Wintersowing

yes good thing for the Dish...I have spent a lot of time in the house this winter...Grrr

I heard that a week ago on agribusiness extended forecast...was very nice to hear we were in for a warm up...I think its on its way...but Id bet we get 2 more snows...before the fat lady sings...lol

I have a Eastern Towhee here already I need to put more suet out for him too...he is early

going to go get some seed starting mix today...

Enjoy Arizona... >3

juhur - no offense taken. We moved my in-laws back here from AZ a month ago - FIL has heart and lung issues and MIL has dementia. Now we have to go back and start clearing the AZ house to sell. Most of their belongings are still there so it won't be much of a vacation sorting through all that stuff. We've been through medical and legal hoops over the past month and they're finally getting settled into the assisted living place nearby.
Hate to say this, juhur, but I saw a small flock of robins - maybe 5 or 6 - in my backyard back in late December. Some of them just don't make the trip south. In the winter it seems like I always see them together as a group, not as separate birds in the spring.
hugger - oh, I believe we'll see more snow yet but it would be nice if some of what we already have would melt some. Chicago is supposed to be close to 34 tomorrow so I hope a little of that creeps over the border here.

Got my starting mix ....Im going to do some WSing this weekend...but I need to buy some more seed...lol..need to see what I saved from last year too ... I think I saved just a few ...my spring will be a busy one ... Miss not having my lights set up this year, we will be going out to Denver april ? not sure, my brother lives there it will my last visit to his homw there ,They are moving out to Blaine Washington....wayyy farr away... ; { I loved our road trips out to Denver over the last 30 years....

I bet Denver is beautiful in April. Is there still lots of snow at that time or have some of the early spring blooms started by then?
Didn't make it above freezing yesterday but looking forward to next week's warm up no matter how temporary it might be.

As for here ; Only hanging in , waiting for some snow melt , Several seeds to plant , more ideas to study ,,All kinds of things ,
Mostly though , fresh goodies to eat are the objective ,,lol


Enjoy the trip !!!^_^ Both of you ,


Here's to more comfy temps !!!

My Red Incarnata milkweed seeds are sprouting in their winter sown can &baggie ^_^
Snow melted and let me look today !! lol

Congrats on the sprouts! Haven't done any other winter sowing aside from my leftover poppies. It's getting about time to start indoor seeds but waiting to see when our trip is scheduled. I did break down and do some coleus cuttings the other day. I take cuttings in the fall and get them rooted and generally by Feb/Mar they're big enough to take cuttings from. My only other project is spraying for spider mites on some rooted shrub cuttings. Grrrr.

Got 30 jugs sowed...need to get them outside...I just put them out...LOL...

want to buy more seed ... we don't have much to chose from around here, and I have already looked. Just didn't get around to order seed because I didn't do my light set up this year.. Really missing that, Now Id have seedlings growing..

Still not sure when we are going out to Denver...

Maybe a trip to Menards tomorrow..We have not gone anywhere in sooo long...The DH and I share a vehicle when it is snowy out...lucky me..I get stuck at home .... He has summer only tires on it...lol...

Snow is melted and melting away here , I can see earth for the first time in months ,
Lifting my knees to my waist walking through the snow makes old scars fatigued and sore ,
After being like it is for months , it is nice ! to be able walk around outside without sliding on the ice or "working out" to walk.. ^_^
Planted some more annual poppies , went shopping to get potting soil yesterday . Going to plant more onions , and do some pruning on trees today , if the weather , and opportunity happens , (it will ) lol
Winter will return (cold) for a while , only, maybe with a little luck it won't stay until June .. ?
zero has occasionally been my favorite number . Only not when it comes to the temperature

Oops ,, I did not get my light set , in place either ,, oh , well ...

I plan on getting some seeds going this week. DD offered to babysit trays at her house while I'm in AZ next month. I'll have to pull out the tabletop lights this week too since quite a few are surface-sowed.
At the rate this winter is going, I won't be able to start working outside until April. Ugh. But I might be able to get out to prune the clematis since I do that in late winter.

Here;s some more . Some have my cubes in them .Lupines and Delphinium are next . Have some white Nigella I am hoping to get to .

Indoors annuals Salvia
marigolds
zinnia
peppers

I am still hoping , planted some more poppies today also
The jugs are Flax
Ironweed
Thalictrum
A broken piece of Yellow Delicious Apple tree is under the Bag

What's your intent with the apple? Or was that just a snack???

It was a small seedling something chewed in half ,
I skinned it , sealed it , then put rooting hormone on it
Hopefully , the cutting (by critter ) will live and root ,
Hopefully the seedling it came from , will still be alive ,


I know who did it ,, I'm sure , it was ,
Pointing at this , I know you did it !!! lol ^_^

hehe...Im going to sow a few more jugs today...we got the thin ice an 3-4 inches of snow...I wish Id go buy a farmers almanac, sounds like spring is not happening for some time I heard more snow to come this month...I planted my caladiums in a pot..been looking for the begonias to hit the stores..I lost all mine.

I don't know how to store them right..Grrr

juhur - funny! I know the voles got my apple seedlings last year.
hugger - I'm experimenting with overwintering begonias for the first time. I had read that you can keep them in a pot (mine were growing in a pot) and just stop watering them and keep them cool. I'm curious to see what happens in another month when I try to revive them.

OK - not really winter sowing but my snapdragon seedlings came up in 12 days. I didn't keep them as warm as I should have which may explain the delay but I did remember to sprinkle cinnamon on the soil surface since I had a damping off issue with them last year - my one and only case of it.

Im missing my light set up BIG TIME...withdrawals wanting to grow stuff.....I was very sad about my begonias....why I didn't leave them in the pots...Grrr...and DUHHH Meee....Maybe I wont buy any this year ...and Ill grow something from seed that will take off fast after we get home from Denver...I don't want my neighbor to have to water a ton of plants...lol...cause she is gonna have to do it in September too...lol

Im going to sow a ton of Violas and Pansy today...

Hey hey Friday Warmer ...Maybe 40...

hugger - did you see the forecast for Monday??? 50 for us and 40 on Tues. I might get spoiled! There might still be hope for your begonias. Even though I stopped watering the two that I have, one continues to put out new leaves. Are you looking for something to take some shade? My Dahlias took off fast last year. I didn't start them until almost mid-April and I wouldn't have planted them out until the end of May.

Tomorrows 46 is goos with me !!!!
A black pearl pepper sprouted , lights ..
Singing green fever !!! ^_^ Oh you all are Too !!! no denying now ! ^_^ lol

under lights;
pyethrum cinnarii
salvia
pepper black pearl
bur marigold
not sure ?

Yeah, this week's weather is finally a sign of spring to come.
juhur - nice to see new sprouts, huh? I've grown 'Black Pearl' in the past. It's a pretty easy plant to grow. And the fruits are edible and hot if you let them develop their red color. Be careful though about trying to overwinter it indoors as it's an aphid magnet.
Did sow my columbine and blackberry lily seeds yesterday. They've been hibernating in the fridge for a month.

Hello I have some cuttings to do while it is nice out ,
Cindy I planted some Blackberry lilly last year , Hoping to see if they bloom this year .
Yes !!! nice to have a few green sprouts . I grew two of those peppers last season , they got spikey on the pepper instead of round . But the foliage was nice ..
A few Tomatoes to start before long , Not going to grow as many this year , A steakhouse , a big Rainbow , A couple of cherry types , Lemon cucumbers blonde cucumbers ..
Will work on ideas for an herb garden (which is about all mine is suited to )
It got over 30 about 43 degrees that day a while ago and I was surprised at a what a mood booster that was ! And today's it's 53 yeah hoo !!! ^_^ I'm near excited ,,
Last year Echinacea I am looking forward to seeing ,, and of course the bulbs ..
More than anything looking forward to seeing what plants return ..


,

Im really anxious too see what survived...I re did a few areas so Im hoping everything made it...and all my other favorites...but I still have 2 Feet of snow.... and where we had to shovel the steps ...its 3-4 ft deep yet...

Cindy ...Friday was delightful...today..no sun freezing rain...boohiss

juhur - the blackberry lilies I started from seed last year bloomed very late in the season and the frost got to some of flower buds. They should bloom for you this year.
hugger - have about half a foot of snow out in the yard and some clear patches of pathetic lawn along the sidewalk. But it's still 3 to 4 feet where the snow got piled, especially along the street. It was depressing to see it snowing again today but it should melt tomorrow. Really looking forward to Monday.
Had to hand over all of my sown seed flats to DD yesterday to babysit while I'm away in AZ. Kind of depressing. I'll start some seeds just before I leave and hopefully they'll do okay germinating while I'm gone. I'll probably do some more cuttings before I leave as well.

I 'm interested to see if my Dahlia I left outside can return , a guara , a few sedums .
I use to be better with vegie plants , flowers I could not grow at all . Seems to be the other way around now with so called easy plants from seed .
Also my Thalictrums , no sign of them outside at all . Lot of odds and end out there ..
I do see signs of Garlic , leeks and my Blueberries ,
The salvias and Zinnias I have indoors are about ready to pot up , to fast , but I will try and keep them alive . Want those early blooms
Three or four Peppers now are up .. slow so no problem there .
Waiting a while to start Tomatoes..Good start they grow plenty fast here , all in temperature adjustment

I checked my cold frame today, which has spinach and kale I seeded last fall . It germinated and then went dormant when the days got short. Even though it has been snow covered lately, it looked today like the sprouts are bigger. I plan to start some veggie seeds out there soon to get a head start. Nothing happening in the wintersown jugs. I think I will go ahead and start some in plastic boxes and transplant to cups to control for weather. I was thinking of lettuce of course, but wonder what you all think about beets and peas? I have heard they don't like to be transplanted, but I have struggled with too wet, too warm, too cold etc the past 2 years. I did not get good crops; and see this as way to control for conditions - as blomma said in another post -can move and or cover as needed.

marty - curious how you keep voles out of your cold frame. I lost of lot of baby shrubs and perennials in mine last winter to the cursed voles.
You could try using paper pots for the peas and beets but I wouldn't start them too early. Make your own pots out of newspaper - don't use the commercial fiber pots as the roots might have a tough time penetrating the fiber pots. It might be worth experimenting with if you have a few seeds to spare.

Cindy, I haven't had any problems with voles. Just luck I guess - my son in hammond has some in his lawn - but they haven't affected his flower beds that we can tell.

I Know they love Poppy roots and Bachelor buttons !!! Grrrr ..

Kitty says all right!!! , I love to dig and well ... you know , with the flowers and plants too !!! ..


Some Daylily and etc Wintersown


This message was edited Mar 9, 2014 5:32 PM

A few poppies have sprouted , depending on tomorrows 7 degree low and kitty playing
"Pooping on the Poppies ", I might get a few to grow ,
They are way to small to pic , tiny , tiny , plant sprouts ..

juhur - saw you had a heat wave yesterday. I woke up to marshmallow-encrusted trees, shrubs, etc. Sigh.
I did finally get to clear off my "compost bin" patio while enjoying the warm (relatively) Monday and moved my WS milk jugs to a better spot to take advantage of any precipitation.

30 degrees ,
Snow plant blooming again today , pollen everywhere lol?

I still cannot get to my compost pile...it is still 3ft deep...even after the last few days..

Ours is not going away fast enough ...but we did have an awful lot of it piled up.

I dug up my Hellebore from its snowy tomb...She looks sad...very sad...I will cone her next winter.Im sure it will be fine but the leaves look awful

Im hoping I will get some sprouts soon..we will see

Im going to miss my vole killing kitty..Willie went MIA last fall : {

My ex baked chicken sprouter , the seeds that fell to the bottom sprouted also .
Good sprouters these are .
These all have live poppy sprouts ..

Huggergirl, so sorry about your kitty:(

aww thanks D...miss him soo...Ill just aim my sadness at the dang moles today...lol...we`re baaacckk with a vengeance this year...boo hisss

huggergirl ; I thought we talked about Willie , gone missing ,I had one that left when I was in my teens , He returned when I was in my twenties ..
Maybe Willie did not get caught by the Cat Catcher and is at his Winter Hideout ..
Cats love attention ,and do they ever love to roam about ..

No voles , moles and the like to view here ,,, Only their mounded trails along the walks ..



Definitely going to get me some spring seedlings . I'm waiting

This message was edited Mar 31, 2014 11:24 PM

willie boy was 11 I will look for him when we mushroom hunt soon...I always call for him...I cannot help it...

Going to move the W/S jugs up to the driveway set up the saw horses an planks

and Im heading to do more jugs right now...lol..some annuals

Just about , poppies sprouting .

Bulbs are all up .. so is the water here .. After I get back from raft , canoe ,rides , we will see ..