Mudguard, I had a similar experience with seeds of a beautiful flower called Lisianthus. I spread the teeny-tiny seeds over a flat of good soil, and it seemed like months passed with no results. Then one day I bent down and looked right across the surface of the soil, and there was a green shimmer - the tiny stems of little sprouts about 1/8 inch high.

Later a friend said that it isn't good news when you open a seed packet and inside it is another packet with tiny seeds in it.

The lisianthus was beautifully elegant, but then they all succumbed to powdery mildew, so I never tried again.