Winter Sowing

Limey Lisa -

I've WSed all of those with great success. Last summer (2002), the winter-sown coneflowers actually bloomed - wasn't expecting that. Poppies work really well; this winter I plan to do a lot more varieties. And the zinnias work great too - the first year, I sowed them at the end of February; they came up fast and grew well (2002 winter was a mild one, though). This year, I WSed the zinnias at the end of March; much colder this past winter/spring, and they did just as well.

Below is a pic of the 2002 WSed coneflowers.

PV

And here's one of WSed zinnias....PV

LL and PV, I am curious about the poppies. Did you winter sow them in containers? It has been my experience that poppies don't transplant well. How did you handle that? Or did you sow them directly in the ground?

Poppy's do great with winter sowing, I just planted them up when they had there second set of leaves and they took off. I planted them in 4" pots. Cathy

More winter sown poppy's

another poppy salmon colored.

another poppy

Can you WS Larkspur and Snow on the Mountain?

Yardbird, yes you can winter sow both of those seeds, I did the larkspur, and it germinated well. I would think with a name like snow on the mountain, would work well to. Another one that I had great success with was the salvia's. I planted several varieties and they all did great.

Zinnias??? Maybe if I try this they will be in bloom before September? I do appreciate the late color in the garden though.

Wow Cathy, those are gorgeous!

I have the seed and I want to make sure I do it right. Do you do the initial sowing in 4" pots and then transplant them in the ground when they have 2 sets of leaves?

Or do you sow a group of seeds in a plastic container and then transplant them into individual 4" pots?

Please excuse me if I'm being dense but I really want to succeed with these poppies (and I have been trying for years) and you obviously know what you are doing!

Cathy,thank you for sharing your pictures & information.
What variety salvia is growing in the blue pot? It is beautiful!! Is the yellow flower growing beside it Mission Bells?

Thanks cbrandenburg

What I did was sprinkle the seeds on top of the 4" pot, do not cover with soil, the seeds need light to germinate. Then when they came up I waited until they got there second set of leaves. Took them out of the 4" pot and planted them into the ground. Transplanting is best done when the plant is small.

Christmascactus, I received the salvia seeds in a trade and they were marked annual red salvia, they were beautiful. And the yellow is the million bells. I did not plant them, I bought them. I couldn't find any seeds on them either so I took some cuttings so I'll have some for next year.
The plant is this picture is Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate. This was the first plant that germinated for me this past winter sowing. Cathy

Thanks Cathy. I am definitely going to try your method, the poppies are so beautiful.

The pictures are wonderful! What a great testament to WS!! WS is the one and only reason I can look forward to winter.

After totaling up the successful winter sown seeds and the failures, I had about 50% success. That, of course, could be due to lots of variables other that the WS method. But for the record, these are my successes with plants that haven't been mentioned yet:

(The * means they were among the first to sprout)
Shasta Daisy
blackberry lily
Japanese iris
cosmos
dill
petunias
dianthus
*bachelor button
wave petunia
hardy sweet pea vine
baby's breath
datura, white
*alyssum, pink and white
sunflowers
Sweet peas
Michigan grass
briza maxim grass
4:00
fever few
*california blue bell
penstemon
globe amaranth
asiatic lilies
lunaria
tomato, Rutgers
Tomato beefsteak
tomato roma
tomato Gergori's Altai
tomato Taxi
tomato Dr. Wyches
peppers: purple beauty, golden summer, pimento, California Wonder, yellow Wisconsin, bananna
Cucumber: burpless, long slim, improved long green standing,
pickling
*love lies bleeding
fennel
*bloomsdale spinach
groninger brussels sprouts
*granlibakken kohlrabi
*sweet William
* rose campion
*butter daisy
*sweet autumn clematis
*cone flower
*hens and chicks
Kentucky wonder beans
lumina pumpkin
early golden batamn corn
swiss chard
amabassador zucchini
strawberry corn
snap dragon mix
Wild Alaskan Goatsbeard
coleus mixed
pelargorniums
anemone, white
coreopsis
cat mint
balsam
Gourds: dipper, luffa, birdhouse, powderhorn, mini birdhouse, mini bottle, apple
pumpkin, fairytale
craspedia globosa

...and the failures:
yucca
butterfly glads
summer savory
cleome Rose Queen
Dutchman's breeches
angelica, purple (liatris?)
catchfly
spoon gourd
coreopsis, early sunrise
cupid's dart
cornflower, blue
morning Glory, dwarf pink and white
threadleaf blue star
penstamon, desert
viola, mixed
Pansy, Seward mix
blackeyed Susan vine
moss rose mix
Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset
Columbine, Granny's bonnet
lobelia Cardinalis
zinna orange profrushion
mexican hat
pensetmon purple haze
Columbine, woodside variegated
Veronica Spicata blue
Nicotina Sylvestris
Columbine, Chrysanthia yellow
Paeony Festiva Sun
Scotch broom, pink
morning glories, milky way
Irish moss
watermelon
silver Queen corn
buttergold corm
Columbine, McKana's Giant
Columbine, Nora Barlow
Columbine, blue fan
Golden clematis
cameo Dwarf Columbine
koren licorace mint
blue sage
sweet Annie
mesclun lettuce
bronze mingrenette lettuce
steadfast spinach
early jersey wakefield cabbage
savory cabbage
african eggplant
pepino cucumber
salad bar cucumber
boothby's blonde cucumber
peppers; chervena chujski, cherry, golfball, cubanelle, mushroom, Santafe, passilla, marconi red
tomato, homestead
tomato Carbon
rose of sharon, blue bird
butter daisy
amsonia, blue star
nasturitums
snow in summer
larkspur, mixed
skullcap
amaranth pigmy torch
clematis jackmanii
obedient plant, white
foxglove
powder puff asters
dusty miller
pot marigold
white pampas grass
ribbon grass
bells of Ireland
chocolate vine
chocolate Drop penstemon
Chocolate soldier comumbine
chocolate sweet pepper
nicotiana
thyme
Trumpet vine
castor beans
minibar rose
Morning glories: Mt. fugi mix, morning glory mix, pres. Tyler
dark opal basil
oregano
cup and saucer vine
hyacinth bean
scarlet emperor bean
anise
white clemantis
malva windsor castle
golden rain tree
Salvia
strawberry tree
malva noschata white
beebalm
saguaro cactus
hosta: shade fanfare. venusta, big daddy
azealia
cinnamon basil
balloon flower

(Please pardon my misspellings!)



This message was edited Oct 29, 2003 8:22 AM

This will be my third year at winter sowing, It is the best thing that ever came along, and all it's doing is working with Mother Nature instead of against her!!

My favorite container is a milk jug. Cut almost in half, and leave a hinge by the handle. When you are all done, tape it back together with a clear tape, and you have created a tiny greenhouse tall enough for some growth if you don't get to them soon enough. I find it important to keep them on the soil so they feel the same temps and moisture as the natural soil. I sowed several hundred last year, mostly perennials, trees and shrubs. I had very good luck, and the ones that failed, I would chalk up to about 50% my fault, I did not keep them watered good enough, as I kept them under a roof, and they did not get natural rain.( Will change that this year. I am so excited about this I am going to be giving a seminar on the method at the Master Gardener's Spring conference this year!!

One of my biggest surprises was a Bonica Rose, when I have decent sized plants, I move them to my greenhouse right in their jugs to grow on. This is what I discovered one day late this summer: Bonica Rose from traded seed!! (And I think a Japanese Maple next to it)

Legit

Cathy - your poppies are gorgeous! I've gotten a lot more varieties of poppy to try this year.....

Legit - congrats on the Bonica rose! Nice. And a Japanese maple from seed, too?? Do you happen to have any extra JM seeds laying around? (hint, hint...LOl!)

PV

Rose seedlings often bloom at a very early age. Problem I found is that this seems to sap their strength. I had one fabulous bloom which resembled peach-color meringue, then that plant died right off.

The more I listen to all of you the more excited I get about winter sowing. I don't think I have looked forward to winter like this since I was a kid!

Well, winter sowing gives you something "gardening" to do in the winter, that doesn't fill up the house. Although I will have to admit, I still fill the house with the special babies I want to keep a close eye on. And the sowing process is a little messy. I spread a plastic tablecloth over my whole sink area and have my bag of soil on a chair at the end of the counter. When it's meal time, I just wrap up the soil in the tablecloth, and set it onto the bag of soil and the mess is pretty well contained. But it all still stresses my DH, he deals with it as long as I don't feed him soil or seeds for dinner. LOL!!

You could have knocked me over with a feather the day I saw the bloom on the Bonica. I hope it managed to keep enough strengh to overwinter. It made it fine until frost. Time will tell.....The Japanese maples are the same thing, I have quite a few, and they too are from trades so I really don't know if they will be hardy here. I am so busy during the winter too, I hate to keep things in the house, so they make it or they don't. Spring is a time of great anticipation to see what makes it back from my many "experiments"!
Like I said, I got the seeds from trades, but I have a gorgeous old fashioned pink shrub rose with wonderful scent that is ripening the most beautiful red hips, I'd be glad to share those in about a month if anyone wants to email me!

Last weekend I harvested seeds from my Clematis seratifolia, (and I could be off in spelling there)and Radar Love, which I grew both from seed. Now that was satisfaction!!! Legit

Wow, legit! Your thumb is very green! That rose is awesome! As are the Japanese maples. You have given me new hope!

Did you do anything special to the clematis seeds? I tried a few last year and will try some this winter, but from everything I read about them, they need some TLC.

I'd love to try some of the pink shrub rose this winter. Please keep me in mind when you harvest the hips.

I hope all goes well with your seminar and that you "grow" some more converts to this wonderful method.



This message was edited Oct 29, 2003 8:32 AM

Legit...I like your milk jug idea. When you put it out, do you leave the cap on or do you leave it off so that moisture gets in?

LimeyLisa Kay

I'm listening.........didn't poppysue say she just deadheaded her plants and just throws the seeds in the garden plot?

"eyes"

Good information. I'm gonna give it a try, but I don't get much snow. Would this work in a unheated greenhouse?

lhughes, I do most of my winter-sowing on my unheated (cold)porch, and that works great. Just need to move them outside into more sun when they start to sprout in the spring. I use flats with those plastic lids, with some slits in them. I take a peek every week or so, to see if they are moist enough (always are) and to see if any sprout; this has the added benefit of keeping the air from getting stagnant in those flats.

What all do you start this way? I've started things by stratifying in the fridge then bringing under lights.

LimeyLisaKay-
I take the caps off the milk jugs so they get a little moisture in them. I also make sure my holes in the bottom are large enough to allow a little moisture to seep in from the soil below. I attribute most of my failures on lack of water. I had them under a roofed in area off the back of my potting shed. This year I am going to try to move them out, and maybe I won't need to water much at all.

Ihuges-
This is the glory of this method, they stratify themselves while in the "frozen" state, and when mother nature says go, they're ready, with no further intervention from us! My rule of thumb for winter sowing is anything that could feasably appear as a seedling under the parent plant in my climate. Would I winter sow a tropical, no. Annuals, yes, but the hardier ones. HHA Hope this all helps! Legit

And, no need for hardening off!!! Also damping-off is never a problem!

But I'm in a much warmer zone. Last night was 40s and today's high will be 80. Winter is the same way. In Jan/Feb we can have 15-20 one week and 65-70 the next. I'm still going to try it. Do you think hostas would be a good candidate?

Wow! I can't imagine, or answer that one, maybe some southern folks will have the answer! Here, hostas winter sown grew like "hair on a dog"!! Although I don't understand why I've never seen a self-sown hosta seedling---anyone???? Legit

lhughes, part of the natural stratifying of seeds involves the cycles of freezing and thawing. I think it would work well for you, but try it with seeds you can afford to experiment with! Hosta should be a goods candidate.

Legit, the only hosta I have which regularly self-sows is 'Ginko Craig', emerald green with a thin white edge; but every single seedling is almost identical to 'Ginko Craig' but without the edging. It sets a lot of seeds too, almost every flower must get fertilized.

I collected seeds from Hostas Elegans, Big Foot, Blue Mamoth and an un-named. Would you like to trade some seeds?

My Golden Tiara set tons of seed, if anyone wants to set up a little hosta seed swap, just email me, I'd be game. I have other unnamed ones as well! Legit

I would love to start a hosta seed swap. Should we do it here on on the seed thread?

Legit, you have mail.

Pardancanda you do too.

lhughes,

I would start it on the Seed Trading Forum & link it to the Hosta Forum. That way it will get the best coverage.

Just curious, since I haven't grown Hostas from seed, do they grow "true" to the parent plant or do you need to propagate Hostas by their leaves?

Not an expert here, but they are like kids, all different! Part of the fun! You need to practice simple division to get a clone. I have never gotten a variegated seedling to make it, only the green ones, anyone with more experience??? Legit

I have started alot of poppy seed here in zone 7b and I hardly have any make it thru the winter-- When would be a good time to winter sow poppies for zone 7b- Since they are cool weather plants do you think I could transplant them from the container directly into my beds? Tracy

This will be my first time winter sowing! I'm collecting milk containers and seeds! Hopefully, I'll have tons of plants next spring.
Mobi

Hee-Hee! Im so excited!
Me too Mobi, I am stocking up on the milk and clear plastic soda bottles.