Propagation: When to start sowing?, 1 by

wrote:
Hi All:
Seven years ago I bought a house that was empty of perennial plants. That following winter to spring, I sowed 54 varieties of perennials indoors under light. I had 4, 4ft long shelves with plant lights. As soon as they were ready and the warm weather came, I transferred most them into my coldframe that I built. I gave my daughter some of each and others I planted in their permanent spot. Never again for lack of space.

Last fall I planted Oenothera, Aster alpinus, Echinacea paradox in the coldframe as a trial. To my surprise, they germinated the following spring. A few other varieties didn't. The Asters bloomed this past spring. The others will bloom next season.

This fall I intend to sow more seeds of those that require a period of warm and cold---stratification. I'm waiting for the weather to turn colder before I sow the seeds. I will sow seeds between now, up to March. I came across an article here that had links to sowing outdoors, by variety. Here is the address for those of you who want to sow seeds outdoors. An excellent site that gives germination temperature for many plants, including trees and shrubs.

http://tomclothier.hort.net/

I replaced the upper 4" with good garden soil to make a nice bed for the seeds. The photo is of my 7 year coldframe built from scrap lumber I bought at Home Depot. It is all ready to use. I also root cuttings in it during the summer. To keep animals out of the seed bed, I bought a piece of metal netting, the kind they use in cement. It will lay on top of the coldframe. I made a frame and attached shade cloth on it, then hinged the frame to the back of the coldframe.