Good start,and finish token,:0)

I just bought a Orange Agastache,which I have WS the last 2 years, and I get nothing,the lady I bought my plant from, said they like a very sandy soil,and they do not like to be moved, they have a huge root system,maybe this is why mine never germinate,I don't know.You may already know this, but thought I would pass on the info,to those who may not.

I will be planting lots of Echinacea as well.
Lots of Milkweed,all kinds( I am raising Monarchs)
Foxglove
Rubeckia
and Lilies from a trade.
Still thinking of what else I would like.
cAROL

I have spent the last 4 winters sowing every kind of seed I could get my hands on or the pocketbook could afford. It gave me a base to start working from as to what I like and what grows in my area and is low maintenance and drought tolerant. This winter I too will limit my variaties as to what works

Rudbeckias
agastache
butterfly weed
zinnias (megellan and profusion)
coleus
amaranthus

Lynne

I forgot, lots of Fennel,& dill for the Swallowtails.
cAROL

I will probably WS only:
-Petunia 'Laura Bush'
-Annual Lobelia
-Dahlberg Daisy

I still have tons of WSown seedlings sitting on the table...waiting for an empty spot in the garden. lol

I will direct sow vegetables very early next year though.

Well, from the looks of this post, I think Im only gonna have one container, a big giant barrel of horse manure, cuz I think you're all full of it and are ALL gonna still go crazy and sow 100's and 100's of containers.

Ive been here before ya know.

ha!

Doris,
I think we should keep tabs on this post and bring it back up in March of next year. Evil I tell ya! Just evil!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,can I re-nig?
cAROL

Nah, I will be in the mile high club again...winter sowing helps my mid winter blues....Token!!!!! Holy Butterfly Bush.....the seeds you sent me germinated and I have a boat load!!!!!!!!!!!! Good stuff!(fellow winter sowers....sorry I have been quiet lately...rough year, I read daily and keep up and love all the posts) Trudi..if you read this.....my winter sown Tom's rock!!!!!!!!!!! I have been collecting seeds...if I were not in such a wonky spot in my life I would gladly host the trade...bad timing. :(

Tom, you hold me accountable for my 36 I said was going to be my goal and I'll remind you about your 50 container committment!

Doris, you are so funny..I am sitting her cracking up and my husband who had already gone to sleep heard me and he was not a happy camper because I woke him up laughing. Oh well, after 46 yrs. I just ignore him! He'll be back to sleep in a few minutes, guaranteed!

I have 11 more 1/2 gal milk jugs to collect to get my 36 jugs.

Tom, I have bought the following seed so far: Lupin(Regalis Morello Cherry) Prairie Sun rudbeckia, Bellamosum Delphinium, Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia, california poppy(Mission Bell)Mixed colors portulaca,Persian daisy(Robinson's Crimson)and dwarf Fairy candytuft(mixed colors). The last one I WS this winter and it did so well and is so pretty. I hope that a lot of what I WS this year will survive the winter. If so, I'll have Malva Zebrina, thread leaf coreopsis, shasta daisies, forget-me-not, coneflowers, garden phlox, blackeye susans galore(rudbeckia/goldstrum?)bee balm, liatris, bleeding heart, pink creeping phlox, creeping yellow sedum, calendulas(yellow)I pulled up most of my columbines but they are sprouting again so I'll have them. Hopefully my johnny jump-ups will return, as well as Silene German Catchfly. Did you get the columbines I sent you about 6 weeks ago? You'll have columbines coming out of your ears if you sow all of them. They reseed fast and a lot. My neighbor wants to give me some of her yarrow, but I can't remember what color it is. I saved my shasta daisy seeds and even have more left from 2009 that probably would take.
I want to order that gloriosa daisy double gold from Burpee or American meadows has one too. I can't wait to see the Cherry Brandy rudbeckia. That cherokee sunset is calling my name too and I want some butterfly weed plant(either color)

I will probably buy Emerald Blue creeping phlox when it hits the stores early next Spring or Feb/March (whenever) I'd like to have more garden phlox and bee balm too.

Tom - I understand the desire to simplify your life and your garden. When we start out, we want to plant EVERYTHING. As time goes on, we want to get rid of the clutter.

But 50 containers? Really? I'm skeptical.

I've been thinking about what will be the mainstays of my gardens. Here's a list - some will be mainstays, some will play supporting roles. Some stars haven't been discovered yet.

Agastache
Aquilegia
Asclepias
Centranthus ruber (Jupiter's Beard)
Dianthus
Echinacea
Feverfew
Gaillardia
Helenium
Hesperis matronalis (Dame's rocket)
Hibiscus
Hyssop
Lobelia
Monarda
Pyrethrum daisy
Rudbeckia
Solidago

Ornamental grasses

50 containers? We'll see. ;-D

I'm a newbie and I'm planning to WS:

Butterfly bushes
Ornamental grasses
Rudbeckias
Monardas
Amaranthus
Delphiniums

And I think that's all.

Oh heck...who am I kidding! If I have a seed for it, I'm going to try my darndest to WS it...lol...

Hmm. I am, no doubt about it, a "little of a lot" gardener. I want as many different varieties as I can possibly have; indeed, if I could grow one of everything on the planet, I would.

I've been in limbo with moving for about 2 1/2 years. I saved plants from my Buzzard's Bay, MA home, started plants in the brief time I lived in SC, and wintersowed more on the deck of the 1-bedroom apt. I moved to in AL. Just last month, we finally settled into a house in AL, with enough land, finally, for me to pursue my "little of a lot" theme. The former owner had other ideas - more grass than anything, and just a few different kinds of plants. I have spent the last two weeks ripping out liriope from a sizeable bed that had only liriope and azaleas. Of the plants I have planted from my wintersown/propogated stock, half have died, either from the heat or the horrible red clay soil. This is a new challenge for me!

So, it is my intention to sow as many of the now thousands of varieties of seeds I have in my seedbox as I possibly can in the 2010-2011 year. And spend a great deal of time and effort improving my soil.

But for what it's worth, Token, I honestly think it's probably wiser to be more restrained, and grow the "sure thing". But then, I never was known to be sensible.

Sensible is not a word I use in my house. I will be sowing the tried and true varieties. I just don't need many more plants this year. I'm scaling back the gardens a bit, less real estate means less to sow and fill with plants. Plus, things from two years ago need dividing. I need to get that done this fall before worrying about what new stuff to add to the garden.

Well, I have given this much thought over the last few days, and I must agree with drippy,I want a little of every thing, I wish I had your problem token(is that really a problem?)Perhaps one day I will be there, but it is a long way off.
I know more of what I will NOT , be planting again.I did over 300 containres last year,hubby would like for me to not to so many this year,I had pot gettos every where,well see,but I would guess to say, I will Need, more.

Sorry about you red clay drippy,what a lot of work you have in store for you.I feel bad.More than I would want to take on.And sorry to hear all your plants did not make it.
We should all be getting seeds soon,what are you looking for?
cAROL
cAROL

Depending on what else is going on in our lives, we'll probably change our goals from year to year. For two years, you grew so many containers each year, then were seriously overwhelmed by the need to plant out or lose them. Drippy had a very different experience - living in limbo, unable to plant enough, now that is changing.

Remember when Lynda said she planned to do 1,000 containers last year? People were skeptical but I think she kept fairly close to her goal.

Last year, I planted more than 2,000 containers. I have a lot of land and need a lot of plants. But I don't want to do that many containers this winter - in the south, we have a very short window of opportunity to plant out, so it's very hard to do.

This year, I'll supplement WS by summer sowing now. I'll keep track of the outcomes but may not count containers. I'll continue to WS - it's so neat to watch things sprout and grow during the cold dark months of winter. I'll be more discriminating about what I WS - will focus on plants that need cold strat and won't die if left in pots for a time.

LOL, cAROL, thanks, I don't need any seeds - just a better handle on what I'm up against in this new climate.

Pam, I am trying to get a few things together for summer sowing as well - I just started some fall vegetables, but am hoping to start a few perennials as well.

Yeah Pam - if 1600 was close to my goal, then I was close.

Next year's plan for me is between 0 - 800, subject to change without notice mid-winter!

Token - I'd be tempted to just sow 50 but my winter direct sowing experience this year was less than ideal. I did get tons of germination, but the annual poppies choked out everything else. So I guess I need to stick to container starting for anything that I really want to grow.

It should also be pointed out that my hundreds and hundreds of summer sowing containers currently in progress are freebies and do not count toward any goals regarding limiting winter sowing. :)

Lynda

drippy - Fall vegetable gardens gardens are so easy and fun. Broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, chard, mizuna, collards, kale - all kinds of healthy, tasty veggies all winter and into the spring. No heat, no bugs. If you haven't had the experience, you're going to love it.

Lynda - re: "my hundreds and hundreds of summer sowing containers currently in progress" ... it's August 1 and I'm already behind! Rats.

well last year was my first year wintersowing. I had some successes and some failures. Most of my failures I think were due to my excitement of seeing sprouts and wanting to get them into the ground ( too early.. I think they became grub food :P)

I am excited to take what I learned and see what success I can have this year. I plan to sow every darn kind of seed I can get my hands on. I have been collecting as many seeds as possible to hopefully do some nice trading come this fall. Token, I would be more than happy to host your swap for you this year if no one else offers.

Please do Connie. It's a great way to get some very unique seeds as the host. I had a great time doing it. Had to research some of the seeds myself just to see if I needed a few.

After all I sowed last year, I really don't see a significant change in the appearance of the garden. Things that don't thrive with neglect are not for me. I don't like dragging hoses, and as Pam said, we have a very short window for planting. This year, we had 90+ days in May. We've broken all sorts of temperature records this year. I've lost most of what I sowed last year already. Even the things I watered didn't survive. So, I'm going back to the basics. I know what does grow well in my yard and will stick to those. Took me two years of being very Lynda, but this year I just don't need that many plants to tend to.

Next year will be my 4th year WSing and I'll probably do around 50 too. I have lots of WS'n perennials still in small pots left to plant out - from this year and even a few from 2008 and 2009. Don't need more perennials! Next year the focus will be on annuals, herbs, veggies.

Token,

I have some pink pop agastache. If I can figure out how to collect seeds you're welcome to some. I sowed these late this year because the early ws ones sprouted then just disappeared. Second attempt yielded four plants, but all are blooming now, even if they're a little scraggly, hopefully because it's their first year.

I, too, am planning on being a bit more judicious this year. Or so I say now. Who knows what will happen in the dark dreary days of Jan. and Feb.

Caryl

I'm wintersowing less next year. This is my first year wintersowing. I got carried away, planted a lot, but have been really disappointed with the results. :-(
I haven't posted any pics of my wintersown blooms because most of my flowers are on plants I bought, or started indoors. I might just do multiple containers of bachelor's buttons. They were the one thing that really did well.

-Edie

I am torn. Part of me says don't do very many containers this winter. Another part of me wants to so every seed I can get. How do you tame this Winter Sowing Beast? lol
Glenna

Have had two disappointing gardening years in a row - last year was too wet and cool, this year is too dry and hot. I've lost a few plants both years, so my little garden in looking a little needy.

I do still have a few containers to plant out (lychnis, coneflower, sea holly, heliopsis, prairie smoke, rudbeckia), and a number of others that definitely need dividing/repotting. Once I add some foliage interest plants, the "flower" part of my garden will be fine. So next year, I'll try some more veggies, and stick to mostly annuals.

Come to think of it, that's what I said last year.

My big "problem" is that, like drippy, I'd like to grow one of every plant in existence! OK, that may not be possible, but one can try, right?

So, even with my teeny space, and despite any and all of my good intentions, I'll probably be doing more than 50 containers next year.

Oh, well.

PV

pvick - I agree re: disappointing gardening years. After two difficult years, it's time for the tide to change.

BTW: You post photos from time to time. I always enjoy them. Nice combos and effects.

PV has the best garden in the sky I've ever seen.

I'm trying to cut back, too. Last year I only did 30 some containers, I think. I imagine I'll do 20 or 30 this year, too. I'm trying to maintain the same garden beds that I have, just thin stuff out and space it better. I made progress this year, but much yet to do. I want it to be easier to maintain.

And I want to add some of those pretty newfangled coneflowers, too. Can't even think about it until fall when this awful heat starts to break.

Karen

I'm not making any promises to keep it under 200 containers mainly because I never found time to sow a lot of the newbie seeds I got from all of the wonderful folks on this forum. I tried a number of new things that I'm not all that impressed with so I won't bother with those again. I want lots more of what's on Token's & Pam's lists plus/including:

Columbine
Tall phlox
Coreopsis
Rudbeckia
Echinacea
Hollyhocks
Hibiscus
Monarda
Dianthus
Gaillardia
Lobelia
Ornamental grass
Blackberry lily

I'm right there with you Token--if it doesn't thrive on neglect, it doesn't belong in my garden. The plant nannies have helped a few WS seedlings survive the drought but I want plants that can handle either bone dry or sopping wet soil. There's good drainage here so nothing sits in standing water even in monsoon season.

I WS chelone/turtlehead this year and planted some good-sized, healthy seedlings last weekend. They won't get any supplemental moisture beyond what Mother Nature provides where they're planted so we'll see how they do next season.

I'm trying to keep my list of "must haves" in check and only allow 5 containers of each. It's going to be close.

Oh, Gardenweed, it is my understanding that chelone likes it moist! I have it in three places though, one hardly ever gets additional water, but it is mostly shaded. One is full sun and it gets occasionally watered. And I planted some in my new bog garden this year. The plants in all three locations actually look the same, so you may be OK. If you can, you might give them some water through this hot season until they have a chance to get settled. Good luck!

I'm planning on sowing 50000! I think we FINALLY have gotten a hold of a functional, useful and WORKING design for the back gardens (massive flooding/errosion issues). Engineers and Landscape Architect (I can not say enough good things about her, she drew exactly what I wanted!!!) have almost finished and I'm interviewing folks to install it.
After some more trees/shrubs are planted, I won't have too much $$$ left for plants so I'm hoping for an excellent wintersowing year! I've been hording containers.

I am also eyeballing a new greenhouse but am not someone who could put the thing together by myself....I decided that some annuals are things I would like to get going in a greenhouse a bit earlier than WS them, so that I can get a head start on gorgeous. The city here will not close out a permit for landscaping/land disturbance until there is 100% "coverage" of green materials (which is 1 plant every 12" of space) so I've got a LOT of plants to winter sow!

GGG, that's the spirit! Pictures next year, please! What you are about to do sounds wonderful!

Hi I posted on another section that I would be happy to host a Round Robin, So if you have no objections, here I am to help out.

Frankly tho I already recieved a email from a person who I felt kinda said in a round about way...."hey we have it together already"...

So I don't want to step on anyones toes, but again I am here to do it, I posted I would do it, and I will.

Great Gardening

Nancy...

NewYorkGrower...

bev2009 - thanks for the deets on chelone/turtlehead. I Googled it and the comments on everyone's favorite garden website (after GW & wintersown.org) are that even though it prefers moist soil, it does fine in good soil that doesn't stay moist. I'll keep the plant nanny in the ground close to it the rest of this year.

Hydrangeas like moist too but since they're tough enough to survive this drought with no supplemental water, I'm hoping the turtlehead is as well. It's also a native plant which says to me it does fine in these conditions.

Well I'll chime in here... I plan on at least 12-15 containers this year at least. O. K. maybe 20 or so.. Most of them will be tomato's YUM!! Parsley, Savory & various herbs to. I simply must plant bee balm this year I planted this, and had the best year ever!!! For the bees...They mostly bumblebee's were so awesome this year. I did not have many honeybees but I really think the bumblebee's (where the heck did they come from?!) made up for a lot of polonization problems that I was having.. GO BORAGE!!! I also want to try some cupid's dart but I don't have seed for it. Anyone out there want to share some? I would love to try some of those seeds...?? I find the flower just intriguing....Normally, since I discovered winter sowing I would plant way too much containers galore. However, I'm out of room for flowers!!!. Thank you, and bless you to everyone whom has shared incredibly generously with their seeds! I sincerely have found a whole new enlightenment that brings me joy and happiness thanks to all the wonderful people on this wonderful forum. I could not have done it without you!!
bgrow_gardens