At 19 Birch Lane, every great season begins in the most humble way: with a tiny seed. While snow may still blanket the gardens and the pond rests beneath a sheet of ice, behind the scenes, our growing season is already underway.

In our custom grow room, tucked away from the frost, we start over 50 varieties of annual and perennial flowers from seed each year, carefully nurturing them under lights before transitioning them to our vintage greenhouse to harden off. This deeply rooted process is one of the quiet joys of life in the garden—an essential part of what makes 19 Birch Lane one of Mid Coast Maine’s most beloved botanical destinations.

Why Start Seeds at 19 Birch Lane?

There’s a rhythm and ritual to seed starting that defines our gardens just as much as the flowers themselves. It gives us the ability to:

Curate rare and diverse plant varieties that aren’t often available in nurseries
Grow with intention, choosing each bloom to complement our design vision for events and tours
Stretch the season, with early blooms and late performers planned down to the week
And most importantly—immerse ourselves in the full life cycle of our gardens, from seed to spectacular

What We Grow from Seed

Each year, we select and sow an extraordinary collection of flowers for color, texture, and performance. These include:

🌿 Delphiniums – For towering blue and lavender spires in our formal borders
🌸 Petunias & Pansy’s – Tried-and-true classics that fill our containers with vibrant spring color
🌼 Geraniums & Vinca – Heat-loving staples for greenhouse pots and border accents
🪴 Verbena & Eucalyptus – For texture, fragrance, and bouquet-worthy foliage
💐 Columbine & Snapdragons – Spring bloomers that thrive in our climate and bring charm to every garden path
🌻 Zinnias & Coreopsis – Summer stars that attract pollinators and fill the cutting garden with color
🧤 Bells of Ireland – Sculptural, green, and always a showstopper in arrangements

…along with cosmos, foxglove, lisianthus, ageratum, lavender, dusty miller, rudbeckia, and many more. We grow dozens of cultivars in a range of colors, often trialing new varieties and Proven Winners® selections to ensure the best performance in our Zone 6a gardens.

The Process: From Grow Room to Garden

Our seed-starting journey begins in late winter inside a dedicated grow room outfitted with shelves, heat mats, and LED grow lights—designed to give each seed the perfect start.

Starting our annual planting.

Starting some Pansy’s

Step 1: Indoor Germination

Seeds are started in trays using sterile seed-starting mix for ideal root development
Heat mats encourage strong germination for slow starters like eucalyptus, columbine, and delphinium
Each tray is labeled, monitored, and rotated under lights for 12–16 hours of light daily

Step 2: Greenhouse Transition

As the days grow longer and seedlings develop strong root systems, we begin the transition to our greenhouse, where they:

Harden off in filtered light and cooler temps
Continue growing in bottom-watered trays or individual cells
Acclimate slowly to outdoor conditions before final transplanting

This two-stage growing system allows us to maintain control over the full growth cycle—timing blooms to perfection for weddings, events, and garden tours at 19 Birch Lane.

Seed Starting in Zone 6: Tips for Success

For fellow gardeners in USDA Hardiness Zone 6, here are a few takeaways from our process that can help you succeed at home:

🌱 Know Your Frost Dates: In Zone 6a, our average last frost is around May 15, so count backward to determine when to start each variety indoors.
🌿 Use Quality Lights: Invest in full-spectrum grow lights to prevent leggy seedlings and ensure compact growth.
🏡 Acclimate Slowly: Move plants into your greenhouse or protected outdoor space gradually—start with shade and short periods, then increase exposure.
💧 Avoid Overwatering: Keep seedlings lightly moist but not soggy; bottom watering is your best friend.
📋 Keep a Seed Journal: With 50+ varieties, we track germination rates, success stories, and timing for each season so we can grow smarter every year.

The Seed-to-Bloom Experience

When visitors stroll through 19 Birch Lane in late spring or mid-summer, they’re often greeted by borders overflowing with zinnias, greenhouse containers bursting with cascading verbena, and columbine bobbing beside our pergola. What they don’t see is the quiet effort months earlier—the seed trays, the spreadsheets, the soft green shoots under grow lights in January.

Every flower has a beginning—and here, it starts with intention.

Whether you're a seasoned gardener or new to seed starting, we hope our process inspires you to bring more color and connection into your own backyard. And if you’re ever in Mid Coast Maine, come see for yourself how our gardens grow from the ground up—seed by seed, tray by tray, bloom by bloom.

Sowing Beauty: How Seed Starting Brings 19 Birch Lane to Life in Zone 6