It takes a year of growing for the plants to become mature. If you are wanting instant gratification from perennial flowers you might want to consider buying some 4" or gallon pots to plant. Otherwise just go with some annual flowers.

Thanks! I'll pick up some more annuals to compensate.

Canterbury Bells are biennials so they will flower next year but then quite likely die (sometimes they hang on another season or two.) Your other three are perennials and will perform for years. All three are easy to transplant so if you move you can take them with you.

It's so strange...I had always thought they were biennials, too...but then the Burpee package said that they were annuals. ARGH! I'll have to read them more carefully next time.

Start your plants and take them with you to bloom the year after.

Here is a link that might be useful: Starting Seeds Indoors

Those that are marked 365 days until bloom may need a period of "cold stratification," that is 60 to 100 days of exposure to moisture and temperatures below 40 degrees, just to germinate, and then a period of growth, perhaps more than one season, to flower. You could try putting them in the fridge in baggies and moist sand or seed-starting mixture for a couple of months, sow them under lights or outdoors, and pray. I think that's the only way you'll get germination this year, at least with the lupine. Coneflower may germinate without stratification (or not) but not sure how fast it will flower. You can probably find this out by googling the name of the plant and "cold stratification." Also this forum probably has general information about stratification procedures.

Start your seed. Transplant them into pots. Before planting them in the ground, repot them in bigger pots. Then plant them pot and all. (I planted Shasta daisies last year from 4 in. pots. This year, they almost double in size.) Then when you move, you can pull the pots out very easy. Just by a cheap bag of soil to fill the holes. No one will know.

I planted fancy color coneflower this year. They are still tiny. I guess they will flower next year.

Thanks so much, everyone! NHARDY, I will absolutely take your advice.

I planted some of these this year too!

I have started Shasta from seed and gotten a few blooms the first year. The second year was full bloom. The third year I divided them. Did not need to plant more this year.

The Coneflower did not bloom at all the first year. The plants were very small. The second year I had a few blooms. This will be the third year and I hope they will be more prolific. Planted more from seed this year to fill in where the puppy dug them up.

Lupine and Canterbury Bells this year from seed. The Lupine are growing huge. Somewhere I read they could (hope) bloom this year. The Canterbury Bells were planted at the same time and they are tiny. Unless they make a serious sprint here soon, they won't bloom this year for sure.

Holly Hocks are supposed to be biannual but I had a few bloom the first year.