I've tried sweet peas for a few years, sowing in September .. I get about 9 blooms before they keel over from the heat and go yellow.

If you try some of these varieties, you may find they will bloom much sooner. Many varieties will bloom after the days are longer than 12 hours and by then, I guess you guys get really warm.

Very Early (daylight neutral): Winter Sunshine, Elegance, Lunar and Equinox. Mammoth (light fragrance) blooms fairly early too

Lol .. i just gave away all my sweet pea seeds - not enough bang for the buck so to speak. Too many other plants that give you a good return on your efforts to keep trying ones that don't.

I always think that Sweet Peas are worth sowing. So many beautiful colors available. I have lots of winter sowing done already. Mostly seeds that would reseed themselves if they'd dropped from a plant in fall. The annuals, tender perennials and vines I will address much later. Such an easy way to propagate. The 5 shelves of lights that I've got going take lots of time and care and I need a plant sitter if I go away for any length of time.

I agree Teri. I think of it as seed starting for lazy people, like me. Once I start, I ignore the jugs until spring, and they don't get much attention then.

Indoor seedlings are a whole other ballgame.

Karen

My climate is really not suited for sweet peas .. in a few years I'll be moving to a zone 7 area and I'll give them another whirl.

There are lots of things that just don't tolerate hot humid weather well. A few that come to mind- pansies, sweet peas, and poppies. These are all things that have started out well for me but bolted as soon as the real heat and humidity started. And then, I don't want to be left with big holes to fill in the garden when heat is too bad to establish even heat tolerant plants in it's place.

Karen

Has anyone started wintersowing yet? I haven't. I haven't even dug through my seeds to see what I have. I only planned to do a few perennials this winter, so I don't feel rushed.

It doesn't feel like wintersowing weather, either. Temps in the 60s for a few days. The 30s return by Monday.

Karen

I've started winter sowing some perennials. The annuals and tender perennials go out later or under lights indoors. Some of the packets I split between the two types of sowing to find out which is better. So far I have delphinium magic fountain, verbascum southern charm, digitalis, campanula glomerata and delosperma cooperi in milk jugs outside.

I have about 67 sown so far,ran out of containers.
Im collecting more now and by the time its spring I hope to have every seed I have sown.
Im looking at over 500 containers

That is going to be a very "full" garden!

Do you put mostly perennials and self sowing annuals out now, Hazel? What do you have out already?

That is one humongous job, not only to start the jugs,--- but to do the
transplanting later. You will need to take some pictures as they grow
and show us your garden when they bloom! Please?

Actually, I only plant a few seeds in each jug to avoid transplanting to other pots before I put them in the ground. When the time comes, I just dig a divot in my garden, carefully cut the sides of the milk jug and then place the whole thing in the divot. I do the same thing with many of the plants under lights. Just a couple of seeds in a pot. This is where they grow and stay until they're ready to go outside. Only thing I need to do is raise the level of the lights. I've learned that if I plant lots of stuff in small cells, I have no where to put them when they need to be repotted.

Yes, that is a problem with small cells under lights and also hardening the plants.
Your method sounds good, and we each need to find what works for us.
500 jugs is still ambitious! I applaud your efforts!

I can't even imagine transplanting all that!

I've also been know to plant whole jugs full of seedlings in one blob. I divide most into tiny hunks to transplant directly to the yard. Some survive, some get overtaken by larger plants and croak. It survival of the fittest.

Karen

It's Hazel who has 500 jugs. I'll have about 35 when I'm done.

One year I did 69 jugs and many were like chia pets. I had a lot of happy neighbours since I ran out of space & time to transplant all of them. I think 25 would be my max and I don't sow as thick. I'm going to try some short season tomatoes this year

Roses_R_Red said:Do you put mostly perennials and self sowing annuals out now, Hazel? What do you have out already?

I have put out mostly prennials and then some annuals.
I have roses uhm lots of diffrent berry typs that need stratification,prennial flowers and tomatoes.Thats all I can think of now....

I just found a stash of containers I put away in the shop....

My friend grows veggies in an unheated cold frame to extend the season. This photo was her last harvest Dec 15, 2012. The days are too short after that. She plans to start-up again in Feb