Patreesh - I put in a row on 4/26. They like it very cool, and still take their own sweet time germinating. Mine were showing on 5/12. They are still not very big, but I'm attributing that to my lack of soil prep. I think it might me kinda late to start them now for us Zone 5ers.

I don't know about fall planting. Have you checked the winter sowing forum to see what they do?

ThinMan

Thanks ThinMan (love the name and the movies). I'm new to this site so I didn't realize there was a winter sowing forum. I just bought/planted 30 larkspur but was thinking about saving a little dough and trying my luck with seeds this fall.

PATREESH THEN YOU DEFINATELY NEED TO COME ON OVER TO THE WINTER SOWING FORUM AND IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
MOONPHASE

patreesh - if you have planted over 30 larkspur and they bloom - problem solved - they reseed like crazy and you should have them forever....

that being said I also agree with moonphase - check out the Wintersowing forum - it will change your gardening habits forever.....

Lynne

Here is a link that might be useful: WinterSow forum

Hi Patreesh,
I believe larkspur has a reputation for not transplanting well, so if you wintersow, you might want to put some directly into the garden as well ("insitu").
I planted larkspur in the garden last fall, (October, I think. A zone 5 friend told me to plant in August, but I didn't have luck with that for some reason). We had a crazy spring of warm and then horribly cold temps, but still some little guys survived. Most are about 8" tall now, but I have one that's 12" and another that's 19" tall!

I didn't sow any more seed this spring but I was planning to sow some this morning and will make another planting in a few weeks to have larkspur blooming until very late summer. I don't really know when the latest planting can be for our zone 5 to have blooms this year. You'll probably find people that have larkspur blooming well into September or longer.
My POINT (at last) is to say I don't think we are limited to spring planting, but I'm no expert, that's for sure.

Happy planting how ever you decide to do it!
PattiOh

Patreesh, I would definitely listen to Patti on this. She may say she's no expert, but she knows a ton. I know far less and jumped in because when I saw your post I was so excited to see something that I actually knew a little tiny bit about, that I just started typing away. This is the first year I've tried larkspur.

ThinMan

Haha TMan! I was just coming on to tell Patreesh to listen to YOU! I spoke to someone at our local nursery this morning who said OK to plant now, but don't bother doing it later on. Too hot. And even this planting now will not be as nice as the earlier ones, but still worth giving a try as they are so lovely. I am still learning a lot ESPECIALLY about larkspur!
Patti

Larkspur grows quite well from self seeding :) You should be able to direct sow in the early spring. Down here I would suggest to sow in the fall. In Oklahoma they will germinate in the fall, be green all winter, and be one of the first of the spring flowers. Mine are bloomed and gone now.

Lisa

If you have access to plenty of seeds, you might go ahead & scatter some out. My larkspur are blooming now, but some will reseed & I will have more plants later. Seems like I have some in bloom all summer along. As already mentioned, if you get one plant to bloom, you will have larkspur continually. I have no problem with wintersowing & planting out, but they do take time to adapt after planting out. I collected some seed from one I don't remember planting last fall & wondering if the new plants will resemble the parent. The flowers were blue with bright pink spashes. They are just now starting to grow a bit.

Lol on all of this - I planted some larkspur seed outside on Memorial Day weekend. I haven't seen any yet, so the verdict is still out...

Thanks to all of you! I'm laughing too Irene. What a pleasant bunch of folks. I'll take a little advice from each of you - check out winter sowing, throw some seeds in in the spring, throw some seeds in in the fall, and see what, if anything, reseeds from those I have already planted!

doh! I think I made a mistake and sowed some now. Am I doomed? Seems like I may be. Oh well i guess I can buy some more in the fall? Are seeds as readily available in the fall at places like home depot or lowes?

I love larkspur, it's one of my favorites and sooo easy...I'm zone 8b, coastal south, I just throw the seeds out and come springtime my beds are full of color...

Cindy

I've not had any luck with late Spring or early Summer sowing. Seems mine always did best with Fall sowing. I never tried early Spring.

Teresa

jqpublic,

You may or may not be able to get seeds in the fall, so maybe you should go ahead and buy them now while you can.

I have two packs that I am saving back to sow in September. I may buy several more packets besides. I especially love the blue ones, and just like "lisa_h" wrote, it is best to sow them in the fall or late summer in our zone so you will have the blooms in the spring.

~ sweetannie4u

I'm glad I found this post. My seed order just came and I was wondering if it was too late to put in the Larkspur seeds. Will they still be good if I hold on to them and winter sow them next year? If I try a few this spring, do you really have to let them sit in the fridge before you plant them? Thanks!! I'm in PA, zone 5 I think