lol well i dont have a box full! i wish lol i have for fall sowing black eyed susans cone flowers purple holly hocks single light pink-to-dark purple mix holly hocks single pale yellow hollyhocks doubles mix foxgloves pink n purple sweet williams honesty money plant i do have some perennials to start yet:) columbines dames rocket grape hyacinth iris tulipa tarda i so want to winter sow my annuals this year.

Deanna, depending on what you are sowing, you do need to be concerned about your winter temps and seedlings...many things that would be winter hardy with established roots won't make it with roots at seedling size/development. I fall sow a few things that have short viable seeds that can't be stored dry well, most won't germinate until late winter or Spring. I also sow a few things that need a warm moist period before the winter chill and those won't germinate until Spring either. I am sowing fresh cyclamen this week and those will germinate in a few weeks but this is Z8b - if we do have a few consecutive days predicted to stay below freezing as occasionally happens the pots will be moved off my deck to someplace more protected temporarily. So, how well that might work for you could depend on which plants you are sowing seeds for - things that require a cold moist period to break dormancy are still going to germinate after winter if sown now....did you have something specific in mind?

The main variable here is what kind of tree seeds your planting. 1 and 2. If you are sowing any kind of nut (acorns, hickory, chestnut, walnut, buckeye, etc.) you will definitely need to cover them somehow or the rodents will ravaged you container. You do want to be careful that the seeds wont bake. you can literally block the light from the sun so it will stay at the temp that is outside or just make it really really well ventilated. Also if you are sowing nuts or berry seed makes sure that the soil they are in is DEEP. if not the whole container will become an ice brick and that will kill many nut species. nuts that sprout in the fall (white oak species and chinkapins) will need to have that taproot protected from intense freezing. try to mimic nature in your area. if the acorns in the wild can survive mild freezing, etc. then if you can mimic that they ought to do well. Some really small seeds like Sourwood trees can be sown like any other winter sown seed. their seeds are like powder and can take on anything nature has to give it. and in the spring they begin sprouting. 3. I'd try to keep them covered all winter and after they sprout or squirrels WILL ravage them. The first chance you give them they will take advantage of it. Try to keep them covered but not baking. Good ventilation will probably be sufficient. 4. You can use HOS for some tree seeds. Sourwood for example does great with HOS and I'd think that some other very small seeded tree species would be the same. But with large seeds like nuts and some berry seeds you don't need to do HOS because the seeds are so large you don't need sow so closely because the seeds would be few and far between. You can upsize the containers every few years or you can plant the trees where you want them to be for better results because then the taproot wont get all twisted around the bottom of the container and all the roots will have a head start collecting nutrients, also the tree will be much more firmly planted in th soil and less likely to blow over. But even if you do this make sure you cage it off for a few years or protect it somehow from critters. And most of all USE PROTECTION!! Haha. Those deer will mow down your prized trees and even if the squirrels aren't after the nuts your trees came from after it has already sprouted, they will dig up the trees FOR NO REASON!!! bite the stem of your new trees right in half FOR NO REASON!!! Squirrels are the devil!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this helps

In 7b you might want to spring for snapdragon plants which will bloom most of fall and early winter. Enjoy the color. Violas also although the deer and cottontails make short work of those as they browse. Ken makes an excellent point regarding the 'vermin'. They, plus the scavenging birds of winter will eat much of what you thought you sowed or disturb the soil so the seeds fall deeper than intended and never come up. Guess that's why Mother Nature has flowers making so many seeds.