~ Container Count / Zone Wars ~ Zone Wars Summary: Zone 3 . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Zone 4 . . . . . . . . . 392 Zone 5 . . . . . . . . 2,286 Zone 6 . . . . . . . . 2,093 Zone 7 . . . . . . . . 1,792 Zone 8 . . . . . . . . . 764 Zone 9 . . . . . . . . . 166 Total Containers: 7,493 Good morning, winter sowers - at least it's morning here in the US, although in the EU it is already afternoon, so Good afternoon to European winter sowers. Welcome to the 2012-13 count, SandyTowes, Marshallkey, Harborrose, and Silverkelt! SandyTowes, sorry to hear you still have lots of snow. Zone 4'ers are hardy! Harborrose, there are no measly containers in winter-sowing - "every container is important" - haha. I was away visiting elderly parents this past week, came back to almost all the snow melted. It's finally feeling a little Springy outside. If I don't post tomorrow, Happy Easter everybody! Click the Container Count / Zone Wars Spreadsheet to see the container count in detail. ~ Happy Sowing Everybody ~ "Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil." ...Robert Frost

Congrats! Good for you. That must feel great. I dumped all but one container a couple weeks ago. The problem is I'm still sowing seeds in extra little pots and old annual six-pack containers. I read that some sow biennials and perennials now so they can bloom the next year, so I decided to give that a try, as well as some ornamental cabbages and kales and pansies for fall. I just can't stop! I need help, lol. My deck looks a LOT better than it did however. I have a mini (and I mean mini) unheated green house with four small shelves on the deck, so that keeps a lot of it out of the way. I do have quite a few pots lining the outside of the deck, but just around the outside, so it is quite an improvement. I think my DH was more than ready to see the lasagna pans go :) Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

LOL, Alison. So much for "i'm not going to WS anything this year." Now how did I know that you would actually believe that when you said it, but it wouldn't happen? Diehard WS have to find some way to to WS no matter what, where we are lliving and how we have to do it. So, I'm back here where you left us MA wintersowers, when you moved, so I can't tell you the best time to start to WS out there; but I can give you some ideas on what you could WS that will do well in pots. You did bring all your garden containers with you, didn't you? Don't mean the WS ones, but the ones you plant the seedlings in. First off, experience of the past 5 years has taught me that anything you grow in a pot, will usually do quite well. Will no doubt not get as huge as if it where planted in the ground, unless you use huge pots like I have for my tomatoes, but they do really well, as you have seen. I would think, though, if you used to large a pot to start the seeds in, or filled the pot with too much soil, you would run into some problems. Things like too much moisture, not enough, etc. If the container isn't any larger than say a 6 inch pot, then you should be fine to start them in. My violas reseed in the 6 inch pots every year. I leave them outside all winter in that sheltered bed under the front picture window and they do fine. I'd be concerned though about moisture levels if you use 10 inch pots filled with soil. that's a pretty deep container and a lot of potting mix to start them in. Now, for a list of plants that do really well in pots in the crazy N.E. weather. If they do well here, I would think they would do well just about anywhere. petunias dwarf marigolds marigold bolero, did wonderful in 8 and 10 inch pots morning glory, oops you already know that one all the dwarf dahlias that are started from seeds. 8 and 10 inch pots nicotiana did fine in oval pots that where only about 6 inch deep pot size violas in 6 inch pots zinnia zowie yellow flame and old mexico in 10 and 12 inch pots 4 o'clock broken colors in 12 inch pots all my herbs, both annual and perennials. I only grow them in 6 inch pots. If you start perennial herbs, you could winter them over in a sheltered area in the pots and move them to the house you buy next year. allysum portulacca easter egg plant in a 10 inch pot torenia dwarf cosmos in a 12 inch pot datura in a 10 and 12 inch pot gazania painted tongue any california poppy blue thimble gilia birds eye gillia godettia You have lots and lots of choices. Send me an e-mail with your addy and I'll mail you some of those beautiful dahlia seeds from the ones I have and some seeds of new one that I got. Fran

Hi! My name is Karen and I've posted some questions on the geranium forum and got some good advice, but noone is terribly chatty over there so I was wondering if this is a good forum for me to join. Are you taking new members?? I'm in IL and we started over 700 (agh!)pelargoniums, or whatever they are called. We call them geraniums. Anyway, I was told to pinch and went to town and I hope I did it right because I have some sad plants. And it's about time to start hardening off...and I haven't a clue what I'm doing! We have two portable greenhouses outside with heaters in them and we put the impatiens and pansies, I think, in there. But the geraniums are inside under grow lights and in sunny windows (as sunny as it gets during the long awaited IL 'Spring' if that's what you call it!) Can anyone help me keep them alive?