Unlike ya'll , here in the Frozen North the cold weather will be upon us before the cat can lick her ear and it will stay with us until April. Last year I was still wearing multiple layers of polar fleece in May. I winter sow on the solstice and continue on through the frigid months. I sow those seeds first that require a cold, moist period in order to germinate then move on to those that don't once I've got the others tucked out in the snow. If your cold period doesn't happen in December-January-February, I'd conduct an experiment to see if it makes a difference waiting to sow those seeds until the cold settles in for at least 4 consecutive weeks. Keep notes of what works so you have that information when the next winter sowing season rolls around. If you have excess seeds you're willing to risk in an experiment, I'd say go for it.

That being said, if what you're already doing works and gives satisfactory results, why monkey around with the method? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind.

So, my zone 8 is quite different than yours, we don't get much heat :) We may or may not have freezing temps (colder than frost) between now and the end of the year.
You say shorts and tees in Nov and Dec, what about Jan and Feb, or after the solstice on Dec 21 (not that I sow that week, marking the beginning of winter, too darned busy).

"I know lots will germinate if I do it now.. will they be able to handle wintering over thru the colder months later? " Only maybe, I've had that happen and lost some seedlings to a sudden cold freezing storm - however usually there are more seeds in the container that will germinate later.

I lean towards sowing those things that need a chill to germinate (often after the holidays), then will sow those things that will germinate without a chill a couple of months later. If something freaky shows up in the weather forecast, I have less to move or protect. The only seeds I'm sowing now are those things that do best with a sequence of warm moist, then a cold chill, then warming again before they germinate. Sowing now is Fall sowing, not Winter sowing :)

Thanks to the both of you. Both great points too.

And yea, NOW would technically be fall sowing.. I just would like to get started on the more hardy plants like the Echinacea, Rudbeckias, Daisies, anything that seems to withstand the elements regardless here... I even thought of preparing some of the containers DRY and waiting to moisten the containers when it's closer to my usual time frame of sowing in Feb/March. I'm just trying to streamline the process and spread it out so that I have more time since doing it all in Feb/March is quite daunting... I can't seem to lessen my seed lists to sow..lol There's always 'just one more I've got to try!' :)

Morz ~ what you said about having some sprout then freeze is exactly what concerns me. We don't seem to have regular winter patterns (at least ones that make sense!) and it's very hard to know what to expect from one month to the next!

Gardenweed ~ all that COLD... brrrrrr!!!! I agree w/ you as well.. it's time for some experiments! I'll let ya know how it goes. :)

Thanks! I guess I'm just going to dive in and do it all sorts of ways this year and see how it all turns out.

~Wendy

I guess it's easier for those of us up here in the Klondike zones to follow the winter sowing creed and sow seeds starting on the solstice. My biggest challenge is keeping adequate notes to reference in subsequent years. If you can carve out time to document (+ photograph) what/when/how you do things, it's great information the next time winter sowing pops up on your To Do list.

Everything I documented Year One was helpful when it came time to start WS in Year Two. Now that Year Two is behind me, I have an even clearer picture in my head of where I want to go with my garden as well as how I can get there. Before winter sowing, it was all just a huge and intimidating puzzle. My little green acre has started to actually LOOK like something the past couple of years thanks to WS. Year Three is going to be amazingly, incredibly, astoundingly terrific (if [whispering] we don't have a drought )!