The Lisianthus saga continues! Last year, I grew 12 perfect Lisianthus plants... they bloomed their heads off for the better part of 4 months. Not going to lie, it was a long haul from seed to harvest, but I made it. This year, I swore I wasn't going to buy seeds, because I had so many left over from last year. Yea, well, seed addicts unite, because I ended up buying plenty of seeds--except Lissies!
I had about 36 seeds left and with great hope I planted them. I decided to use Fort Vee Compost Based Potting Mix. I gotta tell you; I think that was a mistake. I believe the texture was just too coarse to give my Lissies a fighting chance. As it stands right now, I have about 10 seeds out of 36 that germinated. If you've ever grown Lissies, you know it takes, what feels like forever, to get them going. They are considered cool flowers, so I was hoping to get them out in the garden at the beginning of April.
We'll see if we make it to harvest for these 10, but of course, I ordered some additional seeds and will try a few more. Let me warn you, if you are new to growing flowers from seed, don't overlook Lissies, but please go in with realistic expectations. Plant more than you think you want, use fresh seeds, don't overwater, don't underwater...they are truly the Goldilocks of seeds... you gotta get it just right for it to work.
Remember the only true defeat comes with not trying at all. Give Lisianthus a try! They are beautiful flowers that resemble roses. I found much less disease and insect pressure with these lovely blooms as compared to my roses. Next year, I will branch out into different colors and I will reserve more space for these beauties.
You can buy them as plugs (and yes, I was super tempted). Most vendors that sell Lissie plugs deal in wholesale only... Lissies are hard to find for the hobby gardener. I did find them at Burpee though... a little pricey, but when you think of the time invested in growing your own, maybe not such a bad deal after all. Happy Gardening from the Bumbling Gardener!
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