Favorite reseeders of mine are alyssum and black eyed susans. I keep poppy seeds and direct sow between Christmas and May. I direct sow larkspur as well.

calendula
campanula.bellflower .....B
cornflower
columbine....P
clarkia elegans
Cosmos
dianthus
chinese Forget-Me-Not
godetia
honesty.........B
feverfew
foxglove,.....B
Jupiter's Beard ....P
larkspur
lobelia....sometimes
Love-In-A-Mist
malva sylvestris.........P
mignonette
mullein ...giant weed
nasturtium
nemophila - Baby-Blue-Eyes
pansy
Rose campion..........P
salvia hominum
Shirley poppy
Snapdragon
Sweet Pea
stocks,
Wallflower

Hard to pick a favorite.

Libby

Foxgloves have done wonders in my garden. Still waiting for miacles from Hollyhocks.
Nasturtiums and Cosmos are my other favorites.
~Natalie

RubyB do you just sow them where you want them? Do you put any soil on them?

I like reseeders that follow one another. I pull one wave as it wanes, to let the next little seedlings have space and light.

Poppies start early spring along with Nicotiana.

Larkspur comes just ahead of BE Susans. I pull the Nicotiana that are the wrong color and cut the rest back to bloom again.
Black Eyed Susans OR Silene (catchfly) follow poppies and larkspur.
Periwinkles and Melampodium follow BE Susans. Rabbit Tobacco follows Silene.

Frost takes Periwinkles, Melampodium and Rabbit Tobacco.

Nell

I just bought some poppy and larkspur seeds today, so I'm hoping to get those going next year. I'm also planning to plant some periwinkles next year, because I've just been reading that they are a tough plant and will reseed. I love these lists.

Mary

Since I'm in a different zone, many of the flowers listed don't self sow for me. Larkspur, bells of Ireland, sometimes snapdragons, bachelor buttons, marigolds, cosmos, and of course, morning glories reseed in my gardens. I'm letting a foxglove go to seed in hopes of getting more.

I haven't grown honesty before, and I have some seeds. I forgot that it's a biennial, so instead of waiting until spring, do you know if I could plant them now, so they'll bloom next year? We have frost around the middle of October, and it's very hot right now, but I have lettuce coming up in the shade.
Sue

Are the seeds I buy this spring and summer going to be okay to use next spring? Or will I have to buy new ones? I thought they were only packaged for the current year and their "sproutability" decreases with time.

Also, can I sprinkle foxglove seeds this fall and hope for a bloom next spring? That would mimic the plant's natural course, but I am not sure of the timetable for bloom from seed.

Thanks for all of the great info above. I am making lots of lists!

I've really enjoyed this thread! Libby your list is quite interesting - I have several of the same, some that I can never get to grow, and some that I don't like because they are too prolific.

I try to limit my reseeders to one or two per bed, otherwise they completely take over.

Spring and early summer - violas - all colors

Redbed - amaranthus and red salvia - salvia won't bloom until late

Purple - verbena bonariensis fills in every crack and makes a "cloud" around the whole garden. It's quite ethereal and hard to capture in photos

Late Pink - cosmos and cleome

Gold - sunflowers

Can't grow For the life of me I have never been able to get larkspur, poppies, or snapdragons to reseed, even though they are supposedly effortless.

I would like to suggest 'annual candytuft'. They are short and neat. I planted some seeds several years ago and have never been without it ever since. It is rather polite though so I don't consider it a problem as it seems to stay in the area where it was first planted. I also love larkspur, although it didn't show up for me this year.
gg

I really want to winter sow this year. I know where I need color, fillers, etc. I've got to do my "deer research", but I think these will work without deer damage?

larkspur
nigella
poppies

What is the best online source for seeds?

Thanks,
Cameron

Phil - your seeds you bought this year will be fine for next spring. Many of us on this forum are also on the WinterSow Forum - come and join us and learn about WSing. I am pretty sure in your zone you can start foxglove now - I am going to in my zone. I have a couple of new varieties I want to try......

Lynne

Here is a link that might be useful: WinterSowing

Gotta Garden, V. bonariensis photographs best against a dark background. It is a poor reseeder for me, I've seen two plants. The original plants are perennial here, though.

It looks as if what reseeds well in your climate is opposite of what comes back well here.

Some Texas gardens report that Salvia coccinea is a pest for them. It's a sometimes reseeder for me, just enough for a minor show.

Nell

For me, the biennials have already come up and are fairly large plants already. They won't flower this year, even though they look large enough.

Libby

I left V. bonariensis off my list, but it's one that reseeds all over the place for me, maybe because I've put it on the compost when it was done, and I have to pull out what I don't want or give it away. I have also transplanted it, and I have some blooming in my new bed that I moved when they were small, the first week of June. I have had one or two survive the winter here, as well. They do stay pulled, once they are pulled, which is something I find out before planting anything. I had a bad experience with garlic chives where we used to live.

I am thinking about planting some annuals in the winter to come up in the spring. Is that what you are talking about, or is it so it can start growing in your warmer zones?
Sue

Cameron, most of the seeds I get, I trade for here on the Seed Exchange. You can get some really interesting seeds that way. And most traders are far more generous than the seed companies!

However, if I order seeds, I usually use Swallowtail Garden

or Pinetree (www.superseeds.com)

or Thompson & Morgan

Lisa

I order from Thompson & Morgan, usually when they have a 99 cent sale, but add in seeds I really want at full price while I'm ordering. I pay close attention to shipping charges and add or subtract to get the most shipping for my charge (i.e. take off a packet or two if those are pushing me over the nearest limit, shipping increases by $3.00 each increment.)

Sue, if you haven't checked out the Winter Sowing Forum, you might find a whole new world. It seems to be ideal for climates where there is winter snow cover.

Nell

I've had the best luck with seeds from Chiltern's Seeds, including getting lots of germination from the Meconopsis (blue poppies). Their website doesn't have much in the way of photos, but they do carry an enormous variety, and their prices are good for the amount of seed you get in a packet.

I've also ordered a lot of seeds over the years from T&M, with varying success, but enough that I keep ordering from them, especially now that I've learned to start seeds en masse in 4" pots sealed with a plastic baggie, they germinate much better that way! A friend also showed me how to chip lupine seeds, and now I get them to sprout in 2 days!

--Ron

I keep one bed that I let things reseed as they will. Early I have lots of poppies, then larkspur, rudbeckia hirta and Love in a mist. Next is verbena bonariensis and Purple Flamingo celosia. I enjoy the ornamental peppers that reseed for me. I could do without all the reseeding morning glories though.

Some of the ones I got surprised me; some just drove me nuts!

Ageratum - the white High Tide esp true to type, the blues got pinker

Snapdragons- the little short ones

Calendula - holy smokes! Look out!

Chinese forget-me-not (cynaglossum) - blue blue

Asiatic Day Flower came with a plant from Massachusetts. I didn't think it could grow here, but I love that blue flower

Summer Squash - hah!

Kind of expected: Violas, tomatoes, Joe Pye Weed, cosmos and wild New England asters

I love Swallowtail Garden seeds. One pack did not have a good germination rate and they sent me a new pack of seeds with no questions asked.

The most prolific annual reseeders in my yard are definitely balsam, nasturtium, morning glory and chocolate eupatorium (not sure if this is an annual). The eupatorium grows in the grass and we keep mowing it down and it keeps coming back. It's a pretty plant in the right place.

For me it was tomatoes this year... they came up all over the place....

I enjoyed the lists though, now I know some annuals I might get to come back the next year. :)

Karen

aren't reseeding annuals the best! ... *if it's free, it's for me* ... here are a couple pictures of my reseeders ...

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hope it's o.k. that i posted the pix here instead of on the conversation side ... whoops (sorry!)

Funny isn't it, how some reseed so well for some but not others. I've never been able to grow cleome from seed and certainly have never had the chocolate joe pye, nasturiums, snapdragons or calendula reseed for me.

anyone growing the (not wild) queen anne's lace? Does it reseed...within reason...not outrageously?

My favorite reseeders are: marigolds(I canot grow from seed that I have planted,but every year I have a new seedling),Hollyhock and Purple Mallow. My least favorite LambsEar and Morning Glory it taking over flower bed!

My favorite one this year is Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph'. It reseeds reliably for me and the hummingbirds love it.
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Hey, if the hummers love it, I love it!!!

I don't know that I have a favorite, but the ones that reseed for me here in z4 are:

kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (EVERYWHERE)
amaranthus (EVERYWHERE)
rudbeckia (EVERWHERE)
cosmos
4 o'clocks
alyssum
shirley poppies
california poppies
larkspur - but only one variety
nicotiana
calendula (EVERYWHERE, including on top of my firepit that is used for bonfires - it seems to be almost impossible to kill teh stuff)
viola (so pretty in spring, but really far too many of them in the lawn)
silene
balsam
impatiens
morning glories
cilantro
dill

Does anyone mix light sand (or some other fine substance) in with their seeds when sowing? I've read it makes it easier to seed those teeny, tiny seeds and you can see where you've been.

I have used the light sand with the teeny seeds and it works.

Good luck.

Teresa

I have reseeding envy. I would love to have some of the ones on your lists reseed for me.

Has anyone had Fan Flower (Scaevola aemula) reseed? I planted it for the first time this year after seeing it on "A Gardener's Diary" and it is a champ in the heat here. Seems to be drought tolerant too. Has beautiful bluish purple flowers that last a long time.