Hi Dee….I did notice that one of the local nurseries had potting soil for sale Valentine's Day week.

Well, I have only 38 containers, so the veggie & herb seeds will get priority.

Lots of things do well with direct sowing. Portulaca, Tithonia [I have Yellow Torch instead of the orange, my first try], peas and zinnias. So I think I will leave those until last, because I know I will run out of containers.

I'm actually wondering if it is better to have missed the really cold temperatures this month. Maybe being late, will turn out to be a good thing.

You are in a warmer zone than me, but I still consider it early enough to try anything, including the perennials.

Martha

Thanks Martha, and I know you have a lot of experience too. :-) I'm going to have time tomorrow to get started. Now I won't know whether to hope for warmer weather or a later spring. lol And some of my seeds are in transit, so it will be even later for some of them. I'm going to have to do better next year at getting an early jump on it.

Most of the yarrow will germinate without any chill (Clothiers notes Achillea ageratifolia, and nana as being exceptions), if you are short on pots you could actually wait on the yarrow, most should germinate in approx. 2 weeks. Cover very thinly, some light may be beneficial to germination.

Cimicifuga may do better for you with warm moist period preceding the chill, cold, then cool periods (suggestion is to Fall sow). If you do go ahead and sow it, sow in something sturdy and hang onto the pots if you don't get germination....keep them for a year, they could surprise you and germinate next Spring, a year from now.

A brief moist chill of 2-4 weeks might help the hosta, or they might not need the chill at all. It won't hurt them, but they could well germinate without it

Many of the aquilegia/columbine are slow to germinate and need a long cold moist period - don't give up on those too early either, you might want to hold the pots a year with these too.

Which viola? There are so many, and can have different germination needs...

I'd direct sow the calendula in Spring, same with the peas...

I'm planning on direct sowing the peas in mid-March. The rule of thumb here in PA is St. Patrick's Day for peas, or so I've heard. I tried pole beans with a tri-pod setup last year and it worked great, so I'm planning on using a similar setup for the peas this year. In the past I've not had a good trellis system for them and they've suffered. Hoping this year is different. Isn't that the beauty of gardening, that every year you learn new things no matter how long you've been growing stuff?

Everything else on your list looks good for WS now. I usually do most things in late Jan. or Feb. and get the zinnias and herbs in through March. Most of the herbs don't need cold and will do fine later.

Morz8, Good, I’ll hold back the Yarrow. I am sowing an Achillea millefolium mix that I’m planning on growing in a pot.

The cimicifuga can wait for the fall. I already have cimicifuga, and it’s collected seed to increase what I have. Guess I should have sowed it when I collected it.

The aquilegia are McCanna’s Giant and Black Barlow. I may leave those and sow them next fall. Or I could use the refrigerator?

I have five different Violas. A Viola cornuta, Sorbet series. A Viola cornuta Caramel series. A Viola cornuta Penny series. A new Cool Wave series Pansy. And a Viola odorata.

I will winter sow the hosta.

Caryltoo, I’ve used Saint Patrick’s Day as a goal for the peas for years, but I rarely get them into the ground that early. This year, we have so much snow, I don’t know if I’ll see bare ground until May. [g] I normally direct sow peas, but because of all the snow, I thought if I started them early in pots, I’d get a jump on it. I wonder if I could just use flats and sow a pea seed in each cell? I have plenty of flats, just not enough milk jugs. I could cover them with Agribon?

I have used bamboo tripods in the past for peas and beans, and finally this year, I have a 7ft trellis for them, that I’m looking forward to using.

I was wondering about the Basil, since that likes the heat, if I should wait for warm weather? The rest of the herbs, I could also use flats like the peas and just put them out in March. Zinnias are so quick to germinate, I can direct sow those if I need to along with the Calendula. I could direct sow Tithonia too?

That will take care of all my issues. I will have plenty of containers for what I need now.

Thank you both for that very specific help! Just what I needed. Appreciate it.

Ah, PM2, morz brought up a good point about the aquilegia - it is a slow germinator! I believe in the past I've had milk jugs that did not germinate, and I held on them and got germination either in the fall after winter sowing months earlier, or in the following spring (a whole year!). So if you WS these, don't give up too soon if you don't see germination!

I usually sow my basil in March and into April. You know, I really don't think you are all that late in terms of WSing. You (and I!!) might be later than usual for OUR schedule, but not for the seeds' schedule! While I usually start earlier than I have this year, I sow only a few containers at a time, and every year normally sow well into late March, and even April. I guess technically that is not WINTER sowing, but I use the exact same method and still call it "winter" sowing for my purposes. Besides, the way things are going here this year, it may still seem like winter in April, lol!

Actually, Dee, the Aquilegia I have in the garden, reseeds very well, I just wanted to reinvigorate what I have. Mine seems to be crossing and becoming less attractive. Thanks for letting me know to hold onto the WS containers for a long time.

My issue is always getting enough milk jugs [my favorite winter sowing container], because we don't drink that much milk. So the late winter sowing, getting into late March, I really don't need the milk jug and can just put out flats of sown seed, so I think I am going to be in pretty good shape.

I was seriously considering using a light setup last winter, just to get a jump on the season, but now I'm glad I didn't. It's way too much trouble and I just don't have the time.

I'm hoping that we are going to get a couple of warm weeks in mid March, but I agree, I won't be surprised if we are still shoveling in April. lol!

Clothiers seed database

Viola cornuta, Sow at 68F, should germinate in less than two weeks

Viola odorata is another warm, cold, cool germinator. Sow warm moist for 2-4 weeks, move to cold for 4-6 weeks, move to 50ish for germination

Morz8 - I forgot about a seed database. I haven't winter sown in a few years. Thanks for that reference and for all your help.

Oh, my aquilegia reseeds quite freely as well - which is why it's been so long since I WSed any. But you are right - they do seem to cross easily, and while I don't necessarily dislike the crosses, I am starting to miss some of the nice varieties I originally sowed. Perhaps next year I'll try sowing some new ones - I had a beautiful dark purple one I sowed that I will have to try to find - what a shame I lost all my records (and photos) in my computer crash last year. That sure taught me a lesson about backing up!

Anyway, I have some ancient columbine seed that I think I will just sprinkle in the garden come spring, and let it do what it may!

Too bad about losing your records! That would drive me crazy. I finally got myself a good portable back up hard drive, but I have to keep remembering to get it connected and back it up. Good reminder, Dee.

I love aquilegia, so I may try to keep adding some each year. They grow for me in an area that is too dry and not sunny enough for many other plants.