What has germinated so far?

Did you hear me whoopin' and a-hollerin'? This is my first time doing the WS, and I was a bit leery of it all, living in the tundra as I do. I have some annual phlox, (Creme Brulee) that have sprouted, and I'm just so excited about it all. I planted them March 16, and have others that were planted earlier, but no show on them. We had some treacherous weather, but I left them out in the elements to do as they choose.

Phyllis

I thought I heard somebody making Noises of Great Excitement.... those first sprouts are so much fun!!!

Phyllis,
I was wondering what that was that made my windows rattle down here in Mpls. I had better go see if the snow is off of mine so I can look at them.

sun is shining.... 50° and the snow is all but gone (tiny patches left where is was shoveled)

don't think i have any new germination.

I got some new seeds in the mail from a swap, so i will be sowing again.

Congratulations Phyllis! Seeing sprouts is SO exciting that it becomes a daily treasure hunt to find new ones!

The snow melted and it appears that I lost the ones that were over 1/2 tall. I did have germination in 10 more. They germinated in spite of the cold and snow!

Well I can finally report that I have sprouts. I am in zone 5a and it seems to be winter forever here...especially this year. I haven't checked since Thursday because of the nasty weather we have been having but this is what I found Thursday (my first year wsing and my first sprouts);

alyssum aphrodite mix -- 2/18/2007 -- 4/12/2007
clarkia -- 3/4/2007 -- 4/12/2007
agastache foeniculum -- 1/13/2007 -- 4/12/2007
foxglove foxy -- 1/13/2007 -- 4/12/2007

I am smiling... ;~) Bonny

Oh Zen! I feel for you!! Hopefully more seeds will germinate to replace the ones you lost.

Yeah, Bonnylynn! You've got sprouts!

my red poppies germinated.
they were sown on 3-30 and i saw a bunch of lil sprouts on 4-15

Does anyone have any Datura sprouts yet?? none of mine have germinated yet.

Yep, I have datura sprouts. BUT...mine are indoors. ;-) Still NOTHING new outside since MARCH!!! ARRRGGGG!!!! Tamara

Congrats on your red Poppy sprouts. However, I think it's a bit to early and especially with this crazy cold weather we've been experiencing to see Datura sprouts. They like it warmer. Guess I better get busy since it's mid-April, I better sow my Datura seeds, if I want to see any of those beautiful flowers this year.

Thanks Shirley,

that is what i sorta figured.... more warmth.

My datura are also inside - and not germinated. More and more stuff germinating outside.

hi...i have some datura inside which will hopefully survive

i also had lavender & white datura sprout outside, but that was before this last bit of cold weather....too windy to stay and search for tiny sprouts, but hopefully tomorrow will be warmer & i will see some survivors!
lynda

I still have a few seeds that are 'tropical' that I still have to sow. When I reviewed my germination times from last year, I noticed that certain seeds waited until the warm weather anyway, so I figured this year I wouldn't sow them so early.

Delphiniums! I have delphiniums! Clear Spring Mix (mini Pacific giants apparently) a

and

Pacific Giant Blue Birds :-) This is great!

today
viola cornuta
Lychnis arkwrightii
lunaria annua
oregano

This is really a thread about what has germinated, but I need to deviate a little:

I have had terrific germination with my alyssums, have even transplanted one set out already. But I have two pots which germinated but then have stopped growing. The leaves seems to be a little speckled, they are so small, maybe some are a little light brown, like either dry or frozen? These two pots were sown later than the "good" ones, but germinated within the same number of days, 4-6 days.

I also have marigolds which germinated fine and are now sitting at maybe 1 1/2" - no more growth.

They have all lived under the same conditions generally, as far as I can tell.

Has anyone else experienced that? What's your thought?

I have experienced this with many of mine, Clementine--both WS and indoors under lights. Some got their first true leaves, and then seemingly stopped growing. I am really hoping that once they get planted out, they will have a growth spurt. Tamara

Could it be time to fertilize? I wonder about the soilless mixes that don't have any fertilizer... I added a small amount of fertilizer to some seedlings that looked like they could use some help. I've read a quarter strength is okay for seedlings after they're planted out.

Yes - this has concerned me as well - I have been potting up seedlings started in soiless mix asap - rather than wait for four true leaves. I guess I could have just fertilized them, but I didn't know what how diluted to make the mix.

I'm hoping this next few days of warmth and sunshine is going to cause a burst of germination and growth spurt, both. I'll also have to open some containers and probably do some watering (I haven't had to up til now)

I am with you. I still have 11 containers out of a total of 37 that have not had any germination. It seemed like I was spotting new sprouts in two or more container every day for a while. Then when the cold spell set in things just seemed to stop. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful here with highs near 80 degrees.

- Brent

I spotted a few new agastache and balloon flower sprouts this afternoon, and some dwarf columbines that had been lagging have popped up. I'm hoping I'll get some additional germination on some others such as my alpine strawberries... I sowed a big pan of them but only have a few sprouts so far.

It's going to be a great weekend for digging and planting!

Critter~ just a question please..did you determine the name of the not so chocolate daisy? It has really taken off and had to be planted out.

Not a clue... if you figure it out, let me know!

Mine died back in fall of course, but it does look like it's sprouting up from the base, so at least now we know it's not an annual. I think I'll be moving it toward the back, as it's really too tall for the front edge of the bed!

:-)

Critter~thanks! One more question, about how tall do they grow?

30-26 inches last year, in the ground... not sure if they'll come back even taller in their second year. The "real" chocolate daisy is supposed to be just 12-18 inches tall, which is how these ended up at the front of my bed.

Thanks Critter, as I need to dig mine and move them as well. Sounds like they are going to be gorgeous no matter where they are in the garden! ;0)

That they are!

Here's a photo from last summer, first year from WS seed.

Gorgeous indeed! ;0)

Larkspur! The larkspur generated! I had given up on these. Now so many things are germinating, I can hardly believe it.

so what do you think of wintersowing now????

EVERYTHING! My neighbours and I are going to revitalize the terrace on our street with flower gardens :-)

it's amazing and addicting, isn't it? Before long you will start thinking about what you are going to plant next year and start saving containers.

I am saving containers!

I have had enough things germinate to be sold on WS...especially for perennials and hardy annuals. In fact, that's probably how I'll do those from now on. Tamara

OK, I'm officially amazed. The very first 2 or 3 of the first batch of maybe 7 or 8 containers I put out had plant tags on them. You know, the plastic kind from Burpee or somewhere that are blank? Either I ran out of tags or the ink smudged too much (that "waterproof" laundry marking pen again) but only a few have these tags. None of them had germinated.

Well, last fall, in a thread about Helenium, I said I'd been having trouble finding Helenium that wasn't yellow. Without even asking or telling me, bigcityal sent me some of his seeds harvested from his H. chelsea. He bought a plant (on a DG co-op I think), enjoyed it, collected its seeds, sent them to me, I stuck them in a soda bottle with some dirt this winter, and now I have tiny teeny H. chelsea plants.

See, I don't actually believe in seeds. I believe in bulbs, but seeds are another story all together. I guess if you buy them from Big Bad Burpee and plant them in cells and put them in your greenhouse and mist them and so on there's a chance something might grow. But I'd say your odds are worse than 50 - 50. But that in Chicago someone could shake some seeds out of a dead flower and send them to me (I don't believe in mail either), and that I could make them turn into even a little two-leafed baby is a MIRACLE! THANK YOU BIGCITYAL!

xxx, Carrie

Hey great Carrie, I'm glad you have some babies. I sent out some other helenium seeds to other people so I hope they get results also.

Why, hello, Al! Yeah, I had real babies 14 and 17 years ago. They're no fun any more, so now I have babies in clear plastic containers!

Thanks again!

xxxx, Carrie