Ninety Nine Plants to grow from Seed – Bill Terry (Printable PDF)
Here is a selection of perennial flowers that can be grown from seed and should flourish in Sunshine Coast gardens with little or no attention. All but two are species, and so should produce fertile seed and may therefore reproduce and multiply. This list is far from comprehensive. I have chosen these plants because I have grown all of them from seed with little difficulty, and they have proved to be long-lasting and trouble-free in the garden. Besides, I like them. * A plant native to the Pacific Northwest.
Allium
AA, acuminatum* (tapertip onion), cernuum* (nodding onion), flavum.
Anenome (wind flower)
AA. blanda (Grecian windflower), nemorosa (European wood anemone).
Aquilegia (columbine)
A. formosa* (crimson columbine).
Brodiaea
BB. coronaria* (harvest brodiaea), hyacinthina* (fool’s onion).
Cammassia (camas, wild hyacinth)
CC. leichtlinii,* leichtlinii alba,* quamash* (camas).
Cornus (dogwood)
C. canadensis* (bunchberry, creeping dogwood).
Cyclamen (cyclamen)
There are twenty-three species in all. Those that naturalize most freely are C.
coum (late winter flowering) and C. hederifolium (late summer, early fall). Others that are
hardy but less prolific are CC. cilicium, graecum, libanoticum, mirabile, purpurascens.
Dianthus (pink)
DD. alpinus (alpine pink), pavonius (peacock-eye pink)
Dierama (wandflower)
D. pulcherrimum (angel’s fishing rod).
Dictamnus (gas plant, false dittany, Fraxinella)
D. Alba.
Dodecathion (shootingstar)
DD. pulchellum* (pretty shootingstar), hendersonii* (broad-leaved shootingstar).
Eranthis
E. hyemalis (winter aconite).
Erythronium
EE. oregonum* (white fawn lily), revolutum* (pink fawn lily)
Eryngium (eryngo, sea holly)
E. maritimum (sea holly).
Fritillaria (fritillary)
FF. acmopetala (pointed petal fritillary), affinis* (chocolate lily), camschatcensis*
(black lily, northern rice root), graeca, meleagris (snake’s head fritillary), pallidiflora.
Fuchsia
F. procumbens (Creeping fuchsia).
Gentiana (gentian)
GG. asclepiadia (willow gentian), asclepiadia var. alba.
Hacquetia
H. epipactis
Helleborus (hellebore)
HH, argutifolius (Corsican hellebore), foetidus (stinking hellebore, bearsfoot), x
hybridus (Lenten rose), lividus, niger (Christmas rose).
Hepatica (liverleaf)
H. nobilis.
Hyacinthoides (bluebells).
H. hispanica (Spanish bluebell).
Libertia (libertia)
LL. grandiflora, peregrinans.
Lilium (Lily)
LL columbianum* (Columbian lily), formosanum (Taiwanese lily), henryi (tiger
lily), martagon (Turk’s cap lily), pardalinium (leopard lily), parryi (lemon lily), pumilum
(coral lily).
Lobelia (lobelia)
LL. cardinalis (cardinal flower), syphilitica (great blue lobelia), tupa
(Devil’s tobacco).
Narcissus (narcissus, daffodil, jonquil)
NN. bulbocodium (hoop petticoat daffodil), cyclamineus (cyclamen-flowered
daffodil), jonquillia (rush daffodil).
Oxalis (wood sorrel)
O. oregana* (redwood sorrel).
Paeonia (peony)
Herbaceous perennials: PP. anomala, cambedessedesii (Majorcan peony), emodi
(Himalayan peony), japonica (Japanese peony), mairei, mascula (Balkan peony), obovata
(woodland peony), mlokosewitschii (golden peony, Caucasian peony), veitchii (Veitch’s
peony).
Woody species (tree peonies): PP. delavayi, lutea, rockii.
Paradisea (paradise lily)
PP. liliastrum (St. Bruno’s Lily), lusitanica.
Primula
Candelabra primulas: PP. beesiana (candelabra primrose), bulleyana, florindae
(Tibetan cowslip), japonica (Japanse cowslip), prolifera (glory-of-the-marsh),
pulverulenta (mealy cowslip), wilsonii.
Other primulas: PP. sieboldii (Japanese primrose), veris (cowslip), vulgaris
(primrose), x juliae ‘Wanda’.
Ramonda
R. myconi (Pyrenean violet)
Salvia
S.Patens (Gentian sage — somewhat tender)
Scilla (squill)
SS. bifolia var, rosea, siberica (Siberian squill, wood squill).
Thalictrum (meadow rue)
T. delavayi (Yunnan meadow rue).
Trillium (wake-robin)
TT. ovatum* (western trillium), rivale (snow trillium).
Tulipa (tulip)
TT. batalinii,., sprengeri (Sprenger’s tulip), sylvestris (wild tulip), turkestanica
(Turkestan tulip).
Viola (violet).
V. odorata (sweet violet).
Many of these seeds will be hard to come by. Few will be found on garden centre seed
racks, fewer still in supermarkets. Some may be obtained from mail order catalogues.
Another source is botanic gardens, some of which package and sell seed collected on site.
Best of all are seed exchanges run by horticultural societies wherein members from
around the world contribute seed they have collected from their gardens and in the wild.
Packages are then distributed free, though only to members. So join up and pay your
dues!
Two such societies in the Pacific Northwest are:
The Alpine Garden Club of BC, www.agc-bc.ca
and the Northwest Perennial Alliance, www.northwestperennialalliance.org