{"title":"Natives that Germinate Easily","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo need for a cold pretreatment\/stratification period prior to planting these natives. They are ready to plant right out of the packet and usually germinate within one to three weeks after sowing. If indoor sowing, a good rule of thumb is to sow your pots six to eight weeks prior to the last frost for your area.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"purple-coneflower","title":"Purple Coneflower Seeds \/ Echinacea purpurea","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the best native plants for the garden. It attracts a diverse group of bees and butterflies, is sturdy and upright, and is a clumping perennial. It spreads by seed fairly readily, so if you are uninterested in it proliferating, you can deadhead the seed heads. These plants are usually about three or four feet tall and can withstand some drought conditions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore the center of the flowers grow into their namesake shape, they are relatively flat and offer a great landing pad for butterflies and bees.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42046530158663,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_echinacea_purpurea_purple_coneflower_5.jpg?v=1760307328"},{"product_id":"blue-stemmed-goldenrod-solidago-caesia","title":"Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod Seeds \/ Solidago caesia","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lovely woodland denizen that grows to three or four feet and elegantly drapes itself on other plants. Very well-behaved in the garden and a wonderful addition to shady spots. Like other goldenrods, it is massively attractive to bees. Between its namesake stem color, which is gorgeous on its own, to its shade tolerance and soil needs, it is definitely one of our favorite fall blooming plants and one we think should be in more gardens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most common questions we get is \"What do you have for shade?\" Blue-stemmed Goldenrod! Many are hesitant with goldenrods because they mistakenly believe they are all aggressive spreaders, but there are a number of species that are clumping plants like this one and Showy Goldenrod and Stiff Goldenrod that are model garden citizens. The other myth is that goldenrod pollen causes allergies, which is not the case because their pollen is too heavy to float on the wind (ragweed is generally the culprit here with its windborne pollen).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42052930699335,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_blue_stemmed_goldenrod_dd138f32-8e29-41f7-b5bd-f5f3f9e0531a.jpg?v=1759115191"},{"product_id":"sunflower-helianthus-annuus","title":"Sunflower Seeds \/ Helianthus annuus","description":"\u003cp\u003eLoved by humans and bees and butterflies. This is a mixed seed pack of different breeds, which will vary from year to year depending on the harvest. Annual sunflowers always put on an impressive display, blooming from summer through fall. With adequate light and soil nutrition, the varieties we grow will tend to have multiple flowers. We do not generally grow Mammoth Grey Stripe sunflowers because they tend to have only one flower, which while they do grow large, they do not tend to last long. Our view is that it is more helpful to have several or more flowers that bloom over period of weeks for the benefits to pollinators and the ecosystem.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42056210153543,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_helianthus_annuus_sunflower_pollen_bee.jpg?v=1759166130"},{"product_id":"new-england-aster-symphyotrichum-novae-angliae","title":"New England Aster Seeds \/ Symphyotrichum novae-angliae","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew England Aster is a classic garden plant for many reasons. They're gorgeous fall blooming plants that come in a dazzling variety of pinks and purples. They feed bees, butterflies, and birds and are easy to manage. These can grow up to six feet or more, so they may be better at the back of a bed with other larger herbaceous plants like Joe Pye Weeds. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42056236400711,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_symphyotrichum_novae_angliae_new_england_aster1.jpg?v=1766975096"},{"product_id":"smooth-aster-symphyotrichum-laeve","title":"Smooth Aster Seeds \/ Symphyotrichum laeve","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese plants offer beautiful lavender-hued blooms in the fall and are fantastic in the garden. They do have a tendency to flop over, so it would make sense to situate them next to plants that stand strong like Purple Coneflower.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42056343289927,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_symphyotrichum_laeve_smooth_aster_6.jpg?v=1760751602"},{"product_id":"helenium-helenium-autumnale","title":"Helenium Seeds \/ Helenium autumnale","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis plant normally goes by the common name Sneezeweed, but we refuse to call it that because it absolutely does not cause sneezing and Helenium - its genus - is already a great name. They're well-behaved in the garden, bloom for weeks, and attract many different insect species. The flower buds also look really interesting before they bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42072650711111,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_helenium_autumnale1.jpg?v=1759622426"},{"product_id":"pearly-everlasting-anaphalis-margaritacea","title":"Pearly Everlasting Seeds \/ Anaphalis margaritacea","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you're looking for a plant that works well in tough\/poor soil or a gravel garden, look no further. Pearly Everlasting is a perfect addition to a dry or rocky area, with attractive silvery leaves and yellow and orange flowers. The flowers are long lasting, especially when cut as part of a dried arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's also a host plant for the American Lady butterfly. These butterflies appeared \u003cem\u003every \u003c\/em\u003equickly in the first spring we established these plants and laid eggs on them. Their caterpillars weave webs around themselves while they feed as a protective measure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42072706089031,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_anaphalis_margaritacea_pearly_everlasting1_fb1b0a74-ae85-408c-9dc4-dee50cce244c.jpg?v=1759624092"},{"product_id":"lance-leaf-coreopsis-coreopsis-lanceolata","title":"Lance-Leaf Coreopsis Seeds \/ Coreopsis lanceolata","description":"\u003cp\u003eA well-behaved garden plant beloved by native bees and butterflies. Beginning in May, it's one of the first wildflower plants to bloom after the spring ephemeral season passes and a true herald of the more boisterous summer blooming season to come. If you dead-head them, they will continue to produce blooms for weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078099243079,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_coreopsis_lanceolata_lanceleaf_coreopsis_1.jpg?v=1761010474"},{"product_id":"rattlesnake-master-eryngium-yuccifolium","title":"Rattlesnake Master Seeds \/ Eryngium yuccifolium","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlong with its interesting name, this plant brings in an amazingly diverse set of native insects. It also has beautiful structure and eye-catching blooms, can handle drier soil and is generally an adaptable and tough plant in the garden, which is fascinating since it hails from the carrot family. The species name reflects the nature of its yucca-like foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has enough visual interest that it can be planted as a lone specimen, with multiple plants clustered together, or you can even plant it along a gravel path in the garden. We have found it to be easy to plant from seed and is very grass-like in its seedling stage. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078099472455,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_eryngium_yuccifolium_rattlesnake_master2.jpg?v=1759538953"},{"product_id":"gaillardia-gaillardia-aristata","title":"Blanket Flower Seeds \/ Gaillardia aristata","description":"\u003cp\u003eA native of western North America, but a great garden plant here in the east. Gaillardia attracts many native pollinators, but primarily bumblebees and longhorn bees in our garden. It grows to two or three feet, prefers sun, and is adaptable to gravel and dry soil, but does not establish well in wet soil, so make sure your soil drains well. The length of Gaillardia's bloom season is incredible, much like Heliopsis (False Sunflower), stretching from May through November here in the northeast. Their seeds germinate readily with no need to pre-treat them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a fair bit of variation in just how much yellow or red pigmentation is in the flower petals between different plants, with some having only a hint of yellow at the tips or a small inner ring of red near the center. Their seeds germinate easily when sowed on the surface or lightly covered with soil or potting mix and we have had excellent results when transplanting seedlings. If left alone, they usually spread some by seed on their own after establishment and deadheading them can lead to more blooms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall, they're easy plants to manage in the garden and give you another colorful option for dry areas alongside paths.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078099767367,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_gaillardia_aristata_10.jpg?v=1764003119"},{"product_id":"dense-blazing-star-liatris-spicata","title":"Dense Blazing Star Seeds \/ Liatris spicata","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlazing Star plants are a graceful presence in the garden, slender and vertical, they take up little horizontal space, but command the eye when in bloom. And because they're slim plants, they can be easily interplanted with other species or closely together in a block. They're attractive to a range of bees and butterflies and pair well with others like Anise Hyssop that have slender flower spikes. Keep in mind that they are slower to mature to flowering plants than many other native North American wildflowers, typically doing so in the third year in our garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir seeds germinate without trouble and, despite their slower rate of maturation, they're generally long-lived plants if sited properly, rewarding your patience with years of beautiful flowers for you and for a host of pollinators.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078100127815,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_liatris_spicata_blazing_star_1_8ed0fcc6-7e9e-4d37-8424-7215ff461628.jpg?v=1759942207"},{"product_id":"great-blue-lobelia-lobelia-siphilitica","title":"Great Blue Lobelia Seeds \/ Lobelia siphilitica","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fantastic garden plant, Great Blue Lobelia is both beautiful and provides nectar for native pollinators in late summer. It really is funny to watch bumblebees half disappear into the flowers. These plants prefer consistently moist sites and will be shorter-lived in dry areas. They can also take a fair amount of shade, but will grow taller with more sunlight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's easily one of our top five favorite garden plants for its good garden behavior and stunning flowers. It is best to surface sow the seeds because they are tiny and require sunlight to germinate. While many recommend cold stratifying the seeds prior to planting, we have found they often germinate without pretreatment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078100291655,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_lobelia_siphilitica_great_blue_lobelia_7.jpg?v=1760234350"},{"product_id":"scarlet-bee-balm-monarda-didyma","title":"Scarlet Bee Balm Seeds \/ Monarda didyma","description":"\u003cp\u003eScarlet Bee Balm is an intensely bright red fireworks display of tubular flowers that attract hummingbirds, native bees, and butterflies. It thrives in part shade and prefers moist soil but can adapt to medium soil as well. It can spread some in its favored conditions, but it doesn't do so as intensely as Wild Bergamot. Easy to grow and hardy, we always look forward to this plant's bloom season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves are very aromatic and can be red-hued at certain points in their growth as well as along the veins. Another name for this species is Oswego Tea because its leaves were traditionally used in teas.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078100488263,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_monarda_didyma_scarlet_bee_balm_1.jpg?v=1764986351"},{"product_id":"wild-bergamot-monarda-fistulosa","title":"Wild Bergamot Seeds \/ Monarda fistulosa","description":"\u003cp\u003eWild Bergamot is one of the best pollinator plants a garden can have and one of our favorites, easily one of the high points of the year in the garden when in bloom. Its gorgeous flowers are often surrounded by a cloud of insects of all sizes, from hummingbird moths to diverse bee species and butterflies, ants, and more. The stems are slim and elegant and marvelously upright, but the flowers themselves are stunning purple candelabras. It also has a really lovely scent. Bumblebees are particularly drawn to it and the nectar has been found to be beneficial for their health.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have found it to be a very flexible species, growing well in dry or moist soil and germinating without the need to pretreat seeds, making it a great plant for beginners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, a note of caution: Wild Bergamot spreads by rhizomes and seed, but we find it is fairly easy to edit since its lateral roots are shallow and can be pulled without much trouble.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078100521031,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_monarda_fistulosa_wild_bergamot8.jpg?v=1760308770"},{"product_id":"spotted-bee-balm-monarda-punctata","title":"Spotted Bee Balm Seeds \/ Monarda punctata","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the most spectacular plant species in all of North America, Spotted Bee Balm uses pigment in specialized leaves - called bracts in botany - to aid in attracting pollinators, resulting in a dazzling tower of flowers and pink leaves. When bumble bees nectar on it, they look like tiny pilots hooked into an alien craft. When you see it in person, these plants look more like rain forest denizens than a species at home in temperate climes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is sometimes called a tender perennial because the individual plants live for two or three years. We have had some plants grow to four feet alongside dry gravel paths, but generally plants are about two or three feet tall at maturity. The ability to thrive in dry or medium soil and ease of germination make this plant a fantastically flexible one and one we highly recommend to gardeners of all abilities.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray's Garden Astoria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42078100553799,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0633\/3310\/5735\/files\/plant_monarda_punctata_spotted_bee_balm_1.jpg?v=1764009396"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.graysgardenastoria.com\/collections\/natives-that-germinate-easily.oembed","provider":"Gray's Garden Astoria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}