Navigating the Flowerscape: Top Picks You Shouldn't Grow from Seed
Difficult-to-Grow Blooms from Seeds: Here Are Ten Flower Varieties You Might Struggle With
Embracing the world of gardening promises a remarkable experience, full of life cycles and creative blossoms. However, not every blooming beauty is worth the seed-sowing saga. For some, growing their roots might result in too lengthy a germination, excessive delays before flowers appear, or an increased risk of diseases. In these instances, seedlings or tubers might be your best buds. Here, respected garden maestros provide their top picks for flowers, vegetables, and herbs that are better left to the nurseries, along with valuable tips and practical strategies to bring forth thriving flowers in your garden.
- Christina Koether, an imaginative garden designer and flower farmer
- Susan McBride, floral enthusiast at the picturesque Golden Brook Farm in Camden, Maine
Mastering Your Garden: 10 Plants You Should Never Grow From Seed
Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
This charming, purple-blooming perennial boasts a delightful licorice scent that adds an aromatic touch to your growing spaces. While it can thrive from seed, the propagation process becomes smoother, quicker, and easier via cuttings.
- For cuttings: Snip a stem with three sets of leaves, remove the bottom two, and place the cutting in a cup of water. Maintain it in a cool area and alter the water every few days. Roots will form in about a week. Once they reach an inch or two in length, transplant them into a small pot of soil, then plant in the garden a week or so later.
Bee Balm (Monarda)
More commonly called bergamot, this vibrant herbaceous perennial features flowers with a robust aroma. When cultivated from seed, bee balm is more susceptible to powdery mildew, a pitfall that has been bred out of cultivated varieties. A fitter propagation method is by stem cuttings, similar to anise hyssop.
- For cuttings: Square-stemmed varieties typically root swiftly in water or soil. Roots will take shape in roughly the same time frame as the anise hyssop cuttings.
False Goat's Beard (Astilbe)
With elegant, fern-like foliage and plume-like flower panicles, astilbe gives your garden a touch of magic. However, its minuscule, slow-germinating seeds can take several years before producing flowers. A more reliable and speedy propagation method is dividing established clumps.
- For propagation: Dig up a mature plant and split it into thirds using a shovel. These resilient plants will recover well and should be replanted and divided every few years.
Peonies (Paeonia)
Prized for their large, fragrant, and showy blooms, these popular garden and floral arrangement standouts face a daunting disadvantage when grown from seed. They can take over five years to bloom, and the offspring often do not resemble the parent plant. To reproduce a known variety, gardeners divide the root systems, known as tubers.
- To propagate: Tubers are sold based on the quantity of growing points, also known as eyes. The more eyes a tuber has, the larger and more vigorous the plant, albeit the cost will be higher.
Tulips (Tulipa)
A springtime favorite, tulips require a subtle hand when grown from seed. They can take four years or more to bloom and may not resemble the parent plant. Commercial growers adhere to a complex, multifaceted process to cultivate tulips, making home-grown bulbs a challenging feat.
- To propagate: Purchase bulbs in the spring or summer, typically shipped in the fall, and plant them promptly.
Ranunculus
Commonly known as buttercups or Persian buttercups, the enchanting ranunculus resembles roses or peonies with its multi-petaled flowers. This flower typically grows from tubers, as sowing seeds is a slow and delicate process that frequently leads to inconsistent flowering.
- For propagation: Tubers require careful handling in colder climates, as they are planted in either the fall or spring. In USDA zone 7 or colder, fall-planted ranunculus will necessitate winter protection.
Bearded Iris
Presenting a showstopping summertime appearance, bearded iris thrives under the summer sun. When grown from seed, it may take a patient three years to flower, and the progeny may not resemble the parent plant. To preserve the variety, growers divide and replant the rhizomes (underground storage stems) of bearded iris.
- For propagation: Buy rhizomes online or potted plants at your local garden center to ensure predictable blooms.
Dahlia
While technically possible, starting dahlias from seed is less practical compared to propagating tubers from the previous year.
- To propagate: Susan McBride, flower farmer at Golden Brook Farm, recommends starting tubers from the previous year. "You'll receive numerous tubers from a single plant, and the babies will be identical to the parent." This method grants more control over the varieties you're growing.
Purpletop Vervain (Verbena bonariensis)
A rapidly growing, clump-forming tender perennial, purpletop vervain sports tall, slender stems with clusters of small purple flowers. While growing this flower from seed is feasible, it can prove difficult. Instead, McBride suggests purchasing small seedlings from a nursery with a greenhouse featuring controlled growing conditions.
- For propagation: Buying seedlings helps avoid much of the work and frustration associated with starting seeds.
Prairie Gentian (Lisianthus)
Prairie gentian offers an array of large, ruffled petals resembling roses or peonies in colors such as white, pink, purple, and blue. Due to its finicky germination, slow growth, and sensitivity to diseases, this flower is often best grown from seedlings or plugs to dodge the challenges.
Experts advise against growing certain flowers from seed due to their difficulties such as poor germination rates, extended growth periods before blooming, or susceptibility to diseases. Instead, they provide alternative propagation methods for increased success and quicker results.
- Martha Stewart, a renowned figure in home-and-garden and lifestyle, concurs that False Goat's Beard (Astilbe) is better propagated through dividing established clumps rather than sowing seeds.
- When it comes to Peonies (Paeonia), Christina Koether, an experienced garden designer and flower farmer, advocates for propagating them through tubers for a speedy and guaranteed bloom.
- For the art of bee balm (Monarda) cultivation, both Susan McBride, floral enthusiast at Golden Brook Farm, and Martha Stewart recommend stem cuttings as a more reliable and efficient method, due to the plant's susceptibility to powdery mildew when grown from seed.
