Did you do anything to check the tempurature? Do you have a seed starting box with a heating mat?

I've been trying for as long as I remember. I able to germinate other things readily -- herbs, annuals, perennials -- but not parsley.

ahm, carrots and parsnip

I garden in an alottment and dont manage to go there daily,

so far what I could read up on and ask around is that they do germinate slowly and demand permanent/ stable moisture in the soil

I still want to try out to cover a row with paper/ cardbox as "mulch"

Are you using fresh seed? I think parsley seeds don’t save well. I now buy new seed every year.

Last year, I tried scabiosa, trollius and astrantia. Nothing came up, that was a dissapointment. They were all fresh seeds too.

I have a lot of seeds started that came up better than expected with no heat mat except nasturtiums , morning glories, and butterfly pea vine. I used old seed for the first two, nicked and soaked them. Nothing. Then I bought new seed of those two and just soaked them overnight. Some of the morning glories came up but no nasturtiums. Maybe it gets too cold at night in my house. Maybe when it warms up more I'll try again. Last few years I've had no problems with nasturtiums though they don't come up well for me with direct sowing.

funny, nasturtium grow and seed willingly around here for me

even the fancy, compact cultivars do grow

but somehow only the ones with long vines and mostly high-viz orange-colored flowers make it in the long run. I like them as light ground covers around young berry shrubs and just pull them in iffy places.

the verly first light frost turns them into mush though, but in small quantities

Well, I'm seeing a tiny bit of nasturtium seedling poking up. Maybe there will be others. It's the long vining type...Fordhook Favorites. Most if not all of the nurseries we used to have that had lots of interesting plants closed. We have big stores left and the selection of small plants is not that good. The seed companies have a great selection, and varieties I've never seen around here. Plus I like how many seeds Swallowtail sends, and have been happy with Baker Creek and Select Seeds too.

I can't grow Lady's Mantle or Delphiniums to save my soul. Always fresh seed. I can grow anything else.

Shiso. It'll self sow in the yard, no luck starting it indoors.

Parsley always has a very low germination rate for me too, and I always use fresh seed. I sowed some a few days ago, so we'll see how I do. :)

I never had problems germinating nasturtiums until I read that they need light to germinate and therefore shouldn't be fully covered when sown. And then very shortly after that, I read that they need darkness to germinate, so be sure to fully cover them when sown. lol! Apparently my seed decided not to like either choice, and I do better with self-sown. :)

Still don't know the trick for either campanula or japanese anemone. These days. When I was a newbie, I could germinate campanula all day long, everyday. I have tried multiple sources and methods. Nada. Have both in the fridge ready to come out in another week. I hope that helps. Crossing fingers, and tired of trying. I can germinate anything else.

I have quite a number of total fails, rob333. Just as well as I would be overwhelmed. Campanulas are always a bit iffy for me. I managed a single c.trachelium and currently have spotted some minuscule seedlings of c.bononiensis and c.tatrae,,,whereas persicifolia is practically a weed (but always welcome). Never attempted Japanese anemone as it is easier to chop off a bit of the rhizome. I will say I have generally been loyal to seeds and nothing like as comfortable taking slips or cuttings (unless salvia).

I have also noticed that some seeds are really resistant to germinating in potting mix, much more amenable to direct sowing, which I generally put down to beneficial microlife in the soil. I know there has been a thriving mycorrhizal industry, but in an extremely unscientific experiment, I have added a bit of allotment topsoil. to pots of recalcitrant seedlings.

I never come anywhere close to 100% germination...in a good year, I might get 80% but many,many of these will fall by the wayside over the course of a growing season.

I had some 15 year old seeds for Garden Peach tomato, so I decided to sow it all, not expecting much. I figure I got 150% germination rate. lol! and they were healthy seedlings so I gave them all away. :)

For me it is delphinium (the perennial type). None germination. On the other hand, larkspur is quite easy.

Peach leaved campanula, persicifolia, germinated very well for me this year. Seedlings are so tiny but I potted up a six pack or two of them and still have some left. Hope they'll make it in my garden. My seeds were from Swallowtail. I didn't refrigerate them . Used Jiffy seed starter mix to sow them in.

I might try mixing some garden soil with seed starter mix for nasturtiums.

Rosaprimula said,

"I have also noticed that some seeds are really resistant to germinating in potting mix, much more amenable to direct sowing, which I generally put down to beneficial microlife in the soil. I know there has been a thriving mycorrhizal industry, but in an extremely unscientific experiment, I have added a bit of allotment topsoil. to pots of recalcitrant seedlings."

That's interesting and I'm wondering if that theory might apply to why my plain ol' species phlox paniculata reseeds just fine but when I try to save seeds and get interesting colors from my coral phlox, the germination rate is so low it's frustrating. Maybe I should just stop collecting seeds and let them fall.

Back when mycorrhizal amendments (granules) were gaining traction for home growers, it was recommended to directly apply the granules to the roots. I have been seeing a lot of internet advice suggesting they may be of use in germination. I reserve judgement as I don't actually use mycorrhizal granules myself but I do think there are symbiotic relationships between bacteria, fungi, nematodes and seeds (and growing plants). I do sow my seeds in soil (using a recipe formulated by the John Innes Institute, https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/what-is-john-innes-compost/

It has been sterilised to kill deleterious microlife...but also beneficial organisms...so, in an extremely unscientific way, I add a trowel of friable soil from the undisturbed area under the sorbus at the end of my plot. Some seeds will germinate in crack in the sidewalk, almost overnight, while some need careful coaxing through several cycles of warm, wet, cold, dry and can take YEARS to get going. I look to nature as a guide - extremely profligate which massive levels of redundancy, so I don't give myself grief for fails but will have several attempts for desirable plants.

Browallia. Some germinate but they just die before producing first or second set of true leaves. I have tried a few times with same results. I have grown many plants with tiny seeds- petunias, torenias, lobelia erinus- without a hitch but Browallia has me stumped.

Yep, that was one of my fails too (Browallia). I wasn't mad keen enough to try it again (it certainly didn't seem to be an 'easy annual' (my usual choice at this time of year). By all accounts. that ship has sailed since the much beloved grandiflora seems to have been swapped out for b.americana (in most catalogues)...not that I would know having managed to grow neither.

Browalia for me too. Though i had luck in the past. This year they germinated okay, then sat there doing nothing. I sometimes find them hard to find at the nurseries, so thought I’d grow my own. Guess I’ll be searching again.

I used to grow Browallia way back when when it was readily available from the seed houses ("Bell" series). Never had any trouble with germination, but the seedlings usually just sat there not doing much of anything until I hardened the tiny things off outdoors - once outdoors BAM! they took off they gangbusters. Never did figure that one out.

Botanical Interests used to have one off the rack (Lady-something or other) that I could not get to germinate for the life of me.

I neglected to take cuttings of the Proven Winners one I had the past couple years. It's hard to find locally, if the one nursery that usually has it is sold out well too bad then that's it.

My big fail was with rhodochiton (purple bell vine). I was going to try again this year since it looks so interesting, but now being reminded about the struggle, I feel quite exhausted and may just plant another clematis instead if I get the vine bug.

Ligularia was a fail for me. The funny thing is in the garden I have never had a seedling from L. Desdemona yet L. Britt-Marie Crawford produces many self sown seedlings. I have to remove them because they are not as dark foliaged as the original.

Guess what I have?! I see anemone cotyledons. Woohoo!

There is some phrase about parsley seed going to hell and back before germination - lol. For years, I've been soaking in a small jar of water for a couple hours, then sticking the jar in the freezer. Pull out the next day, let thaw, and sow seeds in potting mix. I've used very old seed, and I always get seed to sprout. it still takes 1-3 weeks for them to sprout. Don't give up!!!!!!!

I bought some fresh parsely seed, sowed it a few days ago. Will see if buying fresh makes any difference. I've used fresh in the past and still couldn't get it to germinate, so I'm not too optimistic. Although, I must be because I keep trying. LOL!

Parsley can take a few weeks to get going, even at optimum temperatures. It will germinate eventually.

I have a pot of parsley I keep on my deck, in addition to some in the garden. They're usually some left at the end of the season, that I use all winter long. Since they're biennials, I tend to toss another handful of seeds on top at some point during the winter. This pot actually had three or four plants in there until the squirrels got a hold of it. All you can see is the remnants of one teeny tiny little plant left with the seedlings for this year. So I would guess, they probably like it a lot cooler. We don't have terribly cold winters here but they're not warm either.

In my hobby of breeding zinnias, to speed things up, I pick those plump green seeds. But the green seeds are very slow to germinate if I plant them as I have removed them from the seed head. That was very frustrating because I wanted to get the seeds to grow as quickly as I could. It occurred to me that the problem was that the green seed coat was water-proof, and that made a lot of sense. If it rained on a zinnia flower and the seeds all sprouted immediately, that would be a bad thing.

So, if I wanted the green seeds to grow quickly, I would need to breach the waterproof jacket in some way. I used a hobby knife to slice off some of the seed coating. Occasionally, the inside of the seed would slip out of the seed, and I realized that it was the embryo of a baby zinnia sprout.

I was delighted that I could plant just the embryo and get a zinnia sprout. So, as an experiment, I extracted the embryos from several zinnia petals, planted a whole flat of zinnia embryos, and got a very quick bunch of zinnia seedlings. That green seed technique let me get a new generation of zinnias a whole month sooner than the old-fashioned way of letting the seedhead turn brown with dry brown seeds.

That graph paper is ruled 10 lines per inch. Click on the photo to see a larger version, which you can close by clicking on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner.

ZM

Delphiniums! So frustrating and expensive. Last year, I was able to get a few of them to bloom. This year nothing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I will try again!

Have had maybe five nasturtiums come up. I also put some in a paper towel, got it pretty wet and put it in a plastic bag. Some of those sprouted pretty quickly.

This has been a great resource for me - i have it bookmarked. :) https://tomclothier.hort.net

nasturtiums do nothing until both warmth and daylight reach crucial momentum...usually around, mid June for me, when they explode from the ground with demented vigour. Haven't knowingly sown a nasturtium seed in over 20odd years (and never in pots) yet every year, up they come.

"This has been a great resource for me - i have it bookmarked. :) https://tomclothier.hort.net"

That database is in serious need of updating (especially for the 'Trees and Shrubs' section). There are a lot of species that can't be stored for very long and should ideally be sown straight after harvest. Sometimes this is mentioned but not with all species.

Update: Well, blow me down -- I have parsley seedlings! IDK if it's the sheer fact I bought fresh seed or what, but this last round germinated. I put a note on the seed packet to buy fresh every year, just in case that it was did the trick.

Yep, all the apiaceae need fresh seed for germination. Same with ranunculaceae too, I think.