I would say I'd be surprised, since they are perennial tropicals and quite good sized plants , that they'd flower that soon from seeds, since most srubby plants do need to get a degree of maturity to start flowering, but haveing said that, I was also surprised to see my orange jessimines start flowering at just a few inches tall and a few months old , so I guess age isn't everything , when it comes to some types of plants flowering very early. If they're not expensive seeds, I'd give them a go anyway, and I've often considered growing one as a container plant here in my cold state, so I could move it indoors for the winter , and thus could enjoy one for years. I've not seen T&M offer them for years and that used to be the catalog where I saw them. Not found them since! They truly can look spectacular as large specimens from the photos I've seen!!

Eric, I'd have to say a definite 'no'--at least from the perspective of a SoCal gardener.

I have three plants of this one. My oldest one is the Mexican form with the fine hair-like prickles. When I first bought it at a nursery in Palm Springs I planted it out and it promptly died back to just a few inches above ground. It took another two years to finally kick in and put on decent growth that summer. Presently it is about three feet tall with gangly growth. It bloomed so-so last summer but bloomed really well the summer before that.

The other two are the more traditional forms that one usually finds in Florida. This is the Guatemalen form with the regular, rose-like prickles and the greener foliage. I've had these plants for two years now. They are about one foot tall. I've read where it says they grow very fast in Florida but that certainly is not the case here in SoCal.

Both forms retain their leaves for me through the winter and then lose their leaves briefly in the Spring.

I just don't think you are going to get what you are hoping for--especially living in Ohio.

-Ron-

Well, we'll find out. I have about 8 three-inch seedlings coming along.

Awhile back I posed a similar question about using Sesbania tripeti as an annual ornamental from seed, and had similar skeptical responses. The plants wound up blooming abundantly here beginning in August.

I was wondering the same thing, I got some seeds from a trade. I found this website that says it can be grown as an annual. I'd imagine you could grow it in a container and bring it in to a frost free area for winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata