Yes!! We winter-sow. It's great here. Shannon is even more addicted than me. We typically do a lunch at Panera or somewhere like that and swap in I think Dec or Jan. It's fun! I hate spindly yellow seedlings in the house, so I love winter-sowing. Most all seeds, except tropical annuals will do well. I start in December and keep on till finishing with tender annual seeds in March. Dec and Jan most busy. I have had luck with most everything, but particularly happy with shrub and bulb seeds.

Lots of winter-sowers here! Great fun in the dead of winter to be playing in the dirt. :)I've had wonderful results with perennials and herbs, and now have plants that would have cost much more to buy as such. I really enjoy getting the bubble envelopes/trades in the mail; it's almost like Christmas! :) Welcome to the winter-sowing addiction! Please email if I have anything you would like. Rosemary

I think propagatin' is the most addictive part of gardening - and yes I am talking about with plants!

Most of your obvious success stories are gonna be with seeds that need stratification - why bother chilling them or soaking them or scratching them or sanding them down if mama nature will do all that work for you and teach you a thing or two about patients along the way! Anything that sprouts quickly will probably not be a good candidate for winter sowing because seedlings are mighty tender.

The best part about the seed swap is getting home grown, gardener/friend harvested seeds. Except that a lot of things don't come true from seed so if you absolutely have to have a certain color in your flowerbed you might want to consider paying for it. That being said, I have bought and bought and bought the seed for 'Love Lies Bleeding' Amaranth only to have wimpy bright pink LLB knock-offs show up. I want the real thing - long dark red tassles on bright apple green plants. It would appear that all the seed catalogs buy their seed from the same grower and all of them mis-represent their products.

I figure that WS is the best way to prepare for the swaps!! I also fell in love with a quirky little known plant and bought enough seed to supply the RTP area -- IF I can get it to grow!

oh, do tell, magick- what is it? that descrip is like catnip for gardeners....

i started winters sowing 2 years ago, and love it. so much easier than in the house.

I agree with trianglejohn, propigation is very addicting. I love to grow from seed and am plannning to wintersow a ton of seed this year. It will be my first attempt at WS and I have collected a ton of perennials for the project. Like magick though I wondered about the best time to start and best location for wintersown containers in this area.

I am interested in growing some native shadelovers like Goatsbeard, solomons seal, columbine as well as some hosta, astilbe, liatris to name a fews.

Also wondering about sowing some hardier native vines like crimson honeysuckle and virginnia creeper from seed. Would they be good candidates for WS?
TIA
frances

Winter sowing was the first forum I discovered on GW. It was that forum that got me hooked on GW. At that time you didn't even have to be a member because it was a new forum too. I think I spent my first winter there before I ever found this forum. It makes winter much nicer seeing all those containers of seed babies, and a little green mixed into the blah tones really brightens things up.

I use to use every container I could lay my hands on. Now I use mostly 2Ltr's, milk jugs and flats, just have to start saving early. You can do tropicals but I tend to chicken out and drag them in on really cold nights once they've sprouted. I can't count the number of herb seedlings I've killed before I started winter sowing them, but now they're a breeze!

Have done the Round Robin type seed swap with folks on this board and loved it but I finally got to go to the Raleigh one last winter and it was so nice to see everyone and swap some seeds! Our little gang decided to do a seed swap in the Triad about the end Jan too.

Be warned WSing is VERY addictive! It's like Christmas every time you run out barefooted in the snow (yep, been there done it) to check on the containers and find little sprouts of green poking up!

LOL... It's called Scleranthus Gnarled Cushion. It looks similar to scotch moss, but it's supposed to be hardier. I've added a link below. I bought 10 packets of 50 seeds (they are tiny) from a different online supplier. I'm hoping to use it to fill in beds between perennials. I love the mounding spread & evergreen color. The instructions say to surface sow at 65-75F for 4 weeks, if no results, move to 25-38F for 6 weeks, then back to 65-75F. I'm wondering if I should start them now, or wait.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scleranthus Gnarled Cushion

wow magick, that stuff is gorgeous, where did you find the seeds?

I am not a WS expert but that definately sounds like something that would be good for it.

gorgeous!! i think if it were me, i'd start sowing some now, and since it's so tiny, i'd do it in a deep flat with one of those hotcaps, because getting ground covers out is easier that way. you want it to spread. since you have several packets, you could stagger it some to get the optimal sprout time, but it sounds like if you sowed now, you'd get the warm, then the cool as winter starts, then the warm again as we hit warmer patches. you may consider doing it in a preforated flat that sits down in a solid one- it's easier to water really fine seeds and seedlings that way, and less chance of damping off by watering from below. you can just leave it without the bottom one most of the time, since it wants such good drainage.

i like the gallon milk jugs myself, and also still do some in cellpacks inside a flat with a hotcap. that way i can do a lot, and they are already divided some. i have had great luck doing aquilegia and hosta this way, as well as some others that can be stubborn. still haven't succeeded with solomon's seal, but am thinking it may have been old seed. if we start getting semi-regular rains, i'll wintersow as usual, but if it stays really dry, i'll probably curtail much of what i'd normally start since i wouldn't be able to plant the babies anyhow. loving the rain that's falling now!

Hi All,
I tried this last year and failed miserably. Are there any WS'ers in the Triad, specifically the Greensboro area? I would like to meet some of you and swap some seeds and get advice.

Please let me know if there are any meets for the Triad area.

Thank you,
Susan

I found the seeds at Hardyplants.com I think they have a large selection of seeds and are reasonably priced. At least from my newbie point of view. I have tons of the semi-deep flat black plastic containers with clear plastic tops... I'll try perforating the bottom of one and setting in another to bottom water. I'm thinking of using a 75% sand/ 25% potting soil mixture. If all goes well, I'll have some available for future swaps!

I have been gradually cutting back and revising my planting plans over the summer. Plants I started from seed last winter (indoors) and spring (outdoors) held up much better in the drought than most of my purchased plants. I was hoping to try WS to expand on my success with seed.

It has been raining lightly since late Sunday or early Monday morning. Just a drop in the bucket I know, but I am greatful for every drop.

magick
thanks for the reminder about that site.
I am finding a lot of mushroom/fungi spore in Potting mix this year ??? and have switched to peat moss and sand for starting seedlings and cuttings. I don't know that the spores are harmful to the plants, but I don't like them.

frances

I have also used every container I can find,but I like 2L soda bottles best. 4-5" potting soil (I use MiracleGro WITHOUT moisture retention crystals) seems to be the right amount of soil to stay wet between rainfalls without too dry/too wet. I cut them in half, cut 4-5 slits around cut edges to fit them back together. Then after planting seeds, I fit halves together and secure with 3 narrow bits of duct tape. Holes in bottom are a must, throw cap away. Many (like around 100-yes, it's that addicting) fit together neatly. I won't say it doesn't look like a recycling trash site next to my house in February, but it looks better than the year I had mixture of deli containers, milk jugs, etc. Label! Unless you want a hundred half-bottles of mystery seedlings-lol.

Last year, I tried something new (for me anyway) I bought clear sterlite containers from Wal-Mart. I put holes in them (top & bottom) with a wood burner then planted the seeds in styrofoam cups. This worked pretty good for sowing a few seeds of lots of plants. For larger amounts of seeds, I prefer milk jugs. I have found over the last few years that it works better for me to start around the 2nd week in January. I lost a lot of seedlings the first year I tried winter sowing when we had a warm spell in December (causing some of the seeds to sprout) and then the temps dropped down to the teens in January. If there are any winter-sowers in the Concord/Charlotte area, I would love to get together to exchange seeds.

Ginger

Susan, we're having a seed swap late Jan., Greensboro/High Point area. Will post info after the 1st of the year on the exchange forum.

Magick when sowing the teeny tiny seeds I mix them with sand and then lightly sprinkle it over the planting surface and they don't gob up as bad in one spot and you can kind of see where you've been. Works well with lobelia and they look like dust!

So January would be a good time to start WS?(I think this is when I started my flats indoors last winter)
I have been saving my juice bottles (1.5 ltr) not as many as 100! that is ambitious. I am not sure I could dig enough holes in this clay to plant that many new seedlings anyway.

I am planning on trying 10-15 varieties of shade plants, mostly perennial folliage.

I wish I was closer to the swaps, but I am transport impaired at the moment. Does anyone know a source for asparagus seed? (and is it a good candidate for WS?) I know it takes a few years, but I would really love to grow some.
Frances

pretty sure pinetree sells asparagus seed. also, maybe park's. i'd advise starting seed, but also buy a few roots so you'll get some aparagus sooner.

you hit the nail on the head with the one problem with wintersowing. it's addictive and it's really really easy to start too many seeds to deal with all at once in spring. you're wise to limit what you start the first few time so you don't get burnt out.

some folks travel quite a ways to the swaps, maybe you can see if there's anyone else in your area and carpool? or start a swap closer to you.

thank you tamelask
Pinetree has plants, ParkSeeds don't seem to have either. Gurney also has plants. will keep lookiing someone must have seed. I like to buy local whenever possible.

With all the rain thats falling I feel like running outside and digging now.... but I seem to have misplaced my rubbers. (probably full of rain in the yard)

It feels good to see the rain fall.

My plants have berries on them now. Do you want me to pick some and send them to you? I know that people have dug the seeds out of the berries on the ornamental asparagus plants and grown them from seed so I don't see why you couldn't. I don't know how many seed are in one berry but there has got to be a few at least.

My email is beside my user name. Send me your address if you want some. I'm just gonna wrap them in a paper towel and put them in a plastic baggie and put them in a regular envelope - so the postage is just a stamp (which I will steal from work - just kidding). Nothing fancy or complicated about that. Now making them grow into big plants will be your job - I got lazy and dug up the roots from my dad's garden. Aspargus is one of those crops that I know I could never grow enough of, garlic and blueberries are two others.

I love to WS. One thing I learned early, was to only plant one kind of plant in a container. They will sprout at different times. I don't have real great success, but those that sprout, sure do well.

Ginger, I'm in Statesville and would love to come to a seed exchange in Charlotte area - prefer north or University area, maybe at UNCC botanical garden.

Nancy

trianglejohn, thank you I would love some! sending you email this minute. My dad always grew asparagus, no one thought to dig it up when he retired and now it is too far away to sneak back and get some. I agree, you can never have too many, I never would have thought of blueberries though(I thought they liked cool and moist) but garlic is waiting with the rest of my bulbs for me to go out and plant them.

Thanks again the email is on the way.
Frances

You know wintersowing is addictive when we start talking about it in October. I just placed a seed order with Thompson-Morgan. Anyone else feel like the T& M catalog is the "Playboy" magazine of seed catalogs?

I prefer 2 liter bottles and milk jugs. I usually sow the seeds I want to keep in the milk jugs and the give aways in the 2 liters. Its visually easier to separate and I can transport more of the smaller containers. Brenda does have a point about the moisture control potting soil. They can get waterlogged and rot the seeds. Especially in the earlier part of the winter when it isn't hot. I have had better luck having my containers off the ground or on a patio if possible. We had a wet winter a couple of years ago and my jugs were covered in mud and couldn't drain and therefore the seeds drowned/rotted. I start with my hardy perennials, next hardy annuals, then half hardy perennials and then tender annuals. By that time you can actually start thinking about sowing the seeds outside but I never know where I will need my plants so it is easier for me to move a jug around until I find the right spot. Plus I can't tell a weed seed from a wanted seed especially if it is an unfamiliar plant. I remember one year I pulled most of my columbine seedlings because I thought it was clover. Just remember it is supposed to be fun and relaxing. There is also a large cybernet party to celebrate the Winter Soltice- clothes and wine optional LOL. Shannon/Dirtrx

Thank you Rootdigger, I was hoping someone in the area would respond. I will keep my eyes out for the date and deffinitly come.

Susan

frances- i may have some asp berries, too; i'll check. pinetree used to sell the seed; guess they stopped since there was little demand. blueberries, especially the southern highbush and rabbiteyes do great down here. plant some now! well, ok, after the drought eases.

i grabbed a bunch of wallpaper tray s for a song a few years back and they make wonderful starter trays for tomatoes & wildflowers seeds & the like. i take plastic cups, drill through about 6 at a time to make drain holes, and you can fit like 20 in there, staggering every other one. one variety of mater or pepper or wildflower per cup. then i top it off with a loose piece of glass or plastic and they germinate great (leave a crack so any heat or extra moisture can escape). makes watering fairly easy, but you do have to dump out the water if you get heavy rains. for the flats where i mix varieties in 6 packs, i just swap out the ones that have sprouted into a flat with no cover and keep the ones that haven't yet under the hot cap.

Thank you tamelask, I would love some if you have them. I am not much of a vegetable gardener, but I love asparagus and it is so expensive at the market.

Everyone must have pretty big yards to keep so many WS containers. I planned to put my containers in the oak leaves that will fill the back corner of our yard. (We don't have an oak tree but everyone else does) Last fall I mulched those leaves with the mower and left them there, I had planned to do the same this year. With the leaves on the ground it is pretty bright back there all winter long.