I got into gardening this past year, during the unfortunate month of August. I was tired of living with no flowers, and decided to put a garden on my decks. I want to grow my plants from seed, and am practically passing out from impatience. I live in Boston, which is cold. All of these things led me to search the net for 'things which can been sown during the winter.' This led to 'winter sowing.'

So, here I am. I have a whole bunch of seeds, many of them very tolerant of the weather around here (i.e., hardy perennials or annuals capable of reseeding in this zone).

All of my garden is in containers, which is getting me to hope that I can just plant my seeds wicked early, and then put clear plastic with holes punched in it over the top of the pots until the weather breaks in March. Is that winter sowing?

I will start. Hi everyone, my name is connie, I live in Ohio in Zone 5. I am very new to gardening. This year will be my second year, but my first wintersowing.

I have recently purchased a new home, hence my desire to learn about gardening.
I have quite a few areas that need some serious attention
---I have a corner lot and need to create some kind of privacy so I am going to try some Rose of Sharon.
--- I also have all of the cable and electrical boxes for the street and boy does that need to be prettied up. Hate looking at that ugly part of the yard
--- I recently got a puppy so I added a fence. I have prepared the ground all around the outside of the fence for some plants. Now I just need to grow them.

I have been reading all the posts on wintersowing for months now and am very excited to try this out. I hope I have 1/2 the success that I have seen others have.

I tried germinating seeds indoors last year but I would say I had minimal success. Even when they germinated I managed to kill them by not acclimating them properly ( or so I guess)

Keep the pictures coming. They are inspiring. I would love to know all the plants that you use to create these awesome beds.

I am glad I stumbled onto GardenWeb. There are a ton of great people and I have only had positives experiences.
Thank you for your sharing your knowledge, your pictures of your homes and often times your seeds. You inspire me and give me confidence that I can do this and have a beautiful garden soon. ( only time will tell)

Wishing everyone a happy holiday.

I'm a 2nd year Winter Sower....really not sure how I stumbled across this place but am glad I did. Every Spring I would head out to the local nurseries and spend oodles and oodles of cash on plants and veggies. Well when DD went to college that plant money had to be used to pay college tuition. I tried growing under lights...failed. Read about Winter Sowing but did not try it or become a member here until a year later (long time lurker). Last year I received a newbie packet from Bakemom and seeds from Trudi and decided to give it a try. My family thought I was nutter, however one neighbor said I had a clever setup, which I told him I could not take credit for and explained to him about Winter Sowing and my experiment. I can not even describe the thrill when I had my first sprouts! My plants grew well and I had plenty to share. Seeing is believing! It was so exciting to go out in my jammies every morning to peek in my containers. I can not wait to start over again with new varieties.

To all of the Newbies out there, you just have to give this a try, you will not be disappointed!

Happy Winter Sowing everyone!

Dawn

What a nice thread!

This is going to be my first year winter-sowing. It's all the glowing testimonials, like above, that have piqued my curiosity. :) I am a long-time gardener (well, 15 or 20 years) but have always shied away from seeds, thinking of them as too difficult. I've been reading posts here for a while, and they all seem to echo the same perception: That winter sowing is very easy and low maintenance, and once I try it I'll never look back! :D So, here I go trying it. You guys better be right! LOL

A little about me: I'm a second generation gardener but didn't discover I liked it until I had a house of my own. A couple of years ago, we moved off and left our mature gardens and moved into a house that had nothing. It's been very exciting, having a blank canvas, and what a great opportunity it has been to do things "different this time." :) But I'm finding myself working towards a mature-looking yard at triple speed. I miss my gardens, and it's become a top priority to have that feeling in this yard too!

So, I spent an absolutely absurd amount of money last year on shrubs, flowers, etc. for our new house ;) I am interested in winter sowing for the money it could potentially save, as well as the prospect of having some things that are not readily available in nurseries.

Diamondgirlie, I started WS in Buzzard's Bay, where I lived for many years. I was able to WS hundreds (if not thousands) of varieties of plants - all perennials and shrubs hardy to our zone, herbs, hardy annuals and many vegetables, too. With a little patience, trees - they often take multiple cold/warm cycles to germinate, so some may not germinate until the second year. By including spring sowing, half hardy annuals and warm season vegetables and tropicals can use the same system. I have WS corn successfully, even though naysayers insist it has to be direct sown.

Connietn, other than the enjoyment of connecting with people on this forum, saving money and getting more variety are the most common reason people choose to try wintersowing. They are not disappointed!

I'm an old wintersower, but feel a little like a new one - I have changed climates and soil environments pretty dramatically this year, so I will be in the process of adapting. I suspect that I will have to get a refrigerator involved over time for those plants that require multiple warm/cold cycles, as the cold cycle isn't very long here. One of the things I'm looking forward to is growing a small patch of cotton (for fun, not profit) - the cotton fields here are so gorgeous in the fall!

Drippy,

Everything old is new again, lol!
==============

Hi, my name is Trudi, and I like beginners.

All I can say is that once you start to WS, your garden is never the same again. Trust me on this.

T

This is a great thread. I love learning a little about everyone!! This is my first year winter sowing and really focusing on my yard. I recently sold my herd of dairy goats and I have so much extra time on my hands. I have two little boys that I hope will be interested in gardening as they get older. My oldest loves Tomatoes. Last year I grew two plants..Roma and Cherry. He kept picking them off the plant and eating them before I could get them in the house. This year I am hoping to expand my vegetable garden to include Several Tomato plants, sugar snap peas, carrots and lettuce. We also have two Guinea Pigs so hopefully they will have nice salads next year too :o) I love all the information on this site and also Wintersown.org.
Thanks
Heidi

Hello

I feel this is the right time and place to introduce myself :) . I ´m from Slovenia, a small country in Europe. Our last frost date is May 15th, so I believe this is zone 5 :). I´m a first time poster but already one year old lurker. I read also Cottage garden and Soil forum.
I found this forum last December, after a bad year with direct sowing around holyday cottage. It was my first year of gardening, but it is not a new garden. My boyfriendÂs grandmother took care of it before. Through winter I read FAQ, TrudyÂs page, all your posts (all 67 pages of them :)), every information I could find on the internet. So I become believer :). Every time I went out I bought new seeds. I started to fill 2L bottles in the beginning of March 09, after we moved in to a bigger apartment. I had all my bottles on balcony so I had to sprinkle from top every few days.
I started with 60 Â 70 bottles and with just so many different seeds :). I had great success. It was really hard work to plan and plant so many seedlings in May and I didnÂt have enough prepared beds :).
I documented every step of the process with photos so I could spread the story of this wonderful way to beautify our planet to my garden friends in one of our Slovenian garden forums. This year I already have some followers, and I hope there will be many more through the winter. We will start on Solstice :). I mentioned both TrudiÂs page and this forum also.
I have some albums on Picasa, I hope you will like them. I think two or three are just of Winter sowing, others are photos of blooms from this year.

I am expecting my first baby in the beginning of May 2010, but this is not stopping me from sowing. I know this will be hard but beautiful flowering year again. I also expect many new blooms from last yearÂs perennials. I have many new seeds to try out and I have also prepared some new beds. So next year will be more like plunk and run and thinking later :).

Thank you all for your wonderful guidance and support, photos, blogs, funny stories, etc.!:)

PS I really enjoyed your many photos in the gallery section through winter. I hope you will share there some new ones from this year also. ItÂs easier to show some good results to others from Gallery.

Spela

Here is a link that might be useful: My photos

Hi! I am totally a newbie to this forum, but i have to say everyone here is so welcoming! I love it! I am 25, just got married and settled into our house. I love roses and cottage style gardens, and the thought of not gardening through the winter was diving me crazy till i found this site! I have a plan for all these plants, my goal is to have such full beds i can cut bouquets fo friends and neighbors to brighten their day.
I really look forwad to spending the winter here!

I'm a 36 year old male with a 63 year old house. The gardens here were once expansive and I keep finding new things every time I venture into a now wooded area. From the neighbors, I have learned that the original owner spend many years building these gardens. While not sticking to the original plans, I am recreating a wildlife sanctuary on 7th Street. It's a semi-urban lot with a very suburban feel. I have no deer, no rabbits, yet, and only squirrels that bother my beds.

As for me, I have a degree in Architecture, a passion for gardening, and spend as much time learning about what I love as doing it. I ask questions, trade incessantly with others, and enjoy spreading the experience and seeds. I've lived in this house for 2.5 years. I'm also remodeling the inside slowly. The gardens change much faster.

The most important lessons I have learned about gardening come from two people who weren't gardeners.

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. " Vincent Van Gogh

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplised." Lao Tzu.

I have learned to be patient when I have to be, and speedy when it counts. I plan to continue to wintersow until there's hardly an inch of open space left in my yard. And I grow tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, beans, and many herbs.

token, it is so cool that you are rejuvenating the gardens of your house! I imagine how pleased the former owner would be. :)

Welcome everyone,

I'm so happy to see wintersowers from zone 5.

spela, your gardens are gorgeous, stick around I've got a lot to learn from you.

Diamondgirlie, I know many others here have sown seeds directly into pots with covers with great success after all a container is a container is a container. I found this piece on containers in the FAQ

Congratulations, to all of you with new homes, nothing like a fresh start. After 2 1/2 years I feel I have only just begun.

MARY

Trudi wrote:

"All I can say is that once you start to WS, your garden is never the same again. Trust me on this."

You're so right (and we do trust you!), but it isn't only your garden that is never the same again. The whole process of wintersowing (which really makes gardening a "year round" event) brings a heightened awareness of everything Mother Nature surrounds us with. Flowers, birds, insects, precipitation, light...I won't go on, you get the idea. Since learning about and celebrating the winter solstice, I have become much more aware of the shortening and lengthening of each day, instead of having seasons pass by in a blurr. When I'm out-of-doors now, I feel more connected to what is going on, rejuvenated by it. There's no going back now...

Ellen

How nice, Ellen. And how true. I often wish that non-gardeners would just give gardening a try for that very reason. Aside from the flowers and the plants and the exercise and the beauty and satisfaction, one of the best things about gardening is the connection to the earth. So many of us have lost that in this day and age. Wouldn't be a bad thing if more of us rediscovered that connection.

:)
Dee

Hello all - and really glad to see another container gardener on the forum, diamondgirlie! I'm a container gardener too (on an 11th floor balcony).

Directly sowing into your containers, with covers or without, is most definitely winter sowing. You don't really want to do everything "wicked early" - just follow the generally accepted guidelines: hardy perennials and those that need cold strat early, hardy annuals and tender perennials midway thru, and annuals late winter/early spring. Works like a charm.

This will be my 9th year winter sowing; in that time, I've discovered - and grown - tons of plants I'd never even heard of before! And I haven't even scratched the surface. Be prepared to get addicted!

If you have the time and feel so inclined, take a walk thru my garden albums.

PV

Hmm, maybe in my post above I should have said "connection to nature" instead of "earth". Don't want my container-gardening buddies to think I left them out, lol!

:)
Dee
who has lots and lots of containers too!

LOL, Dee! "Connection to earth" is just fine - there's dirt in them thar containers!

PV

Hi, I'm so excited about WS as I want to try it on Dec 21st for the first time. Already getting all my friends saving milk jugs... :)
Just recently retired and moved, so I am ready to have a garden. I really appreciate everyone here..
I'm learning so much..
Thank you'all
Dusty314

Hi I'm Laura,
this is my 2nd yr winter sowing and I'm so hooked lol.
I'm in my very 1st seed swap(thank you Token) and it's amazing. I have right around 100 jugs and soda bottles ready to sow.Much more to come.
I've been garden crazy since kinder garden when I planted marigold seeds in a milk carton as a mother's day project. (thank you Mrs. Woods) I love it here and can't wait til spring sprouts appear.
I live in a 159 yr old farm house in the country and because it was a cow farm it didn't come with much on the garden side. But the soil is good and I'm ambitious.
In the 15 yrs I've been here I have "almost" transformed the yard, From run down pasture to oasis. Now that I've discovered W.Sowing...watch out! lol
:)Laura

Hi my name is Lisa and I'm VERY new to this. So new that the only thing I've done so far is collect MANY milk jugs. My question is ...can you all help me get started? Where is the best place to get my seeds from? Can I start Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, lettuce, carrots, green beans, and peas using this method? And is winter soltice the time to place them outside? Because I don't even have my soil purchased yet. Or seeds. I'm on an acre of land and hope to plant EVERYWHERE possible this spring. Any and all help would be great. thanks, Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

Hi dusty, glad you decided to join us.

I'm impressed with everyones enthusiasm and preparedness, I've only started saving my jugs last week. I thought my hubby would go nuts if I started stockpiling, we don't have a basement or garage to hide them in and he's in the process of remodeling the attic. I know if I sow them within a week of getting them he won't throw them out.

Pvick, your photos will surely convince any urban dweller they can wintersow too.

This forum seems a bit country this week. It may be my imagination, but goats seem to be popping up everywhere.

My name is Luke. I am recently retired and have had many interests in my life. Dee stated how important it is to be connected to the Earth. This has been my teachings to my children and now grandchildren throughout their lives. The things that I do keeps me connected, I've had cows and calves, raised sheep and lambs, raised a large vegetable garden every year, keep a small flock of chickens, study the weather, and study as much as I can about nature. One of my favorite things is hanging out with the old wise farmers that have been "connected" their entire lives. Now I am planting a small peach orchard, blueberries,and raspberries. And now I can add winter sowing to my list.
I love learning about new things and hope that that passion never leaves me. I am fortunate to live near the OARDC, Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center. And the Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute. They have many work shops and learning opportunities. Last week I attended a speech by Olafur Grimsson, the President of Iceland on global warming and carbon farming. Now this may sound strange, and make sure that the neighbors don't see you, but simply lie down on the ground and give the Earth a hug and thank her for being there. You WILL feel connected.

Luke

I've been lurking on this site for quite some time. This will be my first year of winter sowing and I am very excited to try it. I have my containers, soils and seeds ready to go. I've always loved flowers and I've always purchased most of my plants. The last two years or so I've direct-seeded some easy-to-go flowers, i.e., marigolds, zinnias, poppies, love-in-a-mist, etc., with much success.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions, advise, and helpful hints you all share with us. I've learned so much!

Hello, been here on this forum for few years and gardener for most of my life I am 73 years old and still garden, my mother gardened and winter sowed in a manner of fashion. People would fill an old wash tub or something simular with good soil in the fall, sprinkle tomato, cabbage or lettuce seeds and cover with a light sprinkling of sand and leave outside over winter, come spring there was these little plants happily growing away. and if frost was likely then throw a blanket over them. I have raised most of my own garden plants from seeds for years by using basement, grow lights, and cold frames, but now use milk jugs and 2 ltr bottles almost exclusly. I found Winter sown by coming to Garden web, nature web site because of my wild life photography and curosity. Long winded but just a small glimps of my gardening life jim

Hey all, I have been gardening for over 30 years and love it. I got serious when we bought our house in 93. We have an orchard,apples pears, plums, and this year we added two cherry trees.
I am also trying grapes again.
My blueberries are just tiny in their first year and next year I may get some raspberries.
My general experience with gardening if it doesn't work the first time, try try try again.
I have an half an acre, thats alot of room for gardening.
I am an okay gardener , I grow things from seed, and do alright.
A web friend of mine, Lois has always talked about winter sowing, so I thought I would give it a try .
I took me a while to join this group, but now I am here, you all might find me chatty.

Nes

PVick..I just started looking through your albums and only got to view 2009 and 2008..my mouth is still gapped wide open in awe! You give new meaning to roof top gardening! Amazing! How do you manage to get bags of topsoil and mulch up to your condo/apt.? Do you have a freight elevator you have to use for bringing the bags of soil and mulch up in? I bet your neighbors enjoy the beauty you have provided them with all the flowers. Everything looks so healthy..at least you don't have to worry about deer eating your plants like we do! A family of Bambi's just walked down our court a few hours ago..guess they are trying to get their dinner before "the expected snowfall" comes, just like the humans invading the grocery stores today and tonight. I tried to figure out how you have some flower pots attached to the railing and fencing. I think I even saw a plastic flower box attached. It looks like with the weight of the soil, it wouldn't stay up there. What's your secret? All those tomatoes..what do you do with them? Share with the family, neighbors or grow for soup kitchens,etc.? That balcony is certainly a perfect place to WS..that's for sure. I am really taken back by your creativity. Even if it gets windy, I guess with the enclosed balcony, you don't have to worry about the wind taking your tops anywhere. Now I am going to finish looking at all your albums for more inspiration. There's plenty there for us to see. Thank You for sharing. Happy WS! Now do you decorate your balcony for the holidays?

Whoa, pippi! LOL!

Soil and all the other paraphernalia gets hauled up here in a shopping cart on the regular ol' elevator - storing it once I get it up here is the real challenge! True, I don't have four-legged critters to deal with (other than my plant-eating cat), but the pigeons, starlings and other birds up here really do lead me on a merry chase.

The windowboxes are attached to the railing with box hangers - they really are quite sturdy and steady. I do use lightweight pots and "soilless" potting mix, so weight is not a big problem. It can get pretty windy up here at times (the balcony isn't enclosed), which is the main reason I don't have hanging pots; I'm too afraid something will go sailing over the railing and I'd end up under arrest for involuntary manslaughter. So far, I've been lucky and if anything falls, it just falls over onto the terrace floor.

Trying to grow tomatoes in containers is what led me to GW in the first place, and ultimately to winter sowing. I do share toms (and plants) with my neighbors and friends.

All the other plants and flowers? The enabling people here at the WS forum have got me hooked - just look at all the wonderful pics that they post! I just figure that anything that can be grown in the ground can be grown in a pot, as long as it's big enough! And since I can be a bit obsessive about things, I try them all! Great fun!

And no, I don't decorate the balcony for the holidays; tried it one year, but I felt like a target up here once I put up lights, so gave up on it.

PV

Hi all. Newbie here. I turned 60 this year and we have a yard that needs a lot of work. Veggies are important to us, but so are flowers. I plan on wintersowing both this year and am actually terrified. What if I waste all those seeds? What if it doesn't work in zone 4? Will anything that actually grows, bloom next year? Do I really want to be classified as nuts by my neighbors? But it does give me something to look forward to later this winter, as opposed to next spring. And I have lots of milk jugs and 2 liter bottles to collect before then. We're out in the boonies so not too much variety in containers yet, but I'm putting in the word with friends to give me the plastics. I'll probably need a lot of hand-holding through this. I'm assuming I start later than most of the rest of you and will benefit from your reports. Wish me luck. Thanks for the thread!
Kathy

I must say both Spela and PVs albums are amazing. I am impressed. It a good thing you all arehere.It shows me what is possible withwinter sowing. What do you all winter sow?

PWick's albums gave new meaning to rooftop gardening. I am still in awe what she accomplished. Seeing some of her container plants told me that I could try almost anything in a container. Spela's pics were beautiful too, but what threw me off was that Spela's seasons are different than ours here. The dates on her pics(from camera)show the most beautiful flowers blooming when it's wintertime and everything is dormant here. It was interesting and I enjoyed seeing them. Spela, what kind of camera do you have? Great pictures;maybe I need to give you the credit for being such a creative photographer.Thanks for sharing with us!

A friend and I want to try Winter sowing. I'm wondering what would be the deadline for starting seeds. We live in Western NY ~ zone 5.

Gail, you can start wintersowing on Monday, officially. On March 20, it becomes spring sowing. But we still use our covered containers. There is no deadline for using this method. You just have to adjust in case of warm weather, watering needs, and sun requirements. Perennials first. Annuals about 2 weeks prior to your last frost in the spring. Easy as brownies.

Thank you for commend my photos :)
Pippi21, our seasons are the same as you have. Maybe is a bit confusing with dates on photos because we write day first, month second then year. For example, 11.7.2009 means 11th of July. Camera is Sony Cyber-shot DSC S75 from 2003.Old. I mostly use it just for documentation what and when something blooms. I take many photos to pick the best one. IÂm an architect, so maybe this a bit more important to me than to others. But I wish I had a job like Token :P Maybe someday ;)
Today is freezing cold, we have -19 degrees Celsius, which is 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit and everything is under snow. My bottles, dirt and seeds are ready but IÂm waiting until tomorrow.
Pvick, I went through your photos many times last year (every time you post your album address) and I still cannot believe that I could grow something so well on my balcony. Hands down!