I don't know how warm your weather is, but the gaillardia like heat. My toad lily seeds (from my own plant) got pretty good germination, but also waited until it warmed up. I have had problems with asclepias before - some seeds sprout like crazy and others not at all - I would give all of those more time.

Becky

Thanks for the info Becky. I didn't plan to give up on anything except maybe stokesia since this year is a repeat of the zero germination I got from those last year too! Since I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of slightly warm days we've had so far this spring, I was attributing the slow germination on some things to the cold. I just nudged up my thermostat because even with three layers, a warm shawl and a stocking cap, my hands were like a couple blocks of ice.

New England weather--you either love it or hate it but you generally can't ignore it.

Gaillardia "Orange&Lemons"
Blue scabiosa
"David" phlox
Goblin Gaillardia
Penstemon
Rosie O'Day alyssum
Heliothrope "Marine" is slow germinating and growing. Only a few sprouts in the milk jug.

Some showed up but only one or two sprouts germinated in the jugs. I even had problems with WS marigolds..I won't WS them next year..just direct sow them once May rolls around. Now they are germinating in my patio containers. Same way with coneflower..only a few sprouts..I think it had a lot to do with so much rain. Purple Dome aster fell apart in my hands and I couldn't get them transplanted so I pitched them. Don't like asters anyway. Disappointed that the Gaillardia's didn't germinate well. Hey, there's always another year!

pippi21 - germination % on my gaillardia was very low too altho' phlox 'David' was pretty good. G. 'Tokajer' I got 1 sprout in one jug, 3 in another and 5 or 6 in another. I sowed the seeds heavily and expected to see a lot more sprouts than the few I've got. Guess I should spring sow whatever seeds are left and be done with it. I've got so many jugs of penstemon and what looks like 100% germination on those so I shouldn't need to WS any next year. The Echinacea 'Pow Wow Wild Berry' seeds that were so expensive sprouted 70%--I had 49 seeds and have 34 sprouts with their first true leaves so far.

Ugg I had many no shows I think either I didn't have enough cold or the seeds were no good. I am going to keep my containers out and hope for next spring.

4 types of hellebore
American beautyberry
Rosa canina
Climbing blueberry i thought this germinated but now i believe it is a tree seedling that got in my container
Linaria vulgaris
2 types of geranium
Praire smoke
Fritillary persica spelling?
Pawpaw tree
Strawberry bush
Pulstella vulgaris spelling?
Ladybells
Passiflora unamed
Passiflora cearula
Hyssop
Spiderwort

More that I keep peering in on that aren't coming to mind. I will say this though out of the 4 online seed sources I purchased from my best germination came from trade winds and cherry gal. Yep I said cherry gal, I didn't care for her service but her seeds have awesome germination rates. Only thing I will ever buy from T's are the herbs everything else was very poor rates. Trade winds is my fav online dealer that I dealt with this year. Summer hill i will not be back.

The vast majority have, but I'm a bit disappointed, as many of the ones I was really looking forward to didn't (or haven't yet) germinate.

So far, no:

-Baptisia
-Anemone Leveillei
-Amsonia Tabernaemontana
-Anemone Canadensis
-Astilbe Showstar
-Phlox Maculata
-Phlox Drummondii Fantasy mix
-Stokes Aster

Ditto on the low germination of gallardia. Also low is the forget me nots.

No show:
-black columbine (trade)
-peach annual snapdragon (pilfered :-)

serenae - I can vouch for Stokes aster being a tough seed to germinate. This is my second year trying from seeds I harvested myself toward the end of November when they were so ripe they actually fell out of the dried seedpods. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The only Stokes aster seeds that have germinated for me are 'Blue Danube' seeds I got in a trade. Looks like I got 100% germination on those.

I'm so thrilled my baptisia from my own harvested seeds have also germinated 100%. I have lots of places to plant them and look forward to having a goodly number of them in bloom every year. All my established plants are heavy with flowerbuds so it won't be too long before the show begins.

Echinacea. 4 different types. Nary a sprout. Am trying again 2 different ways: #1: Fold into damp paper towel inserted into plastic baggie and chill in fridge for 2 months to simulate a mild winter. #2: Direct sow in pots outside with the only cold treatment being my still-cool spring nights.

Did I mention I can be a little stubborn?

The two Im really disappointed about are my paw paw and my rhubarb,I so wanted those.

Zero Germination- 4 o'clocks, zinnias, morning glory, money plant, aster, capers.

Minimal Germination- hollyhocks, liatris, burgundy gaillardia, columbine, armeria, breadseed poppy,

Surprise Germination - jack be little pumpkin, sunflowers, tomatoes, hot peppers, cardoon, kmotgg.

Just goes to show you can't bank on what's gonna do well.

No Liberty Snapdragons. I bought the seeds a few years back, so they were at least three years old, but were in an airtight package and stored very well too. I would have expected something, but not nothing ;-(

About 25% of the tom cups are always late to germinate. This is actually normal because I sow so many of them and many of them are so old too. New seeds always sprout like a charm, but some of the older seeds have low germination and what does come up is annoyingly staggered. I looked at my stash of wannabe-cups and see that five or six of them have sprouted in the last few days.

Not a one hosta seed, but the batch was years old. I have more seeds from my own garden in a tray up in the attic, I gathered them last year. I suppose I could do a spring sow, but I need another hosta like I need a third elbow. I'm dissapointed but relieved.

I'm choosing not to call them no shows, just 'not showing yet' ;)

Rodgersia, but our Spring has been so stupidly cool, those could still come.

Meconopsis wallichii, sort of like blue poppy on steroids that I've never tried. Plant World sent a note with the seeds that if grown to flowering they would buy seeds back - so I made a note to generously send them some in about 2 yrs - I don't know I will have that option :( but I haven't given up.

Agave germinated and surprised me - If they can take our chilly wet spring and continue to grow, that is. Another inch of rain yesterday.

I have had 101 of 108 containers sprout so far. No show yet from -

Viola pedata
Monarda 'Bergamo'
Zizia aurea - got 1 sprout from these seeds 2 years ago, just hoping to get one more plant

About 1/2 the Mertensia virginica (VA Bluebells) sprouted, 1/2 didn't. 4 out of 5 Columbines have sprouted. One Origami (Blue & White) hasn't sprouted yet. Wouldn't you know, that's the color I want the most.

Those with Paw Paw--I've read that the seed will first send down a root into the soil, and by August or so, the seed will send up the top. So in August, keep an eye out for any signs of life in your Paw Paw containers. If nothing, give them another year.

I have a lot of containers of no shows or just a couple or few sprouts too. I check them almost everyday, but I think some just need the heat for several days/weeks to do anything (which we haven't had much of), and others need two years. I won't toss anything and keep my containers in the shade, but I think I need to add more holes in the sides for ventilation. I'm getting a lot of moss and algae growing in my jugs.

Karen

Lots of columbine no shows (yet anyway) two kinds of rudbeckia (becky and something else.. while the Irish Eyes and tribola have plenty of sprouts), poor germination on trade calendula seed, hollyhocks are germinating but not many,Ligularia nothing yet......

Surprising germination _LARKSPUR - lots and lots. Maybe this is the year, after trying for 4 years, that I can get these esablished!

Gardenweed - did you get any germination on the Astilbe like you sent to me? I have only one sprout, tiny, and I think it might be a hitch hiker! Looks suspitiously like a pertunia seedling.

Biggest disappointment is the very poor germination on my nasties, but I am hoping if it EVER really warms up here they will come..............

Biggest thrill - - Red vinca seed I'd saved from a putchased plant

I have a lot of no-shows this year. Very disappointing. I'm wondering if my seed stock is too old, but you'd think I'd get a few sprouts - I have about 40 jugs without a single sprout in them.

Some ageratum, feverfew, calendula (surprising!), sweet william, several marigolds (another surprise!), nigella, scabiosa, statice, alstromeria (no surprise there - never had luck with this!) and most disappointingly, 15 jugs of chinese asters.

The weirdest/most frustrating thing is that these are all things (especially the asters) which I had amazing beginner's luck with, and which seem to be giving me a harder and harder time with each year that I sow them.

Oh, and of course, KMOTGG....

Dee

These are No shows:

1. Butterfly weed
2. Blackberry Lily ( I suspect snails eaton the sprouts)
3. Datura
4. Salvia - Forest Fire
5. Nicotiana
6. Hemerocallis ( I got 3 germinating out of 27 seeds)
7. Nicotiana (I believe I wash the seeds out
8. Bee Balm Monarda (I've WS 3 packs) No shows.
9. Delphinuim's

10. Bells of Ireland
11. Lambs Ear
12. Clerodendrum trichotomum (Harlequin glorybower)
13. Allium White (Mnt. Everest)
14. Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)
15. Gayfeather (Liatris Spicata)
16. Alternanthera 'Purple Knight
17. Lady's Mantle - Thriller
18. Agastache - Pink Pop
19. Passion vine -Red Star
20. Zinnia's - Jazzy Mix (3 sprouts)

Ladyrose - I am curious where you got your Hemerocallis seeds and how you sowed them? I had good luck with some Daylily seeds I got from a poster on the Seed Exchange, but she specifically said not to winter-sow them.

I had complained earlier that the gaillardia had not germinated. I tried one more time (4th container) and they've all germinated!

Also - Lavender, which I thot I had only 40-50% germination, which is still more plants than I would have had - well now it seems like every lavender seed is germinating, and I'm going to have to find homes for them.

I did have a couple of no-shows, I already dumped those containers and I don't remember what they are.

Patience I would say.....

el

nan6161 - I do have astilbe sprouts from the seeds I harvested which are the same ones I sent you as far as I know. It took them a long time but it looks like I got very good germination from them. I think lots of stuff just hasn't hit the magic combination of light, moisture and temperature yet because the temperature has been consistently COLD/ARCTIC/froid/can we say Brrrrrrrrrrr? I wore my winter coat to work today it was so cold. Hell-o!! According to the calendar, Spring arrived almost two months ago.

I will stay hopeful on the Astilbes!!! Do you have a pic of the sprouts you master photo taker you? Maybe I will learn sprout I have is NOT a hitch hiker.

Gardenweed, too funny. I wore mine to dinner Saturday night. I love my winter coat but I'm so tired of it right now, I've seen it almost daily for the last 7 months.

IRIS take aloooooooooooooong time, keep watering it, helps to break dormany. The only think Im disappointed so far is yellow columbine. The seeds were leftover from last years, I dunno if the one I planted came back yet. We'll figure it out when they bloom I guess.

There are some others were this container germinated but the other container with the same seeds didnt. go figure.

i think about 35% of my container didn't sprout. of course, the ones i cared about the most didn't-- the hellebores :( i am saving the containers and all the others that didn't sprout. honestly, i don't remember what the other ones are and haven't looked at my list. i got sporadic germination with hollyhocks, but most of the others the containers are pretty full of seedlings. some are looking a little yellowed so i'm starting to fertilize but with all this rain i can't plant out yet-- too fragile to deal with the deluges we keep getting!

nasturtiums and 4:00 seed rot easily in my experience so maybe that was a problem for those of you in rain-stricken areas? daylily seeds will rot too. i have very good luck with all the various techniques i did with the daylily seeds, but i've read in several places that they can take a while to sprout, so don't give up hope. some seeds are just more stubborn than others i guess!

Terrene, I got the seeds from Diane's and Trade. I put a lot of them in the Asian soup cups. (No Good) They shriveled to almost nothing. However, the seeds I put in Jugs are starting to sprout. I've got 5 so far.

Now I got a snail and cutworm problem. Insecticide.

ladyrose, I have a great fix for cutworms. Flashlight, your oldest pruners. Snip. They don't 'divide' well ;)

DH will say, I've cleaned and sharpened your pruners, I don't know how you get so much pitch on them. Little does he know it's not pitch.

nan-6161 - the astilbe sprouts were still way too tiny to get a photo last time I looked but as soon as they get a bit of size to them I'll snap one and email it to you.

Heavy rain and still cold here so I don't expect to see many more new sprouts until the sun comes out and the temp goes up a few degrees. I carried 100+ containers inside the garage to dry out and moved as many more as I could fit under the covered part of my breezeway. The rest I just covered with a really hideous shower curtain that I thumb-tacked to the side of my garage.

The good news is there are buds on my dianthus, painted daisies & centaurea montana from WS seeds last year, the lupines I grew via WS are also heavy with buds that are gradually opening to pink and reddish-pink flowers. It's gonna be a very colorful year from the way it's shaping up.

My only no show was viola odorata "The Czar" -- nary a sprout. My sweet rocket, tarragon, and cilantro were a bit sparse but did produce a few sprouts. I think maybe it was too wet a season.

Every year I make a photo. diary of my garden. In comparing today, I realized we are a whole month behind last year. Today some of my Columbines,(usually easy germinators) started to sprout, and my butterfly weed (usually a great grower) has just produced about 4 seedlings, and my Echs. (about 6 varieties) are now beginning to break through the soil. We have one day of sun forecast for tomorrow, followed by four days of rain. And this is the long weeked when we do most of our planting. My worry is that my toms. and peppers are ready to be hardened off but it is still too cold at night. I figure what's the use of hardening off if I can't plant them out. Patience!! I recently read a quote to the effect: "Nature takes its time, but gets it all done". So true!!

I have other no shows but I'm really bumming over no shows on my bleeding hearts and coral bells. I planted both in a half size lasagna pan and was pretty heavy on the seeding so I'm hoping sprouts will be coming.... Hosta babies and astilbe babies are just so darn CUTE!!!!

My no shows/slow goers so far are

Salvias
verbenas
petunias a few different kinds I think the dampness got to some of them
columbine native
mexican petunia jug got dropped
calla lily mix I so wanted these
cannas (they love heat so more time)
hibiscus ( again heat lovers)
texas bluebonnets
Aster grego/crego mix
torenia suzy wong
japanese maple
hardy glozina pink
agastache pink pop
penstemon huskers red
ganzia from different trades
coneflower pow wow wild berry

But I am waiting for the rain to go away from more than a day or two to dump any of the jugs except for the mexican petunia and more seeds for that one.

But I do have plenty other starts to take the places of those who have not germinated yet.

Paula

Northerner, last year was an unusually warm Spring and we about 2-3 weeks ahead of normal. Things are blooming on a more normal time frame this year. I checked pictures of my Serviceberry for dates when it was in full bloom (it has a short bloom period).

2007 - May 4th
2008 - May 5th
2010 - April 15th!
2011 - May 2nd

I've still got pretty much the same no-shows, but at I'm happy that one of the Blue & White Origami Columbines has sprouted. Columbines are pretty slow though! I'm thinking about Spring-sowing some more Aquilegia caerulea 'Mixed Colors', to replace some of the reseeders that I'm not too thrilled with.

1/2 of my containers didn't grow. No agastache, few penstemon, few gaillardia, no zinnias, some marigolds, some salvia. Lots of scabiosa, celosia. Thank goodness I direct sowed lots of extra marigolds. They're doing OK. I also took some extra zinnia seeds and direct sowed them just 2 days ago. I am disappointed, after having great success last year.

My no shows are
Yellow eyed grass
Penstemon confertus
Penstemon strictus
Penstemon eatonii
Sweetpea matucana
Sweetpea old glory
Veronicastrum virgincum
Astrantia major

Really bummed about yellow grass and astrantia major. I have an enough seed leftover to try again next winter.

I have a Paw Paw sprout! Also, my Virgina Snakeroot has been sprouting slowly but surely over the course of the last two months. Some have grown big enough to handle, still once in a while I see a new one pop up. Those will remain in the jugs until fall when it's a bit cooler to plant out. Also, over the past few weeks, it looks like my American Beauty Berry seeds are sprouting, slowly like the Virginia Snakeroot. Others have been no shows, some I know won't make an appearance and I'm going to dump, the others I'm still going to hold onto hope that if they don't sprout this year, then maybe next year.

Karen

Just discovered tonight a second Paw Paw is sprouting. Yay! Maybe all four seeds will sprout!

Karen

Some of my former "no shows" finally sprouted too!! Congrats on your Paw Paw sprouts!! Patience is a gardener's virtue for sure (altho' I dumped out a lot of my no shows a month ago). I'm seeing much higher germination summer sowing a few things. Next time I'll WS the things that do well in the cold and wait to summer sow the ones that need the heat.

penstemon - slow to grow; very low germination
coleus - slow to grow; minimal germination
impaties - slow to grow; minimal germination
Bells of Ireland - minimal germination
marjoram (..oregano); finally did..(after it got set aside and 'forgotten about' for ~3 weeks or so) very very slow to germinate and to grow

side note.. (Some gourds and morning glories survived extreme harsh conditions over 30+ days.. ended up in other containers - doing well!)

Update on the echinacea... The Extra seeds I sowed in May sprouted and look good although short. so apparently they don't need much of a cold period.