Hi Gardenweed, I've only sowed a few things so far, seeds that have harder shells and need a longer period of cold stratification. Will do more later in February.

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Swamp mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Lupines (from a trade all it says is "Salmon Lupine" so I hope they are actually a salmon color!)
Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides - native bulb)

Spring countdown banner - (hmmm this says 73 days??) Cut & pasted from a website, it decrements automatically.

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Oh, I just LOVE it when some one keeps track of the days,Thank you gardenweed
cAROL

We had about a couple of inches of snow here this morning, and while it is pretty, and needed, it was still good to be reminded that spring is only 72-73 days away! Thanks!! So far, I've WSed pansies, echinacea, columbine, sweet peas, lupine, wild indigo, dahlberg daisies, rudbeckia, turtlehead, pentas, clarkia, jacobs ladder, and about 20 kinds of wildflower/butterfly host plant seeds. Talk about "Leaps of Faith!!" But, I'll never know, if I don't try. Hopefully, these will turn into "Oh, Lord, where do I put all of these!" Shirley!

I sowed a bunch of natives, and I sowed a bunch of herbs. I have about 42 types of plants out mostly all natives. I am so excited about spring. Before we know it, spring will be here!! I got more seeds to sow so I will be like Shirley, "oh me where am I going to put all of these".

Cardinals, will be chirping away. Robins looking to find a place for a nest. Bunnies hoping around with their babies. Tulips dancing in the wind, and the aroma of hyacinths and cherry blossoms filling the air.

We winter sowed a lot of natives at our church gardening program today. It was fun because we have some new men working in the greenhouse, and they had not experienced winter sowing before. They can't believe it works but the other guys kept saying it was like magic and a miracle all rolled into one :)

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~Hal Borland

when u say 73 days it doesnt seem so long does it...yay!!

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I've wintersown every seed I collected and traded for, which are for the most part native grasses and wildflowers. I'll feel pretty special if I get little sprouts in 70 days.

Hey pvmisccacount,
I think you should take off the lids to your milk & juice cartons,we all take the lids off for WSing.
Every thing looks great,neat and tidy, you have done a good job,fun isn't it.
(((((remove the lids))))))))),,,:0)
cAROL

So far, I've planted these seeds (some I have double containers of, and I'll have at least three containers of butterfly weed): swamp and common milkweed, butterfly weed, balloon flowers, verbena bonarensis, ironweed, rue, false indigo and I think that's all but I have plenty more to do (I need more containers first)!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Ditto what cAROL said pvmiscaccount--throw those caps away quick! You want snow & rain to get in those jugs and the opening allows hot air to escape when the sun gets on them.

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Also, if you resize your image down to 475 x 630 before posting it, it won't supersize the forum thread the way this one appears to have done.

I think the Spring countdown banner counts today - which is really a partial day....so technically it's 72.something days til Spring!

PVmis, you may be surprised and get sprouts before the first day of Spring, depending on what you sow. My first sprouts last year were the Sweet Alyssum, which sprouted on March 8th. Although we did have a warm Spring so things were a little early.

pvmiscaccount,just checking to see if you went topless yet?I hope so, we all take our tops off for WSing.I am worried you have left yours on.
cAROL

Hi all, I have not removed the caps, but don't worry, I did it backwards, I actually cut holes and slits into the tops when I first made them. So I think I'm good with the air flow/water for now.

Wow, Gardenweed, what nice handwriting! Especially on those curves!!!

Thanks highalttransplant! I write v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y with my paint pen. Makes it tough to believe I flunked penmanship in 5th grade, doesn't it??!!!

I've only sowed one - ONE! - thing, on the Solstice, and it was Hare Tail Grass, so it's not even outside yet (needs warm/cold/warm).

The weather here has been much too warm, and the rest of January is supposed to be mild, so I'm started at the beginning of February. I'm itching to start though! I'm still so nervous that the weather will ruin things....

Serenae, did you get any snow as of Jan.?

Ladyrose - No, none in January, but we had a few cold spells and snow in December.

Right now it's 6 degrees C and it's supposed to go up to 13-14 later in the week. I keep waffling between just going for it and waiting.

I posted the countdown on the whiteboard in my cubicle at work. Yesterday morning I was more interested in my cinnamon-raisin bagel than the count so a guy stopped and said, "That said 69 days YESTERDAY so it needs to show 68 days TODAY!!! You know, people are counting on that board!!!" So I swallowed my cinnamon-raisin bagel bite and changed the number. Before I left the office, knowing I wouldn't be in for a day or two due to the storm, I posted the count for the next four days.

Who knew folks were really happy & encouraged to see the days posted???

I know I am.
Last year some one posted it,it was so much fun.
Thank you Eileen for doing this.
cAROL

cAROL - it was Token who posted it last year but he posted in December when it was still like 120 days.

I decided to wait until the number of days was less so folks would be more encouraged than depressed.

So, for those of you who are watching, the count now stands as follows:

Jan. 12 - 67 days 'til Spring

Jan. 13 - 66 days 'til Spring

Jan. 14 - 65 days 'til Spring

Keep in mind those first sprouts may show up well before March 20 so be on the lookout for them!!!

Also, winter sowers are encouraged to show photos of their sprouts so those in colder zones can do the happy dance...to keep warm!!!

Hi All,+

I very happy to see the days count down for Spring 2011.

Shanta

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,spring is just around the snow bank!
I am encouraged.
cAROL

"before the cat can lick her ear"

I love that phrase, so visual.

I have been looking forward to the Countdown to spring, and was about to start it when I saw this thread.

Could someone please post a link to that banner?

Yesterday as I emerged from a box store with my snow melt, I saw all the nursery racks outside and I imagined them all filled with flowers. It's kinda hard to do when the temp is 25 degrees, but I tried!
I'm holding that vision.

ellen

Ellen, I clicked on the banner & got this: http://ult-tex.net/counts/index.cgi

On Jan 12 gardenweed_z6a wrote:
Also, winter sowers are encouraged to show photos of their sprouts so those in colder zones can do the happy dance...to keep warm!!!

OK, gardenweed, see Jan 11 pic on link below & dance away! Currently the last pic. And when you finish dancing, could you tell me what to do about leggy cilantro sprouts? We just had 3 nights with a low of about 20 degrees so surely it is too early to put them out. It will be a very **long** time before they get enough leaves to pinch back. Hate to start cutting some down to the dirt to thin out now as the leggy ones that I leave may fall over. I guess I just need to leave Mother Nature alone? Any & all advice appreciated. Thanks!

River

Here is a link that might be useful: Updated winter sowing pics.

Thanks, River!! It's minus 10 degrees here at the moment so I needed to get up and move a little to get the blood flowing again.

I've got three layers on and am barely comfortable.

Window shades are pulled down to block the cold except where the sun is shining in.

Congrats on your cilantro sprouts but I'm sorry I can't help you with the legginess issue.
The reason they're leggy is they are reaching for light but this time of year there's not enough hours of it and it isn't as intense as during the summer months.
Hopefully someone with cilantro experience will chime in with a few ideas.

Some of my WS jugs on Christmas
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Some of my WS jugs after Christmas blizzard
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Some of my WS jugs yesterday
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gardenweed,
holy cow 10 degress below in zone6!
what state are you in?
I'm in NJ, and it's been consistently 19-25 degrees in day, unusually cold.
no relief in sight.

river,
thank you.

ellenr - I'm in north central CT, two miles south of the MA state line. Yup! Minus 10 degrees F.

This morning was even colder at 14 below. It's warmed up quite a bit now though--all the way up to +9 F.

My neighbor 3 houses to the north says he's zone 5b but I say I'm zone 6a because we normally don't see temps much lower than minus 10 or 12 and according to what I found doing some research, the annual low temp for zone 5b is minus 10 to minus 15 while the annual lows for 6a are minus 5 to minus 10.

Either way, we're right on the edge of one zone or the other and any time it's below zero, I'm not going to stand around outside arguing about what zone I'm in.

At least we've got bright sun shining in the windows!

Gardenweed - wow it's cold out your way. This morning was apparently -0.5 F (-18C for Celsius people) here in metrowest Boston. Cold enough for me!!

We are on the 5/6 borderline here too, only occasionally see -10F or below. I decided to use 5b as the zone mostly because my yard and front gardens are subjected to strong winter winds, which means zone 6 plants don't always winter-over in exposed locations.

Hi everyone! i am new to WSing and have been creeping the forum for advice and entertainment :)
gardenweed, i know what you mean about zones. i'm in SW pa, and when i began gardening we were zone 5; we have since been bumped up to zone 6. the coldest we've gotten this year was a balmy 3 degrees, but i remember a few days from last winter when it was 10-15 below and wind chill made it much much worse! something things for hardier zones work, sometimes they don't. it's all a gamble!

so far i have sown heuchera, monarda, borage, blue eyed grass, and a few others. i also have hellebore (commercial seed-- i hope they are fresh enough), hardy geranium, and a few other things doing the warm part of the war,/cold/warm. many traders have been very generous and i have more seeds coming, most of which will be wintersown. i am taking a huge leap of faith this year and pretty much WSing everything. we heat with wood, so our house is rarely warm enough to start seeds until march at the earliest, and even with lights everything gets so leggy. i have not been able to resist having some things starting in the bathroom (the only warm room in the house) but everything else is going outside. fran sent me a nice timetable of when to plant what, which was very helpful!

i was wondering about caps too-- i also cut holes and vents, but i should take the caps off too? that was going to be a step in my hardening off program.

must go shovel out a spot for the containers i made last night. happy gardening everyone! keep warm :)

Welcome to the winter sowing forum, rosemctier!!

Yes, if you are WS in recycled milk jugs, throw those caps away--you don't want or need them.

The opening allows rain & snow to get in and hydrate the growing medium. It also allows warm air to escape once the sun starts warming toward spring.

Welcome rosemctier,
You have some great seeds going,no need to harden off when you do WSing, get rid of the caps.
cAROL

Ellen, you are very welcome. Looks like a fun banner!

Gardenweed, thanks for insight about my sprouts & I am giving them a little more light. No problem with too much light right now as a week of rain & clouds is forecast. Keep dancing & stay warm!

Movin' on up!

Gardenweed, would you consider reposting the countdown with subject being "Countdown to Spring" or something similar?
TIA
Bobbie

mnwsgal - I posted a new one since this one got oversized somehow. Look for one titled "59 days, 9 hours and counting down..."

I pasted the link below--hope it works!!

Here is a link that might be useful: 59 days

I have seen the 59 days but it doesn't show the countdown banner on my computer.

mnwsgal - try it again--I added the banner to the 59 days thread.

Hey, I just thought of something funny. We can do that song like "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer on the wall, etc." substituting 59 days till Spring, 58 days, 57, etc." I think anybody that's had a lot of snow this January already is more than ready to see Spring come. Gardenweed..I hope you'll be able to locate all your jugs you've planted under all the snow! For sure, they shouldn't need any watering!

Thanks.

All my jugs are right where I put them back before we got 3 ft. of snow so I'm not one bit worried about finding them. I AM wondering where I'll put more jugs since the snow we've got is now frozen solid. When it was nice, soft powder I could just plop the jugs down in it and know they'd be fine. Glad I got so many done before we were buried with all this snow. Six more inches fell this morning and they're warning us another big storm is on the way for this coming Tuesday/Wednesday. My nice wide driveway is already down to one car width that has a 3 inch thick coating of ice. Forecast calls for minus 10 degrees on Sunday so the ice isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Same with the snow & ice on my roof. Winter in New England is not for wussies.

Spring is knocking at the door!! For all of you that are about to get nailed with this MONSTER storm here is a sign that winter is starting to break!! I already have weeds I need to pull, lol!!

Taken Yesterday!!

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Ya know I read that and it sounded like that was a picture of JUST my weeds, lol. Well that in the middle are tulips, then all the other green well I am not really sure to be honest, LOL.

This area went through a major overhaul this past fall. I plunked and chunked and had mud covered from head to toe!! To be honest I am shocked I didn't disturb those tulip bulbs and they are sprouting, that is how hard I hit this area with the shovel!!

Ya like my mulch, LOL, I cut back my flowers and throw the stems in the bed. Hey it is a revolving door I see it as extra compost, that is a tad ugly at first. LOL.

Don't ask me about the rock I sure didn't notice it till I posted this picture!! LOL

Ok I admit I aint right!! LOL