Growing Flowers From Seed: Practical?

[Cosmo and Dibs]

This year I have grown plenty of veg plants from seed and they all germinated and produced decent plants.

Next year, I would like to grow non-edibles. I tried to grow some free coreopsis seeds this year in the same way I grew the veg plants.....but none germinated at all.

I'm worried that if I buy lots of seeds I will be wasting my money. Is it really practical to expect to grow things like lychnis coronaria, snapdragon, petunia, primrose/poly, etc and have them flower in the same year?

Or am I better off buying pro grown stuff?

[zazen999]

We grow from seed; the main thing I have found is to research when to sow; some are sown Autumn/Winter and some in the spring. Some self saved seeds need conditioning somewhere warm and some need vernalisation somewhere cold...but looking on the bac of the seed packets helps! And as you have said, some flower in year 2 anyway.

I sow into modules, it means they form a good root ball before they go into the ground.

[binley100]

I just think some are easier to grow than others. I've tried Aquilegia which won't germinate for me yet it self seeds itself round the garden from established plants. Plants like french marigolds, lupins and nasturtians I find really easy to grow and they flower the same year. This year I've managed to grow some lavender but judging by the size of the plants they'll be years till they flower! I think if you want lots of summer bedding then try growing from seed. If its perennials then buy pot grown you can usually divide to increase stock.

[FionaH]

Trouble I found with growing flowers and stuff is there's no flaming room on the window sills. They are all full of tomatoes, aubergines and peppers!

[coreopsis]

Depends what do you want to grow.
Polyanthus/primrose-like most of perennials flowers in 2nd year.It was fuss-free to me(except most got eaten by rabbits in the winter)
Lychnis coronaria-if it selfseeds itself in the autumn,you can notice new plants in the spring.Fussfree.Didn't have much luck with echinacea and perennial lobelia.Coreopsis was given to me as a plant.
I could recommend some gaillardia-pretty neat clump of flowers-fussfree either.If you want I could spare you some seeds of lychnis and gaillardia(self saved)if you're interested.
Be careful with some campanulas-some of them are very invasive.
As for annuals-some of them can be sown in the autumn-e.g.snapdragon,calendulas,some are very demanding-lobelia(grown once from seed but too much fuss to me)