IMHO, Delphs germinate best after stratification, a period of cold. Sow
them in the ground in fall with your own collected seed, or sow boughten
seed in VERY EARLY spring without protection from frost-- flats, packs, or
garden row ( your choice) exposed to cold ( deliberately meaning hard frost
and freezing temperatures). If you raise veggies, plant Delphs with Peas
and Onions, in the same cold conditions.

Colors tend to germinate sequentially, the original, homozygous deep
Blue/purples first ( especially with your own, open pollinated, collected
seed), Hybrid colors a few days to a few weeks to a year longer.


Seeded Deplhs ( still IMHO) do not respond to any coddling. They thrive
best here in zone 5 (
a marginal 4) with benign neglect, and yes, I have had seed germinate
a full year after planting.

Tough love.

Sue
Western Maine





--
Breeze ( sue burnham)
"billq" wrote in message
...
hello,
I have been trying to grow delphiniums from seed since early this spring.
I
bought seeds from a local hardware store. Both the Pacific Giants and the
Connecticut yankees. I tried 2 different attemps to seed in my garden and
1
round in planters inside. Absolutely nothing germinated. I generally
have
no problem growing anything. Could the seeds be bad from the seed company
or is there some secret that I am missing?
thanks Bill