Martha, I had 4 containers of Liatris and I didn't get one seed to germinate, which as you can imagine was a disappointment. I'm amazed you get 100% germination! Perhaps I got a bad batch of seeds. I read a suggestion on a previous GW thread to bury the whole dried flower head just under the soil in the fall and that seems to give better results, so I was planning on maybe trying that this year.

Also, yes, I don't understand having multiple jugs of the exact same seed and having some do well while getting nothing from others. I had a few cases like that this year.

Thanks for your feedback and for your supportive and informative presence on this forum!

Arlene, if you would like to get a head start on some liatris, I also have volunteers popping up everywhere. I could send you some seedlings now or when the weather cools down in the fall. Email me if you want me to dig some up. This has been a perfect year for volunteers due to tons of rain. I could also send purple coneflower and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Let me know.

Martha

Hi Arlene,

I enjoyed reading about your experience; thanks for sharing. Your mode of WS was much like mine-I started planting in Jan. thru mid/late March, I did 85 containers and then stopped counting, so i had more. I bought Proven Winners potting soil from Home Depot in the fall (3 bags) and when I ran out, switched to Vigoro potting soil that they had in stock late winter. I got tired of looking at the containers on my deck so what didnt sprout by late may, were DONE (so glad I wasn't the only one, tho I'm rethinking my actions now---too late tho!) I was SO excited about WSing being my first year, and it definitely made a beleiver out of me, but some of what didnt sprout were things I wanted the most. Funny how that works. I also planted more than one container of some things.

My peony poppies were the first thing to sprout and I had a resounding success with those. I planted a bunch of different types of Gaillardia and only the Monarch Mix and red/burgundy ones sprouted. Several different kidns of

I got some blue balloon flowers, but wanted Astra Pink badly..and got none.

Successes for me were: several different kinds of coneflowers (some were late sprouting or only had a couple, and by the time I got to planting there were more-best success Bravado Euchinecea). yarrow, painted daisies, pansies (started blooming last week!), Prunella, cup and saucer campanulla, Peach leafed bell flower, Sensation Mix Cosmos (others did poorly or nothing), Salvia, foxglove, hollyhocks (some), rudbeckias (dif types, some better than others), lunaria/money plant, milkweed, Heliopsis mid west dreams, scabiosa,

Moderate success: Lavendar (spanish), chelone, blackberry lily,

I got ONE Butterfly weed, and one (or two) Jacob Ladder on top of each other. One nice plant, but would have liked more; 2 malva zebrina, 3 types of dianthus, 3 hardy geranium, 3 aubrieta, 5-6 Lupines (Russell) and 2 Blue Lupine, 1 spiderwort, 4-5 tiarella; 1 of another Heliopsis (my own seed) and some of the things that didnt do well were surprising.

My WS tomatoes too SO long to sprout and a couple that I moved to small pots are approx. 9-10" now in the garden, but pale in comparison to those I started indoors. I dont have alot of room indoors, so grew things under my kitchen cabinet lights to start :o) and didnt do ALOT.

No success: candytuft, phlox, anemone pulsitilla, astilbe, baptisia alustralis, armenian basket flower, bee balm, white corydalis, Heucherra, cherry bells campanula, cardinal climber, evening primrose (2 types), hot poker plant, red cardinal flower,

Overall, I'm not complaining because I got SO many seedlings, I'm STILL finishing up palnting the last of them this coming week. I will wintersow again, but I wont do as many containers :o)

Martha, thank you, I would love some liatris seedlings! I'll send you a message.

Val, thanks for sharing your experiences this year! I hope more people can chime in with their own. Vigoro potting soil was the generic brand I used as well. I won't be using it again. Gaillardia and painted daisies are now two more on my list for this year's winter sowing.

Hmmm...I wonder if that had some bearing on my WSing that didnt turn out? I'll have to look at what I planted after I ran out and used Vigoro, but I think I only used one bag and then went to Miracle Grow after that.

I love to hear other's experiences, even tho we are in different parts of the country. I got my first blooms of several WS'd flowers this weekend:
Dianthus Superbus (a fringed type), Malva Zebrina and Peony Poppy! :o)

my ws peony poppy was one of the first to pop up but still hasn't bloomed. I can have some hope since your in zone 6 and yours just started blooming last week!! Myself being in zone 5, maybe mine will bloom this week!! Hopefully the bunnies didn't eat them all. I've had a few blooms from my single CA poppies, but how does everybody keep the bunnies from eating them all. I've sprayed but we get so much rain that it's impossible to stay on top of that!

This was my second year ws and I think I'll do some things differently next year. Some sprouted nicely and I didn't get to them and they died in the milk jugs. Some never sprouted at all, but I think many of those were because I had my planted containers inside laundry baskets (so they wouldn't blow over) and forgot to punch holes in the bottom of 2 of them till it was too late and most of those plants didn't make it. I did plant the half that sprouted and lived long enough till I could plant them out, but many of them seem small and stringy. I planted about 78 containers and 35 sprouted at least 4 or more. My lettuce did well and I ate my first batch today in a BLT sandwich! What I need to do differently is plant less!! If I cut back on my indoor plants (cuttings) and new seeds growing under lights, then I should have more time to get these beautiful ws seedlings off to a better start. I also plan to use only 2 Liter plastic pop bottles. I can fit more in less space and won't have to use any tape. I'm glad I experimented with some this year! And maybe I will concentrate more on perennials and hardy annuals since it takes so long for the less hardy annuals to grow. However, this could have been an unusual year because of so much more rain and less sun here in Iowa.

.

Maryjo,

My peony poppies really didnt look like much (leaves not very tall) so I figured it'd be a while. My pansies and violas have been starting to flower this past week...what else? Not much else wintersown (yet), and I know many wont flower this year, but as long as they thrive and grow :)

My WS tomatoes took forever and were tiny. I started some indoors that THRIVED, esp'lly when I transferred them to grow bags. I have never been really good at starting seeds, but this year I started a few types of seeds (and not all at once) under my kitchen cabinet lights! :)

The thing with the 2 liter bottles is they will dry out faster than larger containers, but just as long as you realize that, and keep up with them in the spring, they are a good starting container.

I didnt have problems with bunnies...and I KNOW we have at least 2 in the yard/back woods as I've seen them For some reason they have not bothered my seedlings; but someone said if they are big enough they shouldnt be interested. What about putting bird netting on/around them? I did that when my seedlings were very small in containers but they weren't ready to plant out, as I have a squirrel who is always looking for food! Obnoxiously so. He comes onto my screened porch thru the doggie door!

Val(6a), thanks so much for the tips!! I hadn't thought of that with the 2 L bottles- I guess because I didn't run into that problem this year with our weather being so wet. I just hated the tape and stickiness with the milk jugs. I wondered if bird netting would keep the bunnies away from my poppies. When I transplanted them from their ws containers into the ground, I had them covered with plastic tubs that I had made holes in for moisture to get in. Eventually it got too hot and I had to remove them. But by then they were well established and getting big. The bunnies have been steadily eating them so that I have only gotten a few blooms and most of the plants are just stubs. The netting could be a hindrance for them if they saw they could get caught in them and the poppies could still breathe! If I don't try this, I won't be able to do poppies anymore because its too heartbreaking to be excitedly waiting for the gorgeous blooms just to have them turn into rabbit food! Does anyone else in the midwest think this was an unusual year (with all our rain) and that this may have affected the ws results?

Thank you all for sharing your winter sowing experiences. I am planning on trying this for the first time this winter! Arlene I'm so glad you posted. I live in Akron, so our weather was pretty much the same. I'm very excited to try this!!

zero, I was like you last year..I read about wintersowing in the summer and couldnt wait to try! Let us know how you make out!!

I will thanks! I'm super excited excited to try this! I don't have a lot of room to start seeds inside so this will be awesome!

zero, Winter sowing is about the only reason I'm looking forward to winter 'round these parts. You will be amazed!

I planted about 30 or so containers. I mainly used dollar store storage containers and some milk jugs. I layer the planting mix with miracle grow potting soil on the bottom and usually a seed starting mix on top. Not sure it makes a difference. Had success with columbine, Jupiter's beard, scabiosa, lupine, rudbeckia, agastache, foxglove and some others. . No signs of blanket flower I sowed. Here are a couple of my successes - scabiosa scarlet and agastache.

VERY nice! My agastache is still in the 6-8" seedling stage (no blooms). Is the scarlet scabiosa a perennial?

Hi Val

The scarlet scabiosa is an annual, seed ordered from Select Seeds. I sowed in waves and the annual seeds were sown last.

I was curious, as I grew some pink diamond scabiosa that's supposed to be a perennial; and then found "summer berries' scabiosa (annual). i started some indoors but they did not do well. Then i got overwhelmed with planting all my WS seedlings so didnt plant any more. I THINK I have 1/2 package left. They are purple and lavendar and other colors which I thougth were really pretty. bought a butterfly blue scabiosa from Santa Rosa Gdns; it's blooming lovely now. hopefully I can save seeds. Wanna trade?