On 6/09/2014 6:39 AM, Red Boyle wrote:
I'm trying to start Rose Campion in Texas from seed. I've tried twice to no avail.

Can anyone give me pointers on how to go about it?

The only way I've ever grown Lychnis from seed is to let it grow next to
gravel paths and when it gets seed heads on it and they are starting to
look mature and dried out, I bend the tall stems over so that they trail
on the gravel. This has proven to be a more effective way of getting new
plants than my other technique of taking the seed capsules and squashing
then so the seeds fall out in other places that most gardeners would
think would be a much better conditions.

Anyway, once the new little plants are growing strongly in the path, I
move them if I want them to grow elsewhere. I increase my numbers that
way because, from observation, I found it worked and I'm a slack
gardener who prefers to let the plants do the hard graft.

Based on that experience and the reading I did on Lychnis once I
realised the effectiveness of the gravel path method of propagation, I'd
say that you'd need to use a sandy or gravelly medium in which to plant
and have it moist at planting and then barely cover your seed (if at
all) and leave it in a warm spot and pretty much ignore it till the
plants emerge. I'd be very wry of keeping the medium moist - I suspect
that a nice moist seedling medium isn't something that works with
Lychnis but really can't say for sure - it's my best guess based on my
experience of how I know I can get more plants.

I live in a place with hot summers and Lychnis seems to thrive on
neglect. My paths never get water and I only notice the plants that are
left to grow in the path drooping a few times a year in mid summer. I
give them a drink then but other than that they fend for themselves.