Well, I can tell you what I've wintersown: poppies (both annual and perennial),bachelor buttons, english daisies, larkspur, calendula, dianthus, clarkia, datura and probably others that I can't remember. I've done biennials and perennials too: shasta daisies, rudbeckia, hollyhocks, delphiniums, campanula, pyrethrum, foxgloves. Wintersowing is very easy.

Yes, if it self seeds, it will wintersow. I don't start mine till March, and they do just fine, germinating along with the ones in the garden. Planting in containers outdoors is more work (for me, anyway), but it gives me insurance in case seeds don't germinate naturally.

Impatiens may germinate, but a freeze will kill them. I do them indoors.

Debi,

I don't know what to tell you -- my impatiens self sow like crazy, and yet I have read on a number of threads in different forums that people have "bad luck" wsing impatiens.

I also noticed reports of some marigolds doing very, very well and some marigolds a total disappointment...I'd like to nail that one down as to which marigolds do well, and which ones don't.

Lime

i am new to w.s. also -- & so far, hadn't even thought about sowing annuals - just perennials. has anyone done hanging baskets with plants(seeds) that can just HANG THERE ALL WINTER and then continue on for the summer? covered with plastic, of course.

phyl- yes, several of the winter-sowers did do hanging baskets via the winter-sowing method. Just as you say, but I believe they did not start the tender annuals until mid-late April. Hardies & half-hardies can be started earlier.

Do join us on the winter-sowing forum! We'll be sowing everything under-the-sun from December through April- all outdoors! (That would be the difference between "Sowing in Winter" and "Winter Sowing." One is inside under grow-lights, and the other is tossing them outside in containers and letting Ma-Nature take over.

To answer the OP directly, you can take a look at the FAQs on the Winter Sowing forum to get a list of Zone 5 annuals here, but pretty much we can do most any of them- just do the tenders later than the hardies. Of course, some will perform at your house better than they will at my house...I can't grow an impatien to save my life, but have excellent luck with Marigolds & Petunias (although neither have ever reseeded in my Zone 5 yard).

thanks, that sounds like a REALLY easy way to sow seeds. i'm definitely going to try it -- and i can just leave them hanging where they are, right???