WINTERSOWING 2014 Ambitions...

Peach and orange go great alongside blue and yellow...heck, there are no rules. Give us a snapshot of your bed when it's blooming.

Celene, I learned to pair complimentary colors by consulting the color wheel. Since peach is a combination of orange and yellow, according to the color wheel, it would look best paired with a bluish purple. Maybe hydrangea, mainacht salvia or purple delphinium would look good. Ornamental grasses look good everywhere, and you can't go wrong with white flowers also.. They go with everything.. Like the little black dress of the plant kingdom :)

Transplanted some of my winter sowed lettuce yesterday, it was a nice 55 degree day.

That looks yummy cytf!

poppy and lettuce from wintersow Garlic with ground ivy , yes weeds already , I posted this on a few other threads , only because I'm happy ^_^

Cytf, love the WS lettuce, reminds me of healthy fast food :)

Juhur, you should be happy! You are a seed germinating machine! LOL

Pic time! First one is my jugs that need potting up already, next is the jugs that sprouted, but either waiting for more sprouts or they're still too small to handle. Last one is all the jugs that are left, I'm still waiting for signs of life.. Wouldn't you know some of my "most wanted" are sitting there doing nothing, giggling quietly whenever I walk by..

SPWD (Becky) ( my first glance was ; Wow what I set up you have !!! ^_^ ) could not get near that many here ,lol When they all grow though , there are very few satisfactions that compare !^_^ Seems that happens frequently to me also , the one (s) you want most seem to not happen , only disappointment in seed starting ..
My devices and machines , are like yours , jugs and cans , people here were correct the jugs worked better this time .. That above and some onions is about all the success I have really had ,, slow happening year for me ,here .

This message was edited Apr 24, 2014 2:03 PM

Aw Ju, well at least it's early season for you still. Seems I missed the early planting and may have a lean garden this year (veggie harvests anyway..). What to sow now is the question? You know, I'm second in line to get the robin next!!!

SWPD (Becky) I thought I answered this , I must of missed something , O h , Yeah ,, and that Robin is Flying (C- Heavy ... I am trying about all I can deal with
Some for me , Bunches for Butterflies ..
Alfalfa , Buckwheat , today , Moved a Spicebush , that is not looking to good , to a more (hopefully) favorable location . things are coming along , With more to come ,
A few in the Wintersow cans look okay , but overall , that failed this year , Looks like a Scabiosa , Campanula , and perhaps an elderberry might be all ..
Do have a clematis cutting returning though ,, yea ...^_^

Yes the milk jugs worked great, and my family drinks 4 of them a week so I'll start saving and scrounging them in October or so to get my 100 for next year. I used 2 liter coke bottles for the ones that are notorious for disliking their roots being disturbed, or have a long taproot.

I did learn that gorilla tape is the way to go if you don't plan on opening up the container much before it's time to flip your lid. I was able to re-secure it afterward, but in my opinion, it was way too sticky to work with. Will just use a boxcutter to slice the tape on the container next time.

What kind of butterfly plants do you like? Any and all? We have so many wild milkweeds here. Asclepias asperula I think? Maybe asclepias viridis, can't remember right now. Anyway, if you like I can send you seeds this summer. They are host plants for monarchs so I'm happy we have thousands of these plants all over the place so far this year. One year we had so many butterflies they hung on the branches of one particular tree so thick, the leaves appeared to have an orange, autumn-like color. This was before their numbers declined :(

That is Syrica , my garden )in my Avatar .This year , mostly weed viewing for Butterfly host plants. I am finding a few ,usually more than I need ..
I will be back to talk type more . I want to read zones before I answer ..

StillPlaysWDirt, I had a good chuckle about your jugs are just giggling as you pass by , you are really funny. I usually have good luck with lettuce every year. Out of the 12 jugs I sowed only 3 do not have great results.One of them I got 4 Basil seeds to sprout but I am pleased with that because I just plant them between my tomato plants to warn of bugs.

Ok Ju, just lmk if you want some, I'll collect a lot so I can share.

Cytf, Nooooo.. now you're laughing too!! LOL!! Good job on the lettuce, I'm making a note of that so I can WS mine this year too!!

Well I spent the last 2 days dividing WS jugs.. Some for me to keep, and some to share with other DGers at my first Roundup in a few weeks :))

So far, I've done 36 Hibiscus coccineus (18 each of white & red), 10 salvia coccinea 'coral nymph', 10 salvia azurea, and 6 orlaya grandiflora. Have tons more to do, but figured I'd get the roundup offerings a headstart above the others.

Some of these plants were so easy to WS, I still can't believe I waited so long to try this out, great success :))

I did Hibiscus too and was really surprised to see a few germinating, because I read on the net that they are suppose to be sowed in spring.Well I am happy to have a few to give to my garden club friend .

Getting ready to winter sow this winter (newbie).
Blomma, you say you store your winter sowed seeds in garage or shed til they sprout.....don't they need the rain/snow during that time? I was especially interested in yr flat boxes stacked in large bin. Would you explain if these stacked flat containers have holes for drainage or do you find that moisture contained at planting time remains consistent in closed containers?
Thank you in advance for yr advice!

I'm looking forward to winter sowing. Won't start for awhile but the planning is fun. I am curious about warm season annuals - those never go out for winter sowing, right?

Wait until late spring to sow your warm season annuals outside. If you want to get a head start on them, you can sow a few inside.

Hardy annuals can be started now, either in the ground or in containers.

So - if this is my wish list - do you all think the WS or SS (spring sowing) notes make sense and any thoughts on the ?? ones ---- feedback greatly appreciated.

Hardy Begonia - WS
Pink Cosmos - SS
Orange Cosmos -SS
Zinnia - SS
Dwarf Zinnia - SS
Purple Horsemint, monarda citriodora - SS
Locinera - WS
Senna - WS
Vitex (shrub) - ??
Marigolds - SS
Campsis radican - orange trumpet creeper - WS
Ironweed - WS
Datura - WS
Yellow Native Primrose - WS
Mexican Sunflower - SS
Boneset - WS
Cardinal/cypress vine - ??
Queen Anne’s lace - WS
Lilac Foxglove - WS
Shasta Daisies - WS
Rue - WS
Salvia/Red Scarlet Sage - SS
Hibiscus Coccineus - ??
Black hollyhock - WS
Anise hyssop - WS
Allium schubertii - SS
Common milkweed - WS
Swamp milkweed - WS
Canna - SS
Cleome - WS
Butterfly weed - WS
Pink coneflower - WS
Tropical milkweed - SS
Goldenrod - WS
Aster - WS
Wisteria - ??
Cilantro - SS

It takes many years for a wisteria to bloom from seed. It would be more prudent to take cuttings PC this plant.

Evelyn, how long does Wisteria take to bloom from cuttings?

Valal - once you try it, you'll be hooked! After last year, I'm totally hooked and ready to go again this winter! I waited until the end of January last year and it worked great, but this winter I plan on doing them in the beginning of January to allow them to grow a bit more before the grasshoppers show up and start eating all my plants!!

Memays - nice list, I've grown about half of those and want to grow about half of the rest :))
Some of the seeds you marked "SS" can be WS (at least for me, here in N. TX). I would WS the monarda, vitex (these take a while), cypress vine, and salvia (is it s. coccinea? I did s. soccinea and s. azurea via WS last year and both worked great). Is the senna you're trying S. Alata? I think, keyword: think, so don't quote me on this, I think senna alata might need to be sowed indoors or wait til after last frost date.. It's a borderline hardy plant here.

Thanks Becky! I am plotting away and saving milk jugs. About a month and so until the solstice.

Valal, I think Blomma drills or hot pokers drainage hole in the bottoms of her bins.

Hey Blomma,

I am re-reading your delosperma, daylily and hardy hibiscus entries from Jan 2014.

I bought the same purple deloperma (4 plants) and then seed to try and sow this winter. I have them in the fridge as we speak.

Do Hardy Hibiscus need a cold period if I do them in the fridge (ie like Daylily)? It appears not from your post. Just wanted to make sure.

Rose of Sharon also should be treated like Day lilies with cold period in fridge for 3 weeks?

Thanks in advance
Val

Delosperma and Hardy Hibiscus seedlings ^_^
Love the blooms here ! Lots of heat and a sandy soil mix ,, both

Last pic is either a Coreopsis or Lovage , got accidentally into the mix ,,,

Can I still start some seeds with the Wintersowing method? I got some containers all ready to go, but didn't manage to plant anything yet, what with holidays and all.

There is a wintersow list of times to plant seeds around these threads on seed starting someplace , I would think if you are still having cold weather you could still plant ,
I am colder than you , here Poppies and Morning glory and several can still be planted ,
Have to see if someone can find that Wintersowing link ,


Lets see , here is one nearer to your zone , other side of the country , but nearer ,,,

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/784698/

This message was edited Feb 4, 2015 10:37 PM

I have the same problem, mhf- I got busy with an ill relative after Thanksgiving, and just never did it. Now it is springlike, it's not clear we will have much more cold weather here. I thought I might still do it with a detour into the fridge and freezer, a sort of half-wintersowing. I have been out doing yard cleanup in a tee shirt, and everything is sprouting. I guess we might as well try, then report back if it worked.
Here are photos from my yard last week:

Oh Pistil,
I long to see some blooms in my yard! We are buried under 3-1/2 feet of snow....3" expected today ( a dusting!!!) But they are watching a big potential storm for the weekend. I think you could still WS but if seeds need cold stratification, you'd better do fridge for those to be sure....definitely not too late for any others

Are those hellebores in photos 3 and 4?

yes #2,3,4 are various hellebores.
#1 is a crocus I can't recall which one
#5 is a witchhazel

Lovely pictures, Pistil.

I was gonna ask if #1 was crocus...I love that picture! I can almost smell that Witchazel fragrance, could you bottle some to help me make it to spring (I can see it working in my mind's eye).