What Have You Wintersown So Far??

I am so excited. I admit that while I planted these seeds inside, I have never grown them before. I put the lisianthus on a heating pad since the 17th and they have just now germinated. I am putting their tray under the aerogarden light. And my portulaca have been under aerogarden lights only since the 23rd and they have germinated. Ohhhh I hope I can keep them going.

I like drift plantings and self-seeders, that is a look I appreciate. But when they are winter-sown, they are in flats. lol

Oberon, OH BOY!!! Yay you!!!! Have you got spots all picked out for your new babies when they grow up? Isn't it so cool when you try something new and it works!?! What a wonderful exhilarating feeling! You have pictures of 'em, right? ;)

Celene, I like drift plantings too, but I think I have yet to get the hang of placement of plants, 'cause it sure didn't look very 'drifty' or filled in when they grew up that first year. The second year the self-seeders helped a lot though, but still not quite enough. This year I'm gonna load that area with nothing but Red Fox Veronicas, along with whatever is left over from last year. I want that bed FULL.

Today I think I'll pop a few more Veronicas outside, along with some tomatoes. Yesterday I cleaned out the container that I had a couple tomato plants in last year (silly me, got too gung-ho and grew THREE plants in one whiskey barrel, DUH!), so today I'll add more compost (in amongst the garlic) and it'll be ready for ONE plant come Spring. The garlic plants are only around half of the perimeter, semi-circle like, so I think there should still be room for one tomato plant. Of course, it's always dangerous when "I think". =/

Plants help me learn about drifts and weaving in and out of each other's space in a lovely and natural way, I just facilitate their appearance in my garden as teachers.

just wanted to share this,I got my first article published and its about wintersowing http://naturalfamilytoday.com/lifestyle/quick-guide-to-winter-sowing/

WooHooo Tom, CONGRATULATIONS!!! And a very nice article too, I like it! And, I "liked" it! =)

Author!! Author!! How really neat. And a really good article. Straight forward with enough info to get people interested but not so much as to be overwhelming. Way cool.

Can't find any other place to ask this so here goes. I WS seeds from Ferry~Morse labeled "Stock, Giant Imperial, Mixed Colors." When I try to get more info I get referred to larkspur or delphiniums. Larkspur has a different latin name. what is the difference among larkspur, delphiniums and stock. I though stock was a short little flower

Excellent article Tom! May I have your autograph?

Mary

They are all different, although I think larkspur may be related to the delphs. Stock is a shorter flower and it drys very nicely. A lot of times you will see stock in arrangements from the florist.

We used to grow night sented stock, and if you have a porch to sit in the evening, you will enjoy the nice fragrence. It is not much to look at, but it is nice to enjoy. I think it is one of the seeds you can wintersow. Etelka

I found the picture. The regular stock has nice fragrence too, but it grows like the delphinium taller. Stock is also a annual.

I just googled a bunch and confirmed that indeed, while they look very similar, they are different species, same family. Larkspur are annuals and delphiniums are perennials (though very short lived.) Why they put the name 'stock' on the seed pckt for delphiniums I have no clue. Ferry~Morse doesn't give enough information on the packets.

Well, I am about to WS tomatoes, peas, beans, and decorative cabbage. Peas and Beans are the bush variety. Tomatoes are for cooler regions. I really love the big beefsteak ones but can't seem to get them to produce.

Oberon, are you putting your veggies outside?

Yes. Others say it will work so I am going to try it.

Ok was just wondering. We are in the same zone. I was thinking about starting some Amaranthus. I read it could be started in late winter.

I have a question that is off the subject of wsing: Butterfly bushes are supposed to be cut back in late winter. My butterfly bushes are putting out some green leaves. Is it too late to cut the bushes back? Are they supposed to be cut back before new growth? Does anyone know?

http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/mvv2-94.HTM

probably more than you want to know about butterfly bushes

I looked up Amaranthus in the wintersowing database and it shows that pretty much all the Amaranthus WS's successfully in zones 4&5. I have not sown it myself yet.

I was playing around with the idea of Amaranthus - I have never grown it. It's worth a try.

Anita - I have 2 butterfly bushes - I don't cut them back unless I need to trim branches that are in the way. Years ago, I had a nice red one, I trimmed it back and lost it. I don't know if perhaps I would have lost it anyway, but I haven't lost the ones I have since I stopped cutting them back. It sounds odd, doesn't it?

Oberon, THANK YOU for that wonderful link on butterfly bushes and care tips!! I've got quite a few Winter Sown to go along that fence line (between the neighbors and us), and will need this information next Spring. I have yet to do pruning on the ones we have at work, so I didn't realize this. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I've got Black Knight and Pink Delight sown. The plan is to alternate them along the fence, I think that'll make a rather attractive "hedge row". =)

I should think stunning would be more like it. Good luck. They are so beautiful

Speedie I would live see to see your hedge row.

Oberon, excellent info in bfb. Where did you find the Amaranthus info? I thought the Love Lies Bleeding variety was the only one that could be wintersown in late winter.

Carolyn, thank you! I have a yellow honeycomb bfb that I love. If I kill it I would be devastated! One of my bushes is start to get green growth. The weather is tricking my plants.

Somewhere up above (I think) was a really good winter sowing site. I think Speedie posted it. It has separate databases for each zone with reported WSing attempts - successful and not. I downloaded zone 1-5 into excel. Has been very helpful. Would be glad to pass it on to anyone interested. I can send it either .xl or .xls -- new or old versions of Excel. Just send a dmail with email as I cannot send it to DG. I don't think DG does attachments.

Oh oh oh, that site is simply wintersown.org!! (Yippeee, I actually know something!) =)

I sure hope my butterfly bushes come out stunning and beautiful, right now I'm just fretting left and right because I don't see ANYTHING popping up yet in my containers. =( The only things sprouting are my bulbs.

Speedi,do you have them in shade or sun?I have a few butterfly bush sprouts popping in the containers but they are in direct sunlight all day when the temps stay up more consistently then I will move them to a shady spot for them to grow out orI will go ahead and plant them..

Are you consistently 70 degrees yet Speedie? You probably won't get any sprouts until your weather is 70 for a while.

Wow Tom we have had one day where the temps were in the mid 60s and you have sprouts already?

Waving furiously!!!!! Haven't been here for a while. Hi, my name is Patti and I am an OCD'er. lol Yes, I have to straighten things that are crooked (especially PICTURES!), have to have things going all the same way, etc. My DH laughs at me!

We've had a really mild winter so haven't done any ws'ing. I have just started to put things in starter cells and put out some Poppies (that had been in the freezer) and Agastache seed.

Now I have to go back and read those articles. I use wintersow.org quite a bit. Have to read the article from our own 'famous', published Tom.

Anita,I have sprouts of butterfly bush,basket of gold allysum,lupines,japanese maples and pearl bush and yellow rudbeckia and red hibiscus so far,it has really been mild here this year

I ve got out 50 gallon jugs,dont have my list on hand. Nothing special just more perenials,Ive sown a few new things hope they are well behaved..LOL..

Also got 8 flats under lights so far..More seeds to do in the next few weeks
Wave 6 colors I think..
alyssum
lobelia
hyacinth bean
blackeyed susan vine yellow and white
Bocca
angelonia
Zinnias
marigolds
pansies,w/sd also
violas

Is that a root cellar to the right? Your jugs are so orderly. I have all sorts of containers including a big plastic tub that held bulk pretzels.

huggergirl, hello how are you? That is the spot where I saved your picture with larkspurs, My seeds are comming up in the jars, I hope to have them in garden by April also I have w/s salvia, cleomie. Does your larkspur comes up in the same place, or it is changing. I thank you again for the seeds. Etelka

Hiya Patti, nice to meet you! >>Waves furiously back>> Remind me to straighten up my WS'n containers before I take pictures, heeheeheee. Nice to meet you too, Huggergirl. (Love the name!). Goodness, all you neat tidy people are making me feel self-conscious! =/
Tom, I have them in the sun, from first morning sun to about 1:00 or so. They're on my deck out back, which is the only spot I've got for 'em without DH disowning me. ;) I'm not, however, steadily getting 70* temps though. I think we might have hit 70* once so far, but mostly the highest yet has been in the low-to-mid 60's. Thank you Diamond, now I can stop fretting and panicking. =) >>PHEEWWW!!>> Just popped out into the rain (before coming on here) to peek at the babies for the first time today and I FINALLY HAVE MY FIRST SPROUT, YAY!!! It's a Hollyhock, too and boy oh boy, I can't tell ya how much I LOVE Hollyhocks! OK, this has made my day; no more worrying about the butterfly bushes, and I have a Hollyhock sprout, *and* DH came home with a little treat for me!

Perhaps I jumped the gun. We are running 20-35F here. Maybe too cold to have put my poor seeds out.

Which seeds did you put out? Winter sown seeds? If they are Winter sown, then they'll be happy. =)

Well. That is the problem. I think I got carried away and just sowed whatever I wanted:
Antirrhinum Majus, First Ladies
Aquilegia vulagris, Rost Barlow
Coleus hybridus
Larkspur, Giant Imperial Mix
Cosmos, Sensation
Echinacea, Purple Coneflower
Cardinal Climber
Lobelia, Crystal Palace
Nicotiana, Whisper Mix
Love-in-a-Mist, Miss Jekyll
Poppies, Icelandic, Shirley, and my own seeds that will grow for sure
Salvia, Blue Bedder
Tomato, Siberia
Nasturtium, Whirlybird Mix
Beans, French
Kale and Cabbage, decorative
Peas, bush

So what do you think won't make it. I could still bring them inside.

Hey Speedie. I ordered some of those New Zealand delphiniums. Seeds. Do you think they would winter sow. They are supposed to be perennial so it seems like they would do well.

Oh yes, I do believe your Delphiniums will do well winter sown. I also think many of the rest of your list should do ok too, the only ones I'm unsure of are:
Beans
Peas
Antirrhinum Majus
Larkspur
and Coleus. Someone else better-informed will have to tell you about those, I'm sorry. :(

Speedie, I am going by the list of flowers you have attached on the February 26the , that is pretty complete list. Also separates the annuals from the perennials. Thank you for it, it helped me a lot to still determin what seeds to get and order. Etelka