Out of date flower seeds

[Jeannine]

On a whim and with 20 seconds to go I bid on a job lot of flower seeds from e bay,I got them very cheap, and there are a lot of them. Of course I didn't read the ad,I didn't have time, so was not surprised when they came and were out dated, that is OK, not a complaint, it was clearly stated.

My question is, can anyone tell me which flower seeds need to be fresh. I know veggies but am useless with flowers.

They vary in date from 2004 to 2007

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[manicscousers]

I planted some flower seeds Eric gave us for the sale..I thought they were so old, none would come up..sooo I planted them all..we now have 300 of one type of poppy, 200 of another poppy, 300 cornflowers..glad I didn't plant any more  ;D
oh, yes, some of them went back to 2002

[glosterwomble]

Obviously you would get better results with seeds in date but to be honest I reckon you will be ok with most of them, they have propigated seeds dating back several hundred years in seed bank trials so a few years won't make much difference really.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It depends on the seed. Many of them, like poppies and docks, will live almost indefinitely as long as they're not abused by bring kept in a heated room, etc. Others, like many umbellifers, or Himalayan Balsam, only last a year or two. A lot of flowers have to be planted absolutely fresh, but you don't see a lot of those on offer as commercial seed. Meconopsis, for instance, is a complete fraud as a packet from a GC has no chance of being viable.

[calendula]

I agree with Robert, it depends how the seeds have been kept rather than their date - remember that there are hundreds of seeds from the Victorian period and before that are still viable in seed banks - you can but try and be surprised

[rosebud]

Jen, i was given some out of date seeds & i threw them up the back of the garden incase they were no good, WELL, i was overun with beautifull flowers of allsorts so go on give them a try i certainly would.  I spent about 2wks replanting the different ones they all flowered.   Mary. ;D

[Jeannine]

Oooh Rosebud, It did cross my mind to open all the packets and make a flower mix and scatter them,sort of like wild flowers but not..if you see what I mean, there are so may I am just not sure what I will do with them!! XX Jeannine

[rosebud]

Jen, just mix a few packets up & sow them in a spare corner or a bald path, anywhere they look great all sorts flowering together.  If you have an allotment you could always sprinkle a few on your way there think how pretty it would look  walking along a flower path.  Let me know what you decide i would be interested in the outcome. Love Mary. ;D