What kind of soil did you sow into, and was there mulch or gravel? Could erosion have carried your seeds away? Could birds or rodents have eaten the seeds? That unpredictability of nature is why I usually start all of my seeds using the wintersowing method. It isn't 100% guaranteed, but I know which seeds have sprouted and I can plant them exactly where I want them. I hope others can bring other ideas.

Martha

Sown into a bed I had just planted some bulbs in, no mulch or gravel

feverfew and nigella seeds are tiny I don't think birds would be interested, and cyniglossum seeds are little pokey "stickers"

ive had good luck with winter sowing, perhaps I should stick with that. The nigella I planted in very early spring did well but I prepared the bed specifically for it with a layer of seed starting mix on top and some low poly tunnels-- basically a large scale wintersowing :)

I was hoping fall sowing would just be easier, the self sown feverfew everywhere is awesome because there is no seed starting mix, gallon jugs, poly tunnels. They are 100% self sown, I just relocate or thin if required

be nice to know where you are ... and why you think an hardy annual is???

annuals should be sowed in spring ... they are annual ..

a hardy annual is a perennial ... and can be fall or winter sowed ...

some annual seed can over winter.. on the ground.. and sprout in spring ... if zone appropriate .... and vermin dont get them ...

ken

I'm in zone 5/6 30 mild south of downtown Chicago on the border of indiana and Illinois

i googled hardy annal fall sowing seed chicago and found a nice chicago tribune article from 1955. It talks about sowing annuals like sweet peas in a deep trench in November to get extra strong plants, early flowers. Looking for some personal experiences on this type of gardening here :)

I would think that unless you live on an iceberg or other place where there are no plants, fall sowing would be fine, because that's the way annual plants propagate themselves.

Perhaps the seed you collected to sow in fall was not ripe yet and that's why they did not germinate.It could also be that you planted them too early in fall so the seed sprouted and died in fall and was not held dormant until spring

Nasturtium and calendula are 2 plants that I can think of right now that do well when sown in fall. If I'm sowing in fall I wait until after we've had a hard frost

Nasurtiums can't take any frost so if they germinate and then get a freeze they won't survive. But since they self sow with abandon the seed itself is capable of overwintering in the ground and germinating when its ready. Nigella also self sows and is tough enough to overwinter as plantlets.

Nasturtiums self seed in my zone 3 garden and often get a mild frost in spring after they've germinated. Since I don't clean up my beds until spring it may be that other plants are protecting them or maybe they are hardier than you think. All I know is that I never plant them and they are always there

I sow a lot of hardy annuals - some are sown in pots to overwinter in a coldframe - especially if I do not have many seeds. Others are sown directly where I want them to grow. There is an enormous difference between autumn sown annuals and spring sown ones - a cornflower (centaurea annua) will flower a month earlier but will make an enormous plant - easily 4feet tall with hundreds of blooms. I frequently do a sowing under cover, a direct autumn sowing and another one in spring as I like a succession of flowers and am idle at deadheading. I am growing nigella bucharica, ammi majus, godetia, cerinthe, iberis, larkspur (consolida ajacis), gysophila kermesina, centaurea, red flax, echium plantagineum, eschscholzia, calendula, legousia, orlaya, phacelia, linaria, omphalodes linifolia, succisa pratensis, catananche, sweet peas and chicory. They germinate quickly (cornflowers and echium in 4 days) and will overwinter slowly, ready to explode into bloom when daylight hours permit. Half-hardy annuals (ipomea, cosmos, cleome, cobaens, tagetes are sown in March/April and as late as May/June for zinnia and salpiglossis.

dowlingram - Nasturtiums self sow on my allotment too and you are right that tiny seedlings can cope with a very light frost in spring but if they get a real freeze they are a slimy mush. So if they were to germinate before winter I really doubt they'd get through.

Thanks for the long list campanula! Quite a few are on my list, I'll make sure I have seeds on hand! How many weeks before first potential frost should I aim for seed germination? I'm sure some are 4 days and some are 4 weeks germination period

llcilall - if you haven't already, check out Lisa Ziegler's book "Cool Flowers". Its all about hardy annuals and has a great guide to all hardy annuals....started some snaps and Ammi a week or two ago and I'm about to direct sow some nigella, poppies, bupleurem and strawflowers..i also have some lisianthus seeds on a heat mat.

I've had great luck winter sowing nigella, poppies, rudbeckia, cleome, petunias (Laura Bush variety) and larkspur. It's so easy and best of all, they come back every year.