On Tuesday, July 22, 2014 9:17:38 AM UTC-4, Drew Lawson wrote:
In article

mkr5000 writes:



Take coneflower for instance.



[snip]



I've always been confused a bit about the process -- certainly

seeds that fall to the ground in fall become useless because of

the snow?,



Can't say about coneflower. I'm in zone 6 (western Ohio), and

zinnia seeds dropped on the ground do not become useless, though

birds probably lower their numbers as the winter goes on. After 2

years of terrible results with inside starting, combined with robust

volunteers, I gave up on starting the zinnias in pots. I gathered

seed heads, dried and separated (as beat as I cound). Then scattered

the seeds around last frost. I think I had about a quart of seed

& chaff.



But I still have a dozen or so zinnias in a section that I did not

seed.



I also have some cosmos volunteers this year.



I gave up on trying to start alyssum years ago. I leave the dried

plant as shelter (and a marker) and wait in the spring, then thin

and transplant. I take a similar approach to dahlburg daisy.





so it's really a matter of what seeds remain intact and

dry enough to germinate in the Spring, if left on the plant? I

guess what I'm trying to ask is that Spring planting beats Fall

planting any day for areas that have cold winters? or not?



My take, with slightly milder winters, is that fall/spring doesn't

matter if you are planting the seeds. If they are on the surface,

then fall scattering gives critters (or Paleo hunter/gatherers)

longer to gather and eat them.



While weeding the garden a couple days ago, I found that last year's

tomato patch has tomatoes coming up. Better late than never, I

suppose. (Still pulled them out.)



--

Drew Lawson What would Brian Boitano do?

Ok Dave -- thanks. I have a ton of Cosmos come up every year and I don't touch them. I do however leave the plants alone till Spring when I mow them down and like I say they reseed like crazy. I'll try half and half with the coneflower, bring some seeds in and just scatter some seeds off the heads soon.