Planting Echinacea (Cone flower) Seeds

[old_Lavender]

Hi - I would appreciate some advice about cone flower seeds.
I just purchased 50 mixed cone flower seeds from e-bay. Supposedly they are a mixture of many type of coneflower including green envy, razzmatazz, jade etc. I have read many articles on growing plants from seeds - some say the new cone flowers are very difficult to grow from seeds. I would like
to know should I grow them inside over the winter? Plant them outside right now? Any advice would be appreciate. It would
be such a shame if none of these seeds survived because of something I did wrong. Thanks so much. hugs Cathy

[cyd170]

Hi Cathy...when I planted cone flowers, I planted the seeds out in the spring and they were fine. You might not get flowers the first year, but the 2nd year you will. I've never planted seeds in the fall, so not sure how they would do. Maybe you could try half & half? Have fun! Cyndi

[Lindamct]

Hi Cathy! Coneflower Seeds are very tough when it comes to sowing. Spring or Fall, in the house, or whatever. They are very hardy Perennials. Mine self seed year after year. I am always giving them away!

[lavender13]

Hi cyd170 and lindarct - thanks so much for your replies. I am still
so undecided as to when to plant these seeds. I suppose if I hadn't spent money on them, I would not be so worried. We have many squirrels in the area and a few rabbits. They seem to love the small cone flower plants. Whatever I decide, if I am fortunate enough to grow these flowers, I will have to protect them until they reach maturity.
hugs Cathy