Vines & Climbers for Wintersowing?

Hi, everyone,

I am interested in 'upgrading' my hummingbird and butterfly garden with Vines & Climbers of all sorts, and I would like to 'Wintersow' as many as possible. But I need some help with organizing my plant selection for wintersowing, please....

A few seem 'tropical' to me, yet, I have seen them listed here and there in Wintersowing forums. The more research I do, the more confused I become, so if someone can just say 'nay' or 'yeah' to wintersowing these, it will help me out a lot!

Cup and Saucer Vine cobaea scandens purple w/Span. Flag
Cypress Vine "red' Ipomoea quamoclit
Cypress Vine 'white' Ipomoea quamoclit
Cardinal Climber Ipomoea multifida red
Dutchman's Pipe Vine
Hyacinth Bean Vine Ruby Moon Dolichos lablab

Ipomoea luteola (herderofolia) Heart and Honey Vine (Star I.)
Mexican Flame Vine Senecio confusus
Purple Bell Vine Rhodochiton atrosanguineum
Runner Bean Scarlet Phaseolus coccineus
Runner Bean 'Painted Lady' Phaseolus coccineus
Spanish Flag Mina lobata w/ Cup and Ssaucer vine

And what about the Morning Glories? I think not, but....

Can anyone readily identify these vines as Wintersowing possibilities?

Thank you very much. t.



This message was edited Feb 8, 2006 1:42 PM

when you see that someone's winter sowed them, I'd look at see what zone they're in, also. I personally would wait for warmer weather for the tropicals.

I know there are some morning glories that require cold, but I don't know that all of them do or that all of them can handle it. Maybe look up the variety in the PlantFiles for advice?

Wow, you're ambitious. :) The only vines on your list that I've grown is cypress vines and morning glories. And those always did fine being direct seeded. Since they wouldn't really sprout any earlier in a container, I never saw a benefit in winter sowing them. Although.....if they were in a container, they might get more protection from a late frost, which means I wouldn't have to wait as long to plant the seeds. Hmmm.....I think I'll try a few in bottles. I'm going to attempt a corkscrew vine this year. If I can get any kind of head start, I might actually get a bloom before Fall. The plants I bought last year never had a chance.

I know that didn't really answer your question, though. For tender annuals, I usually wait until early spring to sow them. They don't have to sit as long in soggy dirt. It seems like they rot if I sow too early in the winter. I'm assuming the tropicals would be the same. But if you do this, just make sure you have a lot more openings, as the the weather will be a lot warmer in the spring. You don't want to end up roasting the seeds. Which also means you'll have to water more often, since they'll dry out quicker. Sort of like a catch 22, I guess.

Hope this helps.

cjolene-- thanks-- I have looked around in Plantfiles, in the catalogs, and on Gardenweb's wintersowing forum and I guess I got a case of TMI (too much information) and became totally confused!

merryma, good analysis. thanks, Good to hear of your experience, especially since we are in similar zones. If the main problems are drainage and moisture, I think I can deal with that. I would direct seed but I don't have the gardens made yet.

(I do think I am over my head with all these vines (plus more vine seeds came yesterday!) but if it works out I'll have plenty to share at the ORV RU and with my neighbors... I want everybody on our block to have a butterfly/hummingbird garden!) (It will liven up the (dull) neighborhood!) LOL

I would like to try that corkscrew vine next year. Good luck with it.

Happy gardening! t.

A lady I talked to in a waiting room yesterday says her morning glories reseed themselves every year (zone 6b), so I think they would be prime candidates for wintersowing.

I know it doesn't really answer your question, but when I wintersow I often plant just a couple of seeds as indoor starts also... That way, I'm pretty sure of having at least one plant to try out in the garden.

critter-- that's what I thought too so I wintersowed a few MG seeds. I will plant a few under lights later, too. Good idea.

Have you checked out the Wintersowing Database? If you go to my website http://www.lakehousecreations.com/winter_sowing.htm you can download the file and look up the plant by zone...

Anita--love your website and your wintersowing page! Very informative.

And yes, I did check the database originally and I will try to study it again. Some of the various data bases have conflicting info, and I just thought I could find somebody who said 'Yes! Go for it'. Or 'No, it won't work!' for each on my list. I pretty much have the gist of it, now, though. However, if anyone wants to add their 2 cents, please do!

I did five more roaster pans of seeds today, so I am making progress.

Thanks.

Morning Glories are perfect candidates for wintersowing! However, I personally will not start them until next month.

way to go Tobasco!