Over the last 14 years I’ve been trying to perfect my raising of seedlings so I can get flowers in 5 years. Previous years I’ve gotten blooms in typically 6-8 years. I’ve concluded 3 things have helped. Plant seed ASAP in early fall late Summer and water ASAP and keep moist. I keep planting earlier every year and seedlings come up much sooner and therefore have a much longer time to bulk up. Start seeds in a greenhouse with some bottom heat. Get sprouts and then take off the heat. Put outside once the chance of cold freezes are over. Water pots of seedlings when it does not rain. (That is typically not an issue until July living in the PNW). Extend the growing season as long as possible for the 1st two years. Then plant in the Fall of the 2nd year. Previous years I lost maybe 50% of the bulblets I planted in the garden beds. My 3-year seedlings I planted in 2023 are up and nearly 100% are alive. I attribute the success to having plump 2-year bulblets.
I also had many 2022 seedlings that did not sprout the 1st year. (I did not water after I planted seeds, I expected rain that did not come). Many did sprout the 2nd year. I have marked the 5″ pots that only have 1st year sprouts and will delay putting those smaller bulbs in the ground for another year. For your enjoyment here is a selection I made yesterday. Enjoy WOC 19262 shown above. Seed Parent Air time x Pollen Parent Oh Wow 2W-PPR = WOC 19262.1
