If you're going to WS then don't read the back of the packets with instructions which are meant for indoor germination. You can sow them now and be fine with it all. I've WSed many daylilies. The secret to success is in having viable seed.

it's such a huge leap of faith, Trudi! i think though if i even get half the results y'all glowingly rave on about, i'll be more than set, and well ahead of anything i have been able to do thus far. i read somewhere on the forum that this is like fix it and forget it crock pot cooking, an image i like. some of the methods i read about on the daylily forum seem so complicated, and i am more of a laid back kind of gal LOL. i will be spending my weekend sowing away :)

I can verify that hardy geraniums do well with regular ws. Sowed many varieties over the years and had good germination and it is so easy. I love hardy geraniums!

rosemctier - I threw 12 daylily seeds in a Ziploc baggie with moist Perlite in May the year before I discovered winter sowing. They sprouted in 14 days, grew about 8 inches tall, went dormant for the winter & came up again the following spring--all in a sunny, south-facing window. Last year I got my first bloom. They may not all be that easy but it was pretty simple.

Grumble, grumble, none of my ws daylily seeds germinated.

mnwsgal - which geraniums are considered hardy? I started some ivy leaf geraniums upstairs on the heat mats-could I have WSed them? Shirley

Shirley - the hardy geraniums they're talking about are commonly called cranesbill--Geranium sanguineum. The annual geraniums are actually Pelargoniums if I'm not mistaken. Two completely different plant types.

I knew the annuals weren't considered true geraniums; have never heard of cranesbill-there is so much I don't know yet! Will have to google that when I get home from Meijers.

sjc-- i really like cranesbill-- it's very easy to work with and doesn't seem to picky about gardening conditions. i have never tried it from seed until this year though so we'll see what happens. i only have the standard bloody cranesbill and a few chunks of johnson's blue i got last year in trade-- they are probably already starting to come back under all this snow. definitely worth checking out!

I've only got one geranium/cranesbill because I'm still on the fence about them. It's a vigorous grower--sometimes a little too vigorous--but it does have a long bloom time and it basically ignores drought. I have it growing in my butterfly bed where it seems to be VERY happy.

Some geraniums like to ramble 'Roseanne', others stay more compact 'Biokova', some are short, some have small leaves, some have huge leaves, there is so much variety.

we got a lot of rain last spring and mine went INSANE. it was about 4-5 feet tall and at least that wide and was covered in blooms from april to june. then it collapsed like a giant spider all over everything else in its wake, so i cut it back. got a lot more growth but no more blooms. i think if we had just a few weeks longer in out growing season i could coax blooms out of it again. i have moved it to a location where it won't smother everything around it and i am going to let it go crazy. it was a beautiful spring all around, never seen so many wild flowers in my life, so i doubt that will happen again for a long time. usually it peaks at 3-4 feet.

Okay - I googled Cranesbill, and WOW, how did I miss this? Really pretty plant! What I've read is: easy to grow and maintain, flowers for a long time, grows quickly and spreads quickly. And yes, there is a tremendous variety, and YES they attract butterflies!
The first site I looked at was Sooner Plant Farm-big mistake! The pics were gorgeous, so were the prices. They only sell plants. My financially weak areas are books, my two granddaughters, Doles Mandarin oranges and Plants/seeds. But I really lucked out - everything I liked was out of stock! What a break!!
I really like these but I'm going to put them on the back burner for next year, mainly because I have NO MORE ROOM!
That will give me time to plan what to put where so I have room for them.
that website was really great, even with the high prices. The Roseanne was just beautiful!! Shirley!!

You just gotta love a garden diary. My 2008 diary says I planted 'Rozanne' and since I couldn't remember which cultivar I had and since the tag is long gone, that's what's growing in my butterfly bed which is currently snug under 3 ft. of snow. I had it in a different bed at the corner of the house but didn't like it in that spot so I moved it to my butterfly bed when I planted all the other nectar plants in it. I complained to my neighbor last summer that it was a real thug and she suggested I whack it back. So I did and I like it much better now. It's growing sort of under a butterfly bush but at the western end of the bed so they both get plenty of sun from noon until sundown.

Ahhh...those were the olden days when I BOUGHT perennial plants.

Hopefully my days of buying perennials are over, and I think they are, if my WSed plants from last year made it through the winter. I can hardly wait to see what blooms this year! Yellow echinacea, wild indigo, wild lupine, and butterfly weed are a few that come to mind.
WSed some more perennials this year, but about a third of what I sowed are for my containers-my goal is NOT to buy any petunias this year, or pansies.
I'm trying to turn all my beds into one large butterfly garden. Planted more host plants last year and was really surprised at how many different species of butterflies I had.
I've been over to the butterfly forum, not very busy right now, but they have a really active group of people "during the season"; it seems like a lot of people on this forum are into butterfly gardening too. I loved watching them this year and taking pics-spent alot of time on the back porch!

oh, i still like the spontaneity of going to a nursery and buying a plant, and my local guy is pretty reasonable price wise although he doesn't have the best variety. one of the first rituals of spring for me is to go to lee's (this is the middle of march, mind you lol), interrogate him about the new things he's getting in, and wheedling some pathetic plants at a good price out of him because nothing's really coming up yet :) plus, he has just expanded a water garden section, which i can't have because our ducks will destroy it, and there's always tadpoles! i'm worse than a little kid!

sjc, have you done anything on the exchange side? i've gotten some lovely plants in trade. i've never had much luck with seeds at all so i've preferred plants, but hopefully wintersowing will change that. fingers crossed!

I love treating myself to some of the beautiful new hybrids. To get the true plant you have to either buy the plant or get a division or cutting from someone. Many can't really be propagated from seed.

I bought a few last year, including geranium Rozanne, dwarf Joe Pye, and echinacea Hot Papaya.

Karen

Rose - I just joined my first swap,for commercial seeds, on the exchange side-haven't traded any plants, although would like to try. I'm still exploring all the different forums.
And YES, WSing WILL CHANGE ALL THAT!! Wait till you see the root systems on these seedlings! And your germination rate increases by at least 70% I went from 30-40 containers last year, to 147 this year, because I KNOW it works!!
Kare - "treating myself" is exactly the right phrase! I used to treat myself to one "over the limit" plant each fall-got laid off last year, so it didn't happen last fall. However! The "Rozanne" is on the list for next year!Did you get yours at a nursery or online?
I'm going to start my trade list on my page, this fall, when I have something to trade. Maybe I'll put the Roseanne on the plants wanted section. Although I don't know if I'll have anything that good to trade.
Gotta go clean my house!! Shirley!

you all should check out the plant exchange listings come spring. i got several plants that would have cost me a small fortune if i had bought them! most of the offers there are trades but sometimes people offer stuff up for postage. i check the seed, plant, and round robin exchanges pretty frequently, even now-- people all over are buzzing with anticipation for spring. i am hosting a small valentine's day swap on the round robin forum, if you'd like to play!

here's a link that may or may not work, since i'm not sure if pasting works

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roundrobin/msg0120314127465.html?25077