Bev's point is right on. The baby semps can't take the neglect that the big rosettes can. Have you ever looked at a large semp rosette root? It really grows quite deeply. On the other hand, the baby seedlings make TINY roots, no more than a couple mms long for quite a long time. If they go dry then you can lose them in a heartbeat. Polly Bishop planted her seed thinly in seedling rows in the garden in an area where she could keep an eye on them. In the garden, the seedlings dry out less quickly than they do in pots as well. In MA, I grew my seedlings under high shade too.

Even with these precautions you are apt to lose a few. This year I have done very well and I think most of the 6K seedlings are surviving!

Kevin

Thanks for the addditional info Kevin, I a trying to watch every day to see if they are at least a bit moist.
They do get filtered sun an hour or two so am hoping that is OK. Since it has been mostly high 80s I think a bit of sun might be OK.

Saw your post on the Heuffs being pollinated by hummingbird . . wish you had a picture of that?
I am hoping next spring to have some flowering seedlings.

I need to report that my seed starting has failed. I did not water for 1.5 days when it was hot and dry with a wind. It seemed I just turned around and everything was dried up and nothing left. I watered a couple of times anyway to no avail.... They are all gone. I have only one tiny little rosette of something in the rock garden. Guess I was not cut out to be a semp Mama.

I do have a few seeds left and my try milk bottle winter sewing. ... not sure right now.

I see all of the lovely plants so many people have that I will just have to admire them from afar I guess.

Oh Marilyn.
There are so many other plant children that need homes, and would do much better for you. Maybe it is time to adopt something more forgiving in your growing conditions.
You have certainly tried to be the very best semp mama possible.
What type of plants have you had good results growing?

Sorry to hear of your bad news Marilyn . My advice, if at first you don't succeed try and try again . Most of my seed sowing efforts have ended in failure so far . I have a single Jovibarba Heufelii growing away strongly from a packet of 200 seeds sown last February.
They're not called Hens and chicks for nothing you know, so keep on planting your offsets from existing stock and have another go with the seeds next spring .

Don't feel bad, Marilyn. I only have 2 seedlings left from a winter sow of a few hundred seeds. I struggle too with the remaining two and worry about them surviving so that I can see color and texture on them one day.
This coming winter I will attempt again with the bottles.

Thanks for the encouragement.
I am doing OK with my Hostas and a few plants sent to me by Julia among which are saxifrage and some pergoulium (sp?) .

But I don't think these are perennial in my area except the Hosta. Will see what the winter brings this year.

I miss watching my semps though. I no longer have to worry about what the neighbors were thinking as I peered into containers like a demented soul.

You demented?...Nah!

I can totally relate to what Marilyn is saying. In my case I go out front every day to pull off blooms of morning glory (bindwweed) in my lawn so it doesn't go to seed. It is a step I am taking to hopefully eradicate (sure!!!!) this crap. I can only imagine what the neighbors think. The peering, gazing and photographing of garden stuff is added titillation for the onlookers.

My laugh for the day, reading the new posts to this thread.

For some people they find that keeping / starting seeds in pots too onerous, another strategy is to find an out of the way place in your yard and sew the seeds in those areas. That was my plan when i was a kid as I couldn't afford buying pots or potting mix with no salary! So, I would find small areas behind clumps of irises and daylilies and plant either a row or just scatter the seeds in that area.When I was planting, I would map out these areas in my notebook so I wouldn't disturb them by mistake. They might not germinate as well as they would in a pot but you get seedlings to come up and they survive with even quite a bit of neglect. I would transplant these seedlings a bit later, letting them develop more sizable roots, so that they aren't quite as vulnerable to the environment.

I like my new system better as I get better germination, more consistent plants and much better growth. I can evaluate them in one season and re-use the bed for a new crop of seedlings.

Kevin

All great points Kevin.

I suspected I should have moved them. The ones I did (just a few) also expired. I should have moved them into full shade I think. It was so overcast and rainy for a while, I forgot how devastating even dappled sun can be to plants here. Especially when the hot winds started up. It takes only an hour or two for everything to dry out.

Live and learn I think.

As I am getting older, I find I need to learn my lessons faster. Clock's ticking and no time for more typing...there's something I need to learn in another room...

I've been out preparing pots for the new semps and it didn't long for me to feel like my clock was ticking a lot faster! I used to not be bothered like this by the sun but I really had to come in. The job will have to wait till after 5 when shade hits the patio area.

I can no longer work out in the full sun, makes me sick as a sick dog.
I try to follow the shade around the yard. Get the full sun areas early in the morning, or early evening.
Looking forward to this fall and cooler, wetter weather to move some of the semps.

You would think after doing this for 50+ years that I should "know it all" but each season/ growing conditions is a new challenge. Luckily most plants are amenable to even rough treatment. You do learn strategies that seem to work.

Now that I'm officially writing this book I'll have to make sure to discuss some of the problems and solutions to these problems for successful culture.

Kevin

Good consideration for all that want to be in the know.

That will be great information Kevin.