.

I bought (no problem in NSW) lisianthus from Bunnings last spring & have had gorgeous flowers since, they are still flowering but recent HOT weather, then rain then HOT again has knocked them around a bit, the flowers look cooked. But I have always dead headed them& they kept on producing. I now want to know how to aftercare for them once there are no more flowers.

I've taken pictures in Hill Country area of Texas, of them growing and flowering profusely as native wildflowers in a limestone rich dry unshaded field. The flowers don't show their best in that heat/dry, but they do live and grow.