Didn't believe it , but it worked

California is lovely, and I really love living here. It just goes to show that our wonderful country is chock-full of beautiful places!

Yes, it is. Even the trees and all are so different. I did miss the pine trees though. When we were coming back here we drove through and came into Texas about when the sun came up. Stopped and just looked at the trees.
Course we were in San Diego, so it was really different. I was right at home with the trees and things going toward San Francisco. It's l ike Texas, if there's a certain way you like to live, you can find it. Trees, desert, ocean. (Well, we don't have the ocean here, and the gulf is nasty. I told my kids the one thing to do in their lifetime was go and look at the Ocean. That pretty blue!!!
Hey I ought to start making ads for Calif.!!!

I just got back from a week visiting my grandson (& his parents). And guess what is starting to peek through the soil in some of my jugs! I only had time to quickly glance over everything but I saw a lot of little green leaves. Mine are labeled by numbers corresponding to a list. The only ones I know for sure are my cold weather crops -broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage. I only got those out a couple weeks ago. When I get caught up on things (haven't even unpacked yet) I hope to figure out what I actually have growing out there. All the labels are quite clearly numbered but I didn't have time to look them up. I guess that would be one reason to use names on everything. I just didn't think there was room to put the info on each item, especially since I put several paper pots or cells with different seeds in each jug.
I am so excited to see things growing. I really wasn't expecting them so soon. Some of our days have been nice but nights (and most days) are still very cold. I guess those little "jug greenhouses" are enough to get them going. Just hope the weather doesn't nosedive & freeze everything that has started.

I pulled all my WS stuff out today to see what I have growing & it's amazing. Buddleias, poppies, dianthus, herbs, nippon daisies, lychnis, agastaches, carnations, hyssop, yarrows, veronicas, alyssum, & more. Fantastic! The neatest thing is I planted some veronica that I labeled "no visible seeds". I collected what I thought was just a bunch of chaff but decided to try it anyway. And they grew!
Of course this is only a tiny portion of what I have sown, but if they are starting to sprout already, I feel confident about the rest when it actually warms up. Our last frost date is actually mid to late May. So those babies have lots of time to bulk up & the rest have plenty of time to get started.

I am now officially hooked on WS!!!! Fun! Fun! Fun!

I just got back from a trip to San Francisco today and found some of my WS seedlings had germinated. Very exciting!

(Had a great trip to the Bay Area, too, and really enjoyed it but didn't get over to Alameda, Susan!)

Tomorrow morning I'm going to open up all of my WS containers and do an inventory.

Returned to find many of the daffs blooming, several iris and a few other bulbs in bloom in the front sunny garden.

I'm wondering when to start winter sowing my tender annuals...maybe April 15? Does anyone have advice for our Zone 6a and last frost date around April 22.

Hi Tabasco,

Glad you enjoyed your trip to San Francisco!. -Sorry you didn't get to make it over to the 'Isle of Style and Pleasant Living'. I'll think about you the next time I have Chicken Enchiladas Verde at Acapulco...

tabasco
If you're winter sowing the annuals I didn't think you had to wait. ??

Pam: you can really sow any seed at any time. Problem with very tender ones, like zinnias, is that they might germinate pretty early if you get an unseasonably warm stretch of weather. Then, when the inevitable cold weather returns, your seedlings can die in the freezing temps.

For that reason, some of us who have experienced this, wait to sow tenders like zinnias or marigolds until later, close to the last frost date.

Tabasco: I start with my tender annuals around early April. If they do sprout and freezing weather returns, and it's something I really want, I give it some protection. Those things always sprout so fast though. Those I don't get around to until mid April do just as well. It's mostly a question of when I get time to sow them.

Karen

Thanks, kqcrna.
So for the fast sprouting tender annuals we do a spring variation of WS. I didn't realize that. Hope the ones I have don't sprout too early. I saved some seed of nearly everything I WSed just in case. But I still have so much trouble with damping off in warm weather or indoor planting (in spite of my increased efforts to ward it off - soil sterilization, chick grit, cinnamon, increased ventilation, etc.) So I hope I can keep things growing from WS.

It depends on where you live, your weather patterns, and your comfort level. Lots of folks do sow their tenders in winter and have no problem.

And you do have an option. I generally wait until spring to sow them, but we can get a late frost well into May. If that happens, I generally give the seedling some protection, like cover with a blanket overnight.

Karen

Lorraine ~ what kind of WS seeds di you have sprouting?

Thanks, k., for your advice on the annuals.

I like to wait a bit later, too, because I don't want my tender annual seeds to rot in these incessant spring rains like we seem to be having. )-:

So, what do I have sprouting now (April 1) ? My most surprising sprouts are my hardy geranium seeds. For some reason I didn't expect them to do a thing and there are about a hundred seedlings in the bin today! Another surprise are my liatris seeds. Didn't expect a pip from them. I also have 5 kinds of campanulas sprouting. And dozens of other kinds of perenials sprouting.

So far for this year I'd say Wintersowing is going along smashingly! (-:

My neighbor was over yesterday and was just shocked that I have seedlings of all these plants in the plastic bins. She was wondering what I was up to now, lol, I was really happy to pop the lids off to show her. Maybe I'm not as nuts as she thinks?

You must have gotten a lot of satisfaction out of that! Fun! Fun!

I wish my neighbors would come over to investigate, then I could show off my tiny green babies-- I'm not sure they would be as fascinated with them as I am, though! They sort of already think I'm a little obsessed with gardening...they like golf!

I'm going to WS my Zinnias and Marigolds tomorrow. I keep procrastinating about my herbs and I'd better get with it pretty soon!