im sitting here with a tackle box full of seeds help

hi everyone . i have a few seeds here i want to start . im dreading all the flats and replanting . so ive been looking at info on winter sowing . my question is cant i just put them directly in the ground . is it the same difference . i want to direct sow sunflowers, gay-feather morning glories, shasta daises, dianthus,phlox ,coneflowers and some big carnations .what do you all think . direct sow or containers. the only danger i can think of is forgetting where i put them and disturbing them

Hi there iris. : )

I can only tell you the reason that I am wintersowing this year. I have never done much gardening but I bought some property that needs a lot of work. I am still preparing my flower beds so that they will be ready for new plants.

Also, With wintersowing, I can give my seeds the best possible start: good fine seed starting soil, consistent moisture, protection from birds and the elements that could wash away my seeds. If I sow them in a container I will know that they sprouted and when and then I can plant them out where I want. If I throw them on the ground I might have a harder time keeping track of which plants are actually ones I have planted and which are weeds.

Those are the reasons I am doing it, no way am I going to have the time to start things indoors, so I figured I might as well give it a try. I have an acre to fill! :)

Hi Iris! Lissa and I are both first-time WS-ers this year. I understand that some advantages of this method are, one, the seeds are protected from birds, wind, etc, until they have germinated and grown big enough to plant out; two, though they are in containers, and thus you can control the watering and exposure, they are outside, so the germination process follows the natural cycle where you live, so that seeds that need to cold stratify have that process available naturally, and seedlings that are Ws-ed do not need to be hardened off because they already are...... Biggest advantage is there is so much information and assistance assembled here for this method it would be pretty hard to go wrong, LOL! (Saying that even tho my first time, but I am a convert.)

You could try direct sowing some of your seeds, say half of each type, and wintersowing the other half, and see what works best for you! I am saving some seeds back to direct sow or to start later on, if my WS containers happen to fail.

Good luck, and if you decide to do this, come on into the First Time WS thread with us!

Kyla

i think im gonna do the containers . we do have lots of birds . thanks ill be over to the firs timer thread as soon as i get it started .

LOL! You can come before you get started too, most of the rest of us did. ;-)