The nights are still very cold and that keeps the soil temperatures down. You can place your containers in filtered sunlight but they really need sunlight to germinate.
However, I have lots of plants already up and the fluctuating temperatures have not affected them whatsoever. None of my veggie seeds ever come up until the soil temps stay at 50-60 degrees in Spring, so not to worry about that.
Remember, only hardy type plants should be wintersown. You cannot plant tropicals or subtropicals and expect them to grow in a Temperate Climate.
Here is what Trudi Davidoff, author of "WinterSown" says about selecting the right seeds for Winter Sowing:

Seed Selection

Look at a seed catalogue, most will have some sort of notation about a seed's germination requirements, or you'll pick up a few clue-in phrases.

1.
Look for these terms:

Needs Pre-chilling (freeze seeds, refrigerate seeds, stratify for x amount of day or weeks)

Needs Stratification

Will Colonize

Self-Sows

Sow outdoors in early Autumn

Sow outdoors in early Spring while nights are still cool

Sow outdoors in early Spring while frosts may still occur

Hardy Seeds

Seedlings can withstand frost

Can be direct-sown early

Wildflower

Weed (such as butterfly weed, joe pye weed, jewel weed)

2.
Look for Common Names indicating an environment:

Plains

Prairie

Desert

Mountains

Swamp

Field

River

Etc.

3.
Look for Names that might indicate origin in a Temperate Climate:

Siberian

Chinensis

Canadensis

Polar

Alpine

Orientale

Andean

Russ (indicating Russian origin)

etc.
----------------------------------------

Hope this helps.
~Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: All about Winter Sowing

Thank you Annie!!! I'm so excited about winter sowing! I've got some containers ready though not nearly enough. After going through my seeds, I'm going to need a LOT more.
I was just curious if I should make some adjustments due to our rather non-winter winter weather this year but it sounds like the seeds know what they're doing even if I don't. ;o)
Thanks again,
Kelly

Kelly,

You are on your way! Just check the containers periodically to make sure the soil is damp. If the soil dries out, it can stress the seedlings or interrupt the germination process, so check it from time to time, esp. on warm, sunny winter days. Temperatures inside the containers can rise very quickly and the moisture in the soil will evaporate through the vent holes. Think of a moist, fudgey brownie and that is how your soil should be.
So, just follow what Trudi says on her website, and you can't go wrong.

I will be glad to answer your questions, of course, but you might want to go to the Winter Sowing Forum and post any further questions you may have on there. I know everyone there will be happy to help. They also like to hear about success stories, too. And be sure to come back on here and let us know how it is going. We would like to hear about your successes (and failures), too! It benefits everyone.

Happy Winter Sowing!
~Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum

I have my containers in morning sun and afternoon shade. I do have several containers sprouted already - rudbeckia and bee balm. I have mostly planted grasses but they haven't sprouted yet. I have about 18 containers planted but am still thinking I need more.....seems I don't quit planting till I run out of containers. :)

WindsurfGirl

This is my first year for winter sowing too. I have about 20 containers sown. I have lettuce, spinach, and achillea sprouted so far. I check them daily for moisture, and found out that a sprinkler set near-by waters them quite well. (I have milk cartons with no lid). Mine are in sun most of the day, and I figure if we get really cold temps, I'll just move them to a more protected place.

Hope we all have GREAT success! It's really quite exciting. Now my new passion is SEEDS!

Robin

Woo, hoo! A-winter sowing we go, A-winter sowing we go, hi-oh the derry-oh, A-winter sowing we go.

So far, I have sowed the following:

Parsley Wild (for the Black Swallowtail cats)(planted 4 containers 1-16-06)
Poppy Black Peony (1-8-06)
Monkey Flower Shade Loving Hybrids (incls spotted) (120 seeds) (planted 1-8-06) (up)
California Poppy Sun Shades (100 seeds) (planted 1-8-06)
Scabiosa Ebony & Ivory (dark purple ones and cream ones) (planted 1-2-06) (up)
Blackberry Lily Leopard Mixed (different colors) (planted 1-8-06)
Poppy Oriental Checkers (cream with dark centers) (planted 1-14-06)
Cephalaphora Aromatica (40 seeds) (1-22-06)
Black-Eyed Susan Prairie Sun (planted 1-14-06) (up)
Cinquefoil Melton Fire (100 seeds) (planted 1-2-06)
Foxglove Apricot (planted 1-8-06) (up)
Angelica archangelica (planted 1-8-06)
Arisaema triphyllum (planted 1-2-06)
Erigeron speciosus Blue Beauty (planted 1-8-06)
Veronicastrum virginicum rosea (planted 1-8-06)
Mimulus cardinalis (red Monkey Flower) (planted 1-3-06) (up)
Ligularia dentata 'Othello' (sowed 1-2-06)
Trollius x cultorum 'Orange Globe' (planted 1-14-06)
Cornflower Black Ball (100 seeds) (planted 1-14-06) (up)
Black Eyed Susan Toto (50 seeds) (planted 1-8-06) (up)
Nemesia Pennie Black (planted 1-8-06)
Flowering Tobacco Fragrant Cloud (1000 seeds) (sown 1-16-06)
Catchfly Ruby Flax (500 seeds) (sown 1-16-06)
Larkspur Seven Dwarfs Mixed (150 seeds) (planted 1-8-06)
Tickseed Quills And Thrills (200 seeds) (red/yellow var) (planted 1-8-06) (up)
Blanket Flower Goblin (100 seeds) (planted 1-8-06) (up)
Maltese Cross Dusky Salmon (100 seeds) (planted 1-8-06) (up)
Mallow Mauritania (100 seeds) (planted 1-14-06)
Evening Primrose Pink Petticoats (100 seeds) (planted 1-16-06
Foxglove Camelot Rose (18 seeds) (planted 1-14-06)
Gazania (sown 1-22-06)
Meadow Foam (Poached Egg) (1-22-06)
Foxglove Milk Chocolate (1-22-06)
Phlomis tuberosa (1-22-06)
Chives (garlic) (1-22-06)
Nettle (stinging) (1-22-06)
Rue (1-22-06)
Chinese Lanterns (1-22-06)
Asimina triloba (pawpaw) (sown 1-22-06)
Humulus lupulus (1-22-06)
Silybum mariana (St Mary's Milk Thistle) (1-22-06)
Trumpet vine (peach colored trumpets) (planted 1-8-06)
Astilbe ÂVisions in Pink (planted 1-3-06)
Echinacea ÂRuby Star (planted 1-3-06) (up)
Astilbe arendsii Fanal (red) (sown 1-16-06)
Aruncus diocus (planted 1-3-06)
Astilbe ÂWhite Gloria (planted 1-16-06)
Heuchera Coral Bells mix (planted 1-16-06)
Arisaema serratum (sown 1-16-06)
Salpiglossis sinuata ÂRoyal Series Chocoloate (sown 1-16-06)
Solanum quitoense (Naranjilla) (sown 1-22-06)
Verbena bonariensis (sown 1-16-06)

So far, I have 71 containers, and I need more, so I'll probably go dumpster dipping this weekend.

My first 2 50-lb bags of soil were Bacto from Horn's. They're gone. It had no fertilizer, so I have to fertilizer the plants that have come up in those containers. I FINALLY purchased a sprayer to do this with, and it sure does make it easier on these little buggers.

I just bought 2 more 50-lb bags of Schultz (WITH FERTILIZER) this time, so I won't have to worry about them.

My butterfly garden is off to a good start. The parsley is for the black swallowtails. Monkey flower is for the buckeyes. Rue is for the BSTs and giant swallowtails. Anything in the solanacea family is for the hawk moth caterpillars (Chinese lanterns, salpiglossi, solanum). I have to buy some pentas for the tersa sphinx cats. The thistle is for another cat, but I forget right now. The pawpaw will be for the zebras and another moth.

I'm having so much fun with this. It is an easy project for an older lady who has back problems. These little plants will be much easier to cope with. I plan to do a lasagna garden (with guy type help), and then I can get out there and plant the little guys and gals.

Susan

Wow! Susan. You have a LOT planted. I counted yesterday, and I have 31 containers. I'll plant the annuals a little later. But we sure don't seem to have any more winter in sight, do we? I know it will happen though.

Yesterday I noticed I had some lupine sprouting! "Sow" exciting.

Susan, do you have any pictures of your garden to share?

Robin

I set my spray nozzle on "mist" and that way it doesn't wash out my seedlings and displace the seeds or make ponds.

Susan, you are a happy glutton for punishment, I swear! With your back problems, I hope you have someone to help you plant out all those seedlings come springtime! I don't sow more than I can plant. Most of them would sit in the pots and just expire before I got that many planted! That would just break my heart.

This year, I am adding to my perennials in the Rose garden and to my Oklahoma Wildflower garden. I want to plant more hardy roses and daylilies that don't need a heck of a lot of care, and that's about all I will be able to keep up and water this year,unless the climate changes, which I certainly hope it does! I will of course have my veggies in the Kitchen garden and culinary herbs, but they don't require much more than plenty of water and the ocassional dose of composted manure and hay mulch.

I may have to resort to getting me someone to help out if I don't get better anytime soon, by heck! I reckon I can boss and jab at the air like some others do and direct with my walking stick. (LOL)

I'm just too crippled up to take on much more than I have now. I probably ought to cut back what I already have, but I love just being outdoors and in nature and do enjoy my gardens and the hundreds of birds and butterflies that call my place home. And every summer, I would miss the hundreds of Dragonflies and Damselflies that dart about me all day long. No, I just hate to think of letting them go back to dust and Devil Grass.
I guess I will have to persevere until I 'cain't perse na more'!

That's my two cents worth anyhow.
~Annie

Annie, what I do is just sit on the ground and plant the little things. I have one of those benches that has the handles on the sides that I use to push myself up. I will hire the lasagna gardening done, so all I have to do is plant. The remaining plants will go to friends and neighbors. It's fun regardless.

How in the heck did you plant that beautiful garden of yours?

Susan

It twern't easy...and now I am paying the price!
I sent you an e-mail.

~Annie

Beautiful gardens, Annie! Are these winter sown plants?

Would love to see it in person!!

Kelly and all,

About Winter Sowing and our warm, dry winter so far:

It doesn't have to be cold to winter sow seeds. You can still do it. There are of course alpine type plants and trees that may need the cold to germinate, like Japanese Maples and Birches, but our nights have been very chilly and even cold, and with the days so warm, that should be enough for anything that could be grown in this state anyway. In fact, the climate has been much like it is up in the high mountains - Warm or hot in the daytime, and freezing at night! Perfect.

It is the repeated freezing and thawing and the maintained moisture that causes the hard coated seeds, like Pines, to soften and thereby be able to germinate or sprout. If you are in doubt, you can file a little nick on one end of the hard seeds and that will help them to sprout, or put them in a ziplock bag in spongey moist soil or sand, and keep them in vegetable crisper in your refrigerator until they begin to germinate, then plant them outside. I find they do just fine on their own when Winter Sown outside, whatever the conditions. Remember, biennials and perennial seedlings need time to grow substantial root systems before they will bloom, often as much as 190-200 days, but some need even longer.

As for perennial, herb and annual seeds, it isn't necessary for them to be cold. It is the moisture that causes their seed coatings to crack open and sprout. The cold can speed things up in cracking open those hard seed coatings, but it is the warmth of our mother the sun that makes them sprout and start to grow. Annuals and tender perennials are activated by warmth and sunlight, like California Poppies. Soil temperatures need to be a constant 60-80 degrees for seeds to germinate and grow.

Some seeds need light exposure and warmth to sprout, hence they are only sprinkled on top of the soil or just barely covered. Nature doesn't bother to cover them when plants drop their seeds. The wind and water will do that. Most plants that re-seed themselves fall into this category, like petunias, allysum, pinks, poppies, tomatoes, lettuces, & etc.

Some seeds, like beans or corn, okra, beets, & etc., sprout best in moist dark places, so they need more soil covering them.

Seeds with pointed tips, like Coneflowers, Marigolds, Zinnias, and etc., use those sharp spikey tips to work their way down into the soil when it rains or you water them, so they just need loose soil and a thin covering of soil to hold them in place while they germinate.

You could just directly sow most of the seeds right into your garden and they would do just fine. The problem is that rodents & birds will eat them. Water can wash them away or move them elsewhere or bury them too deep which would cause them to just rot. By winter sowing seeds in containers, you have them marked so you know what they are; they are less likely to be eaten by critters and won't wash away (except if there is a flood), so you have a better chance of successfully germinating more flowers, herbs, trees, shrubs, or veggies. Nature will take care of the rest for you.

So don't worry about our freakishly warm and dry winter spoiling winter sowing. Just keep them moist and they will grow, and grow, and grow!

Hope this helps.
~Annie

Susan,

I saw some seeds on your WS list that I would sure like to have. Got a few extras you could part with for an SASBE?

Foxglove, 'Apricot'
Foxglove, 'Camelot Rose'
Foxglove, Milk Chocolate'
Nemesia, 'Pennie Black'
Poppy, 'Black Peony'

~ Annie

Annie - I know I have Foxglove 'Milk Chocolate' left. Let me check on the others. I'd be more than happy to send you the seeds. I have tons of bubble stuff from ordering and trading seeds, so no need. Just give me your addie.

My 'Apricot' and 'Camelot Rose' are already up. I just planted 'Milk Chocolate' so probably a few days and it will be up, too. I had to special order it because it is a perennial, and very different. I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO HAVE IT. Not sure about the Nemesia and Poppy.

If I don't, I would be more than happy to share a HOS with you. In another month, they would probably be ready to mail out.

Susan

Oh, Goody!
You are so SWEET!
Thanks Susan!
I had foxgloves for about three years and then El Nino came in 1998, and they did not come back the following Spring. Waaah! Not sure what happened. I want to start them growing again. What's a Cottage Garden without Foxgloves?

My youngest son, Charlie, liked pinks and peachie colors and Black and White, so I like to plant flowers throughout the various gardens for him. No matter where I go, I am reminded of him and I know he is always near me, too. :)
He liked all colors, though, just like mom. He loved the Tiger lilies and tall purple Phlox!

Anywho, THANK YOU!!!!

~Annie

Annie - I had to reorder some seeds today, and I included Digitalis Camelot Rose and Milk Chocolate. For the life of me, I can't fine those seeds. I have Apricot, and I have Nemesia Pennie Black. Please, I really didn't mind. I had to reorder my daturas because I lost them, and I got a bunch of free seed to boot. I want to plant a few more of the Milk CHocolate and Camelot Rose anyway. Oh, and I have the Poppy, too. Just e-mail me your addie. I'll wait until I get my order, and send them all at the same time.

I'm into this school of thought - pay it forward. A guy does this on the Aroid forum, and I thought "what a concept". That way, no one has to worry about paying people back at that moment. And, I'm sure you'll find someone where you are who needs something out of your garden - a newbie or something.

Susan

I was taught to always allow people to do kind things for you.
It blesses both the giver and the receiver.

Bless you Susan.

Annie

Awww - didn't do nothin! But, thanks, anyway. You're a sweet lady, Annie, and you deserve it. Such a little thing I could do....

Susan

Well, I took the plunge yesterday and got 27 containers sown WOOO HOOO! I still have quite a bit more to go but I'm out of containers.
This is what I put out:

Alyssum - Royal Carpet
Armeria Bees Mix
Aster - Alpine Mixed
Aster - Giant Single Andrell
Balloon Flower
Batchelor Buttons - Jubilee
Blanket Flower - Burgundy
Blanket Flower - Goblin
California Poppy - Champagne/Rose
Clarkia Pulchella - Confettii Mix
Cornflower - Dwarf
Cottage Pinks
Daisy Fleabane
Dianthus - Sweetness
Foxglove - Foxy Mix
Johnny Jumpup
Lobelia - Cambridge Blue
Lobelia - String of Pearls
Mallow - Braveheart
Nemesia - Mellow Red & White
Onions - Bunching
Poppy - Ladybird
Pyrethrum - Robinson's Giants Mixed
Silver Tansy - Jackpot
Snapdragon - First Ladies
Sweet William
Texas Bluebonnets - Lupinus Texensis

Annie - Your garden is so lovely! Susan mentioned how beautiful it is and she was exactly right! I wish I could make mine half as nice.

Susan - I don't know how you do it...you're a sowing machine!! When do you sleep? ;o)

Thanks to you all for encouraging this Nervous Nettie...

Hugs,
Kelly

Oh, Kelly - sowing is the easy part. It's getting the containers all ready, punching holes, sterilizing, filling them with soil, soaking them, labelling them. I get my containers all cleaned up on Saturday usually, and sow on Sunday. I don't do any sowing during the week. Too tired from work.

I've only sowed about 90+. That's not very many when you look at what some of the people have done on the WS forum.

The problems is I have WAY more annuals and stuff than I had perennials and hardy annuals.

You're doing great!

Susan

Wow, you girls have been so busy! This is my fourth year winter sowing and yet I have only sown one container so far and that was Paulownia tree seeds on the Winter Solstice. They need the freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw cycle to germinate well.

I usually plant well over 100 containers but this year I'm hoping to hold it to around 30 containers. I've been so successful in past years that I'm running out of room to plant everything. I mainly give most of the plants away anyway, which is fun. It's very hard to only plant a few containers. I guess I should get busy tomorrow and get mine planted since it's the first of February.

Annie, I really enjoyed your pictures. Everything is beautiful. :-)

"I am strongly of the opinion that a quantity of plants, however good the plants may be themselves and however ample their number, does not make a garden; it only makes a collection."

Gertrude Jekyll
Colour in the Flower Garden (1908)

Thanks everyone for your kind remarks about my garden pictures. No one much comes to my house, and for the most part, I alone enjoy the fruits of my labors, so it is nice to have you all visit them vicariously through the web, and even more rewarding to be appreciated.
I thank you and my gardens thank you.
~Annie

We would make a great team Susan. I like the container prep but not the actual sowing. Maybe it's because I know I cant mess up the prep but I'm not so confident in my planting prowess. I worry the whole time; am I planting too deep or to shallow etc...
"Only" 90+... I feel like such a wannabe hehe
I have too many tender annuals too. I'll be working on them this weekend. I was off work yesterday from now own I'll only be doing it on the weekends.

Thanks
Kelly

Kelly:
Here is an easy way to judge seed depth that I learned from .

let the size of the seeds be your judge.

Tiny, dust-like seeds - don't cover them at all.
Small seeds like poppies and most perennials - barely cover.
and etc.

Plant them as deep as the seed's size.

And, instead of burying them, sprinkle them on the surface, press lightly so they make contact with the soil, then cover them with the correct amount of soil.

Once again, planting depth exactly corresponds to how big the seeds are.

For small seeds, I use a wire mesh strainer and 'sift' the soil over my seeds, then use a mist sprayer to moisten them, so they don't get washed away. Even in the garden, I set the sprayer head on 'mist' for newly planted seeds like carrots, parsley, lettuce, onions, petunias, poppies, allysum, & etc., until they germinate, so they don't get washed out of their beds/containers or buried too deep from a deluge!

Hope I am being clear. I know what I mean (ha, ha), but not sure if I am explaining it well.

Happy Gardening.
~Annie

Annie,

That was a good explanation on covering the seeds. I like your idea of sifting the soil for the top layer.

I have most of my perennials planted (about 35 containers for my first year). When are you girls planning to plant your annuals?

Also, I have lettuce up. When should I put it into the garden?

I received more seeds yesterday from a trade---I get so excited! My family says that I'm obsessed about seeds----and THEY'RE RIGHT!!! I check my jugs and bottles every day to see if anything new has sprouted! And lately, I've had to water pretty often.

I sure am having fun! Glad to know I have some Oklahoma winter sowing friends.
Robin (north of Edmond)

Annie- You explained it perfectly. WOW, it is so much easier when you think about it in those terms.

Robin- I think I'm going to start some annuals this weekend. I'm going to hold back some seed in case they don't make it. I'll start with some of the half hardy annuals then work down to the more tender ones. I have so many that I won't get them all done in a weekend and by then, it will be mid to late February.

I'm really looking forward to hearing how the WSing goes for all us okies. I'm having a ball.
Kelly

I'm a long time WSer...five years I think :) I don't check in the OK forum too often, but I wanted to poke my head up in this thread :)

On sowing depth, I surface sow everything but large seeds (4 o'clocks, ect). The big seeds I push into the soil. I water the soil surface first, but not after. My soil is usually fully soaked so the condensation will water the seeds anyway.

I noticed someone said they sterilize their containers. Can I confess? I don't sterilize :) In fact, I just brush off the dirt from last year and start over.

I'm planning to start sowing this weekend. I was going to last weekend, but I have to climb up into the attic and get all the containers down :)

Lisa

Lisa - probably me. Next year, I probably won't unless they are new containers. I sterilized the soda bottles because they still had some soda in them, and I wanted to be sure to give the seedlings the best start that I could. That means sterilizing. Next year, I will probably just swipe them out with paper towels and start over.

I water first, too, then sow. If the seed is more than dust-like, I just push it a little into the soil, not under, into. If it's a bit larger, I will cover it, barely. Seeds have a way of "righting" themselves.

Parsley is up. All 3 containers of it. I wanted tons for my butts.

Lisa, you should poke your head in more often. Not too much going on this time of year, but it gets pretty busy in spring and summer.

I fertilized my Foxglove 'Apricot' and it looks kind of whiny today. Hope it snaps out of it. If not, I don't want a whiny plant anyway.

I am happy my arisaema is sprouting. I was concerned about these temperamental seeds.

I'm sitting here with a BP cuff and monitor, Annie. The meds they gave me today, though, have lowered the BP. Or is it the fact that I'm not at work today??? Very suspicious. Had echocargiogram, arterial ultrasound, EKG yesterday. Next week is stress test. Ah, the fun we have getting older.

Susan

Seed sowing.

Yes, with bigger seeds like corn, beans and 4 o'clocks, etc. there is a need to plant them deeper, as I said, according to their size.

When I direct sow, I lay my peas, corn and beans, sunflowers and other larger seeds down where I want them, then go back and push them all down into the soil to the right depth.

When I Winter Sow, I lay them in the container, and sift soil over them to ensure they are uniformly covered. To each his own. Whatever works for you is groovy.

As far as my misting them afterward, I was speaking of planting seeds in general. I like to mist them to settle them into their new home, and to help soften the seed coatings.

Susan, my parsley and dill get munched by butterflies & Luna Moths every year, as well. :)
The caterpillars eat all the leaves off and then they morph into adults and fly around my property. The plants look terrible, just stems left, really, but they bounce right back, grow new leaves and seem sturdier and more beautiful than ever. In Nature, there is a balance in all things, if we just take our hands off the wheel and let Mother Nature take care of it.

~ SweetAnnie4u
"The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies"- Getrude Jekyll.

Robin,

You are so funny! I laughed and laughed when I read your post about being OBSESSED about seeds!
You are so right on! Growing flowers from seeds is definitely contagious and absolutely terminal.

~ SweetAnnie4u
"The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies"- Getrude Jekyll.

Ahhhhh, Annie. I wish I could see some lunas. I didn't know they ate parsley, though. I know the black swallowtails do. They are the so-called "parsley worms" that are yellow, black, and white - so pretty! I collect the eggs, put them in my cages and keep stuffing the cages with fresh leaves until they begin to roam and find a place to hang, form their chrysalid, and then it's wait for a couple weeks until they eclose.

My granddaughter has such fun. Last year, her granddad came over to see her "worms". She said, "papa, they're not worms, they're caterpillars!" She was 3 years old!

I still have an overwintering chrysalid of a giant swallowtail on my Rue. I keep watching because I'm afraid he/she will emerge too soon with this crazy weather.

I had eumorpha achemons on my Virginia Creeper last year. Gorgeous huge caterpillars. They are members of the sphingid family. Hornworms. But, they lose their horn in the 2nd instar. Sometimes they are green and sometimes they are brown. They are so soft, like velvet. Very pretty cats. Gorgeous huge moths. These are the "hummingbird" moths. Also had snowberry clearwing moths on my honeysuckle. Cute little things. Tried to raise them, but boy do they like to wander. Every which way but loose!

Finally (I hope, Linda), got the eumorpha achemon documented in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. Hasn't been on the NGRS map before, but it is way outdated.

I love the life cycle of the butterflies and moths. At the end of summer, I finally got gulf frits on my passion vine. They come in hundreds! Such pretty butterflies, though. This year, I will grow some cassia for the cloudless sulphurs - the big yellows. The caterpillars are yellow, too! What fun!

Susan