I sowed the annual kind but will do perennials next year, guess I could start them now. It said to soak in warm water (I didn't make mine too warm) for 2 hours. I'm going to plant mine right in the ground. If I don't have a soaker hose like where I planted the annuals, I'm going to do either one of two things. Screw in a pepsi bottle w/bottom cut out over it w/cap off. Moisture will show in the bottle. Water right over and around the bottle when the soil looks like it is drying out or you see no moisture in the bottle. Or I have some irrigation spikes I could put where the seeds are, they screw onto 2-liter bottles, I cut the bottoms out w/hot knife so I can fill with hose. Obviously if you are planting a lot, my ideas will be more work. But starting them inside, you have to harden them off, and starting outside you don't have to. You could try a couple both ways. The annual seeds I planted, older like yours, not kept in fridge, were big enough to space right. Mine didn't get very good germination but took about 2 weeks; if I get just a few plants for now, that will be fine. I planted mine where there is a soaker hose which worked well; rain did the rest.

Trudi is here. Now. Personally, I cringe when the germination records come up in any thread. A long time ago, some posters thought that it would be nice to have a record, well for them that was what they wanted and needed. I was hugely against it the concept of a chart because it negated the primary reason why I've gone through a decade of hard work, travel, pleading my case to the USDA, fighting off the nay-sayers in forums, and the whopping huge expense of what that all has cost. I wrote "How to Winter Sow" because of what it does to the WSers mind--it's that leap of faith with rewards with a brain rush of creativity and a huge uplift to anyone's sense of self. That's what it has always been about for me, and that's what I always will teach it for. Sure, it is a great germination method, but that's not what it's only or all about. It's about the Winter Sower and how taking that leap changes your inlook and your outlook all for the better. The records were created and maintained by several people at this forum for a few years and when it looked like they would go the wayside because no one could do the upkeeping, or more importantly, provide easy access to the records, I asked if I could keep them at WinterSown because they are not just a created document, but they are also a historical record of the efforts and sometimes the failures of the people who made those records. A few years back there was a brouhaha with another forum over copying the records to create their database. I was told by a WSer that they were basing their database on the one created by this forum. I had no reason to believe that a WSer would tell me a non-truth and I, being who I am, insisted on protecting the work created by people here. I took some blows for it, but the database was not copied, and I will continue in my life to duke it out, if need be, with whomever messes with GW Winter Sowers. In effect, you are my family, my kindred spirits, and followers of the method. We are more than mere gardeners, we are Winter Sowers, and we care for and respect each other as family. Like any family we don't all see eye to eye or do things the same way, but the end result is a family that shares its experiences with any and all who will be positively influenced by this marvelous agricultural phenomena. We were 'green' before it was trendy to be green. We were wise and prudent before current economics forced that upon so many of us. We ARE Winter Sowers. The records are a guideline, and reflect not how a seed does, but how a winter sower did with it. It can't show what soils were used, the experience of the winter sower or the age of the seeds, or the inability to get home on a hot spring day before the seedlings fry, or the dog which destroys a flat, or winds that dry flats like autumn leaves. Basically, if a plant will reseed in your region you can WS it. Success is improved with fresh seeds and experience. Deeper soil dries out slower. Part shade is better than full sun after a flat sprouts simply because the interior is less likely to overheat. Yada yada yada. I could go on and on about how to be succesful, but I don't have to because this forum and any of the other WS forums on the net, and now blogs and videos and lectures and teachers are all sharing their experiences for how they have been succesful Read what you want and adapt what others have done to suit your site, your needs and your own wallet. Hope this helps. I'm about to go out to watch a football game at my SILs, and won't be in touch until much later tonight. If anyone has questions you can post them here, or over at the FB Winter Sowing page, or email me through GW or FB or WS.Org. HUGS to all, don't sweat the little stuff. Take that leap of faith and wrap your heart around it. T PS...BTW, the FB page has now over 700 members, if you do FB please stop by and join if you aren't already there. I'd like to get the group up to over a thousand before the end of Winter.

I'm trying an experiment, in general. I am going on the premise that temperate plants, such as Sarracenias, Darlingtonia, a few Drosera, and a N.A. Pinguicula seeds land in some semblence of cold water and go through a stratification process. Then, as photoperiod and temps increase, they naturally germinate. So... I am attemptiing just that, with several Sarracenias, D. filiformis, Cobra Lily, P. vulgaris, and P. grandiflora. I filled plastic drinking cups partially with media and overfilled with rainwater. Then I poured the seeds. The Sarracenia seeds very obviously floated. Hard to tell with the others. I am keeping them uncovered, in my cold attic, by a SE window sill. We'll see what happens!

Bake them. A goodly dose of heat can kill a lot of seeds.