Hey, Brent???

I didn't want to hijack merryma's thread about whether or not we will wintersow again, but I did want to ask if you could elaborate on some things you said. I remember your potting up all those plants, both this year and last. (Seems overwhelming to me). But you said you did this because

1. "Planting seedlings in the ground seems impractical to me".
What's the difference?

2. " I will not have a bunch of empty beds waiting for 200 plants and some seedlings are ready to be planted while other have not even germinated."
Ummm.........What do you do in the meantime? Buy store-bought plants to fill the beds first then cram in the WSown ones?

Maybe I'm a little dense here but I just don't understand. When do you plant out your WSown ones? Are they all perennials that wait until fall? What about annuals.

I don't understand how people can NOT plant out the seedlings into beds early. It gets so hot here. I tried to transplant just 4 volunteer melampodium from one bed to another about a week ago and I don't think they're going to survive. They look awful. I've given them plenty of water and shaded them with lawn furniture but they're at death's door. I think our temps have been in the 90 to 95 range since the transplant , though. I guess this is why I don't understand the potting up and holding on to them thing. I realize some places don't get this hot, but a lot of people seem to still be planting out and I don't see how new seedlings survive transplant at this time of year. Is all of your stuff planted out yet Brent?

Karen

KAREN~ IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE MELAPODIUM. Shear off the blooms and let the soil dry out. They prefer to be on the dry side and do not like overhead water. I just transplanted some volunteers the other day in an area that receives afternoon shade. You might consider potting them up and placing them in a sheltered shaded area till they rejuvenate completely. Forgive me for jumping in and not being Brent!!

Here's the melapodium transplant this am..

garden6: The fact that I have so many melampodium speaks to the fact that I am familiar with it. Years ago I bought a 4 pack of tiny plants and they have been trying to take over with re-seeders ever since. If early blooming flowers poop out, I transplant melampodium volunteers there to fill holes., no problem. I supply my friends and neighbors with them, keep many for myself, and compost more of them than you can imagine, just to get rid of them. I know that that they usually take heat and drought, but according to the local weather guy, this have been the hottest, driest spring and early summer ever. After getting over 2 inches of rain a couple of weeks ago (first rain in SIX WEEKS) we still have a rain deficit somewhere around 7". That has mostly been from May, June, and July. Heat and drought are normal for us in late summer, not spring. But nobody can predict the weather weeks or months in advance. My established coneflower (10 or 12 years old) even wilted one day. Same with 2nd year verbonariensis. It recovered after I watered it.

My point was that summer can be very hot and dry, and since Brent is in Va, (pretty hot I'd think), I wondered how he deals with planting out his seedlings late in the season, how long he waits after potting up, what size, etc, and how he fills those empty beds while waiting to transplant. I was hoping he had some magic formula to share.

When I bought nursery plants I normally plant out even tender stuff around May 15. Now with winter sowing I have planted out perennials and hardy annuals as early as March, and they do great. So ... Brent, when do you plant out your WSown stuff, and how do you fill those empty beds early? Do you have picture of your beds, showing progression through the season? Please share!

Karen

I think I take the same approach that Brent does, potting up wintersown seedlings into flats and pots for setting out at a later time. I tried transplanting HOS (hunks 'o seedlings) directly into the garden, but they just don't get enough attention from me out there (weeding, watering), and they tend not to do well. Yes, it's extra work... but this fall I will have three flats of Campanula 'Blue Clips' to plants out, plus flats of some other ground covers and perennials... Just think what I'd have paid if I'd been willing to purchase them outright! Of course, I also have to figure out now what I'm going to do with 100 columbines, LOL.

Karen~ your lovely gardens attest to your experience, happy gardening!! ;0)

Hey...a thread with my name in the title...I guess I should respond! ;-)

I guess in an ideal world I would prep new beds in the fall, plan the plants that will go in them, have exactly what I want sprout at the right time, plant them out in the spring, and my kids and dog would not trample the seedlings...for some reason this does not happen often!

When do I plant out my winter-sown plants? When I have time. I just planted a bed a week and a half ago. I will just have to keep them watered this summer. I will water a new bed every few days for a week or two, and then taper off to once a week. Summer is not the ideal time to plant, but with some work you can make it work.

I will admit that I have over extended myself this year. Maintaining a bunch of pots in this hot dry weather is a bit of work. I need to take an inventory of the plants that I will really use and find people to adopt the rest.

Here is a picture of the bed that I did. It is sort of a "butterfly garden". I actually planted these a few days before I was out of town for 5 days. I set up the sprinkler on a timer for while I was away and moved my potted up plants to the area so they would get watered as well. So far so good...everything looks fine even with the 95+ degree weather this week.

- Brent

Nice, big, bed, and it looks like your property is large enough to keep making new ones. (Something I definitely have to stop doing). What kind of butterfly flowers? Was this picture just taken 1 1/2 weeks ago? I'm sure it's going to be beautiful, but it still looks kind of empty. So you don't fill you garden with store-bought flowers first? I was wondering.

With early transplant, my beds do look pretty empty in early June but usually look pretty full pretty fast. A lot depends on what you plant, I guess. Annuals fill out so fast. I guess I just don't have your energy to transplant twice. And my biggest problem with early transplant this year was all these miserable rodents digging them up at night. We've never had all these monsters before- chipmunks, field mice, voles, and who knows what else. My husband blames me and all my newfound wacko organic methods, and I think the neighbors do, too. I wonder if he's right, though I don't readily admit it to anyone.

Here's a shot of one of my beds on June 7, looks pretty empty still.

Same bed July 4

Up close July 4 , just a little over done

I wonder about the transfers and timing my self--I'm on a learning curve with growing from seed.

k., Yes, it is a struggle trying to deal with the heat and the humidity here (both for the plants and the gardener!)--although, on our side of town weather hasn't been overwhelming for us and we have done OK with our blooms. I am trying to determine, too, the best method/timing/sequence for sowing and growing perennials and annuals for the flower borders, so I am reading this thread and others with interest.

I did read somewhere that someone had a 'seedling bed' (a nice raised bed in a safe spot) where they planted out the tiny perennials (possibly using the HOS method) and waited for them to grow out. Then, when it was the right 'time'* they inserted the plant into the main 'show' bed. (Same concept as the pots, but less fussy just using a nice raised bed.) If there is the yarden space, I think it is a useful idea.

* the right 'time' meaning the seedling was large enough, or the seedling showed its true color or size, or the show bed needed a replacement plant, or it was cool enough to transplant, or the time was convenient for the gardener. I kind of liked this concept and will try to find a space for a 'seedling bed' next year.

I know what you mean, k., about not wanting to transplant so many times, though. It can get tedious and time consuming.

Good luck with your garden this week--sunny and cool-ish here. Great 'bloom' weather. t.

p.s. Oh, and since we used the 'lasagna' method on one bed it is a breeze to transplant into that one!

t: Yes, I have done a few lasagna beds and I think they're great all ways around, for at least a few years before they need much of anything in terms of organic amendment. They hold moisture well, so helpful this year.

Several areas of the city have done a lot better with rain than we did here. At least they'd get a little- a tenth or a quarter inch of rain. But we didn't get any for an entire 6 weeks. Once it poured in Western Hills for an hour or two, even flooding streets (Glenway Ave was one place, and Bridgetown got that one too). But here in Delhi, 4 or 5 miles away, we didn't get any. We were always the hole in the donut and rain went around us, leaving us dry. It finally rained a lot a week or two ago, spread over several days here and there. What a difference! Even the parched lawns turned green and started growing again.

I do have one bed area close to my house that I sometimes use as a holding area for seedlings. But this year the weather has been so uncooperative that I'm glad I just stuck some perennials out into mixed beds. A couple of echinacea (which normally want full sun) are growing far less the more sun they get. Those that are being gobbled up and shaded by tall annuals are going like gangbusters with almost no sunshine. I'll have to take some pictures to show what I mean.

Like Brent, I really have to cut back on WSing. First year I did 80 some jugs, this year 60 some. I'm running out of spaces to plant, keep making more beds to fill, and it is becoming overwhelming. Next year my goal is 30 or 40 jugs, and positively no new beds. I have to concentrate on the composting and just ammending the beds I already have.

Karen

Yes, composting may be the 'highlight' for next season, too. That and trimming back trees (again).

It's fun to grow the seedlings but I will have to become shrewder in my seed choices so that I get just the right plant for the limited space I have.

If you are ever over in Anderson, please let me know. I am usually home.

Happy gardening. t.

Karen:

Your bed looks great! I do agree that the earlier that you can get plants into the ground the better. By far the largest plants that I have are the ones that I got into the ground a few months ago. It is surprising how fast little seedlings can outgrow a 4" pot. I moved into my house in the spring of 2006. At my previous place I had a nice area in an out of the way spot near my veggie garden that I could use as a holding area for seedlings.

I don't worry about "filler" plants. I know that newly planted beds will look a bit sparse at first but I also know that they will fill in rather quickly. The first beds that I planted with winter sown plants in 2005 became overcrowded very quickly.

Another reason that transplanting seedlings into pots works for me is because it is one of the few gardening tasks that I can do in the spring after the kids go to bed. If it is dark and the ground still too wet I can still play with my seedlings in the garage.

- Brent