Seed starting: part 3

Blue poppy, not in my garden (yet)

They got off to a slow start (or maybe I was impatient), but many of my seeds are sprouting nicely now. About 2/3 of most varieties have come up.

Seed sprouting operation

In the original two trays, I have blue and red aquilegia (columbine), lavender and a few old poppy seeds. I mentioned previously that the poppies came up right away, then the blue aquilegia and then the red. All were earlier in the tray that had cooled in the fridge first, but the other tray is catching up. The lavender has been stubbornly not coming up, but now one seed shows signs of life. There is hope!

Aquilegia and random poppy

Since those were doing well, I decided to order more seeds for plants that I want to put in my rose garden. I got two more trays and planted pink catmint, blue and white calamint, veronica and creeping thyme. The thyme came up within 3 days, and everything was sprouting within 10 days. 

Creeping thyme

Catmint

Downstairs, on the floor in front of a glass door (for cooler temperatures but still a lot of light), I planted a small tray of blue poppy seeds. These are meconopsis 'Lingholm', which are a hybrid that are supposed to be easier to grow. Easier is a relative term, most people say they are very difficult to grow from seed. This is what is grown at the Rhododendron Garden in Federal Way and I bought two plants there last weekend. Then, I discovered that my seeds are sprouting! I'm keeping a close eye on them, hoping they will survive. I'm not sure if the white around the base is a fungus or not, I'll try to dry them out a little, but they seem healthy.

Blue poppy seedlings

Blue poppy purchased from the Rhodie Garden