Easy to grow?

I tend to avoid seed varieties of which the packets inform me that they should be sown direct and easy to grow as I have found in the past that the ravages of creepy-crawlies, straying fur and feather, weeds and the weather have usually resulted in a waste of time and money as far as my efforts to grow them in seed beds are concerned.
However I impulse-bought, from a display in my local general store, two packets of seed from Johnson's seeds which are meant to be direct-sown, annual scabious and night phlox (Zaluzianskya capensis). I'm rather inclined to sow these in trays of seed compost and transplant when large enough. Does anyone know if either of these two varieties resent root disturbance or might it be OK to transplant?

Happy New Year to all

 

I haven't had problems doing it - should be ok. Mind you, I used individual cells, which minimised root disturbance. This sort of thing....
http://www.twowests.co.uk/TwoWestsSite/category/POTHAND_MULTCELL.htm

 

That always happens to me Jbth, sow seeds directly into the ground and nothing comes up!! not easy at all. So I tend to sew in a seed compost and have had good results so far. Good idea of dendrobiums though to use single cells, although on the minus side I didn't have any luck with sewing sweet peas in root trainers last year. Don't know where I went wrong.

 

I was really disappointed with seeds I sowed last year. Only half of the varieties I bought germinated and they were all marketed as being "easy to grow".
I'm a member of the hardy plant society and have requested packets of seeds which should be delivered soon. I'm hoping that I will have more success this growing season.

 

Jack by the hedge - what soil type do you sow into outside? When I was a kid we had a garden full of stiff clay and i often felt the way you do - it was because the clay forms a hard pan that stifles the seed. Perhaqps it is better to cover the sown seed with some sort of compost that will allow air to get through. I now garden on a silt/peat mix and everything germinates like blazes, including every weed that has landed in my garden.
Hardy annuals are not really worth sowing and transplanting. You just need to amend the surface soil in some way.

 

Zaluzianska is not a hardy annual, I've grown it how dendy suggests, if it was direct sowed I doubt it would flower before October.

 

http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/6707/1

That's what T+M say about what to do with the night phlox - and confirms that it's a half-hardy annual, as you'd expect with the name capensis.

Scabiosa is rarely a problem, but I'd agree with Geoff - if you have heavy clay and it hasn't had compost, etc added, then it might not do well...

 

The T&M seeds are definitely the same as Johnson's (although 30p dearer!) but Johnson's call it a Hardy annual.
My soil is rather heavy, so that might well be the problem-causer.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Jack, I always sow in trays and never directly outside I am sure you have more control, and lose less. In my own limited experience, I have found even the difficult ones, that you are supposed to plant in seperate cells can be sowed in a tray and later transplanted. I think the problem in transplanting come when the plants are bigger and the tap roots are developed. But if its already in a pot from which you plant it into the ground, there is no disturbance.