Hi Kristi,

I did put a pot in the fridge, and it worked. Just make sure you maintain moisture. I don't have enough room in the fridge to do pots like that.

Probably the easiest thing to do is to get a container, like a clamshell that used to hold salads or strawberry, and plant the seeds just like you would for annuals or vegetables into the potting soil.

Make sure you have drainage holes and some slits in the top to allow for gas/moisture exchange.

Label it with the seeds/date.

Then just set it out--I put mine in an area that still gets the force of the winter elements, but a little protected like under a table.

You can then just let it sprout naturally, or bring it in after the stratification period, which is usally two months (60days) for Asclepias.

I tend to prefer the paper towel method, although is a little more work.

Our Wild Ones chapter, had a workshop on the wintersowing method. Here's the write up: http://www.oakpark.com/Community/Blogs/1-21-2015/Winter_sowing-of-Native-Plants/

I wrote up this article last year with pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Starting seeds winter

I understand why you may want to use the fridge instead of wintersowing in zone 9 for seeds requiring cold stratification. I don't know how cold it gets there, but it may be an issue. When I sowed seeds kind of late in an unusually warm winter I used the fridge for a few things instead with success. I mixed the seed with a little bit of dampened potting mix in baggies and popped them in the fridge. I opened up the bags a couple of times a week to let some fresh air in and see if they were still damp enough. When their chill period was up I just dumped the contents of the baggie on top of my container filled with potting mix, firmed it down a little, watered well, and put it outside. I still used a wintersowing vented container at that point to protect the seeds.

We are having temps near 80!! so much for winter!!
K

Totally missed the zone! when do you have your "winter?" I also used Molanic's method and can second that that one works too, used it for smaller seeds that would be too hard to transfer from a paper towel.

I did do a trial with those as well, and just plants the paper towel under a little bit of soil and that worked too.

Really fun to play around with the different ways. :)