December 21st is usually good, or 2 -3 weeks later if you have a weirdly warm winter.

The big thing to watch with Zone 6 is that it takes a little while for the weather to truly settle into winter. You don't want to sow before steady cold weather starts or you could end up with a bunch of December seedlings and a wicked January.

If you sow in late December and January, you could have germination during February warm snaps - but usually by then the weather is starting to hover around the freezing mark. Hardy perennials and annuals will thrive on those temperatures and the occasion cold snaps after that time are generally for fairly short periods.

Ok. Guess I'd better quit planting cuttings of Crape myrtle and ROS and mandevillea I've already got them in dirt! Hopefully they will survive the winter. Thanks.

This time of year is fantastic for dividing mature hardy perennials in the warmer parts of zone 6. Not sure about cuttings, though. :)

***Oops - put the reply in the wrong thread*****

Alton Brown had a show a few years back with some incredible brussles sprouts recipes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to 4 recipes from Alton Brown

This post was edited by lgslgs on Sun, Oct 13, 13 at 12:33

Sorie6-
what are you planning to WS?
I only do annuals and this is what I've learned -
(altho I am now called 7a, I used to be 6b)

If I sow tender annuals, eg Salvias, too early, say in Feb,-

If we get a warm spell in Feb, which in NJ is not unusual - they will sprout, and then need to be protected during the cold snaps of Feb and March.

so now I wait til March to sow tender annuals..

I haven't decided for sure what all I'm going wto WS. Annuals for sure and no veggies. I'll just play it by ear and see what other folks suggests in our area. Thanks.

I've always started my winter sowing around the 21st, starting things that take longer first and sowing more of the easier to germinate ones after. I've winter sowed as late as end of january with great success. The biggest problem I've had here in STL is sometimes the containers get very warm even in March so you have to keep an eye on that.

I would definitely wait to sow any annuals until closer to spring, unless they are hardy annuals. I tend to wait until January to sow anything and then start with perennials that require cold stratification. I know I'm not in your zone, but the general guidelines still work.

Martha

Thanks everyone.

A new wannabe wintersower here after just a couple of hours of research this morning, I just want to clarify on the end here while the thread is fresh:

I'm in Maryland zone 7, and I've got the door open so the screen can let in the fresh breeze (it's a shamelessly sunny 66) after a couple of weeks of 40s with high 20s at night.

Can I go ahead and direct sow a few hundred poppy seeds as well as some pansy seeds now in my zone, and just tamp/rake them in to have blooms in spring?

Is there anything else I should watch out for?

Loves blooms,
Yes, direct sowing in your zone should work well. The poppies should do very well. I've not direct sown pansies, but I would think they would do fine as well.

Martha