Clumsy,

This is only my second year of WSing, so I'm no expert, and I'm a zone colder than you, but here is my take on the things on your list:

Petunias - already WS
Amaranth - will do in a couple of weeks
Borage - don't even know what that is, LOL!
Marigolds - WS in April or DS in May
Cosmos - same as Marigolds
Tomatoes - WS some this week, sowing some indoors in April
Peppers - sowing some indoors maybe next week, WS in April

Planting out tips ... hmm... the only that comes to mind is water them well, and keep the top of the bottle/container to use as a cloche if temps get too far below freezing. I'm sure others will have more tips for you.

Bonnie

clumsy: Petunias should be fine now.

I wait until very late March or early April to start tenders like cosmos and marigolds, but you are south of me and I would guess they'd be OK now or very soon. If you can risk losing them to frost, or are prepared to give them a little protection, then anytime is OK.

Wintersowing is part science, part art. You learn what works for you, and what your comfort level might be, only by trying. Unfortunately, we rely a lot on Mother Nature and she is sometimes fickle. There are no guarantees.

Karen

I'm getting to that stage too. This has never happened to me. I'm usually still sowing perennials in mid-April. I could be in crisis be the weekend! LOL!

I couldn't wait and planted my red celosia and it's looking bad - lots of frost damage. I wish I hadn't put it out so soon. But I remember last year - it disappeared a time or two and still managed to make plants. (Breathe, Linda, breathe!)

The good thing is most of those summer annuals germinate really fast in warm weather, usually a matter of a few days.

Karen

Hmm, my cosmos and marigolds have been sown for over a week now....

:)
Dee

I'm actually going to start some marigold under lights this week./...72 seeds and also WS them this week.

Cosmos I'll wait til early April
Amaranth I've WS'd some, but may WS more in a few weeks.
Borage I WS'd already, but saved some, IIRC to do under lights as well. I started my peppers 10 days ago under lights. Starting 25-30 tomatoes under lights this week and also WSing some.

This is my first year WSing AND my first year starting from seed under lights, so this is all trial and error for me. I'm probably 2-4 weeks early with peppers inside, but what the heck. I also plan to setup some nice cloches for them and do some soil warming under plastic this Spring....my little laboratory in the back yard!

Wow um... I'm really confused now. I guess I should start them if I feel like it?

"Wow um... I'm really confused now. I guess I should start them if I feel like it?"

Yes. You can start them now IF YOU FEEL LIKE COVERING THEM OR OTHERWISE PROTECTING THEM when there are frosts/low temps in your area ONCE THEY GERMINATE (ungerminated ws seeds wont usually need protection from freezing).

This is the part of wsing that confused me the most. The idea that the seeds know when to sprout is not correct for any seed at any time. You still need to know what type of plant you are sowing, whether it is perennial/hardy annual/warm season annual, and the last frost date for your area, and sow them accordingly.

You can ws perennials just about anytime after Dec 21 (or whatever the date is in your area/zone where you are regularly going down to freezing or below at night).

The hardy annuals can be ws when you are still getting freezes at night.

The warm season annuals can be ws when the temps are still close to freezing at night, but usually above 32 (daytime and nighttime temps).

So, YES you can ws your warm season annuals (tomatoes, peppers, cosmos, etc) when you are still getting frosts/low temps, BUT you will have to protect them with blankets, totes/containers, or bringing them into the garage when the temps are at 32 or below (daytime or nighttime).

My opinion is that you shouldn't start your warm season annuals until you are within a few weeks of your last frost date. That is because I don't want to have to watch the temps everyday to make sure it will not drop below 32 at any point. I dont want to have to cover and uncover my seedlings, so I wait until I know they can handle the temps.

I am in northeast TN, so my zone is either 6 or 7 depending on which web site you consult. So, my last frost date is between Mar 21- Apr 21. I ws my warm season annuals in late Mar or early Apr.

That's my take on it, anyway.

And a lot depends on you. Some folks can be very cavalier about losing a few early sprouters. Trudi's attitude is something along the line "if they succumb to frost, they're weak and I don't want them in my garden". But then again, she's a zone warmer than mine, and maybe a little less likely to have a really hard frost as late as happens in my zone 6 location. After all, we did get a foot of snow last weekend, March 8. And last Easter, in April, we had a hard freeze and biting wind which lasted the entire weekend, day and nights below freezing.

I have lost some seedlings that I really wanted to late frost. So I'm more likely to either hold off a while in sowing them, or to stick them in the unheated garage for hard frosts, if it's something I really want.

So clumsy, yes, being in central Ky your "safe" time is probably earlier than mine, but it's still a bit of a crap shoot.

Karen

Borage self sows in my zone 5 garden so you could try some of your borage seeds by WSing.
Marcia

kqcrna is right. There are just no guarantees. I could sow them in May and get a frost if the weather was just right for that. I really don't feel like babying them. I'll wait a week and see how the weather does. Winter does appear to be loosening its grip but I don't think it's right now for me to sow tender annuals yet.

Thanks for all your good answers! :)

I've been winter-sowing for six years now, and last year was the first and only time so far that I felt the need to cover/protect my containers. We had a few very cold nights in late April and I had a lot of germination by then.

Every other winter, I've never even thought about the need to cover the containers, and I've never lost a sprout to a frost.

I do use milk jugs, which in my opinion give a bit more protection than say, saran-wrap-covered containers, but still, I don't believe it's a given that if you sow annuals now you must cover them.

Do what you feel most comfortable with. If you have enough seeds, try one container now and another in a week or two. Or just wait, if that feels better for you.

:)
Dee