When to sow spreadsheet!

Here is a partial list, cuz I am brain dead tonight.
Love Lies Bleeding
Hobi Red Dye Amaranth
Becky Shasta Daisy
Licorice Mint Agastache
Red & Yellow Marbles 4 o'clocks
Limelight 4 o'clocks
Yellow 4 o'clocks
Poppies (Shirley and another kind, but the seeds got all mixed together)
Grandpa Otts Morning Glory
Heavenly Blue Morning Glory
Pot of Gold Marigolds
French Marigolds
NOID Marigold (Small, looks like a miniature French)
Indian corn
Annual Purple Salvia
Annual Red Salvia
Annual White Salvia
Perennial Red Salvia (Will have to look up records to see name)
Guardian Blue Delphinium
Popsickle (short) Lupine
Mexican Feather grass (Ponytails)
Rudbeckia
several peppers
Rose colored double Hollyhocks
Pink and white single HH (have not gathered their seeds yet, though)
Marble Arch Rose Salvia
Great Blue Lobelia

I know there are more, just can't remember off the top of my head.

Here is my driveway this spring, before I planted.

Here is the same driveway, pic taken this month.

Just awesome Lynn. It's so beautiful now. Great job.
Oh by the way, have you ever been to Butchart Gardens?

Thank you for the compliment. I have been one planting fool!! That is just one of many that I did this past year. I had a DG member over here in March, and then she was here end of Aug (Ico- hosted the PNW Roundup at our house), and she could not believe the difference. I can't believe it, either.

No, I have never been to Butchart Gardens, but have always wanted to go.

Lynn, You've really done a magnificent job there. Thanks for the list.

Gorgeous Lynn! Very inspirational. I wintersowed last year for the first time too, but not nearly so many! I was overwhelmed with about 100 jugs...

I just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread so far. I love the spreadsheet and the photos. Highly informative and inspirational. I keep failing with seeds (they mostly die right after being transplanted); but it's encouraging to find that some people have great success.

Steve, hang in there! I had a few that did that last year too. Extremely frustrating. But, I had planted so many different things, that something was bound to work :) Pick something that you know does really well in your area, and try that first! Here I'd say Zinnias and Sunflowers are probably the easiest. Also had great luck with Salvia, Ageratum and Portulaca this year. Oh, and Nicotiana too. Of course, the nicotiana was so easy I now have about 100 seedlings sprouting in my brick patio cracks... :) Oh well, they sure were pretty! If Columbine work where you are, they wintersowed beautifully.

Kelly, thanks for the encouragement and the suggestions! I am trying Hollyhocks - I succeeded with them once. I definitely need to try sunflowers. Columbine are a great idea; I know there are species that grow wild in alpine AZ, places similar to this one. The perennial salvias I have now are spectacular (bought as plants.) I'll have to look into Ageratum and Portulaca. I could just barely keep nicotiana alive in NJ; not sure I'd do better here. Maybe I'll try it in part shade. I love the smell.

I've been trying to make a germination chart just like the one you have here, so I am quite excited to have stumbled upon this. One question I have, what does WS stand for? I don't want to make assumptions and end up killing some innocent seedling. Thanks for your hard work!

WS stands for Winter Sow.

What an excellent data base. Thank you for creating it. I just found this thread. I love the fact that it tells you whether you should cover the seed or not and all the other info included. Someone has put a lot of work into this. Again thank you.

Thanks! I just got back to looking it over again this year. Hoping to add some more as I work on this season's seeds... so much to learn, and so many great sources!

This data base is very helpful. I am Winter Sowing for the first time this year. Lots of info in your data base. I have saved it to my Favorites for reference. Again, thank you so much for all your hard work.

Thanks for the info. I kind of figured it meant winter sow but just wanted to make sure!

kistuart, would you please explain the wintersow spreadsheet at the link for the when to sow spreadsheet? It has a lot of plants listed but columns without heading and no visable data. Thanks

Reading the data base, I noticed that it recommended freezing Daylily seeds prior to seeding. That is incorrect. Freezing alone does nothing. What is needed is cold and moisture to mimic nature and force it out of dormancy when exposed to warmer temp.

What I do is soak Daylily seeds overnight in hand hot water. Then, place in a moist kitchen paper towel and insert in a zip lock baggie. Store in fridge for 3 weeks. Often the seeds will sprout in the fridge. Remove to germinate at room temp. When the seeds have sprouted, plant them in a sowing mix to continue growing. They can also be WS to sprout in the spring.

Although in the same genus, all varieties of Penstemon don't require the same germination technique. Some varieties are difficult and require warmth before stratification. Others need the opposite.

Bearded Iris is a great candidate for WS. Soak in water for 3 weeks to remove sprouting inhibitors. Change the water every day. Once done, sow using your favorite WS method. Iris seeds will sprout when the outdoor temp remains at 50 to 55 degrees.

Asclepias require stratification to germinate (moist cold).

Here are two good germination data bases.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html

http://www.robsplants.com/seed/germination.php

Below is daylily seeds sprouting in a paper towel just prior to potting up. I sowed these in October 09. They are now 3" tall growing in a 3" pot under plant light.



This message was edited Feb 6, 2010 10:17 PM

Thanks blomma! I'll get this info in the spreadsheet tomorrow a.m.! Greenthumb, have to check on that, back with you tomorrow too... just checking real quick today!

Joanna, do you sow poppy seeds into individual pots, or the regular cell packs then shift them when small?

Thanks, Evelyn

Ah Greenthumb, now I see what you mean. Someone else who was helping me last year wanted to do the wintersow sheet, but never got to it. I'll remove that sheet, as I'm unlikely to be able to do it myself... still too new to wintersowing.

kistuart, perhaps someone in the wintersowing forum would be willing to bring it to life? I'm just getting into winter sowing myself and would love some place to share my results and see those of others in an organized format. Thought that I was too tech unsavy to get it to display data. duh!

There is a wintersowing database on Daves. It's challenging to find, but there. It's a work in progress too, but you can certainly share there. I've been meaning to add my limited info to it!

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/ws/

I am excited to find this thread and all of the info in it! I have not been particularly successful with seeds in the past, but I am determined to do it right this year. I have learned from reading this that I know nothing about seed starting! I'm sure I will be re-reading multiple times. Thanks to all of you who have contributed!

Brenda

Great job, klstuart!

Some of us "newbies" need all the help we can get. I have sown limited amounts of plants from seed, most of it direct sown, though I once started 100 tomato plants from seed...there are so many, and I have been disabled from the time I was working full time until about now, though I have been doing maintenance, weeding, watering, and planting a few things already grown by others, and now it is time for me to get my tote of seeds planted. It may take a few seasons, and I am old...but determined, as I cannot afford to:
#1. Waste the seeds I already bought or got in trades,
#2. I cannot buy the number of plants one can produce from all the seed packets that I have...so it's TIME!

I have recently found a book that has everything we might ever need to know on annual and perennial flowers. It is "The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing flowers from Seed to Bloom" by Eileen Powell. Literally every seed I have looked up has been in there with the exception of a few that were actually considered shrubs. I'm so thrilled with this book! It tells about temperature to sow seed, weeks before last frost, any special requirements, etc. The only thing it's missing is whether or not it can be wintersown... though that can sometimes be inferred if it germinates at a cool temperature. It also talks about other propagating methods, dividing, cuttings, growing ferns from spores and more!

Joanna...I have a new respect for those who grow annuals, as I have only grown easy, large, sow in ground, or sow on ground...nothing like these petunias...I don't know how you do it.

Do you have smaller plugs in your cell-packs, or the standard retail nursery cell-packs? They are so fine. I might have killed quite a few in the last transplant, as I started the first batch in cell packs, the large kind. I did, however, put more than one seed per cell. (Poor babies...) though quite a few have survived, in spite of my clumsiness. ARRRGH!

Backyardgardener website still host a great seed germination database. http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html

Does anyone know about Dogwood seed pods? Red, 1" diameter, rough skin,????

It looks like the germination method is similar for all the cornus:
Cornus alba , Tatarian dogwood ,zone= 2 , sow 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus alternifolia , Pagoda Dogwood ,zone= 3 , sow 2-5m @ 70ºF, 2-3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus amomum , Silky dogwood ,zone= 5 , sow 4m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus canadensis , Bunchberry ,zone= 2 , scarify, sow 3m @ 70ºF, 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus florida , Flowering Dogwood ,zone= 5 , wash seeds, sow 5m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus kousa , Kousa Dogwood ,zone= 5 , sow 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus mas , Cornelian Cherry ,zone= 5 , wash seeds, sow 4m @ 70ºF, then 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus nuttallii , Mountain Dogwood ,zone= 7 , sow 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus officinalis (shan zhu yu) , Japanese Cornel ,zone= 6 , see C. mas
Cornus racemosa , Gray dogwood ,zone= 4 , scarify, sow 4m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus sanguinea , Common Dogwood ,zone= 5 , sow 3-5m @ 70ºF, 3m @ 39ºF, move to 70ºF for germ.
Cornus sericea (C. stolonifera) , Red osier dogwood ,zone= 2 , see C. alba

"Virtual Seeds" has a great seed germination database. You can even downbload it as a text file. Lots of advice on types of stratification.

http://www.virtualseeds.com/Germination.html

Each species they document has these fioelds:
Species Type Germ Days Germ Temp Media Sow Depth Comments

"Type" is things like "Half-hardy Annual" or "Hardy Biennial"

"Comments" includes things like type of stratification reccomended .

The main Virtual Seeds website does sell seeds, but they seem to mostly re-sell other people's seeds (?)

Thanks, Rick. We can always use another seed germination chart, as many experts do not always agree on the "ideal" conditions for growing everything. Even my books do not agree. So what I do is just try to adapt to the conditions that I already have instead of standing on my head...well, I think you know what I mean. All those that need soaking scarifying, stratifying...etc may not actually require all these things if the seeds are fresh. It is good to be able to determine for oneself the actual requirements of the seeds under what can be easily provided. (Just my 2 cents worth.)

~ Evelyn

Hey All. I may ask the powers that be to take this off 'sticky', as I am no longer actively maintaining/adding to it. If you disagree, speak up, but I think there have been plenty of other options mentioned that sound like everyone finds useful.

Oh please don't!! I've just recently found it and keep referring back to it as I try to decide what to do with the plethora of seed packets I need to deal with!

Thanks, Pam

Please leave it up...I find it very useful

I use it a lot, too...it would be in the interest of all to leave it up, at least for this growing season, OK?

Sure, just realize that it's not being updated!

That's fine. At least it is a starting point. Thanks for doing it!

i just found this and it is helpful - please keep it up.

Will you start a new thread on this or would it be too difficult with the spreadsheet, as I imagine there are more than ever new seed sowers coming on board?

I had just done a similar spreadsheet for veggies, and was about to start one for flowers when I ran across this thread. You've just saved me hours of work. Thanks!!! Sorry I didn't know about this two years ago.

Only comment from a quick scan...Queen Anne's Lace has a funny entry in time to start seeds column. Looks like your spreadsheet interpreted a pure number as a date.

Also, my browser (not Chrome) wouldn't change the printout parameters, so I transferred the content to Excel to print a hard copy.