That's great to hear!

Ugh, we had record rainfall yesterday, 1.9". One jug of WSown seedlings (alyssum), already opened, turned yellow. Drainage seems good but soil is saturated. More rain to come today, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Karen

Karen, I guess it is the good and the bad! Seems even with this easy method there are still struggles! I hope the rain doesn't wipe out your babies!

I am struggling now keeping my jugs moist on top where the tiny seedlings are. We have had no rain for a week and none in sight. I can't top water because it washes away the tiny seedlings and bottom watering doesn't seem to get the moisture up to the top! So far I have been misting in the evenings. Luckily I only have about 20 jugs in this state. Hopefully they will grow a great deal this week and I will be through this stage.

Jennifer,

Mine aren't moist on top either; in fact, I think a drier surface area helps the lower areas retain moisture better. Plus, by bottom watering only, your plants' roots will have to grow down to get it. They're not as apt to do that if the surface doesn't dry. I'm finding that a lot of my seedlings are just sitting there -so I'm withholding some water now. If they're a bit droopy in the evening, I'll soak them in a tub -otherwise, no extra water.


Ack, Karen!

That's a lot of rain! My rain barrels are empty, so feel free to rant and rave and chase that rain up here.

Sorry about your alyssum. Does it need a cold period, or can you re-start it?

Oh BTW, my Columbines are finally starting to sprout. Pretty much some of all varieties, except two I think. Not a lot of sprouting but some of each. Now if I could just get the Astrantia to sprout! I speak softly to it every day begging it to sprout. Still nothing

Woo-hoo!

Mine, too! I'm overjoyed to see a sprout in the one I wanted the most this year! Another jug had a seedling, but it got too hot -my fault. I'm hoping more seeds do decide to come up in it, too.

My wintersown columbine from last year is setting buds. Can't wait to see it bloom!


Which varieties did you plant, Jennifer?

Alpine
Black Currant Ice
McKanna Giant
Origami Mix
Clementine Red
Clementine Salmon Rose
William Guiness Double (most wanted and of course no sprouts!)
Black Barlow
Nora Barlow
Swan Pink Yellow
And three different kinds from seeds I gathered and were not labeled! All three of these have several sprouts. I really hope one kind is a blue I grew last year and the mother plant died.

When do you lose hope of getting sprouts?
Stocks, Phlox 'Peppermint Candy', Sweet William, Didiscus, scabiosa, Redbeckia 'cappuccino' and 'Cherry Brandy', Penstemon, and Gaillardia. Big zero

On the bright side:
Blue Poppy- chia pet, scabiosa 'summer sundae' 2, Redbeckia, Kelvedon star and solar eclipse- good, Delphinium 'Green Twist-1,'sky blue'-4, heliopsis - 2.
Not the germination I wanted but a few is better than zero.

Well personally I plan on keeping any jugs that did not germinate around until fall. I figure it can't hurt. I am very surprised you have a big zero on Sweet William! I am not surprised on scabiosa! I will never try them again. Horrible germination and the one or two I did get are dying. And they were expensive seeds!

"And they were expensive seeds!" Yep!!

springcolor said:When do you lose hope of getting sprouts?
Stocks, Phlox 'Peppermint Candy', Sweet William, Didiscus, scabiosa, Redbeckia 'cappuccino' and 'Cherry Brandy', Penstemon, and Gaillardia. Big zero

On the bright side:
Blue Poppy- chia pet, scabiosa 'summer sundae' 2, Redbeckia, Kelvedon star and solar eclipse- good, Delphinium 'Green Twist-1,'sky blue'-4, heliopsis - 2.
Not the germination I wanted but a few is better than zero.

Stocks and phlox I've only ever done indoors, in the dark. I can't recall having any luck with wintersowing Sweet William, scabiosa, or gaillardia. Rudbeckia and penstemons wintersow well here, but maybe our cold period is longer than yours??? I started didiscus (I have it in my list as trachymene) indoors this year, and then planted it out.

Hope this helps a bit in deciding how long to wait. I'd probably start some of them over. You could try the ruds and the penstemon in the 'fridge, maybe?? I did some campanula I missed when I was wintersowing in the 'fridge. They germinated in about two weeks.


Blue Poppy!! Great going!!

I can't get that one for trying! And I still have last year's containers...just in case.

springcolor, I grow a Rudbeckia called 'Autumn Colors'. I bought it once and now every spring I have at least 50 of them come up as seedlings. Each one is slightly different. All are striking. Many look like 'Cappucino'. Often they are doubles. I would be more than happy to mail you some seeds at the end of summer. Treemail me if you would like that, but also remind me later in the summer!

Oh wait, I just did a batch of Sweet William and it sprouted in two days, but that isn't winter sowing now is it? I also just sowed three varieties of the Arizona series of Gaillardia's and lots have already sprouted. The only WS Gaillardia I did was Tojaker. I got three sprouts out of about 15.

I had good luck WSing Penstemon Electric Blue, ZERO luck with Penstemon Iron Maiden. I just resowed Iron Maiden and stuck it in the frigde. I will pull it out around Memorial Day and put it out and see if I have any success.

jvdubb said:Alpine
Black Currant Ice
McKanna Giant
Origami Mix
Clementine Red
Clementine Salmon Rose
William Guiness Double (most wanted and of course no sprouts!)
Black Barlow
Nora Barlow
Swan Pink Yellow
And three different kinds from seeds I gathered and were not labeled! All three of these have several sprouts. I really hope one kind is a blue I grew last year and the mother plant died.

Have you any sprouts of the Origami? I've tried that one several times, and I don't recall ever having a sprout. Clementine Salmon Rose is the one I have that's sprouted (and still alive ). Swan Pink Yellow sounds lovely...I need to look that one up.
I haven't tried William Guiness, but I sowed some Tower Pink...no sprouts yet. McKanna never seems to hang around very long here, but they sure are pretty!

Yes, I did get some Origami. I think three. We will see if I get them to survive. One year several years ago my mom grew some McKanna for me and it bloomed the first year! But it did not survive the winter.

By next year when these bloom (if they survive!) I won't even remember what they are supposed to look like!

jvdubb said:Yes, I did get some Origami.

Awesome!



The one I'm really looking forward to seeing this spring is Clematiflora. I don't even know yet what color it will be, but I think the packet said, "Alba". Here's a picture of what they might look like. http://www.seedaholic.com/aqui...

The foliage itself is the nicest I've ever seen! I'd grow it for that alone, but those blooms will be a huge bonus, I think.

Pretty.

I wintersowed the origami columbine once. They were cute. After a few years of awful sawfly larvae devastation, I got rid of all of them I think. They were ugly, stripped bare by the larvae.

Karen

wow really .. I will keep an eye on mine.. they usually go crazy on my twig dogwoods.. glad they never made there way to the columbine

Jennifer, thanks for the offer I will T-mail you. I'm not going to replant, to hot here for the moment. I'm going crazy keeping everything watered.

Sawfly larvae damage on columbine


Karen