I was going to ask the same question. I'm so tired of draggin' hoses around, worring about the water bills and hearing about record heat waves I was about to throw a "for sale" sign in the front yard, but after 2 days of rain I'm all anxious to start some fall seeds. I thought I'd try variegated lunaria, larkspur, aconitum and blue corn flowers. I've tryed poppies and sweet peas, but never had any luck. Have already started verbascum and columbine, but the snap dragons all died...cooked I suppose. Would love to get some other suggestions.

Variegated Lunaria! Where did you get your seeds? I am surprised that they are a fall sown plant. Somehow I thought summertime.
Poppies are great, but you have to get the timing just right. It has to cool down some, but they still need several weeks to get some size on them. When they bloom in the spring it is so worth the effort. (Note: As soon as they start to fade, pull them out. The plants look awful once the blooms are done. It's easier to buy fresh seed at Wal-Mart.)
I'm with you. I have never had luck with sweet peas either. It usually gets too hot too soon for them to get blooming.

Nigella, rose campion, verbena bonariensis, larkspur, lunaria (I got the variegated type from a friend in PA), cosmos, sweat peas, and poppies. Will probably think of more after I hit submit! LOL

Send the rain to NC-we could use it badly!

Another person so tired of watering I could scream!!!

If you save your Variegated lunaria seed, I would love to trade or buy some. You can e-mail me at donnawheatley@comcast.net.
Also, Nckvilledudes, do you have any experience with Thermopsis (Caroline Lupines)? I started some from seed this year and thought I'd plant it out this fall, but read something here while back that made me think it may be invasive. Do you have any personal experience?

No experience with carolina lupines in my garden Donnabaskets. The lunaria has already gone to seed and I shook the seed heads in the area where they came up this year. If they come up next year, I will be happy to share with you. Just keep in touch next spring and remind me and I will share what I have!

I ordered my Lunaria from Chiltern seeds in England...only place I could find them. I don't think the seeds will be variegated the next year, though, because there are so many plain purple ones around...they will revert. Maybe a few will be true...I'll try to save some seeds and see what happens. Is nigella hardy? It gets really cold here. Ordered a mix of eryngium too...not sure if I sould save them till spring or plant them this fall.

Topsiebeezelbub, I am in zone 7a NC and Nigella are perfectly hardy here if sown in the fall. They will tend to come up and get frozen back sometimes in the dead of winter but I always have more than I need of them due to their reseeding habit.

The friend I got mine from grows them year after year and they keep coming back variegated. If it works for her, I don't see why it wouldn't work for others. I don't have any of the plain purple ones in my yard and no one else in the neighborhood grows them.

hi,
I just noticed this thread... I've never posted here but I am in the midst of fall sowing projects and I got a free packet of verbascum 'purple mullein' with some seeds. They sounded interesting because they look tall like larkspur and I'd like to have more tall spiky flowers... Do these do well in the south? do they need cold to flower like poppies (which don't do well here, not enough winter I guess)... I'm supposing here in Austin they would bloom in March or April like a lot of other cool season flowers.
thanks!

From what I have read, I doubt verbascum would do well that far south, but, the seeds were free, so why not try them? If they succeed, please let us know! The best cool season spiky flowers for me are definitely larkspur and snapdragons. They both tend to bloom late in the spring, but when they do, they're gorgeous. I have had great luck with Shirley and California poppies. Seed them now, they'll come up and "sit" all winter then bloom like mad in the spring. They're lovely.

thank you donna--I love the California poppies and had some last year... and am trying the shirley poppies this fall, too. I'm always game for experimenting with different flowers even if I have to find out it won't work.
Amy

This is an old post, but I remembered asking if purple mullein might bloom in Texas and I thought I'd post back if anyone was curious--they are blooming! I planted some free seeds of Verbascum phoeniceum sometime in October. Some of them are still small plants but quite a few are either blooming or have stalks going up. They are pretty, but have a lot less color impact than larkspur. We had a very warm (and dry) winter, and only one real frost, so it seems like they don't need as much cold to bloom as I thought.

Thanks for posting. I have wondered by verbascum myself.