Hi Rick. Thank you for the information.

I'm wondering though is it too late to do any winter sowing now?
Also, I was viewing the website of wintersown.org but can't locate a list of what seeds can be winter sown. Maybe I missed it.

Julia - http://www.wintersown.org/wseo...

Julia, you can definitely wintersow things that don't need cold strat, or that only need a short strat period. You can use the method for annuals too. I do my annuals according to the weather trends at the time, but usually not until mid March. Some I do even as late as April. Technically, that's not winter any more but the method is the same, except for maybe extra air vents to prevent overheating.

Karen

Is there a chart or site that gives the anticipated dates for each variety of when to start them for winter sowing?
I looked at the wintersown.org site and link provided but it doesn't tell you what month to start in many cases. It would just have a N or Y
and others gave the actual months.

I also was trying to understand how a person would get those seedlings out of the containers for transplanting. When planting in cells or individual pots you would just pop out the seedlings. Are you cutting the container the rest of the way to open it up fully?
I guess I'm not quite understanding the transplanting so you don't disturb the roots.

Most folks cut the tops off. Then, you can either prick out your seedlings individually, or just separate the whole into smaller clumps for transplanting.

Last year I pricked mine out...I'd used way too many seeds!

No, Julia. Technically, you can start anything any time. Common sense just tells us that anything needing a cold strat might do better in early winter. There's no need to do anything that doesn't require cold strat in early winter, but even those could be sown in January. The only reason some of us seasoned veterans have learned to wait until later for tender things is that we've found that they can sprout in an early warm spell and croak when the cold inevitably returns.

I'm not too particular about worrying about roots. Wintersown plants develop incredibly big healthy roots, and they survive my abuse.

I generally plop the whole blob on it's head, out into a flat

Then I flip them right side up, cut into squares with a knife, and plant the squares.
I have been know to plant the whole blob in one piece. I had a milk-jug shaped lump of campanula for several years.

I usually plant them when smaller than that. Weather must have been cold that year.

Karen

I've been going through my seeds and picking out some that I will try.
Hollyhock
Balloon Flower
Gayfeather
Red Hot Poker
Blue Flax
Foxglove
Agastache
Penstemon

Any of these should be okay? I have more but thought to first pick from these.

You may already know that Penstemon can be very slow. They do need cold moist stratification, and they are hardy, so they're a good chouce for "winter WS".

Tom Clothier has a database of how many weeks coild strat each P. species needs.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/pa...

I see mostly "8 weeks" there, and some "12 weeks". You might not have 8-12 weeks left of weather below 40 F. Maybe keep it in shade once weather starts to warm up.

But you can try, just save some seeds (and the sown jug) for next year. Or, if nothing has happened for months and your nights are starting to stay above 40, bring the jug into your fridge for a few more weeks.

They also need light to germinate, so sow them on the surface and don;t bury them by watering or letting them be rianed on.

My first year WS, Penstemon were the only thigns that sprouted at all, but they waited until May or June to come upo, and then did not grow even one inch the rest of that summer. They require a lot of patience!

yes they do.. I have had some that didn't bloom for 3 years

Sssshhhhh, ignorance is bliss. I planted some one spring and they bloomed that fall.....but I didn't know any better!

I bet it goes by species and cultivar - or you have green thumb and I have the Thumb Of Death.

I checked on the Penstemon Husker Red and I guess I'll just have to have a lot of patience.
Since our temps are up and down here, there is no way of knowing for sure if we will have an early spring.

High wind warnings here again for this evening into tomorrow. I wonder if I could put them in the unheated mudroom by the window(it goes from 20 to 40 degrees in their) or perhaps in the garage by the window. But then I'd have to open the container to give it water, right?

That sounds nice and cold.

>> But then I'd have to open the container to give it water, right?

If it's pretty tightly sealed, it won't evaporate very fast. Maybe check every few weeks, at a guess?

If you have vent holes, maybe spray some mist in those every few weeks, and open to check every 4-6 weeks??

I shouldn;t even make suggestions about WS until I have something more like success with it!

Anything needing a long cold strat might be best done earlier in winter. But the fluctuations of wintersowing can do wonders so if you're willing to risk the seeds, go for it. Even if you're having warm days, I imagine your nights are still pretty cold. I know people who keep the sown jugs around for a couple of years waiting tough-to-germinate things.

Karen

I need to remind myself to write on my empty water jugs....Do Not Touch. I had placed several of them out on a table we have in our mudroom. I was planning to use them today to try the winter sowing. My hubby thought it was to be recycled and crushed them and tossed them in the recycle bin.
My fault as I always label what I want to keep but I was in a hurry yesterday to clear the counter, I forgot to write on them.