Warms temps and wintersowing - should we wait?

Yes, but lately Mother Earth doesn't seem much inclined toward cold weather... so my seeds are getting some of their winter cold in the fridge... If they'd sprouted earlier this month, I'm pretty sure few if any would still be around after the temperatures plunge next week. I'll winter sow when it actually feels like winter to me, LOL.

I finally started a few days ago and did a few more today- 18 finished and outside now.

Karen

Karen, I noticed you are in the Cincy area. I hope to vist the Botanical Garden in the Spring.
My daughter is moving to Monroe.

What are you planting in the 18 containers?

So far:
lobelia cardinalis
chives
echinacea twilight (open pollinated seeds)
gaillardia burgundy
butterfly weed
agastache purple pygmy
verbena bonariensis
pansy
delphinium summer mix (chinese larkspur)
clarkia
verbascum So. Charm
campanula carpatica
snapdragon
gazania (HHA, an experiment)
Bells of Ireland
balloon flower
catchfly ruby flax

I still have a box full of seeds, plus I am expecting 4 mail orders soon. I'm waiting for Target to get their supply.I have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff. I keep buying seeds. And I have little space left to plant. I see another lasagna garden in my near future.

Karen

Okay, what is a lasagna garden?

Basically a lasagna garden is a bed/border which was prepared without digging into the soil. Using layers and layers (key word w/lasagna) of newspapers, cardboard (I used a few bags of soil too) and other composting material to build the undisturbed ground; then, come spring, you have a ready-made bed, with the help of earthworms of course.
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf582744.tip.html

Deborah♥

cool, never heard of doing that, I have heard of raised beds, but I assume this is done so that it decomposes over the winter...really cool!!! I have some spots I can do that too....some really ugly spots now that will be beautiful come Spring! LOL Thanks Deb!

You're welcome, Janet. How do you think I got all those plants you gave me in the ground so fast! LOL

kbaumle, your inquiry about the weather has caused me to do some serious thinking about what I should start wsing in zone 8a. It has also given me the fever more so than at any other time since I started researching the whole wintersow concept. I've now prepared 20 jugs. Will water them tomorrow and let them drain over night before I sow. I also copied Trudi's site for the Zone 8 database. I've decided to go ahead and sow most if not all of these with perennials and I'll wait on the annuals to see if winter weather arrives in south Ga closer to February.
Good luck to you this year and hope your ws success rate keeps improving for '07.

Deborah♥

JanetS: If you need new beds, lasagna gardening is the way to go. You just pile up organic materials and you end up with a bed of wonderful, black, compost-y soil. The worms love it. Just google "lasagna garden" and you will find tons of information about it and "recipes" for this wonderful lasagna.

I really want to start expanding my beds, and hope to do some in the spring. I just don't get enough materials to do it at this time of year.

I did add a big bed last year to accommodate my WS seedlings, but I filled it in no time.

Karen

That is just so interesting! I will look into it further...and pray for the energy and strength to carry it out..LOL

Now with tiny sprouts, Snowflake candytuft, Dianthus artic fire, Pierrot paper daisy, Scabiosa scarlet, and ornamental cabbage.

okay, I am getting jealous of the "sprouting" going on..LOL...need to get something going!!!

I hope they're not completely done for.

I don't think sprouting is good at this point, since we're supposed to get real winter temps soon ??

Well, I would think a lot of things in the ground are sprouting too, I know they are here....so maybe they will be good...since they are somewhat protected too...in the jugs...I assume...from the winds etc...

I hope so, sprouts are exciting!

I'm with you Janet. The sprouters could at least be covered or brought in from the freeze if necessary. The jugs should help protect from the nip too.

Congratulations nikki on your wintersown sprouts! They will be fine!! A couple may be culled by Mother Nature, but the strongest & hardiest ones will live! I also have a couple of jugs that have sprouted too. I have lots of black Peony Poppy sprouts and one little itty bitty Helleborus, 'Gold Boullion' seedling. I think I'm going to start a new thread on seeds that have germinated, so it doesn't get buried to far down in a thread.

Cordeledawg: Don't bring your wintersown containers inside!! If you need to temporarily protect them from a storm, you can put them inside an unheated garage, greenhouse or shed. If you bring them inside, it may weaken their stems. That's one of the best things about wintersowing....ONLY the hardiest survive.

Thank you Shirley. I just needed some confidence building. Scared all my efforts are going to be in vain. I'm just going to bite the bullet and put some out there under a pinetree and hope for the best. Or at least that the best survive, Right.

Cordeledawg:

It's all about taking that 'leap of faith'! You'll be fine and your seeds will be fine too. Be happy and wintersow!

Well, I am no longer waiting for it to get cold enough to do my wintersowing. It is -5º today. My list of things to wintersow is at 78 kinds at the moment. I haven't ordered them all yet so I may decide to eliminate a few.

Now for the lazy way of lasagna gardening. This is what I do. I cut the grass short, cover with several layers of newspaper, then put on a 3" layer of farmpost (manure and straw ground together and aged).
That is it.
I have been known to plant the same day. All you need to do is move the farmpost, cut through the newspaper, plant and tuck the newspaper and farmpost back around the plant and you have a new garden patch.

I like quick and easy. I started doing this 6 years ago and wouldn't start a new garden any other way. It is very easy to keep it weed free, the only weeds you get are the ones from seeds that are blown in.

Now that's what I call easy! Thanks, I think I'll have to try it, especially since I've only dug up the grass, and amending after for every planting I have. What a waste of energy!

zen......I know what you mean about it being cold enough. Perhaps we complained too much about it being too warm. I had -13 a couple of hours ago. I think it's up to -10 now. I am dreading going out in it. But.....the sun is shining and it is really beautiful.

LOL...this is like "be careful what you wish for" we are back to Winter temps here too..of course they are nothing like what you guys are having!! I think the high will be in the mid 40s today..

The mid 40's are higher than we were worried about being to warm for our plants.
The one thing about the cold is the clear blue sky.

I am sure, seeing where you live....we have been in the 70s and wondering if Winter Temps were ever going to get here...this is normal temp for this time of year here in Georgia...

OK, I did it!!! I planted 7 (seven) pots today. I'm not exactly sure what some of them are, but they're planted. I started with my favorites, of course.

xxxxx, Carrie