I've joined the ranks....

of wintersowers!! I put out 6 gallon milk jugs and 3 1/2 gal jugs today. this is what I sowed:

Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree)
Aquilegia ( Columbine 'Nora Barlowe', 'Woodside variegata')
Anethum graveolens (dill), Petroselinum crispum (Parsley, Triple-Curl)
Alcea rosea (Hollyhock 'Peaches 'n Dreams, Queeny Purple, double mixed, single black, pink, yellow, red, white)
Eupatorium rugosum (Joe-Pye weed 'Chocolate)
Passiflora incarnata (Maypop)
Asclepias curassavica, incarnata ('Ice Ballet', 'Soul Mate'), tuberosa
Papaver (poppy) paeniflorum 'Bombast Rose Peony', orientalis 'Coral Reef', nudicale 'Meadow Pastels', x Hybrid 'Laurens Springer Grape'

feels good to set those outside :0) AND it's finally real winter here...temps in the teens today. TOO cold!
here's a pic of how I divided the containers with more than one variety. I used paint pens and strips cut from plastic take out containers to make markers for inside

Gram! what a neat trick dividing your containers like that!

It's official. You're a winter sower! Yeah!

thanks, guys. I have taken the 'leap of faith'. DH said to me after I took the jugs outside yesterday, 16* F, 'what on earth makes you think those seeds will survive?' I explained it to him but I'm sure he's still skeptical. But he did measure and cut all the jugs for me. so I guess that's his 'leap of faith'.

gram

Gram, my DH thinks I have flipped my lid :o) He says what makes you think that is going to work lol. I tried explaining it to him but he is very skeptical too...

The picture is what I have done so far, and I still have lots more to do... I have 2 hanging containers ready to start for today and a few of the baggies I am going to do, Went last not and got the pans to set them in... I have been enjoying this project and hope I am doing it right lol and that they servive...

Really like the dividers in yours...

Connie

Yeah Gram, your WS too! I needed something to help until the roses start blooming, and for cheap under planting and fillins. I have to stay away from buying anymore roses, for a while anyway.

Connie, I want to try a few baggies, too. just for fun. then I wouldn't have to bug everybody I know for milk jugs. we get our milk delivered in glass bottles LOL

Nikki, the way I've got this figured, I can't spend money on perennials because I need it for roses, and I need perennials to underplant my roses LOL and I also wanted to start an herb garden and hated to wait another year, soooooo....this is the way to go. I don't know how I'm going to have the time to plant the seedlings after I get the 50 roses I've ordered planted, but I'll give it a try :0)

Call in the Calvary, sons, daughter's, grand-kids.........I would have loved it when I was a kid, but none of mine do..........go figure.
I've resorted to bribery. My 5 yr old is impressed by the blooms though. We do a regular check when Spring comes.
If you have a huge bed though, it's not so bad. It's the pecking away at the lawn piece by piece that's a killer. I'm so excited about the seeds though.............something to tide me over.
Oh and you can do some lasagna. That sounds like a great way to save backs!

See,
From another thread:
I like lasagna!!!!!!!
Now for the lazy way of lasagna gardening. This is what I do. I cut the grass short, cover with several layers of newspaper, then put on a 3" layer of farmpost (manure and straw ground together and aged).
That is it.
I have been known to plant the same day. All you need to do is move the farmpost, cut through the newspaper, plant and tuck the newspaper and farmpost back around the plant and you have a new garden patch.

I like quick and easy. I started doing this 6 years ago and wouldn't start a new garden any other way. It is very easy to keep it weed free, the only weeds you get are the ones from seeds that are blown in.

Nikki, where do you get the farmpost? that's really my biggest problem with the whole lasagna thing. I don't have anything to put in. I did make a small one around my lamppost in the front with just newspaper and compost (bought) and soil. put in a clematis and some creeping thyme.

Wintersowing has been keeping you busy too, Connie. Lookin' good!

Gram, it's been forever since I've seen milk delivered in honest to goodness glass bottles!

Good thing you learned about wintersowing, Nikki. It helps to keep busy until Rose season begins. Plus, it's a sure cure for the 'wintertime blues'.

Hi Shirley, Thank You... I have added more to it since I snapped that pic.. And still have way lots more to do...

I haven't actually done it yet. I just saw Zen's easy recipe, and I'm dying to try it. Although I do have a feed store right down the street from me. I'm guessing they might have them.

Gram, I gotta tell you, I love the pic of the divided milk jug! I have a number of seeds I don't need 100s of plants of but the 1/2 gal jugs are a lot harder to come by. This fits the bill perfectly. Thanks for the idea.

Suzy

Nikki - Could you put a link to the thread that has Zen's easy recipe? I haven't seen it yet and would love to read it.

Thanks!
Joanne

I was wanting to try some hanging baskets with Silver and Purple waves or mini bells. Should I plant them in the basket and cover with some plastic maybe?

Joanne,

Here is my easy recipe. I don't have it written down anywhere so this might not be exactly what I wrote last time. It is fairly flexible.

1.Cut the grass short.
2.Cover with several layers of newspaper 5-6 give or take. If you want water here to keep the newspaper in place if it is windy. I don't usually so I don't have to work on the wet newspaper.
3.Add about 3" of farmpost (I use horse manure ground with straw and aged) you could use compost.
4.I have planted right away by moving the farmpost away where I want to plant, cutting the newspaper, put the plant in the ground and tuck newspaper and farmpost back around the plant. Then watering.
5. If waiting to plant I water at this point.

I have easy access to the farmpost by going to a race track. If it isn't aged it can burn the plants.

It truly is the lazy way you can get a garden spot done in one day.

Thanks Zen! I have to find a local source for aged manure. I did find bagged aged manure with humus at Wally World... would that work the same?

Joanne

You don't need farmpost, any "green" or nitrogen source of organic matter will do, mixed with some "brown" or carbon source, and moisture. And that lasagna is good stuff!

Greens- manure, grass clippings, live yard waste, fruit & vegetable trimmings, used coffee grounds, etc
Browns- wood, dead leaves, hay, straw, paper, cardboard, etc
If you google "compost ingredients" the list of possibilities is endless.

A lasagna garden (aka sheet composting, interbay mulch) is just composting in place, where you want the stuff to end up. Theoretically, a 30:1 ratio of brown: green is ideal, but I know I never hit ideal. If it's too much green , though, it can really stink! The mix doesn't matter, everything will rot eventually. "IALBTC: it all leads back to compost"

You can find a lot of good info here on Daves, on the compost & soil forum. Some of those folks are certifiable compost wackos, and proud of it! They collect tons of grounds from Starbucks, truck loads of other people's leaves, vegetable waste from dumpsters at groceries...I visit the compost forum almost daily. There's a lot to be learned there.

Karen

It was my first year for ws and I already learned my lesson; that you do not just label the plant names with a marker on top of the containers. A couple of rains washed off the labels so fast that now I have no idea which is which. Some are vines and some are ground covers, and some are not. I won't know where to plant what. I should have known!!!

ed

I read about everybody's problems with labels washing off. I've got labels inside, and i've marked the outside with both indelible marker and paint pen.

To all wintersowing newbies:

Read the 'sticky' threads at the top of this forum. Lots of invaluable tips & experiences from veteran wintersowers.

And Trudi's suggestion: Use a permanent marker , write on duct tape, and put it on the bottom of the jug so it won't be faded by the sun.

Karen

I have lots of popsicle sticks from VBS craft time. Does anyone write on them and put them in the container? I use a paint pen for my plant markers.

I bluegrass,
I used those but the wider ones. along with a paint marker. I also wrote on the outside of the jugs.... I used the sticks just in case that it comes off of the outside of the jugs...

I did some more WSing yesterday and hopefull will get to get the rest done by Monday. Dh brought my big bag of soil in from the garage and it was wet. So letting it dry out. :( So I have to wait a few days to finish up for this month... I have several to put out in February and March.

Connie

bluegrass, I cut strips of plastic from takeout lids and wrote on them with paint pens and put them inside the containers...same idea as your popsicle sticks...I don't want UFO's either LOL

Connie, why do you have to wait for your soil to dry out? don't you just have to wet it again?

I'm going to try to finish most of mine this weekend. I did lilium michiganense (turk's cap) this morning, because they need a warm period first. So they are sitting in a 1/2 gal milk jug on top of my orchid cart. I think I have a few that have to wait until March. In the meantime, I've also planted a few seeds in the house for houseplants....dwarf orange, dwarf schefflera, started a nice pot of purple shamrocks (practically instant gratification there...they sprouted in less than a week).

I'm looking out at 8* this a.m. and it's shaking that faith a little. I don't expect everything to grow, but I sure hope I have some success this year. On the other hand, I don't know where I'm going to put half this stuff and I have over 50 roses ordered that somebody (ME) has to plant, so.......either way I'll have a busy spring in my garden.

gram ~a girl~

Hi, I thought you were a grandpapa. You can really be fooled by some of these names.
I have been asked several times if I love bluegrass music! No, I live in the bluegrass state and I love my CMT.

Oh no, that's gram, a girl...........LOL

I thought it was Grampa in Pa.

Karen

Yes, we went through a disscusion in the rose forum. Gram, tell them.

long story short...I am gram, DH is papa, together we are grampapa, or call me Jan ;0)

Hi Jan! How's your sowing going? I just put out five more containers. I said to myself that was it, but then I just got a few more from Shirley, and I still have some I forgot about. I'm sure I've overdone it, but hey, it's fun! I can't wait to try hosta seeds.

Yes, I'm still enabling & sharing lots of seeds, but.....so did nikki!

I've got 14 done. lots more to do. I'm hoping to get most of it done this weekend, but you know how that goes LOL. I still have some seeds coming, too. and it's stuff I really want. blackberry lilies, for instance :0) but I'm trying not to get carried away. it is my first year and I hardly have any place to put anything new. I'm supposed to be concentrating on a rose garden this year.

I planted a few little containers in the house, too. for house plants. dwarf schefflera, frithia (baby's toes), some mixed cactus seed, lithops (living stones), and someone send me one dwarf orange seed so I planted that today.

Way to go everyone.

Gram...a word about multiple sowings in one container. I tried that last year and found that if one variety germinated before the other, it was a pain taking it out. I had some that germinated and were ready to be planted out way before the others in the conatiner. I won't do that again this year. However, the same variety, but perhaps in another color might work ok in the same container.

Anita, I was wondering how long you left your in the container before you could transplant. What size did you use? It seems like a gallon milk jug will not hold many seedlings. Tell us about other things you learned not to do. I see you live in NY, how early did you start sowing? Thanks, Teresa

Hi Teresa,

I start in January as the solstice is too hectic for me. I created this last year http://www.lakehousecreations.com/Seed_Sown_2006.htm and I am using it as a guide for this year. I transplanted any seedling that was big enough to transplant [looked like it was too big for the container]. I did let them crowd a bit for I found that if plants were too small they did better protected in the containers.

Well good morning to you all,

I took a picture yesterday of the WSing I have done so far. And as you can tell all the snow we got is gone, then when I got up this morning things had changed (the snow pic at the bottom of the picture was taken this morning), and it is still coming down so it looks like we are finally going to get some snow thats going to stick :o) It is amazing what a difference one day can make. lol

I still have way more WSing to do... The picture is just about half of what I am doing...

Connie

Connie,

Are you not using covers on your containers? Some in that photo seem to have no lids.

Karen

Here's my list so far http://lakehousecreations.com/wintersown_2007.htm .