This is a great thread to keep going. I observed the same springtime gap in blossoms that many have mentioned. Dianthus do bloom at the perfect time, so I've been trying to plant them, but haven't had much luck getting them to grow. This year I may just buy some plants and be done with it. I would encourage anyone who has the space, to grow as much Common Milkweed as possible. It is a great nectar source and is the primary species of milkweed that Monarchs depend upon. Because it spreads via the root system, it can bounce back even after being tilled into the ground. Prior to the widespread use of Round-Up, 90% of the milkweed used by Monarchs was growing between the rows of crops and along the roads. Since Round-Up and since the increase in the value of corn for production of ethanol, the availability of milkweed has dropped precipitously throughout the entire Midwest. This is threatening the existence of the miraculous migration. Monarchs will continue to exist in the south and west, but may disappear from the rest of North America. I apologize if I'm preaching to the choir, but I try to spread the word when I can. Hope everyone is having a blessed holiday season. Martha

Daniellalell, It looks like you've just discovered our Forum, and if that is the case, a big Welcome! I also need to warn you that you are about to embark on a wondrous adventure of year round gardening which will drive your family and friends to think you are a certified wacko gardener... You will experience pure joy in the coming months if you participate in this thing called winter sowing. (Some folks at this time would write 'but I digress', yet I will not since I have never digressed at the thought of filling gardens with all the plants I want. I garden in a similar zone as yours and start winter sowing in the deep cold of February - also know as Valentine's Day. Only once in five years have I lost a couple of containers to a deep cold frost and these were tender annuals which were sown too early. You see, we start with perennials, then we move on to biennials, half hardy perennials, then it's the reseeding or 'tough' annuals, and then as the season winds down, we sow our tender annuals. I have also learned in the last few years that most seeds which germinate early are tough and will make it through. I've had Bachelor Button Sprouts covered with 1.5 inches of ice pellets and after the ice thawed, they were still there growing as strong as could be! I've posted a link to the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page so you can peruse and read at your leisure. Do read them, and then come back and we will answer any question you have. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing FAQs

Good question but the answer depends on your local winter conditions. It would be best to get someone in z6 and your region to respond but here is a general response. When direct sowing some of your seeds may germinate now, others may need winter freeze & moisture to break dormancy so you would see them in the spring. If the seedlings are northern hardy they should make it through the winter even if they germinate now so long as they have enough time to get good roots established before freezing weather sets in. That is also a dependency on your local region. Since it can take several weeks for seedlings to sprout & then to develop true roots you need to calculate if you have enough time before frost would drive them into dormancy. In my area, winter is our driest season with very little moisture but too cold to use a hose to water. Because of that I would only direct sow after freezing weather sets in so they won't sprout until spring or else sow in the spring to make sure the seedlings have plenty of root developed before they have to go through their first cold/dry winter.

It seems you are getting confused. Here is an outline for the full year taking everything into consideration. Seed NOW, this weekend. If you have dead grass on the surface, rake that away until you see the bare soil. Try not to disturb the surface too much and definitely don't dig it up. If it is not level, then move soil from the high spots to the low spots. Roll the seed down with a rented roller. If it is a small area, then simply walk over every square inch of the seed to press it down onto the soil. Then water 3x per day for 5-15 minutes depending on how your soil retains water. The idea is to keep the soil moist and not mushy. If your grass mix has only rye in it, then water for a week before backing off on frequency. If it has rye and fescue, you'll need to water for 2 weeks to get 80% germination of the fescue. If it has Kentucky bluegrass, then you'll need to continue the 3x per day watering for 3 full weeks to get the KBG to germinate. If you stop watering early, the KBG will not give you the benefits of KBG. The reason to seed this weekend is so the grass can come up this season and you can evaluate whether to seed again before winter frost closes the seeding window. You don't need fertilizer right away as the seed itself contains enough nutrients to get the grass to the rooting stage. If you want to fertilize now, I'd stick with an organic fertilizer because there is no way to make a mistake by adding too much. In late November the grass will stop growing. When it has fully stopped growing, that is the time to winterize the grass with a high nitrogen, fast release, chemical fertilizer. Something like uncoated urea is good. Use at half the bag rate this first year. In February put down a preemergent herbicide like Prodiamine. It will last for 3 months, so keep that in mind as you can reapply in late April. In mid April (tax day) apply the 2,4-d herbicide. The reason for waiting is to allow the weeds plenty of time to become healthy before you slaughter them with the herbicide. Healthy weeds die better than sickly weeds. Do not use weed n feed products, ever. In late May apply the first fertilizer of the year. There is no need to apply fertilizer earlier for 2 reasons. 1) you used a winterizer, and 2) what happens in the soil over the cold winter is magical, and the sins and illnesses of the past seem to go away. Grass always comes back in late March and is very healthy until the natural nutrients run out about late May. Don't listen to the advertising on TV or the Internet. The lawn does NOT need fertilizer in Feb to jump start it. Nature is jump starting it for you. So ignore your neighbors and all you see. Just enjoy the spring. Labor Day. Time to fertilize again. Also consider whether you need more seed. Do you have thin spots in the yard? If so, then add more seed. Fescue grows well in the shade and remains green all winter. Rye and KBG must have full sun and quite often turn brown in the winter. KBG is the only one of the three which will spread to fill in thin spots by itself without further seeding, but if your thin spots are in the shade, then you will need fescue seed. Mid Sept. If you have more weeds, then you can use another dose of the 2,4-d herbicide. You are certain to have questions about what I've said and not said. I do not recommend using any other pesticides unless you absolutely have identified the pest (insect or disease) and have looked into natural remedies. Why? Because the biology of the soil is your partner in this lawn effort. Insecticide and fungicide are extremely hazardous to those microbes living in the soil and helping out with the fertility. I have not used a chemical fertilizer since 2002, and firmly believe that using an organic fertilizer at least once per year will avoid other problems in the future. My preference is to use alfalfa pellets and/or corn meal, but you may find soybean meal easier to find at your local feed store.