What kind of flower seeds have you had luck with directly sowing them outside?

Does anyone else have trouble with some flower seeds? I can do Nasturium, poppy, allysum and snapdragons. Everything else I've tried either don't do real well, or don't make it at all. Or some of them come up and then some peter out. So I'm wondering, what kinds of seeds have you had luck with by just sowing them directly in the soil? What have you not had any luck with?

What kind of flower seeds have you had luck with directly sowing them outside?
Marigolds...so easy and come in more than just yellow.


Morning glories-keep watered and they will bloom for months.


Bachelor Buttons...some call them weeds. I love them.Just keep deadheading and they will bloom all summer and reseed for next year.


Definetely Zinnias...so many colors and sizes..


Cleome...these are beauties...tall and majestic... Also will reseed for next year.


Hollyhocks...very easy to get growing. Must have lots of room for these. and once they are done blooming...cut back before they drop seed as they will grow anywhere and everywhere. I still love them and always have lots of seeds to give to friends.


Verbena..lots of colors...Love Verbena bonariensis...tall skinny stems with little purple flowers atop...butterflies loves them.Reseed themselves each year.


Titonia...big orange , zinnia like flower.


Brown Eyed Susan...so simple to grow...that's why they put them in wildflower mixes.





Hope this helps!
Reply:Hey Aria,





Must be lucky, or am using good soil, but what ever I put down seems to grow. Ahead of planting, be sure that there is good planting soil - ammend the local soil, it probably is not that good. Also, be sure to water enough, but not too much. Germinating seeds require water for the entire germination cycle, once they crack open then need water.





If you water the bed you put them in, water with a light sprinkle, then remove the water - the ground is shiny - count how long the shiny lasts (how long it takes for the water to soak in). If it is 3 seconds or so, that is just right. Any less, and you don't have enough water there. Any more, you risk having too much. Be sure you have good drainage, if not, raise your bed.





Nasturtiums are one of my favorites. The flowers are pretty, they can be eaten as well as the entire green of the plant.
Reply:The following have been really easy for me:





Californian Poppy - Escholzia Californica - 12'' high and beautiful. http://www.tmseeds.com/product/4592.html





Calendulas -sometimes called English Marigolds - around 18'', oranges, creams http://www.tmseeds.com/product/6133.html





Foxgloves - Digitalis purpurea - these flower the year after being sown, but are so easy to grow and wonderful flowers for a few months - 5' or 6' tall - come in many shades of colour. http://www.tmseeds.com/product/2843.html





Godetia are also a good bet, and free flowering for whole summer: http://www.tmseeds.com/product/6197.html





Otherwise, Poppies are relatively easy, and showy too. Some are annuals, whilst some can be sown right now, for flowers this year, and then perennial, flowering each year - eg. http://www.suttons.co.uk/pd_128909_Poppy... Ooops, just seen that you do poppies, sorry!





Don't forget sunflowers if you have the space! They are wonderful show stoppers, and now come in a wide range of colours, not just the more typical yellow, eg. reds and mixed colours. There are dwarf varieties too: http://www.suttons.co.uk/pd_133050_Sunfl... and these 18'' ones : http://www.suttons.co.uk/pd_133018_Sunfl...





Cornflowers are really worth a go, and reseed easily, for next year's flowering. http://www.johnsons-seedusa.com/Cornflow...





Hope these ideas work well for you. Good luck! Rob
Reply:All wildflowers from seed have done well, cosmos, amaranth, zinnias, pansies, asters...lots





Secret to sewing seeds outdoors is to surface water them daily. When they get their first set of mature leaves, water less frequently. They are all heavy feeders, have miraclegro on hand, fertilize every other week.
Reply:california poppys have worked well for me
Reply:Try zinnias. I just rough up the soil, scatter, sprinkle a little bit over, and pat lightly. Rockin' success.





When my columbine flowers turn to seed pods and dry on the stalk in early summer, I just take the pods, and walk around my yard, simply scattering them wherever I want to see some. I'll always see some the following spring around where I scattered. They're biennial, so they don't flower for two years, but It's no labor to walk and scatter.





Sunflowers self-seed for me. The kind with lots of small flowers, not the one-single-massive flower kind. If I take the dried flower heads and drop them elsewhere, I'll have some come up wherever I drop them. And the finches love them. I've seen a dozen goldfinches working one large sunflower plant. (again, the kind that have a profusion of 3-4" blooms all over, rather than the traditional, one-big-sunflower kind)





I love having flowers I don't even have to work for.
Reply:Cosmos are so easy. Plus they re-seed each year. I plant some early-because they do seem to come up after a few frosts. Then I plant them at the recommended times for my zone. Then you have multiple ages and heights. Gold Finches love them.


I do the same with all the varieties of sunflowers. The early and normal planting. Birds love them and there are so many varieties now!


I also was lucky enough to have some larkspur plants growing inside some perennials I bought. Three years later I had my front postage stamp yard full of them from spring to late hot August and beyond. I ended up with three colors just from 2 plants. White, purple and pink. I trim them and let some dry and harvest the seeds. But they are re-seeders! wow I had to thin them so much! But I love them and I live in Michigan. They were in very sunny areas, and loved it. But, they did well but smaller plants in semi shade.


Have fun. I recommend dead heading all the time for all the plants listed above, it's work, but they bloom so much longer.


Zinnias as mentioned above are great. But lately I have been also buying the State Farm tall variety at my local greenhouse because I can't get them to grow as tall from seed.


I love my garden. Have fun. Peace