Wintersowing......have you started yet?

Thanks!

Exciting updates today.....my ice plant first sprouts coming up. 4 sprouts...made by day! Wintersowing Covered by 6 feet of snow but basil and ice plants are helping me get thru this :p

Hi valal, my winter sowing is covered with snow too . I just sowed some Zinnias , bachelor buttons and Mix Morning glory seeds indoors. I took out my grow light set up yesterday , hubby helped me with it.

Cytf,
I was going to wait til March and WS my annuals -- I already did some zinnias via WS but read on some forum that zinnias dont do well WSing, then somewhere else at least a couple people were WS'ing..so I'm confused. Not that it takes much! HA HA

Oh! Would love you to post some pics of your growlight set up and your seedlings when they sprout!

That is what happened to my seeds the year before last. They sprouted too early and then froze to death. I put mine in the refrigerator so they would not sprout when we have a warm spell. We were up to 70 the day before yesterday and now down in the 30's. Lol.

No, I started them inside on purpose. I wanted to see how they would do, and give them some inside to get big before I plant outside in the spring, because they dont WS well. I dont grow much inside at all (no room/lights, etc) So this is a gardening activity for me this winter, with 6 feet of snow outside. How I long for the 70's! :)

valal-I don't long for the 70's-I looked terrible in bell bottoms!

Hi valal, this is my grow light and my gromphena seedlings.

Oh, Pistil, At least you havent lost your sense of humor this winter :)

CYTF, great grow light! Your gromphena seedlings are looking good, too!

Here's most of my wintersowing....can you see the bottles under the 6 feet of snow!? Yeah, neither can I! LOL....
You might be able to see a few (WS latest) containers on the table to the right in the screend porch.

valal I will look again ,,, the Bottles ,, Thing there seems , you do get to plant something ,, You get to plant your feet solid and Bury a snow shovel ?
Not what we all had in mind about winter planting of seeds ,,, Weather being it's own kind of a Sow and sow ,,, he , he ,

valal a deck is nice in summer but cleaning snow in winter is hard work . I had a deck at my previous home and when we got 23 inches of snow it was horrible.Taking care of your winter sowing is easy that"s for sure. Now with my senior self I have to go down 4 steps to go outside the take care of my winter sowing.lol.Winter will soon be over.

Valal,
what seeds did you start? I see them! That is way too much snow!

Pistil,
LOL, she meant the temperatures. My weather was in the 70's a few days ago and now it is in the 30's and next week will be the 20's.

cytf,
your sweet seeds look a little lonely. lol. Do you have any friends for them?

Mine are in containers but I had to put them into a sweater box so they would not blow away yesterday. I put a brick on top. Very, very windy here. What a hoot, they are saying 30% chance of snow tomorrow afternoon!

Virginiaro I am waiting for my Zinnias,bachelor buttons and Vincas to sprout , they will have lots of company soon. You are really funny

cytf,
Thanks! I love all those! I have some zinnias but I was going to wait till spring. My ice plants have been in frig for 5 days so I guess I will take them out on VD. I do not have any lights but a bright window or two. I hope they do ok.
I have grown vincas for years and some reseed here but they do not sprout till September. I love the pink ones!

I have some nice sturdy bulb crates from our ADR order last fall (as host of the local group buy, I glommed onto the crates) and have been putting my WS containers into them. I think I'll sow some "regular" pots also and put something over the top to keep the squirrels & birds out. That should work especially well for natives & extra-hardy perennials that don't really need the "greenhouse" effect of the milkjug tops.

Virginiarose,
My first year wintersowing and I admit I got a little (ALOT) carried away. I have planted over 75 different varieties of perennials so far and some hardy annuals that reseed (incl coneflowers, cosmos, rubedeckias, foxglove, hollyhocks, delphinum, tiarella, anemone, butterflyweed, columbine, aster, baptisa australis, armenian basket flower, Heliopsis, coral bells, Malva, money plant, mexican hat, phlox, viola, balloon flowers, campanulas, chelone, cleome, Cupids Dart, Daisies, Evening Primrose, daylilies, Rose of Sharon, Dianthus, Globe Thistle, Gaillardias, Hardy Geraniums, Hibiscus, Red Hot Poker, Candytuft, Jacobs Ladder, Lavendar, Lobelia, Lupines, Rose Campion, Prunella,Pansies, Scabiosa, and Spiderwort, to name most of them. Aren't you glad you asked!? :) AND I'm not done yet!

How about you!? Do you have more WS'ing planned? I liked your idea about being able to put containers in the fridge if it got too warm....I'm out of luck if that happens, but think it'll be July before our snow all melts! LOL

Read a post somewhere about WS'ing where a gal said her husband bought her a 2nd fridge just for her WSing!

cytf, do you not put your seedlings/plantings under the grow lights til they sprout? I have been growing my ice plants more popping up every day-th epast 3 days) and Basil under my under-cabinet lights in the kitchen. :o)

Yes valal ,I do not have a heat mat so I use my baseboard heater to put my small containers with my sowed seeds to germinate , then when they sprout I then put them under the grow light . Now with the zinnias and bachelor buttens and morning glory I put them in containers then in zip locks bags and then under the light and some are already sprouting .

critterologist,
That is a good idea. I used some Ziploc containers big and small and also a pound cake container, if you turn it upside down it is a container with a lid. lol.

valal,
Sounds like you over did it big time. lol. Was it worth it? It is easy to get excited about winter-sowing when you have so many pretty flowers! I am still adding to my a few at a time. I did order some more seeds yesterday (non-gmo) from Everwilde and Mary's Heirloom.

It is common in the south to have an extra refrigerator in garage, etc. to store plants and bulbs that need a cold spell. LOL. My lily bulbs came in October and it was way to warm to plant them so in the frig they went. LOL. I finally planted them last month, a full three months after they arrived.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2015 10:27 AM

VA-Rose, Yes, went a bit overboard, but 2014 was my "big garden project" digging a good portion of backyard grass for mostly sunny garden beds. I planted ALOT but still have room for more...and read about WS'ing this summer and couldnt wait to try it. Got carried away w/seeds...I will tell you if it was worth it come spring when I see how my WS containers have sprouted/grown :0) I could never afford all the plants/variety I'd like, so WS'ing is my answer. I can only hope that my results turn out as wonderfully as others say they do.

My SIL gave us a small refridge years ago when she had to move it out of an apt. I used it to "winter" spring bulbs and take pots out every couple of weeks in the winter so I had blooms all winter long...that was NICE. It was given to someone who needed it more (for food). I should have held onto my daughter's college mini-fridge!?

Blomma, I heard of this plant only recently, probably on a seed site or someone's wish list when I had never heard of it. It's lovely and quite unusual.

So it's 6 degrees here in the Boston area with a windchill of much less...BRRR!
But my amaryllis is blooming as are my ice plant seedlings (counted over 20!!!), hunkering down for tomorrow's storm....Stay warm everyone!

Most of my seeds under the grow light are sprouting , so it will soon time to transplant them into individual containers.This make me think more of the arrival of spring .lol

@Blomma: Those Bergenias are rather common here in Germany (in gardens and in stores), though I never learned to like them, as for my eye they're just to bold, lacking any delicacy. I have to strongly advise against putting them in full sun as one of my neighbors does - the foliage gets really ugly.

meanwhile I'm still waiting impatiently for the first green in my containers, though I'd admit it's hard to sprout when you're frozen all night ;)

Blomma- The Bergenias are quite popular here in Seattle, they are very drought tolerant, seem to survive shade or sun here. I have planted several types in the last 2 years-suddenly there are new varieties in the nurseries. I will take some photos when they flower.
Garak-I resisted planting them for years, for the same reasons as yours. Lately I have tried to put in my garden more plants that will tolerate neglectful watering. So I started looking around to see what survives in old gardens. After all, a healthy plant it generally more attractive than one which is struggling.

blomma,
I love those Bergenias, I will look for seeds @ Parks.

valal,
Winter-sowing is a great way to go overboard, especially for a big project., you can get a ton of plants for just a little money. I love it and I am always looking at seeds and trying to imagine where they would look good at in my yard. Lots of people in south have extra frig for bulbs and some bulbs like tulips and certain daffodils would have to be dug up and stored in the frig because there is not a good cold spell to get them to rebloom. There are newer varieties that do well.

Pistil,
That's my reason for winter-sowing, I can afford to try new things and if something works well, I will keep it and plant it in the garden.

It is way too cold to go out and look, everything is frozen!

I've got a few Bergenias in the strip bed along the driveway... interesting big leaves, pretty pink flowers... ordered the plants from Bluestone one year. They make seed pods, not sure about viability of the seeds as I have never noticed any self-sowing. Mine get morning shade, afternoon sun, and do pretty well.

Hi virginiaro, you cannot say my seedlings are lonely now. I transplanted my other seedlings today . I need to set up another grow light soon.My morning glories also germinated .

2 things I've noticed with morning glories.....

1) bunnies LOVE seedlings
2) once you plant them you will ALWAYS have them with how heavily they reseed, or at least the ones I planted did.

my first year sowing, I did over 100 seeds, and i think 99% germinated ... I planted them along my fence line only to have the bunnies consume 90% of the plants...

these were Grampa Ott ~~ Love the deep purple blooms. This was back in 2008 ... I'm still pulling A LOT of seedlings every year. I let a few of them go for the blooms though. I added Gypsy Bride a few years ago and have 1 plant that reseeds minimally. and there is a deep pinkish one too... can't recall the name.

I widh Heavenly Blue would have reseeded so heavily, as that one was just gorgeous.

I planted Heavenly Blue but they have not reseeded for me yet , but last year I planted Early Call Mix and one of them flowered nicely and I let the seeds dry on the vine then sprinkle them on the ground hoping they will reseed this year for me.Two years ago a White Morning glory came up on my fence , I think the birds must have brought it.Someone told me the name.

i found that Heavenly Blue - at least for me, produced the seeds so late in the season, they usually were not developed enough - and were not viable.

I would love something purple that does not reseed a lot, a little is ok. Has anyone tried 'Nasturtium'. I was checking out 'Jewel of Africa' and some people say the variegation is not good. I do love the colors. I was looking these up on DG and I read a comment by someone who said he needed to stop buying seeds from Burpee because he kept getting 'Blight'. So he order seed from a new company and ended up with a full lush garden with no 'Blight'. This is interesting to me because I had never heard of Blight and did not realize a disease could be passed on through seeds. (any comments?)

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/7748/

I love that Heavenly Blue, is it invasive in zone 5 or 9 or both? I want to try something safe, the birds will carry seeds all over the yard here. I put down a lot of preen because of the reseeding of 'Dead Nettle', these purple flowers have 25,000 seeds each and I had about a thousand of them last year.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2015 10:34 AM

I planted Morning Glory 'Scarlet O'Hara for the hummers. It was when I was a beginner gardener. I didn't realize how weedy morning glories were. I wish I had never planted the seed. I have to pull morning glories out all season. I miss one and it sneaks in and out of my shrubs and reseeds like crazy. The Scarlet O'Hara has returned to Heavenly Blue. It grows in my unkempt back yard amongst the trees.

Well, I'm back home in the "freezer" from Florida. :( We had to shovel 12 inches of snow from the driveway. It's the most snow we have had in the past 25 years. valal, don't you feel sorry for me!! Ha!

This winter has been unusually warm until two days after we came back home. So,when I checked on my Winter Sowing that I did before I went to Florida, my Aquilegia and others were dry. I know seeds, especially Aquilegia, need consistent moisture. Now, I am wondering if the seeds won't germinate?? All of the seeds I WS needed to be stratified. Although we have cold weather now, it won't be long and temperatures will start to warm up. So, I would like your opinion on doing seeds that need stratifying. I watered all of the milk jugs from the bottom, but I'm thinking they probably won't make it.
Do I need to start over with those seeds?
And, do I still have time for Winter Sowing these seeds in my area? I'm zone 6b. Last average freeze date is April 10 to 15.

Edited to delete. I accidentally posted this twice. Sorry.

This message was edited Feb 18, 2015 1:04 PM

cytf: I see you planted Gomphrena seeds. Which one?
Did you buy the seed or was it collected by you?
I have had trouble starting my own collected Gomphrena seed. It's real difficult to get the seed pod off of the seed.
I really like Gomphrena. It is one tough plant and blooms all season. I use Gomphrena globosa 'Buddy' as a border plant. It blooms all summer long.

I never had luck with them either... that is the Strawberry Fields, right? I tried them for a few years, collected seeds I got in swaps, and I think total, i had 1 that germinated, then died.

As for your question on the perennials.... I wouldnt start over. Is the soil frozen?
They should be just fine, just like in nature.

= Aquilegia
these generally take a LONG time to germinate, at least for me... months... I was going to bump the containers in May, but set them aside - and finally some time over the summer they finally germinated for me. ~ I was out of town that summer, so i do not know exactly when they germinate.

Birder,
HA HA! I was reading your post, and thinking "12 inches!? that's nothing!" But then, it's ALOT when you come home from somewhere warm...who needs that! We should be used to all this snow in New England...and expect it. Some winters are milder and alot less snow, but it's the nature of living in the NE. The problem is that we were all sitting around id-Jan congratulating ourselves about what MILD winter it had been and how we'd hardly gotten any snow and the Snow Gods heard us! I think EVERYONE's going to be mighty glad to see spring when it gets here...MORE so than usual!

What a LOVELY Gomphrena border!! I hope your columbines sprout for you. How warm has it been there!? (she asks jealously!)

Morning Glory: I am going plant my morning glories at the base of a 6+ foot rock wall on our driveway, and so if they reseed, they will not spread (I hope the birds will cooperate) and will keep coming back in that area, which is full sun and could use some color!

TCS, interesting about Columbine. I am starting several from seed (winter sowing), and wasnt sure if they would bloom this year at all because they are typically spring flowers. Did yours come back (or is this the 2nd year?) nicely?

VA-Rose, INTERESTING if you can get blight via seeds...dangerous too!
Are you looking for something small in height that's purple or ???

Columbines for me... after the 3rd year, I got 1 [yes only 1] bloom. They are up in Wisconsin, where I have wild/native columbines that bloom profusely. I've also purchased a few varieties that have not bloomed well for me either.... so, basically I've given up on them.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2015 10:36 AM

Columbines do really well for me: bloom for long periods and re-seed. I know germination is irregular. I guess that's why I am wondering if I even have time to get them going. I believe they need at least 3 weeks of cold under 40 degrees.

valal: Temps here usually this time of year are mid 40's and mid 20's in the nights. Right now, we're having minus 5 degrees in the evening with teens in the day. We get a little of that every year: at the most 5 days and not altogether. Last year, we had a bad, cold winter and now, this past two weeks has been unusually cold. I kept thinking of you and Bostonians while I shoveled my 10 inches of snow. I did not complain! :)

tcs: I have grown the Gomphrena haageana 'Strawberry Fields' and the Gomphrena globosa 'Buddy' from purchased seed with great results.. (note the different species). I feel better knowing you have had the same experience. Did you plant the "self" harvested seeds with the seed pods on them? That is what I tried with no germination.
I have spent some time trying to thrash the seeds this fall-time consuming. Gomphrenas perform so well in the garden with little care (water occasionally). I think I will order the seed as well as try some of the seed I have painstakingly thrashed. Actually, I should just give it up! Good grief! How much can a package of seed cost! I guess it's more of the challenge and trying to conquer this delimma.