Starting perennials from seed is just like starting any other seeds, right? Sorta, kinda - maybe. You need the same things: containers, soil, water, sunlight etc., but the techniques are a bit different. Annuals and perennials that are usually grown as annuals start quickly and go gangbusters to the bloom stage if nothing stresses them severely on the way. They have nothing to lose. They are programmed to bloom during the current growing season. Hardy perennials have evolved to survive winters and come back again and again. The strategies needed to pull off this feat require that they put work into the root system before anything else, and that they have mechanisms to prevent sprouting when there is a possibility that the seedlings may experience winter cold before they are ready. This means two things to us when we plant their seeds. First, some will need cold stratification (more on that later) to break dormancy and germinate. Second, they will grow very slowly at first since they are concentrating on their root structure. Also remember that many will have to experience one winter before they bloom. This is called vernalization. A good catalog such as
Johnny's Selected Seeds will provide much information for the seeds you are considering. The paper version of this one tells you how many days to flowering (but the web site one doesn't). When it says 300-365 you know this variety must winter first. In the web site catalog it tells you that it must have a cold period to flower. This cold period is not the same as the stratification process for the seeds. It must come
after the seedlings have become established.
Considering these facts, a logical timetable for perennials can be:
Plant early indoors those varieties that have a chance to bloom the first year. You can plant them as early as you like, they won't get too tall and leggy for a long time. Some of those are Achillea (yarrow), Coreopsis (variety 'Early Sunrise'), Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan), Delphinium, Digitalis (variety 'Foxy'), Gaillardia (blanket flower), and most fall Asters.
Those that don't bloom until after their first winter are most often just planted directly in the garden. This can be anytime up to about the end of June to be mature enough to survive the cold and bloom the next season. Some perennials in this category are Aquilegia (columbine), Arabis (rock cress), Asclepias (butterfly weed), Bergenia, Campanula, Dianthus (pinks), Echinacea (cone flower), Echinops (globe thistle), Hibiscus (hardy hybrids), Leucanthemum (Shasta daisy), Liatris (blazing star), Linum (flax), Lobelia (cardinal flower), Lupine, Monarda (bee balm), Myosotis (forget-me-not), Physostegia (obedient plant), Papaver (poppies), Platycodon (balloon flower), Salvias, Solidago (goldenrod), and Viola.
