Hey, gardeners, I was planning on waiting for our first frost before sowing perennial seeds, but we're past the USDA date and no freeze in the 10 day forecast. Should I put them out and hope for the best? Should I wait for the first frost, whenever that happens? Some third thing? I have read about putting them in the fridge.
@kamikat what seeds are you planning to plant? if they only need 30-60 days of cold weather i would probably just wait and sow in November or December (I have gotten successful germinations on 30 day plants sowing as late as January, and it seems like you’re in a colder climate than me if you’re already past your frost date)
If they need 90+ I would probably stick them in the fridge or freezer (which depends on the seed) until the nightly lows have gotten properly chilly
On the other hand, while is a definite risk of seeds rotting/moulding or just getting eaten by squirrels and such if you sow too early obviously nature doesn’t have anywhere to put the seeds except outside and most plants do manage to reproduce just fine that way, so. If you’ve got a generous amount of seeds and want to just go for it it may just work out regardless
@Satsuma I have cardinal flower, columbine, purple coneflower. I have had success with annuals, but this is my first try at perennials. I am zone 7B, this past week was our frost date.
@kamikat according to prariemoon.com cardinal flower and columbine are 60 day cold stratification—if you look up when your expected last frost date is and then count back two months back from that it should give you an idea on when the latest you can sow is but i wouldn’t expect these seeds to need any pre-treatment in the fridge
coneflowers don’t require cold stratification or any other kind of pre-treatment—I would wait until it is solidly winter to plant them because if you put them down now you risk them sprouting immediately. so either plant them midwinter at the same time as your other two seeds or in the spring
@Satsuma Thank you, this is very helpful!