Moon Flower, balloon flower, datura, 4:00, white cone flower, sea holly, peter pepper, white obedient, pin cushion flower, bes vine, white liatris - good gravy!

This is my first year. I'm wondering if I will have to move! If anyone knows why these plants above should not be WSed, speak now or forever hold your peace.

I've been saving chinese food carryout containers, black bowls about 2" deep with clear lids and those glad containers from the thinly sliced deli meats. I have about 25 little greenhouses - cross your fingers!

Alison & Bakemom...so wonderful to be planting for the swap! Aren't we all so "addicted" to this wonderful hobby/passion. We don't need much for our gardens - but, need things for the swap. I love it.

I may plant some Crystal White zinnias. For 2 years Plantland had them...but, not this year. I have started them inside other years. I love them. I'll be having to plant something.

I usually go into withdrawal by February, big time. I start wondering around my gardens by then..waiting for some new green somewhere. I am glad I have a couple of Hellebores - they bloom then.

I have about half of my garden tidied up for the year. I miss the plants already.

...Beverly

The swap is just enabling our addictions!

Me, me! I have no idea what I'm going to winter sow yet, I'm still making lists, but I'm ready! After 3 years of gardening I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not a total idiot...still a newbie, but not a total idiot! Winter sowing sounds like a great new thing for me to try!

I want to try winter sowing too. this will be my first year. So I will be asking for alot of help. I put some 4 o'clocks in a pot thinking they wouldn't come up til next year and they have already sprouted. I don't have a green house or cold frame , do you think I could rig something up for them? I hate to kill anything. linda

Hmmm. I'm thinking with what I have heard you will lose those 4:00s, but someone else, please advise. I scattered a ton and they didn't sprout, so I'm ok I think. If you need more seeds, let me know.

Also, they're easy to get on the seed exchange. I see them all over the place and I traded for tons.

Hi All -

I am DEFINITELY going to winter sow! It's about the only thing I'm looking forward to this winter.

I winter sowed for the first time last winter (I also grow under lights indoors) and was shocked, surprised and thrilled at how easy it is!

What will I winter sow? What WON'T I winter sow??? :) I collected seeds from my own gardens, so I have those, but I also bought a ton of seeds on an ebay auction (Martha Stewart 100 packs). They were so dirt cheap that I don't have much to lose if they don't grow well!

I will say this, though...

I was skeptical last year so I still did many many flats inside in my basement under grow lights. That's a pretty high maintenance project! WS is so low maintenance that I will most definitely sow much more outside than in.

Start collecting those milk jugs!!!

Happy gardening,

Junebug

Hostalavista, you will probably have some of the four o'clocks come up, as they reseed. We have had some in a community garden and each year they come up by themselves with no help. We did plant Foxglove, Lupine,Columbine for the Columbus Exchange in 2004. Most plants that reseed will come up and if you shake the dried stems you will have more than you can handle next spring. Betty

Hi, curious newbie here.... What is winter sowing?

:)
Tess

Go for it Tess! Zone 6 has a huge data base you simply must check out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum

I am gping to try it this year. I have a ton of seeds waiting to go including columbine, poppy, daylilies, cupids dart, sweet william, balloon flower, datura, arcotis venusta, hyacinth bean vine, and many others I received from trade this year.

I live and Dublin and tried it last yearÂ.worked greatÂ

What I learned:

Stay level  I put flats on what I thought was level ground  plants on low-end caught too much water and did not germinate very well, if at allÂ

I used flats but will not again: want deeper to support roots; to keep them in container longer; will look for at least 4Â from top of dirt to top of container/dome.

Sun  one sunny day can/will fry the young seedlings. Pay attention how sun moves from December to May  about exactly ½ of 6 flats caught sun ONE afternoon in mid-April  lost all seedlings right up to the sun/shade line You may find yourself eager to move seedlings to get some sunÂ

Easy then hard  itÂs a no brainer at first  set outsideÂwatch it all freezeÂreally need to pay more attention to young seedlings  no concern about how cold it gets as theyÂll be fine  more to keep moist and not let them dry-out or get friedÂ.

Make sure you plant some Alyssum as that seems to come up 1-2 weeks before anything else Â

YouÂll be frustrated in March when all the zone 7-8-9Âs leave post after post about sproutsÂand then they rub it in with picturesÂ

Hey Gotribe - I live a few miles south of you in North Arlington - near Reed and Henderson - so we have the same weather issues.

What did you sow? What was your germination rate?

Your seedling advice is well taken. Thanks!

Hi wintersowers!!

How's it going. Any updates??

...Beverly

Zones 5 & 6 are running neck and neck in the 8-900 range - but I'm personally rooting for zone 6 after the Ohio State/Michigan game - it all seems to come back to football around here.

I think we are at 3000 reported containers world wide - last years count was 21K and I think that this year's goal is 27K.

Personally, I have 109 containers sown and plan a girl scout meeting tomorrow with 10 more containers.

109?! What's the emoticon for eyes bugging out of my head?

I don't have any seeds in yet, but I prepeared the containers this weekend. I've got 8 cake-containers, 8 2-liter pop bottles, and 2 "six-packs" of individual pop bottles. (I'm experimenting with the later, planting vines or things that have long tap roots.)

Dayton area winter sowers, if you run short of "free" containers, Mazels in Crosspointe Center have aluminum pans with clear plastic lids in different sizes. I bought some last night. They are half the size of one of those big buffet pans they use for banquets and about 4" deep. Cost is $.25 for pan and $.18 for lid.

I've decided to do some winter sowing! I have a couple things I'll do now. In February, at the gardenclub, they have a seed swap. I am hoping it isn't too late to plant some more seeds at the time.

...Beverly

Yay!

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to plant I go.... (early work day today!)

My winter sowing method took shape today. One of the dogs decided to eat into a large bag of grass and prairie seed I had collecte this past fall and left unplanted. Some was in the carpet, to be swept up and saved. Some had been eaten by the dog.
So, tomorrow when the dog goes outside into the yard, I will have winter sown with no work at all.
D

And fertilized, too!

Is that what Trudi calls "Hunk-o-seedlings?" Hate to be the gal who has to thin those! HA!

My personal container count is 143! Let's go people!

Take a chance!

Well, I got my eight cake containers planted last weekend. And 10 2-liter pop bottles prepped and ready to go this weekend.

Doubt I'll be doing too many more after that, but then, I haven't been to the garden centers to look at seeds lately!

Alsion..I think there's 1 or 2 days left for the 1/2 off sale on seeds at Franks.

...Beverly

Oh you guys, I havn't done this yet. But I'm gonna try, I promise! Then, from the sound of you all, I won't be able to stop!

What are you going to sow, Hostalavista??? Curious sowers would love to know!!!!

...Beverly

I planted a bunch of two liter pop bottles over the weekend -- just in time to be buried in the snow!

I need to sit down and really think about what I want to plant, how I want the garden to look, and -- what the heck! Everything looks good with freen, right?

This weekend I planted cerinthe, balsam, sweet william, white thunbergia, cypress vine, chamomile, and tomatoes -- mortgage lifter, yellow pear, banana cream and grape. (I'm particularly curious about "banana cream" tomatoes!)

I'm growing balsam too and planted chamomile this afteroon. I have some thunbergia, but vines in the past were so tempremental I haven't jumped to sow them yet.

Those 'maters sound interesting!

Just purchased another big bag of pro-mix! Seems it's not over yet. I'm guessing I will hit the 200 mark before this shindig is over.

I'm in Raleigh Nc and it was 60 degrees on Saturday. I planted 3 flats using lasagne pans with lids which i purchased at the $1 store. on Sunday it snowed 3 inches and covered my flats. i was so worried i e-mailed Trudi and she assured me they would all be fine. I can't wait for Spring! i'm snowed in here and getting cabin fever. When it snows in NC noone goes anywhere.

When can I sow seeds in my 8.5x6.5 unheated greenhouse? I will not be using any heat or heat collectors. I live in Indianapolis where the last frost date is approx May 1st. Anyone have a hobby house in my area doing the same? Any advice on temperatures will be helpful. Thanks!