I've Ordered Seeds and Going to Give it a Try

I've been reading the great information on winter sowing and decided to give it a try this year. My goal is not to have to buy anything in 6 packs next spring. Here is a list of seeds I ordered from Parks yesterday. A number were on special at $1.00 a pkg. If anyone sees anything they know won't do well, please let me know. I am going to try to collect enough plastic gallon jugs that I can use just those.

Cockscomb Prestige Scarlett
Coleus Multicolored Rainbow
Coreopsis tinctoria
Poppy Double Tangerine Orange
Cardinal Climber
Celosia Sparkler Wine
Purfume Hybrid Deep Purple flowering tobacco
Hollyhock queenly Purple
Laventera Twin White
Linaria Flaming Passion
Morning Glory Scarlett Ohara
Snow Crystals Alyssum
Sweet Pea Streamer Pink
Sweet Pea Streamer Purple
White Lace flower
Dreamland Zinnia Scarlett and Yellow
Zinna Magellan Orange

I also have some seeds I am saving from this year and a box of old seeds to look through, so I'm hoping to have enough for me and also some to share with friends. I really enjoy so many of the simple annuals that self sow and are easy to grow. I will post photos when I get things planted.

Susan

Hi Susan,

The only seeds that may prove iffy would be 'Coleus Multicolored Rainbow'. Coleus can be tempermental. I would try sowing these outdoors in the Spring when all danger of frost is past in your area. I would experiment and see if you can get them to germinate once the temps have warmed up. Also, I would save maybe half of the Coleus seeds to sow indoors too...just in case.

What is that beauty that you posted above?

Hope to see you posting more in this Forum.

Shirley

Good to know. I just ordered some coleus seeds today. I'm going to have way too many seeds! :)

w

Welcome, Susan!

Karen

Thanks for the welcome! The pink cosmos above is Double Click from Thompson and Morgan. It had a pretty flower , but really did not do well for me. Very tall and scraggly looking plant habit and fell over about the time it started blooming. The T&M cosmos I was very happy with was Polidor. Here is a photo. It is about 30 inches tall. If anyone wants seeds, just email me. I am saving lots.

Susan

Shirley, thanks for the warning avout the coleus. Maybe I will just start them all inside. I was wondering about the sweet peas too. Do you just put them outside in Dec like the other seeds? Do they trasnplant OK?

thanks,
Susan

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) should be treated like Annuals and are best loved for their very fragrant blooms. I would try winter sowing some in mid-March. If there is little or no germination try again in mid-April. Some gardeners have had good results wintersowing the seeds and others have not. When it comes to choosing annual varieties, consider your growing conditions. Also, some varieties of Sweet peas germinate better than others. Some say to plant sweet peas directly in the garden to avoid transplant shock and others have said that transplanting a "hunk of seedlings" works just fine. I think it will be on a case-by-case basis.

Susan, I'd be interested in your shorter yellow cosmos. I'm also disenchanted with the sensation cosmos that got way too tall and messy. I think the trick with them is to make sure the soil isn't too rich. I see them all over my neighborhood at more manageable heights and I think that the soil may make a big difference.

I did grow some cosmic yellow cosmos this year that were very nice, but they only get to be about 12" high. If you'd like to trade your yellow for my yellow, let me know. Unfortunantely, I didn't get a lot of seed as I sort of forgot about them until just recently. This is my first year of saving seed and I guess I'm not real organized yet.