Jenny check out winter sowing forum FAQ, easy way to get rid of your winter blues ;) growing plants indoor will take some effort and money- no matter how easy your set up is, also watering and damp off could be an issue. Having said that I have my set up up and running and presently growing bunch of plants. I am in zone 5 so my timing is calculated for my zone. Majority perennials won't bloom first year so you can start them anytime but realize that once your plants start growing they will need more space and light, I have been known to run out of space by mid Feb ;) Lots of annuals will start blooming in 10-12 weeks, some will take as long as 20-24 weeks to bloom- those are usually more expensive annuals/ tender perennials sold in stores. Reseach plants you want to start, time accordingly. Lets say you want pansy. Time to flower from seed mostly 12 weeks. Give or take 1-2 weeks for germination calculate when you need to start it considering that while it will take some cold weather it needs some warmth to be put outside- so know your frost date, pansy will go out for me 1,5 months prior to my last frost which is May 15. I plant them in containers so in case of severe weather I could bring it in. Snapdragon- 16-18 weeks to bloom, likes cool weather. Impatiens-7-8 weeks. linaria 9-10 cool weather etc.... if you want to grow vine- consider that it quickly becomes tall and start twining so will need a support to do so.

Mo, They should be able to tell you what they shut off without charging you, if they want your business again next year. If you have to, tell them that. Let's look at the worst case scenario. The guy that winterized your system moved to warmer climates is no longer available. If your house has water there is a valve that they turned off before your irrigation main shut-off or backflow preventer. I would think they would have asked you where to turn off the water before doing so. Describe your water line as you trace the irrigation main back to your house and then inside. Is your system coming off an outdoor faucet? Is the faucet turned on? Is your system coming off the main house line with a tee before the main water line goes into the house? There is usually another main gate valve or ball valve that is close to that tee connection point in a valve box. Aloha

Even if it doesn't finish by winter, it will certainly have a big head start and will finish in the spring. You might consider starting it immediately, and just before things freeze up - maybe Thanksgiving? - empty it out into a ground pile and free up your tumbler to put kitchen waste in all winter. Save some leaves to layer with the kitchen scraps. It doesn't matter if it freezes into a giant popsicle. Microbial activity occurs whenever it's not frozen solid (albeit slowly) so it will have a head start in spring. Also the freezing/thawing can help break down the materials so they are ready for the microbes.

Jess: The ideal time to prune roses is when they go dormant, at the COLDEST time of the year. I prune roses right after a hard frost which zaps out the leaves. Then I prune roses again in spring time, since we have more dead branches from -20 below zero. Crown Princess Magareta got pruned twice, right before winter, and again in spring before the rain hit. My second pruning produce more blooms. I checked on multiflora rootstock: 1) yes, it likes acidic, and my Comte de Chambord (grafted on multiflora) loves sulfate of potash (21% sulfur), gypsum .. but hate pea-gravel (pH 9). It loves tons of acidic rain, so I run the down-pour from my rain-spout via a hose onto that rose. Salty fertilizer isn't best for roses grafted on multiflora. Multiflora picks up salt well, thus more prone to rust. Multiflora prefers cool & rainy like the climate they are native to: Japan, Korea and Eastern China. They are imported to cool & rainy eastern United States in 1866 as rootstock for ornamental roses, and became invasive. I notice that my 2 own-root Comte de Chambord can take heat & drought much better than my Comte grafted on Multiflora: it sulks at temp above 90, and can't handle dryness.