Beautiful pictures. I am really going to work hard on perennials this season. At least I think I stopped buying for the season.

You must tell me how you got the salvia to grow? I've tried packs of seeds, they get to a certain height and go blip?

@ladyrose65, I just got lucky with the salvia because I didn't do anything special at all. Maybe it was the variety or because we had a mild winter down here. Anyways, it is still looking good right now.

Katy Bug,
Did you repeat both Zinnias and Dianthus on your list by accident, or are those seeds you really really want? LOL

I just put in an order to Swallowtail Seeds. I've become addicted to Coleus plants and they have a wonderful selection. I also added some other annuals and perennials to help fill my new, larger sunny beds. I can't remember everything, but I got some scabiosa, salvia, rock cress, ageratum, and other stuff the butterflies like. Your list looks like an excellent start for a second year winter sower. I've grown many of those plants and they all did well. Happy sowing.

Martha

Hi Martha,
the zinnia and dianthus are listed twice because they I planted 2 different varieties last year. That was my list from my 1st year wintersowing. I need to start making my list for this coming year. I have never tried coleus from seed before.

I grew coleus from seed under lights last winter. I think I sowed them too thickly and kept them too moist, because I got a heavy layer of green algae-like stuff growing on the surface of the containers. Some containers germinated wonderfully and other not at all. I ended up tossing the whole kit and kabuddle (did I spell that correctly?) LOL I'm going to try again, but with much smaller containers and just a few carefully sprinkled seeds.

As far as my wish list, I'm looking for purples, blues, whites and pinks. I go back and forth between soft, pastels and hot reds and yellows. But this year I'm trying to fill in my purple bed. I have allowed some whites and pinks to sneak into the area, but I have an entire bed on the other side of the drive which will be exclusively warmer colors. I'm planting both annuals (for quick color) and perennials as an investment in the future. I'm hoping to be in this yard for many more years, and I want to make it into my haven away from the world. Have a great day!

Martha

I've had some trouble WS a wide variety of perennials the last few years. So my annuals list as grown, so many interesting annuals, and loads of herbs (as always).

Basil: Hairy Lemon
Stinging nettles (they are hard to find here in the city)!
plume & cockscolm celiosia
pink cardinal climber vine
polyheaded sunflowers
I've got loads of seed from last years ws successes to start to:
vining petunias
moonvine
gomphrena
strawflowers
eyeless eyeball plant

plus my usual load of veggies & fruits!

Girlgroup,
Do you grow the nettles for butterfly host plants? I had a patch of it at my prior home, and it reseeded itself pretty easily. I never collected seeds, and don't think I would want to try, since I really dislike the "sting". I think I saw some nettles in my new wooded back area. Maybe I'll search them out and try to encourage more growth for my butterflies.

Martha

I do have some seeds headed my way, but other than that, I haven't done much shopping or prep work for this year's WS. Like Martha, I like anything that attracts butterflies. The ones that have sprouted for me include:

Common, Swamp, and Tropical Milkweed
Butterfly Weed
Bronze Fennel
Rue
Parsley
Zinnias
Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia)
Verbena bonariensis
Phlox

Good luck! Happy sowing!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad, what is your take on Rue, does it attract Swallowtail cat's. The plant looks like an invasive weed. I am skeptical about planting it.

Ladyrose65,
I've had better luck with fennel and dill attracting Swallowtails than Rue. But, I'm hoping to get some Giants, and they need Rue or Hops or citrus, I think. So, I keep some Rue around as well. Golden Alexander is also supposed to be good for Swallowtails, but that one was very weedy and invasive, and didn't attract anything that I was aware of.

Martha

Thanks Docmom, I bought the Fennel, Dill, Anise, Lovage, and Borage. I think Borage can be invasive, I'm going to plant it near the woods.

Ladyrose, so sorry for the wait to respond to you. It's been hectic getting things ready for Christmas and I've been forgetting to check on here lately. THank you, Martha, for responding!

I hardly noticked any buttterfly activity on my Rue (or Dill for that matter), I have it planted right next to my Butterfly Bush. I will have to try Lovage again. Bronze Fennel germinated very well for me, but I gave it away. The Swallowtails around here have LOTS of Queen Anne's Lace to lay their eggs on, so maybe that's why I don't see any egg laying ST's on my plants. Monarchs did lay eggs on my common milkweed though :-).

Brad AKA Moonwolf

This photo was taken several years ago.

{{gwi:446336}}

I have to winter sow more rue this year. My plants are old and woody. I gathered seeds from my sister's rue plants. One plant had 10 black swallowtail cats on it.

Two years ago I had six parsley plants. In the Fall I went out to the garden to cut the parsley to dehydrate it and there was nothing to cut off. The plants had black swallowtail cats eating the plants.

{{gwi:446338}}

Don

Wow! Thanks Don for the pictures. I think I'm more excited about WSing the herbs than my flowers. We get a lot of Monarchs. I hope to attract the swallowtails this summer.