My goodness, you are eager! I order seeds around late December and onions are usually the first bedding plants I start, around early or mid-March.

Most of us are not in tropical zone 5 Ontario ;)

I did order all my seeds because we are going away on vacation in January, so I'd like to start seeding as soon as we get home from the airport ;)

No seed starting here other than needing to extract and stratify the rose seeds from the crosses I had done in summer.

Anyone else disappointed with Dom. Seed House and them dropping all perishable stock? Over the years, I had gotten so MANY interesting plants from them!

Terry

Terry - I have never ordered from Dominion Seed House but thought about it. I'll have to check out their catalogue. Right now the only catalogue I've gotten so far is Vesey's. Dam's should be here soon. This year I plan to put in an order from The Cottage Gardener. As for planting this early, I always start to soon!

Don - I always start my onions and leeks then. The plants always get about 2 clippings and I end up with strong plants. Is there really that much difference between starting them then and starting them in Mar? Marg

No starts that early around here. Not even sure what this spring will bring?? It would be nice if I could plan but alas, all I can do is live vicariously through all you guys this year I think. :(

Terry ~ I received DSH catalogue about a month ago and was so not impressed with the prices of their seed, I didn't even bother to see if they had perishable! Have you ever ordered from Bow Seed?

Ginny

Ginny - I've never heard of Bow Seed. Do they have a web site? I couldn't find anything. Maybe I should finish my coffee and then try again. Marg

I received DSH about a week ago with a notice inside that since i haven't ordered from them in awhile, this will be my last catalogue. I felt like saying "Have you looked at your prices???" Yesterday - overkill! - T&T, McFayden and Veseys came, and their prices are a lot better than DSH's.

That being said, i'm not starting anything yet either. I've done winter sowing in late December or early January in the past but typically i don't start anything inside until the impatiens and petunias go in sometime in March.

Bow seed is a little tricky to find on the net since it is under Alberta Nurseries on the Gardenrers Web. They are out of Bowden, Alberta. They do have a catalogue but I haven't received mine yet for the spring. Here's a link.

http://www.gardenersweb.ca/index.lasso

Ginny

PS Just got McFayden's cat. yesterday :)

Thanks. I got my McFayden's the other day to. Marg

I ordered petunia seed from Dominion last year and had to complain/get a refund on a couple of varieties. At $10 for 20 seed, I was not going to let that go by. They refunded me without question, but it messed up my plans. That's not the first time I've had trouble with their seed so I won't be ordering from them again. On the other hand, I have never been disappointed with Stokes or William Dam - always good germination and really excellent customer service.

I haven't started any seeds yet (nor received any catalogs) but I am not sure if I will or not this year. It looks like I am going to have to be going back to MN in late winter/early spring and no idea when I will be back home to Alaska. Everytime I think of all my hard work here in Alaska reverting back I just want to cry.

Does seeding Larkspur and Leopards Bane in the outdoors count as starting?
I start seeds all around the year.
Martagon lilies and peonies are my next---done as a winter sow.
They will be kept warm until February--then outside through two winters.
Caroline

I found the iris seeds I had stored so I need to get them planted. I also decided to collect some hosta seed and I have them to start to. Marg

I did say above that I don't start bedding plants until March, which is true, but that masks how I deal with a winter of no outdoor garden -- this September to early October I started three kinds of hot peppers (2 plants of each) to grow under fluorescent shop-lights in the basement, so in a way I guess I have started seeds already. (Two of the 6 pepper plants are now starting to flower, both the same variety, "Thai Sun".) I'm hoping to clear the peppers out before I start spring bedding plants in March. Last year I grew 4 plants of one variety of hot pepper ("Explosive Ember") under lights, starting the seeds in late November, but I had to move the plants to the living room window in April to finish ripening the peppers while I reclaimed the grow-light area for spring bedding plants. Hopefully my earlier start this year will avoid the space conflict.

I often grow a few herbs under lights in winter -- parsley, cilantro and the various types of basil do well, though this year I haven't planted any herbs yet (still time). While Sweet Basil grows well outdoors here, I have had terrible luck growing Thai basil and lime basil outdoors, yet they do great under fluorescent lights in the basement in winter. Last winter I experimented with growing a big tray of salad greens (mix of lettuce, spinach, chard, and beet greens) and it was nice to get 2 or 3 clippings of greens, but it really wasn't worth the effort as it is much easier and cheaper to just buy "spring mix" at the grocery store.

So, yah, I guess I am starting seeds already :-)

Thanks for reminding me Don. I need to order some hot pepper seeds. Last time I tried to grow them, they weren't really that hot. Any variety you would recommend? Marg

Here's the place I got my seeds from. You can go as hot as you want here, including the world's hottest peppers. Fun to browse the online catalogue. The shipping is a bit expensive to Canada (I think it was $10), which would be a lot if you are just getting one variety, but not too bad if you are buying a bunch of different types. He also throws in 2 free seed packs with each order -- in my case the free seeds were "Long hot cayenne" and "Hot Hungarian Wax". I don't know if this link will work directly, so you might have to cut and paste.
http://www.pepperjoe.com/

freezengirl - sorry you may be heading outside, hope you can get back 'home' to AK soon. I received a Pinetree catalog mid-Nov. I really like them. The book section in the back is very tempting!

Well, I'm thinking about it. I need to start taking some cuttings from some osteosperum I decided to bring in. They are getting tall and lanky so it's time. And since I have to turn on the grow lights for those I might as well start some peppers. We have such a short season I would like to have huge plants and actually get some ripe this year. I have been starting them in January for the last couple of years and they just don't seem to get there. Maybe I should give up. Herbs, yes I should start some of those too.

Now where is my dirt? Pots, did I actually put them away?
Cheryl

Trisha the Pinetree Catalog is a good one if you have never ordered from them before. They are one of my long time favorites, never had trouble from them on their seeds or books. I like my garden books almost as much as my gardens. :-)
You caught the Freudian slip! :-)

I am thinking about relocating my seed starting shelves to the second floor. Thank you Marric, I think I will start my leeks now. I was want to start some Rose of Sharon and other shrubs early as well. I trade for most of my seeds or collect in the fall. My leek seeds are from my garden. But I do like Richters seed catalogue the best.