I saw someone here with large squarish water jugs they were laying on the side so that is how I got the kitty litter container idea. the plastic one I was talking about is like the ones on the link I attached http://www.tidycats.com/Products/Scoop/ I think it has enough room. I planed to cut a flap and leave the lid/cap on since I would have a hole on the top for air and water. I could also remove the lid later for more air. I think it would work well but I am a newbie. bakemom, one other WSer is sending me seeds, thanks so much. Karen Here is a link that might be useful: Kitty Litter container recycle idea link....

Hi, BettyLu: Welcome to wintersowing! I think that because your yard gets its sun in the heat of the day, it still counts as full sun, or almost full sun. I think all the seeds you listed are tough plants that could hold their own against tree roots and like full sun, although I'm not certain about Culver's Root because I haven't seen it growing in enough spots to know. Oh, wait, Purple Rocket is not Dame's Rocket, I just saw the latin. Well, it's Dame's Rocket I was thinking about, sorry! You may have those seeds because you already have those plants, so I'd better come up with some other ideas, right? :) At the base of my tall silver maple, I have salvias fighting to establish themselves (no water for them in this, their 2nd year. I'm mean!) Tansy, nigella, Montauk Daisy, Northern Sea Oats, and daylily. You can wintersow or spring-sow daylily, but you have to wait 2-4 years for flowers. Goldenrod would do fine, I'm sure, and there are pretty cultivars out there like Fireworks, Golden Baby and Little Lemon. They're great for fall color. Asters, too. (Montauk Daisy as well). Agastache, like Anise Hyssop, grows like a weed--and seeds like one--but I love it, and so do the hummingbirds and honeybees and goldfinches. Echinaceas should also hold their own against maple roots--they do so well in hard-packed dry clay in my friend's yard! I'm sure I'll think of some more things later! The wintersowers are planning on doing a seed exchange, with Token hosting it, so you should join in! And there will be great group seed swaps over on the Round Robin forum, like the ones hosted by Miceyrey, Drippy, and Patty. Bakemom offers "newbie seed packs." And if your Culver's Root is purple, I want to trade with you! :)

Yeah - you should see our eyes light up when someone walks up with a large bundle of empty plastic pots! We ain't proud. In fact I think it was Rootdigger and I that were arm wrestling over the large stack of black plastic gallons last fall - shameless I tell ya! We are all hungry for pots and totally understand if some things show up wrapped in whatever was handy at the time. As a side biz I sell rooted cuttings and seedlings at the local flea market. This market has a large immigrant following. Last year I had the other Datura - not Datura metel, the one that looks just like Jimsonweed. You should have seen the latino customers eyes glaze over. A few of them asked in broken English if I knew what that plant is used for. I replied in my broken Spanglish that I knew exactly what it was used for and that I consider the plant rather dangerous and that I hoped they had more sense than to home brew some hallucinagenics. I sold it as "Deadly Toxic Poison Plant" and sold plenty of them. (for those of you NOT in the know - both Datura and Brugmansia are used in various potions to induce a high or even as a knock-out drug.)

Jeff, Mom and I will definitely be at the fall swap. We've been talking a lot about what we're going to bring. :) Eventually, I am going to have some very nice perennials to divide and share. Grasses too. I was pretty much all irises this time, just because that's what I had that was share-able. But perennials are really my main thing. :) I'm also considering trying to layer some of my shrubs to be able to share those. I bought some Kumson Forsythia this year, and I've got two branches layered to see if it will work for me. We were talking about how much we learned at this swap about how to do things, and what we will do differently next time. I want to do a better job of labeling plants with photos. Can you tell I had so much fun I'm still not over it? :D