I'm a newbie who'd like to try planting perennial bulbs from seed. I have a patch of soil which is silt/clay and only workable to a depth of about one foot before reaching hard-pan clay. In the fall, the grass/weed-filled soil was turned over, and covered with about 3 inches of oak leaves for mulch/weed suppression. My question is: what's my best approach in planting the seeds? - I'd like to plant them directly in the site, and not in flats. 1. What top-dressing do I need to get my seeds established? 2. What (if any) amendments do I need to improve the existing soil? 3. Should the oak leaves be tilled into the soil, or used as mulch? 4. When and how should I prepare the site - it's rainy season, and the soil is likely to get muddy and compacted if I start mucking around with it too much. 5. Lastly - when should I plant the seeds? They need moist stratification, which they could get if I planted them in the next few weeks. If they can't get planted soon, I suspect that I'll have to try artificial stratification. I have no experience with this, and wonder about proper techniques for avoiding mold. Thanks very much
