good morning Wendy. I love the look of your poppy. I have some the same colour but the petals on yours seem to be more 'fluffy'....if that is the right word!? :)
I do hope that we get some more action on this forum very soon. I have been doing lots of thinking on what to plant for next year, but haven't put any plans on paper yet. I love spending time sitting and going through my seeds and making plans of what to plant and what I am going to change next season. take a look at my list and see if there is anything on it that you would like.
I have an envelope that I put all the 'must grow' seeds in, but it keeps changing. LOL!.....and getting bigger of course.

Well everyone....how about it?? Are you there? What are your plans for this season? Wendy and I want to hear from you!!
gg

Hello ladies. I have been thinking of starting to do some winter sowing. I want to try clematis. Anybody try to sow them before? What were the results? How about asters? Last year was my first time winter sowing and I had a pretty good success rate. Like gg, my winter sowing envelope is always changing and getting bigger. As for the seeds I sow in the house, I notice that Veseys has their new 2009 catalogue on line. Can't wait to get started! Marg

Hi Everyone
I started winter sowing last year and had amazing results.
The members of the Garden Web were generous with sharing seeds to start me going.
I even managed to harvest a few seeds myself this fall :)
Looking forward to trying to grow a few different seeds this year. I have started a journal this year so that I can keep records of what germinates and what does not.
I also have seeds to share if anyone should be interested.
Looking forward to hearing from other newbies.
willow wendy

Hi Marric..never tried clematis, but asters are a great wintersowing choice !

I tried a couple of clematis last season and had zero results. I thought that I had sprouts but ended up with nothing. I may try them again this year.

I WS China asters and had a booming crop. I loved them. I won't sow them again this year as I am pretty sure that they will do that for me. :)
gg

gg,
Try starting Clematis seed (tails off) in the 'snack' type zip lock bag in 1/4 cup of vermiculite and a teaspoon of water. Label and put in your crisper for 3 to 6 weeks. Bring out into warmth for same or less and if still no germination put back in the fridge.
Some Clematis will germinate warm (on top of your fridge?)and therefore don't need the cold treatment. They will still need a few months or more to germinate.
Or winter sow in pots! Some Clematis seed is empty or the species may be sterile and is perhaps why you did not get germination. Or perhaps the pots need a longer cold period.

As to wintersowing, I finished my first round of sowing ninety pots November 13. And will start the next bunch in early January. Hope I don't run out of pots!
S

Hi there - guess people haven't been around because we weren't doing too much winter sowing in the summer! LOL

Marg, i've tried clematis a few times but only had luck with tangutica. I didn't take the tails off, though, so i'll try again this winter. I still have some seeds that someone sent me last winter and seeds of my Ville de Lyons that i collected last summer.

I probably won't do anything until after Christmas. Has anyone gotten any seed catalogues yet? I've only gotten T&T and it wasn't too exciting.

Good morning - I will be starting my winter sowing at the end of December after the rush of Christmas. I have good success with winter sowing and one of my favourite things about this method is that the perennials that I winter sow survive way better in my garden than ones that I purchase. I bought some new seeds from Thompson and Morgan because they had free shipping last week - bought more delphs and some clematis and, and.... I swore I wasn't going to buy everything that caught my eye, but didn't have a lot of luck with that. I've been looking at the seed catalogues on line and haven't seen anything very exciting either.
Penny

Hi sharon, I did WS the clematis, but I didn't take the 'tails' off. Would that make a difference?
gg

It didn't make a difference with the tangutica but i didn't get any germination with the others that i sowed.

check out seedsandmore.net . Found my castor zanzibarius there. Generous seedcount packages, only $1.95 to ship anywhere in North America. I'm sending a cheque for my order in CDN funds, very reasonable & unusual offerings.

Sorry I didn't get back to you guys sooner. I posted on the propagation forum and got some info on starting the clematis. The first response said to put moist soil into a pot, cover it with a plastic bag and leave it outside in a protected place. Keep checking for germination. I also found out that clematis seeds were hypogeal meaning that the roots will develop and then rest for a while, anywhere from a month to a few months, and the first set of leaves that you see above ground will be the first true leaves. The cotyledons remain underground providing nutrients for the developing roots. I'm assuming that they are somewhat like hosta seed.
Wendy2shoes: Thanks for the info about the asters. I have 2 kinds I want to try, 'Powder Puff' and 'Alma Potschke'. Marg

I've been sowing Clematis seeds in pots of Promix for years and get various results depending on the species and quality of seed. Some germinate fast in warm at 3 months to 6 months. Some species need three months of warm, then three months cold, then germinate. You may need to repete those cycles.
I also have had some success with seed in vermiculite in plastic bags, giving them the same treatment...warm, cold, warm. Some seeds need alternating temps over and over sometimes even daily. Using the refrigerator crisper or a cold porch and then into house warmth daily or weekly might stimulate germination!
I have bags from last january that I have keep checking for root growth! The vermiculite has to be have the proper moisture (not too much) or the seed will rot.
The pots of sown Clematis are given two years outside possibly three if I have the space!

gg, Kristl Walyk of Gardens north advises tails be removed to stimulate faster germination!
Sharon

After the poor results with the clematis last year I was ready to just give up on the seed. I guess I really should give them another chance. I will try again this year as I really would like to be successful. I may put them out now as the temps are fluctuating crazily right now and although they aren't actually 'warm', they do go from frigid to sort of mild and back to frigid, in a matter of a very short time.
how is everyone doing? I am still going over my seeds, trading and thinking about the list of what I will plant.
gg

Hi Everyone,

I'm still a newbie at winter-sowing and gardening in general. I was very pleased with the winter-sowing results, lots of colors, especial with the annuals, and happy with my containers too.
I will start winter-sowing later at the end of February, maybe I'll put a few containers soon with some poppies and columbines again, just to satisfy my winter-sowing craving.

This year I want to do it right, so I'm checking all seeds for the right time to sow them. Unfortunately there are so many that needs warm only to germinate, that probably I will end up taking some time off from work, just to sow them all in April. About planting them in the garden, that's going to be another vacation. LOL

Marcia, so far I received Veseys Bulbs Advance Sale, and their seed catalogue, Dominion-Seed-House, William Dam Seeds, and Stokes. I went overboard ordering bulbs from
Veseys, and I'm working on my shopping cart at Gardens North. I want to be ready to order next year when they will have 50% off in April.

Hi Mariana - i've gotten William Dam, Vesey's, McFayden's and Dominion Seed House now. I haven't gotten the bulb catalogue from Veseys but i've had poor quality bulbs from them in the past, so i'm leery about ordering from them. I'll be going through the catalogues this week - i want to get bacopa seeds started as soon as possible. My bacopa plant didn't survive indoors and neither did the cuttings i took from it. Time to try again!