For me, I wait until late February to sow. I'm in an apartment(townhouse type)and can't have a milk jug 'spread' next to the building. I also have to keep my containers tight up against the building due to shallow eaves and gutters that over flow when the storms start in the spring.
This year I started several types of tomatoes, bachelors buttons, red and blue salvia, hollyhocks, petunias and lupine. Doesn't sound like much, but I ended up with way too many tomato plants(gave away lots, but threw out lots, too). I garden mostly in containers so I have to keep plants to a minimum although I'm trying to start a guerrilla perennial patch on the edge of the property. HTH

How did your hollyhocks germinate with the WS? Did they turn out ok? I've never had bad luck getting HH's to grow by direct sow so maybe I should continue what I'm doing with those to keep them coming up. Thank you for your replY!!

I am not in zone 4 lol obviously. The basic concept is just that basic for all zones.

Wintersowing works great for things that need to be stratified that is for all zones. Seeds that need that are recommended for a cold frame. Seeds that need a cold period like, soak seed then place in fridge for 3 weeks. A few things to that come to my mind that are grown in your zone would be columbine, helebores, perennial sweet peas, delphiniums, lupine, the list goes on and on. The seeds that you can winter sow is not only on the grounds that it needs stratification or a chill period there are several more that is just the biggest one I personally hate to deal with.

There is also a lot of other benefits to winter sowing. Like the main one I can think of is that your plants are ready earlier to go in the ground. So instead of having to wait after your frost to plant your seeds, you can just plant it in the ground when your last frost passes. Also no need to harden off, no worries of damp off, also you don't have to worry about where the rain shoves your seed or if a critter takes off with it.

There is so much I could type up to explain or "sell" you on the idea but you know what Trudi already did all that. You can find all of the information under faq's. She also went through the trouble for people like me to see what plants can be winter sown and which ones can't per zone. Also you can check out the website wintersown.org for even more info including saving your own seeds.

Randi - did you see the helpful lists on the wintersown.org website of which plants do well for WS in which zones? I did a search for my zone and there were so many it made my head swim. You're in a colder zone than I am but you're not at the North Pole so there should be lots.

Another resource would be Hazzard's Greenhouse website. They have perennials listed alphabetically by botanical name. You can search for plants by name but they also added a feature where you can search for perennials by zone to see which ones are listed as hardy where you are. I pasted a link below. If you need help with botanical names, let me know & I'll help you make up a list.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hazzard's perennials zone 4-6

Welcome to the club Randi!

My garden and I are also in zone four in lovely Lake Wobegon, MN.

I've had great luck with many perennials (and like many others am currently obsessed with collecting seeds so our freezer is littered with baggies) and this year started annuals (calendula, bachelor buttons, marigolds, morning glories, petunias, and forget me nots) as well as a few vegetables (spinach and broccoli did great [I used 1/2 tolite paper rolls as seed pots and lined them up in planters which I covered with plastic wrap and sliced vents in] but I will be sprouting my snap peas and pole beans indoors this time around).

I started putting containers out in the snow last year in mid-January and kept adding through March.

I love wintersowing because I feel like I know my plants more intimately and feel more connected to my garden all year long.

This forum is encouraging because it reminds me that I'm not the only crazy gardener obsessing about collecting seeds Sept-Nov, collecting and organizing containers and supplies in Nov-Dec, already planting in Jan-March, compulsively checking the containers everyday in April and May, planting out my babies in May and June, and watching them grow like crazy July and August.

Have fun!

Welcome to the club Randi!

My garden and I are also in zone four in lovely Lake Wobegon, MN.

I've had great luck with many perennials (and like many others am currently obsessed with collecting seeds so our freezer is littered with baggies) and this year started annuals (calendula, bachelor buttons, marigolds, morning glories, petunias, and forget me nots) as well as a few vegetables (spinach and broccoli did great [I used 1/2 tolite paper rolls as seed pots and lined them up in planters which I covered with plastic wrap and sliced vents in] but I will be sprouting my snap peas and pole beans indoors this time around).

I started putting containers out in the snow last year in mid-January and kept adding through March.

I love wintersowing because I feel like I know my plants more intimately and feel more connected to my garden all year long.

This forum is encouraging because it reminds me that I'm not the only crazy gardener obsessing about collecting seeds Sept-Nov, collecting and organizing containers and supplies in Nov-Dec, already planting in Jan-March, compulsively checking the containers everyday in April and May, planting out my babies in May and June, and watching them grow like crazy July and August.

Have fun!

I started early January with native perennials that needed cold stratification, like asters, blazing star, bee balm, and others. I continued doing a few containers every week or so through February. In March, I started some annuals including alyssum and nicotiana. I also started cool weather vegetables such as lettuce, kale, and broccoli. I continued sowing perennials too, things hardy to zone 4 but that didn't need a cold period for germination.

Last March/April was unusually warm here though, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get as early a start on my annuals and vegetables next year.