I'm going to try winter sowing this year. I need lots of flowers for some new perennial beds. I'm a little skeptical, thinking the seed would just rot or the sprouts would freeze but reading up on it tell me otherwise. So are there any winter sowers here to share their successes?

If you mean plants that readily self-seed themselves, then yes, it works. Things like Hollyhock, Feverfew, Shasta daisies, the list goes on. I have sprinkled these seeds around in the fall and they come up in spring when the time is right.

Hi Pogo,

This is my 5th season winter sowing!

You can read the whole FAQ page from Garden web:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/


For Z4, I start annuals the end of March to early April.
(poppies,alyssum,nicotianas,snapdragons)

Perennials that I've started in February: echinaceas(Bravada and white swan),hollyhock(creme de cassis)and columbines.

I also sow vegetables: cauliflower,arugula,lettuce,+broccoli,kale,mustards

Happy sowing!

I second franeli's suggestion of GardenWeb's Winter Sowing information page as well as their forums, which you can link to from her link.

I've winter sown columbines, foxgloves, artemesias, catmints, echinaceas, potentillas, creeping phlox and lady's mantle (alchemilla) among others. Seed of plants that thrive in cooler temps seem to relish the same cold, wet soil that would otherwise spell doom for less hardy seeds. Then, of course, there's the annuals that self-seed so reliably, as mumsey said. I strip those dead heads at the very end of fall before the first real freeze hits and nearly all come back super.

Our little seed friends are a lot hardier than suspected. Sometimes I think I overly baby those I start in the greenhouse and often wonder if I should threaten the slow-growers to get a move on or they'll get tossed outside w/their cold-hardier brothers and sisters, then they might begin to perk up at the thought of leaving their cozy, rip-stop poly, heated little home.

Hi Pogo,
I love winter sowing!
I discovered the gardenweb forum about 5 years ago, and been WS'ing since.
To me the biggest attraction is that in the middle of the winter I can be getting my hands dirty.
The second is that the plants of WS are much more hardy.
I only tried growing inside from seed once, everything died, and I never tried it again. Now I can grow from seed with great success.

Plus I love telling people who have never heard of it, about WS. They think I'm nuts. "You leave it outside all winter under the snow?!"

I actually don't get as much germination as other people on the forum do. Maybe it is the varieties I plant. Nevertheless, I get between 25 and 50% germination which gives me plenty of plants to start my season off with.

The time-consuming part is in the spring when one has to keep track of how much sun, air, rain etc the babies are getting. You'll get LOADS of advice on the forum, they are a great bunch of folk. I'll just say one important piece of advice to you. When Spring comes (even early winter) the temp inside the little greenhouse that you make, gets hotter than you can imagine. I had to put a thermometer inside to believe it got so much hotter than outside. So be careful the babies don't burn up.

The other big thing I really got of WS'ing is confidence in my green thumb: being inventive, trying different things, finding new ways to solve problems.

I'm excited that you're going to try it. Please post about how you fare. I haven't started yet. will start soon.

ellen

Yeah, I know franeli has had much luck, but not so much for me. I have gotten some, probably less than 50% to grow. I'm thinking I should look closer at what I'm trying to winter sow.

That said, my very favorite container for winter sowing, is the deli roasted chicken plastic container. You know, the black base with the large clear dome lid. I know people who splurge on one or two of these a month, so I have a few.

Okay, I'm confused. Are you talking about planting right outside this time of the year? Am I the only one with over a foot of snow on the ground?

Pinky,
Winter-sowing is putting seeds in dirt in plastic (or other) containers, covering the containers, and putting them outside, yes, under a foot of snow, or atop a foot of snow.

See the website link in the post above.

ellen

hello all. i will try it this year.
it will be my first time. i came along this method on wintersown.org
all what you need to do the wintersowing. great site.

i got so many free seeds from Trudi, that i don't know what to sow, hehe.

see ya around.

i will do it on the 18.januar. it's my bd...

I am going to try this! I will do so on MY birthday, January 24th! (Great idea, nkn) What a way to celebrate!

Between sowing seeds, baking bread, and sitting in front of my "Happy Light" every morning, I just might get through a winter without depression!

Peace to all as you drool over those seed catalogs!

Gail

Thanks for the info EllenR, now I get it! I can see where this would work well with seeds that need the cold before sprouting.

Many years ago my Mom planted the garden early in the spring, after planting we got 3 or 4 inches of snow, when the snow melted all of the seeds she had planted had sprouted underneath the snow.

Thanks for the replies. I've been saving containers and can't wait to get started. I resist the seed catalogs and pawing through my seed stash until after the first of the year. Before that it's just too long before spring. I usually start making seed tapes and newspaper pots about now, and this year I'm excited about actually planting some seed!

I've been reading on the winterswing forum and even got some of bakemom's newbie seed.

One thing I should ask here because I'm conflicted with a piece of advise. I've read over there a few times that if you're using compost as your container starter that you need to sterilize it first to kill weed seeds and disease. Sterilized compost doesn't make any sense to me and sort of defeats the purpose. Right?

Pogo,
I have never used, nor heard of anyone using, compost to start their seed. I use plain dirt. NOT the cheapest, which I had turn into a brick.
Nor do I use the most expensive. If you do a search on the WS forum you can read a lot about what people use. Lots of folk on that forum swear by [shhh...]Miracle Gro- which we organic folk do not use.

I had the best results with soil I bought in bulk from my nursery. Thing is, seeds start off with their own little package of nutrients. Once they emerge from the earth, I usually give them some food.

ellen

I only use pro-mix in my containers for winter sowing.

some flowers that I have had success with:
lavatera
columbine
poppies
alyssum
creme de cassis holly hock
tithonia
verbena on a stick
dianthus
marigolds
zinnias(sow outside in containers mid april Z4)
echinacea
shastas
snapdragons

It is amazing to me that if a natural occurance, self seeding, is given a catchy name, winter sowing, a bunch of people will jump in and do it. Many plants in my beds self seed, winter sow, with no help from me, even some that are not supposed to survive a cold winter outside. Look at tomatoes and how readily they will sprout and grow in your compost. Same thing.