Morning...I am with you and since it is my first year I am getting some anxiety over the whole process. I know that sounds crazy. I did start a spread sheet to keep track of all the seeds I have and the ones I am getting, but I have no idea what to do with it after I enter in my info!!! It's basically a really pretty chart.

I think you have the right idea though. You are aware of tender plants and if you just maybe divided them or marked them by priority, you could get them in the right order. I get the feeling that the experienced people "just know" what and when after so long. I have heard some talking about cold-warm-cold and warm-cold-warm preferences etc. This makes sense, but I still need to wrap my head around it by decoding instructions that come with the seeds.

Good luck with your quest, and please share with the rest of us newdles. Happy thanksgiving.

This was posting by username "drippy" when I first started posting:

"As to when to start, the typical beginning is Winter Solstice (December 21). Many start later. Those who sow plants that specifically need a period of warmth, followed by cold, then warmth again to germinate (I call these seeds "fussy germinators", and against my better judgment, I sow some every year) start those seeds now. Most, and truly I mean it when I say most, seeds can wait until 12/21 or after. I sow the majority of perennials in January and February, herbs in February and March, some annuals in February (snaps, bachelor buttons, lettuce and poppies will all be fine, and many others will, too) and the majority in March or early April. Most veggies I wait on, and I direct sow beans (and would also direct sow corn, if I had the space for it) and am thinking about possibly moving squash to the direct-sow group. Tomatoes I usually WS in February or March."

What I did was I made a list like you of what seeds I have and then I checked out Trudy's wintersowing website for help and tips and then I googled and I found a site that list when certain seeds can be started and I also checked last years list on when I started my seeds. And this is what I came up with that has helped me. After I typed the list I realzised I have Datura twice now I am not sure of why I did that. I will have to rethink that one. But the list should help you some.

Jan.

Salvia
zebrina malva
Gaillardia
rose of sharon

Jan/FEb.

Columbine
Cardinal Climber

Feb.

Verbena Datura
Daylily Canna
Torenia Peony Poppy

Feb./Mar.

Impatians
Zinnia
Coreopsis
Balloon Flower

March

Snapdragons Datura
Ice Plant Johnny Jump up/violas
Penstemon Nicotina
Purple Coneflower Bells of Ireland
Pansy 4 O'clocks

Mar./Apr.

Lobelia Sunflower
Osteopermum Rose Campion
Stock Calendula

April

Petunia Cosmos
Marigold Gazania
Nemphila

Paula

You know what I would love to do? Color code all my seed packs by TIME of SOWING. A blue Post It flag for ones I can sow really early, all the way to a red flag for very frost tender and fast growing plants.

I could still files them alphabetically, but last March I spent a lot of time riflng through my stash looking for things to sow :)

I wish there were a master list of "month of sowing" so I could more easily figure it out, and then I wish for a sale on Post it Flags!

Lime

My idea is a shoe box (well 3 actually - I have a lot of veggie seeds too). A piece of stiff paper cut to the short width of the box and taller than the packets separates the seed packets by month to sow. On the front of each packet I write something like Feb 15-Mar-Apr 15 depending on the time frame they can be planted, in black sharpie pen. After decoding stratification and indoor starts - plant out requirements I note that on the packets too. Put the packets behind the earliest date to plant. If the month escapes you or bad weather doesn't allow you to plant that month, move the packets to the next month's divider. I mark my garden calendar for the first day of every month to remind me to look at the seeds and on the 15th. Some veggies get multiple sowings 2 weeks apart (green beans) so I've made up several packets with just enough seeds for the row for that date's sowing. The calendar gets marked for these dates too, or another 2-week divider can be used. I also mark the dates when I should and/or do fertilize. It takes some getting used to and discipline but at the end of the year you'll either have everything planted or have some left for next year.

Nancy the nancedar

These ideas are all really helpful - thanks and keep em coming!

Paula, I am printing of your list right now, that is really helpful. All that "looking up" takes a lot of time and you have now saved me some - thank you! If others have similar lists it would be great to have them too.

Lime, since I have finally gotten all mine in alphbetical order in a couple of boxes, I am thinking of using Paula's list (and any others I can find) and getting 5 different colored small sticky notes (one color for each month Jan-May)and sticking one on each of the index cards I have seperating the varities into (not the individual packet, as I assume everything in the variety, say Salvia, would start at the same time)Hmmm, I wonder if this is not a good assumption? I guess I would have to seperate for those that have both annual and perennial varieties (like salvia!)

Nancdar, I did a similiar "line them up" last year, but I was working with a whole lot fewer seeds than I will be this year. Because of the quanity, I really want to keep them alpabetical in one place just to keep track of what I have. But you have reminded me that I need to use my calendar more, marking reminders in the different dates. I'd do mine by weekends, as that is when I have time to make containers as I work full time during the week. And the idea of "missed something, just move it forward..." would work with sticky notes too - change them all to the next month's color!

I hope we get more folks chiming in here - more lists and more ideas!

Nancy

I pretty much research each seed I'm going to plant.
For instance, many salvia are both perennials and annuals. So I research each particular seed and try to figure out if it should be planted in Jan./Feb. or should it be planted in Mar./Apr. or maybe as late as May. At first it is all guess work for your own particular area. I also right down the date when I planted it and keep the record for next year if I want to grow that particular seed again. If I really have no idea, I'll plant some in Jan. and some in Apr. and see which one worked better.
Duane

http://www.commongroundinpaloalto.org/plantingcalendar.htm
Maybe this will be helpful, this is a calendar from a Common Ground which is a wonderful garden center in the Bay Area. It is nicely organized with a sow directly, start in flats, transplant.
--Kate

I LOVE wintersowing cuz it is sow easy! I hollar it from my back door every year! And I do mention it to anyone who might even come close to asking, or wondering, or at random pauses in conversations...
I have only found 2 things really to keep in mind for an accurate time line for WinterSowing those seeds on their journey towards making more seeds to gather and share...

1. Perennials hardy to my zone, and those annuals that will reseed themselves, I can start any time now here in zone 4- I do believe winter has set in- 2. I wait till the end of March and into April (ZONE 4) for half-hardy to tender annuals.
   There is very little research that needs to be done for these- Is this a hardy perennial for my zone? Is this an annual that will re-seed itself? If so- winter is the way to go- if not, try it in the spring. Many times when I have boffed it and put out tender annuals in the winter months- those little wintersown seeds are so forgiving and come through just fine!
   For me, the most difficult part of this whole process is planting out in a timely fashion! And watering once the tops have come off- and maybe protecting the tender annuals from a freak freeze later in the spring.
   This way to germinate seeds is by far the easiest, most fun and rewarding way to start seeds into the healthiest, sturdiest seedlings that I have ever tried!
   That said....
   I do sort my seeds latin names (I teach myself as I go that way) alpha first- and make a list as I go using CircusPonies' NoteBook software- very nice that program is, indeed! Then I go through the lists and color code the lists to what I can wintersow (blue)- spring sow (green)- and what I think I must start indoors (yellow) to achieve desired results.
   It is those that I feel NEED to be started indoors that are really most difficult to figure out when to start- as I want them all to be the right transplant size and age come transplant time. I can't have mature plants hogging all the light- as I do have a limited lighted area. I have to find how long it takes to germinate and how long it needs to grow till transplant and work backwards from my frost date to find the start date for every single one. For those indoor ones I start another list by dates= cold treatment is the first category- then 16weeks+, 14 weeks, 12 weeks, 10 weeks, 8 weeks (the biggest clump by far), 6 (next biggest)weeks, 4 weeks and lastly- 2 weeks. That is a very long process to gather that info and to follow through with each seeds needs- light, no light, cold or warm germination, soil, soiless mix, sand, how many times you need to prick out and transplant as they grow under lights, heating mats- damping off, mildew, those awful little black flies, getting your hands and hair stuck in that sticky fly paper.....
   You don't have to do any of that monkey business when you WinterSow-
   Yep- WinterSowing by far is the best and easiest way ever to start seeds in my book! Trust what Trudi and others have said- and Trust in Mother Nature and that seed's desire to make more of itself. WinterSowing is Sow easy!

Wow, this all sounds like so much work.

I spent this morning freezing in the yard, mulching the last areas with leaves. Then I did a final cleanup- collecting rakes, trowels, stakes, hose nozzles, whatever else was left laying around. My husband vacuumed and shredded more leaves and spread those, and put away the porch furniture for winter. I also flipped the compost for the last time, putting it to sleep for winter.

Then I spent this afternoon STILL cleaning seeds. I have to get my dining room cleaned up once and for all. I'm sick of looking at my mess. And of course when I finished those seeds I had to clean up the kitchen again- I had piles of chaff on the floor. I'm am really going to push myself to get those seeds cleaned and stashed this week.

This holidays are not far off, and of course I have not really tackled those jobs either. For you organized folks who are finished shopping, wrapping, Christmas cards, etc., please don't tell me.

Karen

Julie - that is all very wise advise - THANK YOU!I can tell you have been loving gardening for a long time and newer gardeners like me certainly have a lot to learn!

Hubby and I had a long car ride today (had to transport my college freshman back to school - boo hoo) and I brought one of my three seed boxes (A - G), my favorite reference book (From Seed to Bloom) and a couple of stacks of sticky flags (different colors). I did the flagging much as you described after I looked things up (have lots of seed from big trades that are not marked for zones and I don't "know" if they are annual of perennial till I look them up!)Seeds that I found were perennial for my zone (7) I will winter sow early and they got red flags. After they are done (which may be June!!! - so many!)I will move on to those annuals that reseed readily here for me (amaranthus, ageratum - you can see I've only gotten as far as "A"!) hardy annuals and then tender annuals. Some of those tender annuals will be started under lights, but, like you, I only have limited lights and the WS activity outside takes my time that use to be "light stand" time!

Karen -oh -please - christmas. Hubby decided to put up the house lights yesterday and, of course, all the other boxes followed him up out of the basement. He hit and spilled a tray of Montauk daisies I am drying for seed for Donn (don't worry, still all whole -easy to pick up). Wants to know when I am going to get to around to starting the inside decorations. Hmmmmm, maybe when I'm really done with seeds? (Please don't tell him that with this new passion I do not really ever seem to be done with seeds. Well, July. One month. Everything was planted and I hadn't started "collecting" yet! Somebody remind me to savor that month next year (smile)! But I love it.

Nancy

Okay, you people have really convinced me of just how unorganized I am. paulan70 what was the site you used to look up to see what plants could be sown when? I have noticed that some seeds can be perinneal or annual and I've received some in trades that weren't marked. Should I treat those as annuals to be on the safe side?

I don't know about Paulan70- but I just google the name of the plant. Usually you don't even have to go to the link to see the info needed- although- sometimes I will need to add the word Zone to the name of the seed-
If you are looking for specific individual germination requirements- more for indoor under light seed starting- Tom Clothiers site is great!
The back yard gardener also offers a site @ http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html
Also The Seed Site - http://theseedsite.co.uk/
is another great site to learn from.
Although- WinterSowing is sow easy- you won't need to know more than Hardy to my zone perennial or reseeding annual- or not, to be very successful!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clothier's Database

There is no timeline for WS.

When does Mom Nature sow her seeds?

In winter seeds go dormant...seeds awaken and sprout at their natural times.

Except, Trudi, they just won't walk out of my seed box by themselves and into the yard for Mother to do her magic, as much as I've wished! (smile)

I do "get" what your saying though, just get them out there and they will sprout when they are suppose to - stop obsessing. But because I have become so seed crazy and have so many to "do up in containers", I feel I have to have a priority system to decide "who gets out first".

I aspire to be a relaxed, confident, trusting winter sower. Really. Maybe after my second year.....

Nancy

Nancy
one thing to remember that people from different zones will have different timetables with starting their seeds and their success. Since you are zone 7, Trudi's time lines will probably fit you very well. For my colder zone 5 I am in much fear of seeds rotting away if I start them too early. So I usually divide seeds in two separate packages- those that NEED wintersowing period and those that do not. Those that NEED wintersowing should be started early, some of them might need warm- cold- warm period and should be started in the fall and others will benefit from 6-8 weeks of cold weather. From the seeds that do not need wintersowing I will separate very tender ones that could not possibly tolerate any cold- zinnias, coleus etc and start them at the end of April- May/ for my zone 5/ Rest of batch will be started any time between Feb and May depending on my free time.

Like Trudi says, just getting them out there will work. You can make this as hard or easy as you want. I guess it depends what kind of person you are. I like to do a little research on the plant and see if I'm going to want it in my garden. For you newbies I recommend---go the easy route, just get them out there and see what happens.
duane

Hi,

I moved from North Jersey to North Carolina. The weather is very different here. I also had to study growing vegetbles.
I found some good info in the farmers' almanac. I reached the web and used seed pack info for the rest of the info. I made a spread sheet of vegetbles and one of flowers. I input all the info about after last frost/before last frost, depth, spacing days to maturity, etd. and I used color to highlight the order of the time-to-plant. It really helped and makes sowing go quickly.

For what it's worth, here's my 2 cents. In my 2 past years of WSing, I have followed posts on the forum pretty regularly.

I think that those of us around zones 4, 5, and 6 have to be a little more careful than those in both the warmer zones and the colder zones. It seems to me that we have much larger weather swings, for much longer periods of time. These alternating cold and warm periods are perfect for wintersowing, stratifying seeds and breaking down seed coats, but we will have better results being a little more cautious.

In the older hardiness zone map, I was in zone 5b, but the revised one plants me solidly in zone 6. We don't get much spring or fall weather, seemingly passing right from winter to summer and back to winter again. It's not all that unusual for us to see a week in the 50s, even near 60 in January. It happened this year. If I had zinnias out there, they could well have sprouted. All of Feb. and March have been awful- endless snowfalls, ice storms and sub zero weather. Zinnias will not tolerate that.

It just seems to me that we get a lot more changeable weather in the middle zones. The warmer zones stay warmer. They might get some snow and cold temperatures, but not the prolonged, drastic swings that we get. It also seems that cold zones like 1, 2, and 3 stay more consistently cold. They might get a warm day or 2 in winter, but it doesn't seem to stay that way long enough to germinate seeds way too early.

There's also a big difference between eastern and western zones, those in the west being much warmer in spring, often cooler in fall. And if you look at the hardiness zone map, the areas along the coasts are just warmer than in the heartland. That big dip into colder zones is right smack dab in the center of the country.

Based on last year's extremely warm weather, I was planning to sow my tender annuals in late March, but changed my mind. I did just a few last weekend, saving some of each type for another try next month in case they germinate and freeze. Most I've held off on because it still feels like winter. The past few mornings it has been in the mid 20s.

Having lost tender wintersown seedlings to frost and severe prolonged cold weather in the past, I now just wait longer to sow my tender things. I don't want to risk the time, money, and effort I invest in wintersowing.

Karen

Karen, I agree with you completely. If there are wide weather swings in your zone that are sustained for more than a day or two, you can really set yourself up for frustration.

Some seeds will germinate during a warm week then die during the inevitable cold week that follows - one day or two weeks later.

I understand what Trudi means when she says that Mother Nature knows what she is doing, but Mother Nature doesn't sow her seeds in mini greenhouses like we do.

I've learned that if you are in a zone like mine, you just can't trust Mother Nature, because greenhouses can fool Mother Nature.

Having lost tender wintersown seedlings to frost and severe prolonged cold weather in the past, I now just wait longer to sow my tender things. I don't want to risk the time, money, and effort I invest in wintersowing.

yes yes yes. Last year was my first year ws'ing - we had a prolonged frost/cold spell mid April. Not knowing enough to cover or bring in, I lost 90% of what had sprouted which was about 40 jugs. hindsight - should of brought them inside.
It was mostly annual seed that I had more of, so i replanted everything the first weekend in May and all was good.

I expect to have alot more this year and am just looking at the annual seeds, figuring on planting mid to end of April.

just like lindalana said - don't want to risk the time effort or especially, the way different seeds that i traded for this year!

No matter how much I try to "organize" when I WS what, it still comes down to "sow it as I see it" by this time of year.
Everything gets shot to ?@!%$.
And imagine my surprise when something I thought I should've really sown in December, sprouts before something I thought should be up already.
The blessing of WSing is it works for dummies like me :-)
(But it's okay to try to be organized and detailed...nothing ventured, nothing gained :-)

L

Original poster checking in here to tell you that for all the ambition and "great plans" I had in November, it's mostly boiled down to "glance through the boxes and grab" each weekend! I did start with things I knew needed/liked cold and I am working my way towards annuals soon! About 150 containers planted and poppies have sprouted, along with a few others.

Can't wait till it warms up!
Nancy

You guys are making this way too hard.

Paula, I'm not sure I understand your list and what information is driving the selections for the months you have chosen. For example poppies, echinacea, penstemon, snaps, nicotiana, calendula, stock, rose campion, coreopsis and balloon flower can be sown ANYTIME after 12/21 with little worry of losing sprouts to premature sprouting. Not that it hasn't happened here and there to things like poppies and snaps, but generally it's an unusual warm spell that triggers them.

Cardinal climber - that one I would save and sow with my tenders.

It's really a one step process - sow anything after 12/21. The EXCEPTION that many folks have adopted is to simply hold off on the tenders to late winter sow. The ONLY reason I do this is because things like zinnias and marigolds will germinate very quickly and easily if we have an unusual warm spell followed by a hard frost. They can be protected of course, but I don't have time to coddle.

Remember, this is about simplicity and comfort level. There is no one particular month to sow perennials, for example, unless they are ones that need cold strat. I'm sowing perennials from December 21 up until July 1. Ma nature is doing likewise.

I have to agree with bakemom. In the fall I go thru my seed box. I get two baggies. Everything that can be ws goes in one. I start planting whenever I get the change from dec-march. Second baggie is for tender plants. I plant in april or may. As I plant them I mark them in a notebook then refile in my seed box.
I like things as simple as I can get them. lol. But my first year.....I over thought everything and had spread sheets for everything. Not doing that again!!
Just enjoy. Thanks the important part.
Stacy

Hi,

I really did not think my stupid spreadsheet would be cause for such debate. My main reason for doing it was that I moved to a very busy household, did not know the weather, and I needed to make sure that I got the ones that need winter chill planted in time. In jersey, I would just hold the tender ones for mid march-april. There I did not have so many demands and interruptions.

Enjoy the winter sowing like I do.

Zebrina, I don't think your spreadsheet is stupid at all. Last year (my first) mine was a godsend to me. It helped me learn soooo much. Latin names, when to expect sprouts, how tall they would get and the color. Even if they were annual or not. Plus It kept me fired up all winter!! This year, now that I know who well the whole winter sowing thing works I am much more laid back. Just enjoy it no matter how you go about it. Best of luck
Stacy