Sow Now, Bloom Next Summer: Fall-Sowing Coneflower, Shasta Daisy & Lavender

By mid-October most of us are pulling spent tomato vines and coiling up hoses. It feels like the end of planting season. But for a handful of tough perennial flowers, fall is actually the best time to sow. Put the seed out now, let winter do the hard work, and you'll have sturdy seedlings popping up on their own next spring.

It's how wildflowers plant themselves, and we can copy that process with almost no equipment. Here's how to do it with three of my favorite perennials.

Why Some Seeds Want a Winter First

Many perennials native to cold-winter climates have a built-in safety switch. Their seeds won't germinate well until they've been through a stretch of cold, moist conditions, a process gardeners call cold stratification. It keeps a seed from sprouting during a warm spell in October, only to get killed by the first hard freeze.

You can fake winter by tucking seeds into a damp paper towel in the fridge for a few weeks. But if you have a garden bed or a few empty containers, it's easier to let real winter handle it.

Three Perennials to Sow This Fall

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)

Echinacea purpurea is about as close to a no-fail perennial as you'll find. It's native to the central and eastern US, hardy in roughly zones 3 to 9, shrugs off drought once established, and pollinators mob the flowers all summer.

Coneflower will germinate without a cold period, but a winter outdoors generally gives you more even sprouting. Sow seeds about 1/8 inch deep, just barely covered. Expect mostly foliage the first summer, with full-size blooms in year two. After that, plants come back for years.

Shasta Daisy

Our Shasta Daisy gives you those classic white petals with sunny yellow centers. It's hardy in roughly zones 5 to 9. Shasta daisy seed needs light to germinate, so don't bury it. Press the seed firmly onto the soil surface, or cover it with no more than a light dusting of soil. Like coneflower, it usually blooms well starting in its second year.

Lavender 'Vera'

Lavender Vera is a true English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), the hardiest type, generally reliable in zones 5 to 9. It's famous for being slow and uneven from seed, and a period of cold, moist stratification helps a lot. That makes it a great candidate for winter sowing.

Lavender hates wet feet, though, so I don't recommend scattering it straight into heavy garden soil in fall. Containers (see the milk jug method below) give you much better control over drainage. Surface-sow or barely cover the seed, and be patient. Germination can be spread out over several weeks.

Method 1: Direct Sow in the Garden

Coneflower and Shasta daisy are both easy to sow right where you want them to grow.

1. Wait for cold soil. The goal is for seed to sit dormant all winter, not sprout now. In most of the country, that means sowing after you've had a few hard frosts, typically late October through December.
2. Pick a sunny, well-drained spot. All three of these flowers want full sun.
3. Clear and loosen the surface. Pull weeds and rake the top inch or so smooth so seeds make good contact with the soil.
4. Sow and press. Scatter seed, then press it in with your palm or the back of a rake. Cover coneflower very lightly. Leave Shasta daisy at or near the surface.
5. Mark the spot. In April, a coneflower seedling looks a lot like a weed, so use stakes or labels.

Skip heavy mulch over the seeded area, since it can smother small seeds or keep the light out.

Method 2: Winter Sowing in Milk Jugs

Winter sowing turns clear plastic jugs into tiny greenhouses. It's my favorite way to grow perennials like lavender, because you control the soil and drainage, and seedlings are protected from heavy rain and hungry critters.

1. Prep the jug. Rinse out a clear or translucent gallon jug. Poke several drainage holes in the bottom, then cut it most of the way around, a few inches up, leaving a small "hinge" by the handle.
2. Add 3 to 4 inches of moist mix. Use a light, fine-textured seed-starting mix rather than garden soil. Our Elite Seed and Clone Soil is made for exactly this. For lavender, I like to mix in a bit of perlite or coarse sand for extra drainage.
3. Sow and label. Scatter seeds on top, press them in, and barely cover if the variety calls for it. Write the variety on the jug with a paint pen or permanent marker.
4. Close it up. Tape the jug shut around the cut, and leave the cap off so rain and snow can get in and heat can escape.
5. Set it outside and forget it. Put jugs somewhere that gets sun and weather, but out of strong wind.

Many gardeners winter sow from December through February, but cold-loving perennials like these can go out any time once nights are reliably cold.

In spring, check jugs every few days. When seedlings appear and days warm up, open the tops on mild afternoons so they don't cook. Once seedlings have a few sets of true leaves, transplant small clumps into the garden. They're already used to outdoor conditions, so there's no need to harden them off.

A Note for Warm-Winter Gardeners

If you garden in zone 8 or warmer, your winters may not get cold enough, or stay cold long enough, to fully stratify seed. Fall sowing can still work for coneflower and Shasta daisy, but for the most reliable results, give lavender and coneflower 4 to 6 weeks in the fridge (in a sealed bag with a slightly damp paper towel or a bit of moist sand) before sowing.

Plant Now, Forget All Winter, Bloom Next Year

Sow them this fall and in a year or two you'll have a border of coneflowers, daisies, and lavender that comes back on its own, summer after summer. Not bad for a few packets of seed and an afternoon in October.