When to Start Annuals

Hi -- some advice, please, for zone 5?

I've winter sown both annuals and perennials before but not had much luck with the annuals. Last year the annuals were almost totally wiped out by three solid weeks of rain in the spring. I am so thrilled with the perennials but am seriously wondering if the annuals are better just bought at the garden center in our rather short growing season.

Can you advise me? Am interested only in doing cosmos, cleome and zinnia this year. When should I sow them in the milk jugs and put them out? (We still have snow, ice, etc.) And would I be likely to have flowers blooming in June?

Thanks for any input!!!

I have no idea . . . this is my first year winter sowing, but I have tried several annuals - I hope they don
't get wiped out by rain.

Do you have somewhere to move them where they'd be under roof? I keep mine on my uncovered patio most of the time; I want them to get precipitation. But a few times last spring I put them on my front porch, under roof, when we had many days in a row of monsoon spring rain and/or tornadoes predicted.

Karen

I'm in trouble if annuals need to be moved, and I'm glad this possiblity was brought up here. I've got lots of annuals planned for this year after doing all perennials last year. Since I have no covered area other than the garage, could I possibly cover them for a few days with a big sheet of thick clear plastic weighted down with bricks? Although that doesn't sound like the best idea the more I think about it. Maybe leave the tops on and push the ventilation holes closed?

We don't usually get a lot of spring rain but when we do it tends to be in the form of monsoons, as Karen noted above, along with flash flood warnings for several days. Then we go weeks with not a drop. Whatever happened to those nice spring days with a light steady rain that was just enough to get everything watered well without flooding or damaging winds?

you know we dont get Spring in Chicago!!

I'm going to start my coleus around the 10th of March. I cant recall if i have any other annuals. I have wild flower mix that is a combo of annuals and perennials, but i may direct sow those.. not sure yet.

Well I guess I am lucky . . . we have an old house with a full covered veranda in the front. If it looks like we will have inclemant weather I can always move the plants there .

I just have to hope for the best. We can get some down pours with lots of wind. This is my first year for annuals. Would it be different winter sowing them than the perennials? My perennials did just fine with the rain.

zen: No, annuals shouldn't be any different from perennials in that respect, I would think.

Generally, I want rain and snow to fall on my containers. But, especially in spring, we do get severe storms and high winds, with frequent tornado watches and warnings. (They have touched down fairly close to us quite a few times that I remember). And we had a couple of days last year when we got 8 inches of rain in, I believe, 2 days. That's pretty excessive for tiny seedlings I think, and that is why I moved them under roof, near a wall, to be protected from both rain and severe wind. They might have been OK where they were but I elected not to try. Chances are you have no need for concern.

Ironically, sometimes we get almost no rain in summer.

Karen

Boy, am I slow in getting back but thanks for the answers. (By the way, am going to wait until the middle of March to sow the annuals.)

For the question as to whether annuals are any different than perennials when it comes to lots of rain, I agree that the answer is "no"! But here is what made a difference for me, personally....as soon as the ground is thawed and the perennials have a second set of leaves, I plop those suckers in the ground, usually in clumps. Maybe I've just been lucky, but the perennials have hung right in there through frost, rain, etc.

Annuals, on the other hand, for me, are much more difficult when it comes to getting them transplanted before the last frost. Not speaking for anyone else here, of course. And no, I have absolutely no place to get them out of the rain. Even after drying them out a couple of times, anchoring a plastic sheet to act as a roof on the deck railing over top of them, they just plain drowned.

So, it's the inability to get annuals more quickly into the ground that causes more problems in my situation. Having them dry out as of yet has been no problem in the spring in this neck of the woods!!!

Wishing you all tons of purty posies and shrubs and grasses! :)

Could you keep the WS containers from being water-logged by making a couple of long, vertical slashes on the sides? That way, even if the soil is frozen, the water would still have a place to drain out. What about plugging the holes at the top during down pours?

Totally different type of question: since annuals often have shallower root systems, do they need such a deep container? I have some terrific containers about 2" - 2.5" deep. For stuff like alyssum, lobelia, etc.?

P.S. I think the long side slashes idea is a good one.

xxxx, Carrie

This message was edited Mar 3, 2007 7:50 PM

This year I'm going to try wintersowing my annuals directly into hanging baskets and covering them with vented plastic bags. I'll use plastic straws to keep the bag off the sprouts.

Last year, I grew them in plastic jugs and then transplanted them to hanging baskets. I'm hoping to avoid several steps my directly sowing them into the baskets.

That sounds like an excellent idea. Be sure to leave drainage holes on the bottom.

That was my plan too, Shirley, sow some straight into their hanging baskets. I thought by the time they're old enough for the saran wrap to be too tight they'd be old enough not to need it. Is it to keep them warm, or to protect them from birds?

xxx, Carrie