I see the last post was March when everyone peeks to see if they have plantletts.
Its September.The beginning of direct sowing for me.
First off I hardly know what I am doing if out of the annual poppy catagory.
I was given some Penstemon Red Husker seeds and direct sowed them in late August.
What do I look for?
Did I sow too early,directions said sow in fall,I just couldnt wait and figured if plants had cast their own seeds then it was time to cast mine.
I dont have any storage room for wintersowing. I just buy flower seeds that can be sowed in May directly in the ground. Nastuers,Zinnias,Cosmose.
There is a failure rate but not too big.

Hi Ge,

Wintersowing is a term for sowing OUTDOORS in the WINTER and it is great for those of us who run out of room in the house to start sowing seeds in Feb and Mar. The seeds go into containers with potting soil that you thoroughly soak. The containers have vent holes in the tops and at the bottom. Then you just place the containers outside and wait until spring to see what's grown. I get about 80% germination at different times during early and late spring. I think they have a forum for WINTERSOWING here. It's so convenient because of the space that it DOESN'T take up in the house and the fact that you don't need to watch the temperature and watering every day!!

What do you think about this method? Would you give it a try?

Hi Jo Ann! Nice to see you at the seed forum. Welcome!

(Jo Ann is my friend from the coleus corner)

Karen

Hi Teri.I confused Wintersowing with Direct sowing the first year I joined the other website.
I was set straight at once,and now know my sowing method is Direct Sowing,seems simple when I tink about it.
I was fascinated with tyhe jugs and bottles of teeny plants.
There is alwasy something to learn here.

I "direct sowed" somnifarium poppies on Oct. 18.
They are germinated ,just 2 teeeeeny leaflets. I hope they dont die when the sub zero weather comes in February.
I broke my own rule about sowing before mid November.
Guess I will just have to obcess until April.

Jo Ann, for what it's worth, I've never had poppy seedlings freeze out over winter. And yes, we do get some sub zero weather down here in balmy southern Ohio. In fact, we have a chance of snow showers tonight and tomorrow. I still haven't finished my fall gardening. I might have to sweep off the snow to do it.

We get horribly hot humid summers and nasty cold winters too sometimes. When I relocated 30-some years ago, I could have picked a locale friendlier to gardeners!

My money says your poppy seedlings will be fine.

Karen

I sure am happy to get ypour words of encouragement.
Are all gardners as obcessive as I am?

I posted this question on the Poppy forum sorry if its duplicated.
Here is a question about self sowen annual poppies.
If the somnifariums set seed in August ,and I assume they are cast shortly after_
Why arent they germinated now, along with the seeds I sowed in October 18th.that are showing 2 leaves?
I'm just curious.

Do you know what kind of annual poppies they were? Is it the somniferum that sprouted? I'm not sure but the germination requirements for the different seeds might vary somewhat (e.g. different temps, moisture). Usually within the same family of plants the requirements are similar but some might take longer to sprout, need more or less light exposure or moisture, cold strat, etc.

So I'm confused- which sprouted and which didn't? Was one naturally dropped from the plant and the other broadcast commercial seeds? I often find that really fresh seeds (just dropped by or scattered seeds fresh from the plant) sprout much better/faster than seeds that have been stored for a while.

Karen

It's the opposit. The fresh seeds from my collecting in August,and commercial, and from DG'ers have sprouted.
BECAUSE I was an impatient fool and sowed them October 18th.
I also left annual poppies to re-seed where they grew.

(Those are not germinated.) This is a good thing because I dont want to loose ALL my annual poppies for next year.
I also sowed commercial seeds from Pne Stop Poppy Shop.
I had a failure from tham last year. I assumed it was my fault, but no.
Other gardeners with same varieties didnt get germination either. But I digress.
I assumed, it was OK to sow somnifariums any time after September ,just as they would have been self sown by plants left in the garden.
Appearantly not.
I have germination on the seeds I sowed and am obcessing about these teeeeeny plants making it thru the hard winter we have.
I suppose I really wont know if its a complete loss until I see what grows in May.
I am just kicking myself for being impatient and stupid.
To boil it all down.
My sown seeds have germinated
Self sown seeds from plants left in the garden are not germinated.

Thank You everyone !!!!!!
I am done obcessing about spring.
I reordered seeds and will sow in December. The solution was so simple.

Your seedlings might surprise you and be just fine Jo Ann. I don't think I've ever lost one due to cold and we do get cold winters. Below zero isn't unheard of here. I looked it up- our "average" low in late January is 17°. On the other hand, I have lost them to hot summers. Poppies like cold.

Karen

Thanks Karen.
The responses are all over the map as far as survival goes.
I just ordered more seeds and will wait for December to sow them.
I will find different places for the new casting and see which makes it.
I must make a note not to sow too early again and save myself all the anghst.

Good idea. BUT... you can't beat hardy annuals that sprout in fall and survive winter. They take off like jets in spring. I've done that with poppies, BBs, larkspur, and they were fantastic the next summer. Much better than the winter or spring sown ones.

Karen

I absolutly agree.
Someone said they thought Somnifariums needed a later sowing to survive.
I looked at One Stop. They said annuals can germinate in 50*.


Believe me Karen I do hope the early sowed ones do as you say. There were some sentimental favorites in the paks.

As you know gardeners deal with high hopes and disapointments all the time.
Dont we all have "hard lessons"? to learn
I cant believe I am admitting to sowing too early ,two seasons in a row.

guess I will have to try that then

Allison! Have you lost annual poppies by sowing too early?
What are you going to try?

Larkspur were my best examples of hardy annuals sown in fall. They grew to be big, sturdy, beautiful plants. The ones sown in winter or spring never got to half that size.



Here are volunteer larkspur in my yard in January. Yep, that green are all larkspur, seeds dropped by plants the summer before. Reseeding was such a problem I had to evict larkspur from my yard.



Karen

We have talked before. Your larkspurs really impressed me and I sowed seed last winter. I have let this summers crop just do what they want.
Fingers crossed I get as glorious a show.

I only WS'ed my annual ones... and they are floppy some years... might be too cold already to try it now.. not sure they will germinate