Well ---- it is officially winter now.
Sunshine has arrived with winter and as usual the weather dweebs are guessing at future temps.
It is now 0 degree F and it was not supposed to get that warm today.
We will see if the 20 below temps hit this weekend.
I have my house buttoned up and a small heater that cycles down where it froze so I am ready.
They say snow is coming and we need feet not inches.
Penn. stole the snow we need.

We have had a week of minus 26 Centigrade, which I think is about minus 13 or 14 on Fahrenheit . Lots of snow too, which is good moisture for the soil . Everything was so dry over the fall.

I was so happy today to see a temp of 20F ABOVE zero for a change... we only have a few inches of snow on the ground, I'm hoping the temps are going to trend up a little bit now.

Definitely NOT wishing for the snow that they got out in Pennsylvania, though!

The Polar air is hanging around. It is -20C/-4F this morning, and the wind makes it feel like -30C/-22F. I ordered four packets of seeds on-line from Stokes Seeds a few days ago: 'Alfresco' lettuce mix, 'Jade Princess' ornamental millet, 'Tinker Bell' mini red pepper, and 'Healing Waters' pelleted Petunia & Bacopa mix. Stokes has sent an e-mail to tell me my order was shipped yesterday. Will my seeds still be viable after they have been frozen to -20C?

JuneOntario said:The Polar air is hanging around. It is -20C/-4F this morning, and the wind makes it feel like -30C/-22F. I ordered four packets of seeds on-line from Stokes Seeds a few days ago: 'Alfresco' lettuce mix, 'Jade Princess' ornamental millet, 'Tinker Bell' mini red pepper, and 'Healing Waters' pelleted Petunia & Bacopa mix. Stokes has sent an e-mail to tell me my order was shipped yesterday. Will my seeds still be viable after they have been frozen to -20C?

Freezing seeds extends their viability, not shorten it.

That's a comforting thought, RpR!

I agree that your seeds should be fine, June. Someday it may even be warm enough again for them to grow

Now that the holidays are over I need to check my seeds to see what I still need -- I've ordered some things already (the temptation of the new seed catalogs was just too much to resist!) but there are probably a few more "must-have" items. Last year I forgot to order a couple of things until it was too late - notably the cucumbers that I always grow (Summer Dance) and the hot banana peppers that I've grow for years (Inferno Hot Banana) -- I'm hoping to avoid a repeat of that situation!

I used to worry about seeds being frozen in the mail.
But after years of receiving seeds in all kinds of weather-I would not worry. They will be good and the cold sometimes makes them better germinators.

I might worry about the seeds which some companies are promoting as "Fast ", "Quick", "Easy" "Gold"etc
Essentially some of these seeds are partly germinated and then dried ? so if they don't get the dryness right----or the embryo has started ?

The seed pkg of those usually says you can not keep the seeds beyond 6 months too.

Caroline, I haven't seen any of those "fast" seeds -- that sounds pretty crazy to me!

I have come across them on several seed sites.
Last year I tried the Rosemary seeds, but I don't remember having any better results. The seeds are "primed" for you supposedly.

Coleus seeds which were "primed" and pelletted were poor germinators for me.

I prefer the plain, naked, seeds, and as fresh as possible.

There may be worries for some tropical seeds ?
I do not have experience with many tropicals.

I've seen some seeds that were described as "primed" -- I guess I didn't pay that much attention to them, and didn't really have any idea what was meant!

I've had really good luck starting (regular) rosemary seeds in vermiculite (unlike previous attempts to start them in potting mix in 6-packs, the way I start most seeds).

Winter has abandoned us, it is a miserable 39 degrees F and supposed to warmer tomorrow.
Caroline and June have you been swallowed by this God forsaken weather.
We have been engulfed by the River Styx.

I'm bracing for the next thaw, forecast for the weekend. The water level in our stream-fed pond has been up and down like a yo-yo this winter. What used to happen was the pond would freeze, we would take a board out of the sluice and drop the water level , leaving an airspace between water surface and ice, and it stayed that way until the spring thaw. Our most recent January thaw melted so much snow it raised the water level above the ice, the sluice was overwhelmed and we had water running out of the pond into the emergency overflow ditch, which we have never seen in winter before.

We are having see saw weather patterns.
Past week has been above average.
Next week will be cooler, but not really cold.

Maybe I've just forgotten and it's always like this, but it seems weird how the temps are all over the place this winter! One week we can't get out of the single digits and the next week the snow is melting and then re-freezing and making a mess.

Another nice day in Calgary after a little snow and cold snap. And right back to cold again.lol

Took advantage of the nice days to get on my bike and feed the birds along the Bow River.

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Weedwhacker said:Maybe I've just forgotten and it's always like this, but it seems weird how the temps are all over the place this winter! One week we can't get out of the single digits and the next week the snow is melting and then re-freezing and making a mess.

No it is not normal.
I first remember such odd weather in the early eighties, when I hitch-hiked home , this time of year just wearing a fall jacket and we had winter dust storms but a year or so later it was forty below.
Up here though for three or four years in a row, three or four years ago, it was similar to this as the hill this house is built on was mostly snow free all winter due to lack of normal snow and higher temps. plus it faces even the low sun.
Hated it then, hate it now.

Back to winter again here. My NARGS seed order came so I am sorting them, and trying to get them started. These are mainly rock garden candidates, and perennials, although an odd annual.
Spending time this weekend with four year old grandaughter.
She phoned me, to remind me to bring my glasses, as we are going to do Lego. At Christmas, I messed up on Lego because I could not distinguish the small pieces ! I have the same problem with small seedlings.

Starting the first of my seeds today -- geraniums (Pelargonium), Bacopa, and onions. (I wasn't going to do onions from seed this year but have some leftovers from last year that I stored in the freezer, so I'll go ahead and plant them and see if they sprout; onion seeds don't usually have a very long shelf life). Hoping to use the geraniums and Bacopa in the flower boxes that I hang on the deck railing; if those don't work out I'm planning to use some short red zinnias, alyssum and lobelia. LOL -- this is what gets me in the position of having WAY too many plants, thinking I HAVE to plant at least 2-3 times as much as I need "just in case."