This is my first year too, but I am not planning on starting my annuals until March and April. They don't need the cold, so I don't want to take any chances of losing them.

I will be sowing in three rounds this year:

The first round (tomorrow) will be hardy perennials which require cold stratification (many that don't need it, too)

The second round will be in mid-third week of February which will be those perennials that don't require and extended period of cold strat, and some annuals that do need a short period...

The third round will be annuals and leftover perennials that don't benefit in the least from a cold strat period. I will put these out in mid-late March.

If you have annuals that would generally reseed themselves from one year to the next, you are safe to sow them now.

But if you want to break it up a bit....

Hope that helps!

you can also experiment-try sowing something now and leave some seeds for later- keep detailed record and see what works for you and your area.
Since this winter came in late I am not sure if our summer is not going to be delayed too so I am not in the hurry- my annuals will go outside in March.

Zinnias are one of the last things I WS. The past 2 years (as long as I've been WSing) I've done them late March-early April. Since I have more Zinnia seeds this year than before and I have less perennials to WS, I might try doing some of them earlier and compare the earlier sown with the later sown.
But my personal schedule is to do perennials first, then hardy annuals, then the rest of the annuals. The danger in waiting between the hardy annuals and the annuals? I'll acquire more perennials and hardy annuals to sow...lol :-)

I've not planted that many annuals, but Trudi says you don't have to wait until later to plant annuals. Come to think of it, I did plant tomatoes quite early one year and they did great. I've been trying to wait on my annuals because I tend to plant way too many containers and the longer I wait, the less time I'll have to over-plant. Of course, now the basement is so full of containers waiting to be planted that you can hardly walk through. I guess I could just plant more perennials! Anyway, I don't think it makes a huge difference when we plant annuals in Zone 5. They'll sprout when the weather is right for them. If anyone thinks differently, please chime in so I have another excuse to postpone for awhile.
Martha

If they're planted early and we get a few weeks of warm weather, they might germinate, with lots more cold weather to follow. I'm going to try to hold off on the more tender stuff for a while.

Karen

I just finished doing my perennials and a very few hardy annuals (pansies). I'm going to wait until near the end of February to do a large round of hardy annuals, and I'll do the tender annuals (like zinnias, impatiens) last, in early-mid March. It depends a bit on the weather. I need to save up milk jugs anyhow - I cleaned my stash out, and I've used every one my sister saved for me too, and most of my stashed large nursery pots. . . .

I have had success with February-sown tomatoes and marigolds, alyssum and nicotiana, amaranth and cosmos, so I'll be flexible. Sometimes I sow things in two rounds (earlier and later), just to make sure I get enough of what I really want.

This year I'm doing many more annuals than I have before - my goal is to buy NO ANNUALS at the garden center. (Well, with the exception of white heliotrope, which I haven't gotten seeds of yet - if I can't get seeds for that by the end of March, I'll buy a plant locally in May, because that incredible vanilla fragrance is worth every cent for the plant!) I'm doing fewer perennials, because I don't have much more room for them, and no WS veggies this year. I'll try some herbs, though.

Laurel

Before March the only ones I sow are those that are known self-sowers/frost hardy annuals for me. My Harlequin Marigold self-sows a bit...it's iffy though, so am cautious and don't start sowing until March just in case.
This is a list of the ones I know to wintersow fine for me...they don't need to be sown until spring, but don't care either way:
Salvia hormonium
Salvia coccinea
Nicotiana alata
Cynoglossum amabile....Chinese Forget-me-Not
Viola
Linaria maroccana
Amaranthus (Love-Lies-Bleeding, Intense Purple)
Sunflower
Larkspur
Clarkia elegans
German Chamomile
Sweet Alyssum (white)
Aster Crego
Nigella
Cosmo

Sweet Alyssum, Linaria, Aster Crego, Alyssum, Viola, German Chamomile, Cynoglossum, Nigella and Nicotiana I've only had to sow once! These ones are forever dependable for me. Amaranthus 'Intense Purple' proved to be dependable as has Larkspur (those babies are still green despite some very cold temps over the course of the winter), and sunflower.
The other's I still sow a few of just in case there isn't enough self-sown babies to work with. I'm late starting them this year since I've been concentrating on what I've recieved in trade.

The annuals I will wait on until March-April are: Zinnia, Marigold, Castor Bean, Morning Glory (tho they do self-sow for some), Cypress Vine, Love-in-a-Puff vine and Climbing Snapdragon vine, broccoli, peas, greens, tomatoes.

Vera

How about the summer poinsettia type amaranthus? They sure do look tropical.

My llb germinated very early last year and did fine in subsequent frosts, but the summer poinsettia ones really look like tropicals.

Karen

Here in the Chicago area I don't ws my tender annuals (i.e. zinnias, etc.) until at least the very end of April through the 1st week of May. The past 2 years I have lost many from below freezing nights in early May. They seem to grow just as quickly by waiting out the cold night temps. I try to watch the 10 day forecast on weather.com to help me decided when to sow them. The petunias I did in mid April and they were fine. Since they tend to reseed here you can probably do them even earlier.

ccoupkir ...did i misunderstand? i planted (bought at gardencenter) some annuals IN MY YARD the 1st week in may last year, but you are just w.s. the seed at that time? i don't understand... i am w.s. for the 1st time this year, hence, the confusion.....phyl

phy1....you probably were planting out frost hardy plants that aren't bothered by late spring frosts. Some examples would be Calendula, Larkspur, Pansies/Viola, Allysum, Stocks, Petunia,Poppy, Primula, Nigella, Sweet Peas, and Clarkia. Also are some species of Cyclamen that bloom late winter thru early spring (some of which are perennial to zone 5 grown as annuals anywhere colder) are often sold as early spring bedding plants.

Vera

Well ccoupkir I think I will follow your example and wait. Last year I did my annuals in March and I had to cover then at night and it was such a pain. I then planted everything out the first couple of weeks of June and they were so tiny. I had no hope for anything to flower. They really did not do much UNTIL July and then things started to really take off. I think you are right in waiting. Much easier than worrying about them and the threat of a frost. Our last frost date is so late here. It is late May or early June! Does this sound a bit like your area and your experience in the past? Thanks

laurelin, where do you normally get the white heliotrope? I didn't find any last year around here. You can email me off line or post here.

Like laurelin, I normally do my annuals in early to mid March. Last year I did petunias, alyssum, godetia, marigolds, celosia, calendula, salvia, lobelia, hyacinth bean, and amaranthus with great success. I tried heliotrope last year but they didn't start to bloom until the end of the season so I will start mine inside real soon.

I think it's good to experiment - I've tried almost all my hardy annuals in Jan and Feb and had success and some not. I just find it easier to do the annuals in March since I'm doing perennials earlier and feel I'm guaranteed to have success with the annuals when wintersown in March.

Last year I did not buy any annuals except for Proven Winners Diascia 'Flying Colors Coral'. I still plan to purchase this since I can't find these seeds (not sure there is). However I am wintersowing a few other types of diascia - I hope it works since it's my all time favorite annual(tender perennial)! :)

Last year I put my annual seeds out during the third week of April and they did very well.

Derik that sound like when I will do mine this year. Gosh it is so hard to wait. But I have learned from last year it just causes more work and more worry to start them early. Can't rush mother nature!

Two thoughts hit me when reading this thread:

1) Wow--what a smart idea to stagger sowing by the type of seeds, from perennials to hardier annuals to less hardy annuals! I never even thought of that! Therefore...

2) Thank goodness my plants are smarter than me--I've sown zinnias on Dec. 21 and they did just fine! :)

I like lindalana's idea of doing two sets and comparing results, though.

Monica

Just thought I'd bump this thread to find out where everyone is at now...our cold snap seems to be ended now here in WI, I see no snow out my window and the temps were warmer yesterday...haven't looked at the forecast yet, but it's got to be for going UP! Would love to hear what everyone is WSing now. I'm going to finish up my perennials that I haven't gotten to yet (and hope they'll have enough cold nights to germinate) and by the end of the week, I hope to have my annuals done.