Fairy, fresh last Fall isn't fresh, it's stored. Baptisia sown immediately after harvesting will sprout right away - if the seed has been stored it's much slower and some kind of means to breach the rock hard seed coat is necessary. Some will nick each seed, but Tony Avent, others (Clothier) will suggest a boiling water drench. "Fresh sown baptisia seed germinates quite easy and quite fast...usually in two weeks. Older stored seed, on the other hand is very difficult and slow to sprout. I recommend that all old baptisia seed be placed in a Styrofoam cup and doused in boiling water and allowed to cool prior to planting. This will begin to break down the seed coat and encourage germination. We have even tried this on seed that was sown but showed sporadic germination. Un-germinated seed were sifted from the potting mix, drenched with boiling water, and resown, with amazing results. " Avent

I treat both species the same.. store at 40F for 8 weeks. Then lightly cover the seed soil temp 59-72F & takes 14-35 days to germinate.

I have white, purple, and dark purple. I also have a gallon sized ziplock bag of Cosmo sulphureus. Most are orange, but I did have a few yellows. As for salvias, I have S. subrotunda. It started blooming early and large. Still blooming now. The hummers love it and the goldfinches devoured the seeds early in the summer. It's an annual, but reseeds heavily. Already have about 100 seedlings in the path. I'll also have cuttings of brugmansia around the end of the month. First freeze warning, I'll be cutting them down. I have Ecuador White and a NoID yellow that fades to orange. Let me know what sort of trade you want to make. I can root the brugs for you if you want. They root in about 2 weeks in my cloner. From your list, I'm interested in: Nicotiana alata Salvia officinalis, purple, white Eupatorium maculatum (deep burgundy stems) Larkspur

Hi Cheryl, I would be interested in some of your beauty berries also. If you still have some to spare email me and I'll email you a list of seeds I have to trade. Thanks Mary-Jane