First time Winter Sower

It's weird... we have no snow.... it all melted over a week ago when it got warm.
I have to admit, it does not feel like winter without snow... well, unless i open the door .... I was hoping to have a snow bank to stick my milk jugs in... but not yet.

I did notice i have been squirreling away milk jugs ... found 4 yesterday.
hopefully i've been stashing them in the garage too.

BUT - most of all, i need Potting soil.

I have Karen. The sparklers I planted were hardy large size plants 4 years ago. They have been reseeding themselves every year. This year I am going to ws some seeds just to see what happens with the green house milk jugs.

Our weather is so crazy this year, I went out and raked,tilled, and now I'm out today with my grass seed spreader. I'm doing it,but even I can't believe the way everything is greening up so early☺

posy: that's great to hear. I'll definitely try sowing some of those.

I didn't like the bigger cleome as well. Mine got to be 5 to 6 ft. tall, tend to lean over due to height/size. My first WSown ones, from commercial seed, were dark purple and white. Their offspring were light purple. Pretty, just too tall. Here are some with nicotiana.

Karen

Beautiful pic Karen. Such great colors and clarity, I can almost smell them☺

I like the sparklers best too for the same reason. I thought I might try cutting part of the taller variety off early in their growth this summer and see if they would not grow so tall. ♥But Oh the delicious smell, short or tall♥

Delicious smell! You gotta be kidding? I think they stink!!!

I'm not sowing any of the taller ones this year, only the sparklers. I do hope they come true to the Mom. If I do get volunteers from the tall ones (I might not since we dug up and transplanted something next to that, and topped the whole area with new compost) I was also going to try pinching them back to see if that limits height. I do think they're pretty, despite their stink!

Karen

You think they stink? Mine all smell like fragrant roses.I wonder what the cause of yours stinking is ?

I think the tag said they are in the rose family some way and they sure don't stink but are an overpowering rose fragrance☺ in my flower garden.

Wow! Stinky Cleomes, I can hardly believe it☻

Wow, I thought you were kidding! I think there must be something wrong with your nose!

See commonly called skunk weed
http://msucares.com/news/print/sgnews/sg99/990705sg.htm

Oh well, the flowers are pretty anyway.

Karen

Ah, Like Lu, I haven't noticed the stinky Cleomes' leaves. I guess because I don't use them as cut flowers, just enjoy their profuse blooms during the season. Here down South in our zone, the second generation self-sown seeds will bloom again in late autumn.
Self sown seedlings in the spring are abundant. They needs a chill period to germinate I gathered since they come up readily in early spring in my garden.

Wow! I just visited some other sites as well as the one you listed Karen and it seems that to some people it smells bad and other people it smells good. Amazing!!!

♥HAHA! KIM! You and I must have the same kinda nose♥

LOL, with you Lu.
Kim

Funny. There's no accounting for taste, and, apparently, not for smell, either.

Karen

Every year I try cleome, and it's just not quite warm enough here. Last summer though I did better! And I too like the "smell" ~ it's very different, not bad, just different. Not sure if I was able to get any to provide any reseeding, though I'll do them again this year! Perhaps I'll try some wintersown this year. Just getting into it! Thanks to DG.

Sanna

Just a thought to mention. Cleome is one annual whose germination is helped by cold exposure, according to Clothier fluctuating temperatures. Mine have done better when sown early, in winter, than closer to to spring.

Karen

Thanks for the time on wintersowing Cleome, Karen!

Kqc; I concur. Here in our mild zone, the occassionally dips down to the low teens, it's in mid 20'ish here now. My cleome self-sown seedlings doing well on their own. I only collect excess seedpod to share with others and what not. The self sown ones are plenty to transplant elsewhere in my limited garden's space every spring.
Kim