I've sown/winter sown.........

........tons of stuff already - on New Year's Day to be exact. (I know there is a winter sowing forum, but there are already too many threads out there with what I've sown/why I've not yet sown info to keep them straight now.)

-- WS from commercial seed --

1. Alcea rosea 'Queeny Purple'
2. Monarda didyma'Panorama Red Shades'
3. Jasione laevis
4. Callistephus chinensis 'Hulk Lime Green'
5. Nicotiana alata ‘Perfume Deep Purple’
6. Thymus serpyllum 'Magic Carpet'
7. Vitis riparia
8. Illiamna rivularis
9. Nicandra physaloides
10. Asclepias tuberosa
11. Chasmanthium latifolium
12. Oryzopsis hymenoides
13. Panicum virgatum
14. Sorghastrum nutans

-- WS from seed exchange and private trades --

15. Dianthus knappii ‘Yellow Harmony’
16. Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Double Click’
17. Campanula sarmatica
18. Malva moschata f. alba
19. Nepeta parnassica
20. Papaver somniferum
21. Datura tatula
22. Echinocystis lobata
23. Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’
24. Mirabilis jalapa ‘Red Glow’
25. Mirabilis jalapa (yellow)
26. Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’
27. Clematis tangutica 'Bill McKenzie'
28. Physalis alkekengi
29. Amaranthus caudatus
30. Calendula officinalis 'Citrus Smoothies'
31. Coreopsis tinctoria (red)
32. Geum ‘Paso Doble’
33. Alcea rugosa 'Russian Yellow Swallow'
34. Centranthus ruber coccineus
35. Limonium latifolium
36. Pyrethrum coccineum 'James Kelway'
37. Ratibida columnifera v. pulderrinum (v. pulcherrima?)
38. Sisyrinchium montanum
39. Polemonium pauciflorum 'Silver Leaf'
40. Lavatera trimestris 'Ruby Regis'
41. Viola x wittrockiana 'Ultima Morpho'
42. Callistephus chinensis (can't remember name)
43. Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'
44. Ornamental grass collected from a public garden (no name - looks like golden bunny tails - floppy habit, especially following wind and/or rain)
45. Portulaca grandiflora
46. One other that I can't for the life of me remember right now - I just know I put out 46 containers :-)

Still to do:

1. Delphinium grandiflorum ‘Blue Elf’ - WS
2. Delphinium grandiflorum - WS
3. Ipomoea nil ‘Scarlett O'Hara’ - WS
4. various daylilies - some indoors, some WS
5. various hostas - some indoors, some WS
6. various tropicals/tender perennials from seed exchange - indoors

One other thing I did......I saved back some of each seed just in case this unwinter/winter/unwinter turns back into winter after the seeds begin germinating :-)

Anyone else started their winter and/or indoor sowing projects yet?

--Ginny

Ginny
You do inspire me , to dream at the moment. As I'm recouperating from the Season that doesn't finish till after the Christmas on the 7th of Jan, I will think happy thoughts of your seeds.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Ann

You're welcome Ann :-)

Ginny, that's a very impressive list! I'm wishing you oodles of energy for when the time comes to get those plants into the garden!
I haven't given much thought to anything garden-related lately due to holidays, family obligations, long work days, and a bout of not-feeling-too-good, but I'm getting back on track (I think,lol). I started some DL seeds indoors in late Nov to see how I'd do with them and so far, so green!! Yesterday, I managed to get four WSing containers done and would loved to have done more but I need to get more containers.....16 more to be exact :p I'll be on a container mission this week.
So my little list includes:

Echinacea purpurea "Purple Coneflower"
Lupinus polyphyllus "Russell Mix"
Asclepias incarnata "Soulmate"
Lavatera trimestris "Ruby Regis"

Like you, I've held back some seed of each "just in case". As I make up more containers, I'll add to my list.

Cheers,
Erynne :o)

That's a good start Erynne. As for all the energy, not to mention time, that I'm going to need at planting time, I always take a week off at the end of May to get my gardens started. I finished 12 more containers yesterday, and I have 9 more to do as soon as I collect them. Everything else I am doing this year is indoor, fun, let's see if I can grow these, kind of stuff.

--Ginny

Hope you're feeling better Erynne! I feel like I've been collecting milk jugs for months. But 19 were for the garden club workshop, so I still need more, lots more, because when the seeds come from the Ontario Rock Garden Society, most of those will be winter sown.

Yesterday I managed to start a few containers and I'm glad to see the snow today to give them a bit of a cover.

Lavatera 'Ruby Regis'
Euphorbia 'Summer Icicle'
Zinnia 'Magellan Coral'
Amaranthus 'Intense Purple'
Chocolate Painted Tongue
Columbine pink Nora Barlow
Dwarf Balloon Flower
Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'

Planning on starting my hosta seeds today, which I'll coddle indoors.

Sandy

Ginny, I have no doubt that you can grow whatever you set your mind to! So that's 67 or so containers??!!! Plus what's going on indoors??!! You're like the Energizer Bunny,lol! Do you limit the amount of seed you put in your WSing? I'm doing 12 seeds per container with the exception of the Echinacea as I want lots of that one!

Hey Sandy! I'm doing okay now...just getting past another round of vertigo....I'll probably have this problem for life,lol.
We're finally getting snow here which started yesterday and I think it gave me the kick I needed to get started with the WSing. You know, I got the mailing from ORGS, had a good gander at it, even ticked a few things off to order and then somehow forgot all about it. Needless to say, I missed the deadline! Completely puddingheaded I am these days!
If I can't round up any milk jugs or similar containers, I may try doing some in baggies and put those in a crate of some sort. By the looks of it on Trudi's site, it seems to work pretty well.

LOL I'm not so sure I can grow anything Erynne. I've not had much practice with tropical and house plants and the like. Mostly I think because I never seem to have enough patience to wait for them to germinate!

The number of WS containers sitting outside (yep - that will be 67) is only a problem twice a year - when I have to prepare and sow them, and when I have to transplant to the garden. The rest of the time I just dream dreams of cozy little seeds getting ready to burst out of their pods come March/April. The indoor stuff I am staggering - some this month, some in February, more in March, then the last bit in April. So I really don't end up with a lot of anything to do all at once.

Since I use mostly 2 litre pop bottles I limit them to a maximum of 4 seeds each - unless they are superfine seeds like portulacca or poppy. Then I just sow them as I can and practice the "hunk of seedlings" planting method come spring :-)

Erynne, too bad about missing the deadline, but I think I'm the puddin'head for ordering all that seed without knowing if I'll be able to give the little babes a home!

Ginny, I haven't tried that hunk of seedlings transplanting method. Does it work?

Sandy

It sure does work Sandy. I used it last spring with poppies, moss rose portulacca, linaria, and forget-me-not. Actually, I think that if I had of tried to tease apart the individual seedlings I probably would have lost most of them. With the HOS method it's kind of like nature intended - only the strongest survive to beat out the others. So, you end up with quite strong plants spaced fairly closely to give a nice display :-)

--Ginny

Ginny, you must have unlimited energy and space. WoW

I'm going to try winter sowing some blue poppy seeds that I was given. First time for me so I'll limit myself. lol

I have a garden that is partly enclosed with a concrete wall that has a microclimate, I imagine. Everything in it comes up first in the spring. It's quite sunny so I'm wondering if it's suitable for winter sowing.

Any thoughts?

Sounds perfect to me Joan. LOL I don't exactly have unlimited space, but I do have lots of room still to grow. I also have lots of friends and family who will most definitely benefit from my enthusiasm :-)

Ginny,

Regarding the hunk of seedlings method, they say that if you transplanted a little hunk/mat of seedlings and soil that Mother Nature will cull out the weak seedlings so you rarely have to thin the seedlings out. It's hard to imagine that only one plant in the hunk survives, but is that what happens? Or do you still have to thin them out later?

Sandy

I love that method myself, use it all the time with nicotines and portulaca that come up voluntarily in the spring. Most of them survive (90%) and you end up with nice full clumps of adults blooming away, right where you want them :)

LA

They seem to survive in a way that allows them to accomodate one another Sandy, kind of just like LA just said. Of course if you're the type of gardener who prefers precise placement of each plant then you might not like this look. Myself, I tend to find it quite attractive when a few plants grow complacently very close together.

I tried the HOS method last year on a container but when I went to take the hunk out, it fell into a bunch of pieces. I had seedlings upside down, sideways.....just all over, lol. Is there a secret to getting the hunk out without this happening? I'm typically clumsy anyhow.

Erynne

Ok, thanks, Ginny and LA. Now we need to help Erynne and the hunks that are falling at her feet. (Hmmm.... there was a day when I used to call good looking fellas 'hunks')

Sandy

LoL

Erynne,
I use an ordinary kitchen teaspoon to do the clump transplanting, it works well, I can just scoop out a spoonful and slide them right into a little scraped out hole. They don't even realize they have been moved this way.
Only danger is a garden full of spoons if you happen to set them down and can't remember where :)
LA

That sounds like a great method to use. All I did was cut the pop bottle open - all the way down and around - and broke the clump apart into smaller clumps with my bare hands. Of course, I ended up with some seedlings growing in strange directions too, but they did seem to straighten out. I must remember to try the spoon method this spring instead. Thanks for the tip!

--Ginny

Lol @ Sandy.......I don't think I'd know a hunk these days if one was in front of my face......all these men folk look the same to me :p

I was using my bare hands as well Ginny and was cutting the container away first to get at the HOS. I'll have to get a designated hunk spoon now, lol. Thanks LA.

I just found this thread, does anyone mind if I jump in? This is my first year WSing and I just did some Lobelia 'Regatta Mix' and large flowered Penstemon. Also done previously are: Snow-on-the-Mountain, Poormans Orchid, Larkspur,Bupleurum, Iceland Poppy, 'Blue Angel' Salvia and whatever else has escaped my mind. I still plan on doing Basil 'Oriental Breeze', Hosta, red Salvias, Dianthus, annual Phlox, Clarkia, Godeta, annual poppies and who knows what else!

Happy Winter Sowing!
Steve

Please do jump in Steve - the more the merrier! Sounds like you have a really nice selection for ws this year. I've thought about ws my hosta seeds, but I want to watch them up close and personal (having never tried to grow hosta from seed before) so I'll probably start mine indoors.

--Ginny

Good lot of stuff there Steve and Happy WSing to you too!
I winter sowed some hosta seed last year and sadly there wasn't any germination. In fact, they seemed to have disappeared altogether, lol. However, I started the same amount of hosta seed (from the same batch) indoors, and all of them germinated.
From that experience, I'll always sow them inside.

Ok, maybe I'll just start the Hosta later once its warmer (I have no room indoors).

Erynne - Did your hosta come true from seed? I'm just wondering if they'll be the same variety or if it'll revert back to a more green form? http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/48137/

Ginny - I'll probably end up sowing even more then those.......I keep finding more and more containers and I can't help planting them :) I also have a bunch of plug sheets to plant....72 plugs per sheet....Where half these plants end up.....no one knows...

Steve

Hi Steve,
No, my seedlings don't look like the parent; all pure green, plain Janes. Hostas from seed don't come true to type or look exactly like the parent. If you want to increase your stock of that particular hosta, you'd be best to divide it.
But go ahead and sow those seeds because you might end up with a hosta that you'll really like anyway. Don't be too disappointed though if you end up with all green babies :o)

stands face to face with Ginny, puts one hand on each of her shoulders and says in a firm but gentle voice.......girl, you are outta control!

But we'll keep you anyway :P

Ginny - I think half the problem for me is when I'm buying the seeds.......theres just so many types and it seems like you just have to have them all!!! You look and a packet and think "It's only 1.29" or whatever and before I knew it I had 70.00!!! I know I'm going to have to expand my beds this year.......

Erynne - Thanks for the infor on the Hosta, it doesn't really matter to me if their green or what, it's just the fun of growing them!

Steve

Yup - gotta have one of these, and one of those, and OH! one of those ones too for sure! LOL Been there too.

Oh thanks Erynne - I'm glad y'all wanna keep me anyway, in spite of my addictions :-)

--Ginny

He He He, I just placed an order online for MORE SEEEEDS!!! This time they're tropical and exotic. Unfortunately there was some sort of technical difficulty and the order may or may not have went through.............I have to check again later! :D

Steve

oooooh...tropical and exotic!!!!....where, where, where?????

Here at http://www.gardenstore-n-more.com/gardenstorenmore.html They have FREE shipping to Canada and their seeds are cheap!

Hi everyone,

I have some clear plastic egg cartons (PC Free Run Eggs), do you think these would be good for wintersowing? I have run out of my container stash as of last night, and am now going through the recycle bin!!!

sugarshokt, you sound just like me!......."going through the recycle bin", lol. I got more containers and as soon as the kids finish the apple juice, I'll have another (c'mon kids, drink up!!!).
I think the depth of the soil in the container should be deeper than what you can put in an egg carton or else it will dry out really fast on you, plus those roots are going to need that extra space. You should aim to have several inches of soil in your container, at least 3 to 4 inches. I go with 4 inches to be on the safe side.

Cheers,
Erynne :o)

YAY! I just did 5 more containers today!

Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'
Annual Phlox 'Dwarf Beauty'
Columbine
Feverfew
Convolvulus 'Royal Ensign'

Steve

Heres a pic of my table when I started..........It's now full up.
I'll probably be setting them on the lawn next since our patio is shaded during the winter.


This message was edited Jan 20, 2007 4:57 PM

Hey, Steve, how many containers are you up to now? Do you have snow down 'south' yet?

I scored a bunch of milk jugs (my fav) at Mac's convenience store today. Ok, I had to pay 25 cents each, but that's a small price to pay to keep me out of the dumpsters! LOL I heard or read somewhere that Starbucks has plastic milk jugs and I was planning to check that out on my next trip into the city. Maybe they'll be FREE!

Sandy

I'm not sure, how many I have.....you know, I never counted :S It's probably somewhere around 15 and they're all..except for the ones I put out today...covered in fresh fluffy snow as of this week. Winters finally here. It was about -12 this morning and that probably as cold as it's been all winter!!!
I'll take another picture tomorrow.

Steve

Managed to get three more containers done yesterday:
Dianthus gratianopolitanus "Spotty"
Digitalis Mix
Callistephus chinensis "Pavlova Dk. Blue"

I could've got more done, but as I was hemming & hawing about which seeds would get the honours of being WSed, one of the kids decided to sprain an ankle, thus I missed my window of opportunity.......sigh. Drying up tears and turning them into smiles was worth it though :o)

It's a great wintery day here and I might do what you did Sandy and hit the Mac's Milk to see if they'll sell me some of their jugs. They'll probably think I'm nuts, lol.

Erynne, yes they will think you're nuts, but you just tell them that you use them to sow seeds in the winter all the while with an expression on your face that says, 'what, you never heard of winter sowing?!'

Sandy