Well part of the point of WS is to "set it and forget it". You would get the cold stratification you need using the GH, but YOU would have to water. WS in the open lets Mother Nature do the watering for you until they sprout and things get warmer outside and the containers can dry out quicker. That's my 2 cents any how. Good Luck!

This is turning into a very weird weather year for many of us. Because of that, it's hard to give you an absolute answer. Be aware that no matter what any of us tell you, it's nature that has the final answer in when those seeds will sprout. My best guess is that it's probably fine for perennials hardy to your area, and hardy annuals too. I'd definitely wait for anything tender. And if perennials and hardy annuals would sprout early, they have a much better chance of survival in their containers. And keeping them in a shady spot is definitely a good idea until spring is in the air. This is probably our coldest part of winter most years, and it's when I sow my hardy annuals and perennials. I sowed my first jugs a few days ago. I'd go for it if I were you. The chance that they'll sprout in shade is minimal I think, and winter might just stay mild this year. Karen

Good Morning, Kathy - My WS list from last year is on 'my page'. It's in alpha order. I believe I started most of my veggies later in the season Feb/March because I spent a good part of the early winter planting all those flowers. Unfortunately, I didn't yield a high rate of fruit because the trees around my veggie garden have grown considerably! The rabbit-loving lettuce and spinach went on the deck in full sun and just thrived. From all the advice I've read over in WS'ing, as a rule of thumb, it's best to start your annuals later in the season. I'm not sure what to make of this crazy weather we have been having!! I've read a lot of reports about sprouts already that I don't recall reading last year. I recorded the plant date and what did/did not germinate. When I went though it, it appeared that the things that I sowed in Dec had a lower success rate. However, when I compared my data to other folks' lists, there didn't seem to be any correlation to the plant date. I held off through the holiday season and just started putting my pots out now. IÂm doing my perennials first.

An amazingly stuffed full priority mail bubble envelope arrived yesterday, so after dinner I sat down to dig in & giggled with delight as I pulled out so many fun things that Vina had creatively packed up & sent. She must know my mind or something because everything was perfect! _Butterfly card lavishly decorated in gold, 3 dimensions, & colorful along with friendly sentiments and a happy face! _2 recent Garden Gate magazines that make flower gardening looks so lovely & easy. I flipped through & will definitely use that tip to scarify seeds by putting them in a jar with sandpaper & shake, shake, shake! Perfect for those Sweet Peas. _an entire package of Godiva dark chocolates in an assortment of flavors. I won't tell how many I've eaten already. There's still some left. He, he. _Grow Ums Herb Garden that contained 8 coco pellets & labels along with 4 types of seeds (basil, cilantro, oregano, & parsley). Looks like fun to start them this way & I have lots of pots to make a nice display. There are 20 seeds in each packet, so there will have plenty for several pots and I can share with my daughter because she also loves the fresh herbs. _12 packets of seeds from her garden all labeled & sealed in tiny ziplocks. Not one stray seed! She sent me just what we'd love to try here. My hubby loves all the daisy type flowers like blanket flower or especially coneflowers that are big, bright or bicolored. The generous 12 she sent me were: 1. bee balm Marshall's Delight 2. Clematis Jackmani (I have several empty trellis here & just received two cedar ones from a friend who is moving in 3 weeks.) 3. Clematis Arctic Queen 4. Coreopsis Jethro Tull 5. Coneflower Ruby Giant 6. Coneflower Milkshake 7. Dianthus Siberian Blues 8. Nigella Love in a Mist all blue (I want to plant these along the row of raspberries provided they survived the storm as the trellis is down & there are tree tops & limbs on them.) 9. Gaillardia Fanfare 10. Rudbeckia Indian summer 11. Sweet Pea, everlasting (by the way someone told me these are great for improving the soil like other legumes, so plant away in new garden spaces to make way for vegetables or other perennials) 12. Yarrow Cerise Queen If all of this germinates & grows I'll have lots of plants to fill in the holes left by the storm! Thank YOU Vina for welcoming me in to the group & sending such a generous package that definitely brought me some winter cheer! Here's one of my favorite shasta daisy pics from a few years ago. Grandma gave this chicken on a stick to our daughter when she was young & she liked to surprise me with it by moving it around. She had said she tried to make the chicken look like it was standing on the daisy flower. Corrine