Oh my goodness! I would be hot under the collar too...argh!
Well you know where not to waist your money now geez.

Vera

Well, that just stinks! I've done the same thing, and what really gets me is the work and care I put into planting, etc., and then the double-whammy of not having the plants I had hoped for.

So sorry for all your wasted work!

Dee

I'm watching a couple of wintersown plants that are supposed to be Red Shades helenium but look very much like grassy weeds. I have other helenium and the foliage doesn't look like the same. So we'll see. In contrast, I've been pulling up lots of cosmos seedlings and cutting down milkweed thinking they were unwanted weeds,

This post was edited by gumneck on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 20:59

My goodness, I sure feel your pain. I once purchased a load of soil which I used on top of the clay in my backyard and found I had stinging nettle coming up for a number of years. Not pleasant. If you must use any leftovers, you may want to 'sterilize' it. Trudi had made a post about pouring boiling hot water into a pot of soil and letting it drain to get rid of pathogens. Perhaps that will kill off the weed seeds as well. I would take it back. It's amazing what some companies do if they think they are getting bad press among potential customers. Good luck next year.

Thank you all for your comforting replies!

Sorry to hear about your weedy mix. No fun to find out that treasured and babied plants are weeds.

Don't forget the tree seeds that drift into the containers. After several years I have gotten to recognize them and pull them out but sometimes I'm not sure. They often get potted up to grow on with a label "tree?".

I have some plants that are about to bloom which I have kept in the garden because I am not sure if they are weeds or self sown perennials from my compost or HOS. Since I sow many seeds that are not familiar I like to wait. At the end of spring some seedlings need to be planted by HOS anywhere just to get them in the ground and sometimes I forget where I planted the previous year. It took 3 years for yellow foxglove to bloom and I kept wondering what those oddly leafed plants were scattered about the garden. Weed or perennial? Glad I waited as they were moved to mass and are lovely right now.

This year I used previous year's potting mix with compost and have had surprise seedlings in my containers. Lettuce pops up here and there. Wonder where they came from as I hadn't planted lettuce for a few years? Next time I will try the boiling water approach before using old reconditioned mix.

So sorry to hear that you go fewer seedlings than you hoped Ellen. Try not to feel too bad, I bet almost every winter-sower nurtures a few weeds at one time or another... :)

I make WS blunders every year. This year I'm bummed because I fried the basil and parsley seedlings and ended up paying nursery prices spending $4 for a pot of each! Ouch! That especially stings because I know how cheaply these seedlings can be grown.

I still come out ahead and there's always next year!

The seeds you all planted were they commercial or from a trade? Just curious though I had a lot of weeds come up from my containers.

We've all probably nurtured weeds before so don't feel bad. I thought I had a bed full of canterbury bells, but it turns out they're rudbeckia (and I don't even remember planting it there). Still, they're blooming and really pretty, and they were from an exchange and are all slightly different so quite pretty.

It's been a tough ws year for some things (tomatoes), but I finally got a few verbena seedlings after no luck last year. I thought they were weeds at first because the foliage wasn't exactly like the verbena I overwintered in the house, but they're blooming now and they're genuine.

I wish it would stop raining for a while? Geez it rains everyday or every other day!

Yeah, it's rained every day here too. Just so tired of the gloom and the inability to get in the garden. The weeds are just thriving.

I totally hear you about the rain. And if you can get out to the garden, there are swarms of Mosquitos to deal with. But, I have to say I appreciate the rain since I am establishing new plants almost everywhere and they need the frequent rain to help with transplant shock and root growth. I haven't needed to supplement the rain, except for brand new plantings.

Hopefully normal hot, sunny weather is around the corner and we'll get to enjoy our gardens in a more normal fashion.

Martha

I hear you on the weeds. I use Miracle Grow potting soil. I've been getting poison ivy seedlings in my containers this year. All in my patio pots that were all filled from the same bag if soil. I'd be happy with any run of the mill weed that I could hand pull!

well, those that were NOT weeds are doing well. :)
I've got red salvia and pink. The blue haven't bloomed yet. I have one bed where I threw some wildflower seeds, then forgot, and turned the soil over. Nevertheless they came up. So I have a very crowded bed, with the Cal. poppies that I had intended to be there. Which is great, cuz I like crowded beds.

Glad to hear that you are happy with your bed results using the seedlings that weren't weeds. I also like a crowded bed and over sow which makes it easier when some things don't turn out to be what I expected. Enjoy today's garden and plan for next year's.

This post was edited by mnwsgal on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 4:25