Starting perennials from seed is a budget-friendly way to add a lot of plants to your garden. Perennials come back year after year, so you sow them once and they give you many seasons of color and fragrance. Perennials generally take longer to grow from seed than most annual flowers and some perennials need special care to get them to sprout, but the effort pays off when you fill your beds and borders with vigorous and healthy plants you grew yourself. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Growing perennial flowers from seeds is a great way to add beautiful, long-lasting blooms to your garden while saving money. Though it requires more patience than buying mature plants starting perennials from seed allows you to grow a wider variety of species and cultivars. With proper care, many perennial seeds will germinate and flower within the first year.
Why Grow Perennials from Seed?
Here are some of the key benefits of growing perennials from seed
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Cost savings: Perennial seeds are much cheaper than buying mature potted plants. You can grow many more plants for the same cost.
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Wider selection: Seed catalogs offer a huge variety of perennial species and cultivars that may not be available as starter plants at local nurseries.
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Customize your garden: You can grow exactly the varieties you want that are suited to your growing conditions.
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Satisfaction of growing your own: It’s rewarding to nurture plants from seeds and watch them grow and bloom.
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Share with others: At the end of the season, you can collect and save seeds to share with gardening friends.
Best Perennials to Grow from Seed
Many popular perennial flowers will bloom the first year when grown from seed indoors. Some top choices include:
- Blanket flowers (Gaillardia)
- Catmint (Nepeta)
- Coreopsis
- Dianthus
- Gaura
- Oxeye daisy (Heliopsis)
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea)
- Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum)
- Yarrow (Achillea)
These perennials grow readily from seed and most will flower in their first season if seeds are started indoors early. Check seed packets for bloom time.
Tips for Starting Perennial Seeds
Follow these tips to successfully start perennial flowers from seed:
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Start seeds early indoors: Sow seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before your last expected spring frost. Give slow-germinating perennial seeds at least 4 weeks to sprout before moving outdoors.
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Provide light for germination: Many perennials need light to germinate. Place seeds on the soil surface or cover very lightly with soil or vermiculite.
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Maintain warm temperature and moisture: Perennial seeds germinate best at 70-75°F. Keep seeds consistently moist but not soaked. Cover containers or use a heat mat to retain moisture.
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Use fresh seed starting mix: Use a sterile, soilless mix to prevent damping off disease. Mixes for seeds are extra fine and easy for delicate roots to penetrate.
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Allow time to develop: Perennials grown from seed need time to mature before being moved outdoors. Harden off seedlings for 7-10 days before transplanting.
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Transplant carefully: Disturb roots as little as possible when moving seedlings into the garden. Space plants according to mature size.
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Mulch well: Apply 2-3 inches of organic mulch like shredded leaves or bark around young plants to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
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Provide support: Stake tall perennials like Gaura and coneflowers to prevent flopping when they bloom.
Step-By-Step Guide
Follow these simple steps for the best success growing perennial flowers from seed:
1. Choose Your Seeds
Select perennial species and cultivars suited to your growing conditions. Check seed packet for bloom time, height, and growing requirements. Purchase fresh seeds from reputable suppliers.
2. Prepare Containers and Seed Starting Mix
Reuse cleaned containers like trays or pots with drainage holes. Fill with sterile, soilless seed starting mix. Moisten the mix before planting.
3. Sow Seeds
Place seeds on mix surface or barely cover with vermiculite according to packet directions. Label pots with variety and sowing date.
4. Provide Warmth and Light
Set containers in a warm (70-75°F) spot. Cover to retain moisture. Most perennials need light to germinate, so provide 14-16 hours under grow lights or bright window.
5. Maintain Consistent Moisture
Check seeds daily and mist soil surface to keep moist but not saturated until sprouting. Water gently to avoid dislodging seeds.
6. Allow Seedlings to Grow
Once sprouted, remove covers and move to cooler 65-70°F spot with light. Water when top of mix just dries out. Thin overcrowded seedlings.
7. Harden Off and Transplant
Slowly acclimate seedlings to outdoor conditions over 7-10 days. Transplant on a cloudy day into prepared garden beds spaced for mature size.
8. Provide Care and Enjoy Blooms
Apply organic mulch around plants. Stake tall perennials for support. Water during dry periods and fertilize lightly if needed. Enjoy flowers!
Growing perennials from seeds takes time and care but is ultimately very rewarding. In just one season, you can go from seeds to a beautiful display of hardy, long-lived flowers. With the right selection and growing methods, perennials started from seed will thrive and enhance your garden for years to come.
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Starting perennials from seed is a budget-friendly way to add a lot of plants to your garden. Perennials come back year after year, so you sow them once and they give you many seasons of color and fragrance. Perennials generally take longer to grow from seed than most annual flowers and some perennials need special care to get them to sprout, but the effort pays off when you fill your beds and borders with vigorous and healthy plants you grew yourself. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Perennials To Start from Seed
The challenge of growing perennials from seed is that many of them require specific conditions to germinate and some take a whole season of care before they’re ready to go in your garden. That said, you can choose from plenty of options that will be brilliant additions to your seasonal display. Consider some of these:
- Columbine: The seeds for this late spring/early summer bloomer need chilling before planting.
- Coreopsis: Place the seeds on top of the soil, because they need light to germinate.
- Delphinium: Sow these seeds directly in the garden in midsummer and they will bloom the following season.
- Dianthus: Consistently moist soil kept at 60 to 70 degrees F ensure these seeds will germinate.
- Echinacea: Purple coneflower seeds must be “stratified,” or chilled, for one to four months before they sprout.
- Gaillardia: Set the seeds on top of the soil, indoors or in the garden.
- Poppy: Direct seed in your perennial bed in early fall or early spring.
- Shasta Daisy: Cover the seeds with just an eighth-of-an-inch of soil mix.
A seed-starting kit like the SuperSeed Seed Starting Tray, 16 XL Cell makes caring for perennial seedlings easy and convenient. Be sure to use a light, soilless mix and not garden or even potting soil, which hold too much water for little sprouts. A heat mat ensures the seeds are at the exact right temperature for germination. Many types of perennials need to be transplanted from the cells to larger pots before they’re ready to go in the garden. Biodegradable Plantable Round Fiber Pots are ideal because the perennial seedlings can stay in the pots when you plant them.
16 Perennial flowers you should grow from seeds. This is why!
FAQ
What is the easiest perennial flower to grow from seed?
- Allium blooms in several shapes and sizes. A. …
- Penstemon returns reliably from seed. …
- Hardy ice plant can cover a lot of ground. …
- Primrose is a classic for shade or sun. …
- Silene is quick to naturalize. …
- Pink is simple and fragrant. …
- Draba likes dry conditions. …
- Lupine comes in every color.
Are perennials hard to grow from seed?
Some perennials are notoriously finicky to grow from seed; others are as easy to grow as cosmos and zinnias. In this article you’ll find ten easy-to-grow perennials that usually bloom in their first growing season if you give them a head start by sowing the seed indoors in early spring.
How do you plant perennial flowers from seed?
Sow the seeds in rows about two to four inches apart or scatter them evenly over the planting area, approximately one-half inch apart. Then press the seeds firmly into the soil.
Can you plant perennial seeds directly in the ground?
Planting seeds this way is called direct sowing, and it is an easy process that yields great results. Unlike indoor seed starting, direct sowing involves unpredictable elements: weather, wildlife and insects. Even so, many vegetables, annuals, herbs and perennials sprout easily from seed sown directly into garden soil.