when does the magic happen?

I keep looking at my ws and I am just curious as to when the show should begin? I am a nervous sow er (having eaten way too much since xmas) and new at WS this year, so I keep thinking nothing will happen. I did hedge my bet and keep back for indoor planting the old fashion way, half of my seeds from each package. That makes me feel sort of uncommitted and thus possibly doomed to failure! Here is what I start so far.
hollyhocks russian yellow Alcea ... primrose gold lace primula ... primrose double mix primula... Poppy Flemish Antique Papaver somniferum... Love-in-a-Mist, African Bride Nigella hispanica... Borage Alba Borago officinalis...
African Marigold Eskimo Tagetes erecta... English Marigold Touch of Buff Calendula officinalis... Drumsticks, Craspedia globosa.... Poppy Black CLOUD Papaver somniferum.... Zinnia Profusion Apricot Zinnia elegans .... Calendula pot marigold sherbert fizz Calendula officinalis.... pansy Envy Viola x wittrockiana.... delphinium Green Twist Delphinium hybrida... primrose primula vulgaris ... poached egg limnanthes Douglasii subsp nivea .... verbascum copper rose Verbascum x hybrida .... english marigold Citrus Cocktail Calendula officinalis nana... Delphinium Phantom Delphinium hybrida .... Delosperma stardust Delosperma floribunda.... marigold french Mr Majestic Calendula.... strawberry sarian fragaria x ananassa.... marigold african Kilimanjaro white Calendula .... Toothache Plant, Spilanthes oleracea .... pansy delta red Viola x wittrockinana ... hollyhock rugose alcea rugosa.... california poppy jersey cream Eschscholzia californica .... foxglove milk chocolate Digitalis parviflora.... foxglove cafe creme Digitalis lanata ..... zinnia envy zinnia elegans.... poppy red papaver rhoeas .... zinnia lilliput .... marigold mr majestic Calendula

Nervous in Nantucket. Patti

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I'm in a much warmer climate than you so I don't know if my answer will sooth you.

I would expect your cool weather plants to germinate first,i.e.: calendulas,poppies,primrose,pansy/violas...possibly delphs(can't grow them here...too hot and humid )alliums and hollyhocks.

I started sewing in Dec. Most of my hollyhocks sprouted early,some are still putzing around. Foxgloves,alyssum,snaps,nemesia,linaria,strawberries and even a few agastaches have sprouted.

I wouldn't expect the summer annuals to sprout any time soon(zinnas,marigolds etc)as they need a little more warmth to do well...just don't over water these and rot the seeds.

P

Bigred, Thanks, I am letting nature water them so far, but I will be mindful of your warning when it warms up. What you say about the annuals makes total sense, but I have not got my head around WS yet, so that had never occurred to me. I have more seeds to start this week. I need more containers first. I will have to go to the recycling center at our dump to get them. No neighbors in the winter. Thanks, Patti

Patti If you can get to a Starbuck's, they may give you some of their milk jugs, not all of them do, you just need to ask. That's how I have gotten quite a few. I get lots of coffee grounds from them, you might too, they have a policy to give them to gardeners, and the grounds are really great.

I live in a zone 6 and I started seeing mine in late April. We get freezes up until mid may and I was a little worried but nothing died because of the freezes. I started watering in mid May, as the weather was getting warm. I live in a very dry climate so I never had trouble with rotting of seeds. I also kept mine in the shade until they could be planted. We have supersun at the elevation here.

And it doesn't require you believe in it to work! I don't think anyone thinks it will work the first year. My first year I had 80 jugs and all but 9 germinated. So far this year I have 20 done and plan on 30 more!

Patti: bigred is right about when you can expect to see sprouts. Each type of seeds needs the soil (not the air) to reach a certain temp to germinate. Poppies, poached eggs, hollyhocks and calendula germinate at a low soil temp so they will pop early, but marigolds and zinnia require a high temp so you won't see them till later. Keep in mind that the jugs act as a mini-greenhouse so the soil in the jug can be warmer than the air temp. Depending on what you local temperature is at a given time, that's when you will look into the jugs and little green guys will peek back at you. In most of the country, March is a very magic time.

Karen

I started seeing sprouts about a month before our last frost date last year.

mine are all still frozen like rocks.

I have half of mine sheltered (in my sun roon with no heat) and I've seen the room temp up to 45° one afternoon -- i checked the soil... frozen like rocks. I was concerned about them drying out - but frozen is frozen, right? Though i did bring them out to the patio one day i was outside and added some snow -- it was still visible the following day... so i guess i'm really not worried. (yet)

this weekend it's supposed to warm up (close to 50°) and rain -- so i will be bringing them all out side

Terese
*WS 1st timer

I'm getting encouragement here! This is my first time trying to WS, too - and so far - only have sprouts from coneflowers and anemone multifida. That's 2 of about 20! Warming up this week, so I hope to see little green faces soon. :)

Deb

Terses: Why are you dragging them in and out repeatedly? Why haven't they been outside the whole time?

Karen

I was curious about that too. You don't need to have them sheltered. The whole idea is that they aren't sheltered so that you don't have to worry about hardening off. The freezing and thawing also helps with those hard seed coats.

Terese, It is best to leave them out so they are hale and hardy when you plant them. That is how Mother Nature plants her seeds.

>>Why are you dragging them in and out repeatedly?

I did this when it was like -20° and they are all outside now.

at first, being concerned that my dog would get the milk jugs - I couldn't leave them in the yard, and it was too darned cold out to put them in the side yard, where they are now.

I understand. I had a couple of big, monster dogs myself! Like will be easier now if you can just leave them out there. That's the best thing about WSing.

Karen