The new fancy varieties may not set seed, but if you have the normal, tall apricot-pink type you should start seeing nice black seeds sitting inside recently split brown seed pods. Good news: they’re easy to start. Bad news: they take forever to flower.
Growing the seeds
Place the seeds in a pot, lightly cover with potting mix, wet things down and place the pot in a shallow saucer with water in it. This will keep the soil moist for the time needed for the seeds to sprout.
You don’t need to scarify the seeds – it seems that moisture alone does the trick (scarifying involves grinding off a protective layer on the seeds, typically by tumbling them in sandy water). Although it might speed germination, I don’t have anything to tumble them with.
Once the plants have grown, transplant them into new pots, preferably deep ones, since these plants want to grow long tap roots right away. Deepot 16, TP4 tree pot, SuperCell or similar deep, narrow pots would be perfect. The roots on our tiny seedlings reached 18″ easily, even though the leaves were small.
Once the plants have grown and the weather is warm again – the seedlings tend to sprout in the winter if started indoors – set them outside where they’ll grow. If you used a deep pot system, you’ll have a head start since the tap roots should be straight and long, allowing them to be planted deep where there’s more moisture.
The plant in the pot is about a year old. Plants in the ground aren’t much better. We had some loss in the ground, since the plants went in an un-irrigated zone and were partially crowded out by spring grasses.
Once the plants are established in a sunny, hot space with good drainage and their roots are developed enough for them to feel comfortable putting out some leaves, the wait begins. We’re guessing it might be five or six years before they’re large enough to flower. Once they flower, they might skip subsequent years, possibly until large clumps form. These are desert plants, so their goal is to get established and ensure their roots are up to par before they decide to spend energy flowering.
Why all the fuss?
These plants are top hummingbird flowers. They use very little water, yet bloom from summer into fall. They’re spiky, bold things with tall flowers that work well at the back of a planting area. We’re seeing them planted more and more often around town, since they take heat and cold well.