Last year was my first year wintersowing so I can just tell you my experience. Last year by end of April, I already had flowers on my allysum, and flower buds on 4 or 5 other things that were already getting ready to bloom. Each zone is different, and each winter is different, but if I had direct sown what I had wintersown, there is no way that I would have as many flowers as soon as I did. Good luck, and hopefully some vets will be able to answer your specific flower questions.

Hi Daniella, I recognize you from the Brug forum! This will be my first year wintersowing too! I don't think lizzy is wintersown.You could always try a couple of seeds. Here's a link that might be helpful.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/seed/msg121311467081.html
Theresa

Daniella,

Will these seeds germinate earlier than if direct sowed? In my experience, yes and sometimes no. They will certainly not germinate later and you will certainly know where they are. When you direct sow, the rain can washed the seeds away, the bird will eat some seed, and the wind can take your seeds to other gardens. In the garden, there is more ground to thaw, but your containers' soil will thaw out a bit earlier and along with the lid of the container will create a warmer environment for your seeds to germinate slightly earlier.

By the time I direct sow, will I already have starter plants like at the nursery? You will have plants, but they will not be as big as those at the nursery. You will, however have an advantage - your plants will be stronger and will not succumb to a slight frost since they have germinated when they were intended to and not when they were placed inside under lights and above heat. They will also catch-up fairly quickly and be more robust.

Will you have small plants by April/May with this method? I'm not sure where you are located, but in my zone 5b/6a, at that time the seeds are starting to germinate like crazy. Others in the same zone at the same time have been reporting germination well ahead. So even in different zones, seeds will behave differently. Usually, if I see germination starting in Massachussets (which is similar to my zone), I know my seeds will start about 2 to 3 weeks behind them. I am located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

I can't answer for the Lisianthus, but for me, I would try some inside and some by winter sowing since they are annuals. Again, I'm not familiar with this plant.

For the Myrtle, you can winter sow since you state it is a perennial.

One last thing... We all welcome questions on this forum because we all remember jumping into winter sowing and the anxiety it created the first year. We also remember the first sprouts and the squeals of joy at their sight. If you have any doubts about any seeds, you might like to start a couple indoors and the rest out. I don't have an indoor set-up or a greenhouse. At this point, even if I did, they'd probably be for sale on ebay. :O)

Here's a sample of what you can grow. All the flowering plants in this photo were winter sown...

{{gwi:282164}}

....and that's not the half of it!! Tiffy is being too modest LOL!

Found this info regarding Lisianthus.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisianthus

Tiffy gives some good answers above to your general questions.

Regarding the lisianthus... I WSed some last year, pretty much just bought the seed because I always wanted to try them, and never gave a second thought as to whether WSing would be the way to go... or not.

AFTER putting them out in their containers, I started to see references to them being difficult, touchy, and possibly not good candidates for WSing, for one reason being that they would bloom too late.

Well, I had quite good germination. They grew quite slowly, although I did neglect them. In July they were still in their milk jugs in part shade! By the end of July I finally potted them in a big pots in full sun.

I got my first bloom on September12th. Yes, a bit later than I would have liked, but they bloomed well into November when they were finally hit by the frost.

Kind of a washed-out picture of one of the pots:
{{gwi:453101}}

I'll definitely WS them again, although I will try blue this year too. I didn't like how brown the centers were on the pink ones, but other than that I was very pleased with my WSing results on these.

:)
Dee

Hi Daniella, i've grown Lisianthus, I started them under lights on heat in the end of Dec. they sprouted in Jan. and did not bloom until mid summer (end of Julyish) beautiful but take a really long time. I personally would not wintersow these unless you live in Texas ;-)

Welcome to our forum, Please don't feel as though any question is to silly to ask, as Tiffy said we've all been there and just think your question will help other newbies as well.
Best Wishes,
Wendey

Hey there, Threas..we can go thru this together then, both being winter-sowing virgins and all, lol!! Glad to see you here!

Tiffy, Vera, Dee, Wendey..thank you all very much. Well, I don't know how well I did at my first try, but I did some Rose Of Sharon Tree seeds today. Only did 10. Used an Ocean Spray juice bottle, It's clear..layed it sideways, cut like a flip top, only place that wasn't cut was the spout. Made top n bottom holes..filled with soil, and plopped them seeds in there, which I just collected this morn, lol. I Wet it down, I hope enough..then taped the sides together and layed it in a flower bed which is fenced in right now due to my puppy. I know it will be safe there..I looked at it 3 times already..why? I dont know..miracle sprouts? lmao!!
I also started some inside to have an overall comparison. I'll probably lose my notes. I have so many notebooks anymore, I dont know where half my stuff is. I had to use Priority Mail Tape because a certain 8 yr old girl in my house is obsessed with tape, and every kind of tape but that one is missing. I just got the PM tape back a couple weeks ago, that child! lol.

Thank you very much about the Lisianthus..and the links..will check them out. I think I may experiment with a couple outside, and the rest inside. I need to find another container or 2..Our recycling just went out Friday. Figures, I need garbage right after they take it, lol. I should have taken a pic of my first attempt..its getting dark now..I will take one tomorrow and post it.

Threas, I wanna see pics from you too when you do your first!!

Tiffy..Beautiful flowers, O I loooong for spring.

How often should I check the moisture in the containers?
OK so tomorrow I do Lisianthus and Crapes..half inside half out..next winter hopefully I'll have the guts to put em all out, lol.

Thank you all very much!
Daniella

Daniella, I'm not sure how well you soaked your container of soil, heres what I do... Fill container with at least 3 inches of soil, put the container in the sink on a cookie rack, water with warm water until it is soaking wet, let drain until i can pick it up and its not hardly dripping approx. 10 to 15 mins, put it on a cookie sheet so if it drains some it wont get on my table, sprinkle seeds on soil, sometimes I add a dusting of soil but only on the bigger seeds and seeds that need darkness, spritz with spray bottle, tape the lid on and put out doors. I usually don't worry about water til spring, you'll be able to see condensation on the inside of container which indicates moisture. Your soil should resemble a course brownie mix.

About obtaining containers, you can go out on the night before trash & recycle pick up and raid the recycle bins for milk jugs!
Hope this helps :-)
Wendey

Dee, thats awesome!!

Daniella, I picked up on the same thing in your post that Wendey did - wetting your soil. I do almost exactly the same thing as Wendey - wet down the soil with warm water and let the containers drain in the sink for about 15 minutes, and I also use the cookie sheet, both to hold the jugs while I'm sowing and to carry them outside so they don't drip on my carpet. I'd say about 99% of the time I don't bother with covering the seeds or re-wetting, but I also admit to completely ignoring any directions on the seed packets!

As far as checking for moisture, as Wendey said, for the most part you don't have to worry about it until spring and/or warmer temperatures arrive.

Wendey, it's so funny what you say about recyling-night container runs. There is a house down the street that has out about a dozen milk jugs every single recycling night! I thought *I* drank a lot of milk, lol! And, to make it nice and easy, they are all tied together with a string. All I would have to do is stop the car, grab the string, and run! But I haven't been able to make the move yet. As if my natural wimpiness weren't enough to stop me, this is the house where a very ornery old man lives, one who has been known to throw rocks through his next door neighbor's windows - police involved and everything. I keep imagining him running after me throwing rocks when I run off with his milk jugs, lol!

So, in the meantime, I just drive by the house every Wednesday evening looking longingly at that pile of milk jugs...

:)
Dee

lmao Dee...do it at 2 am!! He'll def be passed out. I am pretty sure it's illegal to do that here, ridiculous huh? I'll just save mine up and see what I can get from people I know. I can't believe I am gonna ask for peoples empty milk jugs, lol.

I think I wet the soil enuf..I did this all on my back porch today. I had a big spray bottle full of water that I use to water my indoor plants. I almost emptied that into the container..by spraying because I didnt want to makes holes in the soil. Yeah, my hand hurt like heck, lol. then I also put a dusting of soil over that to cover the seeds, and misted again, with what was left in the bottle till it had puddles. There was water dripping out the bottom holes, but not pouring out.

O geez, I didnt even think about if the seeds need light to germinate or if I should cover them up. I think Rose Of Sharon Tree seeds need to be covered..but now I am second guessing. I'll have to look that up.

Dee, still lol thinkin bout U with milk jugs on a string runnin for it, jugs flying out the window, hittin the car..you'd wake the whole street!! LOL

Daniella

Most local Day Care Centers have tons of them if you pick up daily. They usually don't want them setting around but if you are willing to pick up you can can 10 or so a day depending on the size of the center.

Dee, ROTFLMBO...................I can just see it!

I haven't actually ever done it but i know many of our wonderful group who do. I rather like using lasagne pans with lids and fill them with zip lock squares and other things when I run out of jugs.

Good luck Daniella ;-)
Wendey

Daniella: I wet the potting mix first, before filling the milk jug. I dump it in a different bin or bucket, run water from the faucet, mix and stir well so there are no dry pockets. After completely wet, I fill the milk jug with the wet potting mix and let drain. That way I'm certain that there are no dry pockets in there.

Karen

Geez, you guys are making me laugh at myself, lol! I guess the image is funnier than I thought!

Now the only thing that I can think of is that store commercial (can't remember which store, darn it!) where the woman checks out and thinks the cashier has made a mistake because she got such a good deal. So she runs out to the parking lot screaming to her husband "Start the car! Start the car!" and makes a quick get-away.

Maybe that's what I need... a get-away driver, lol! Or better yet, I can be the driver and make someone else get out of the car - let them be the ones that the rocks get thrown at, lol, and on top of it, the neighbor won't know it was me, lol!

:)
Dee

It's IKEA, lol..my mother and I were just talking about that commercial yesterday!
lmao, get an unsuspecting kid!!
I tried to get my son one time to help me borrow some seeds, lol. He said no, he didnt want me turning him into a criminal!! He was 10 at the time..IT WAS SEEDS!! lmao

Hey, I don't see any humor here. I'm always asking my husband to drive the getaway car when I go out collecting other people's leaves on garbage night. A lot more garbage bags would fit in his Cadillac than in my little Honda. He always flatly refuses. I think he finds my stealing little milk jugs from recycle bins pretty tame by comparison to giant construction bags full of leaves. Sometimes that little Honda is so stuffed I can hardly turn the steering wheel.

Honestly, he is such a perfect husband, if only I could train him to steal garbage. Twenty eight years and counting, I'm still working at it. In this respect he finds me a complete embarrassment.

Karen

"...In this respect he finds me a complete embarrassment..."

LOL, Karen, that's how my kids think of me, I think! They tense up every time we pass that house and the recycling is outside, lol!

Daniella, I thought it was IKEA. As a matter of fact, I had typed IKEA in my post, but then thought better of it because I think of IKEA as a furniture store and the woman was running with bags - not furniture, lol. From now on, I will always have that image in my mind every time I pass that house!

Thanks for the chuckles, guys!
:)
Dee

In Canada, the commmercial with the woman running with bags is for Best Buy. I love that commercial!! :) I laugh every time I see it.

GG, Maybe your right.. Whatever store it is, its funny..and its Dee!!

Karen..keep workin on him, lol. You need a truck!! I love mine, dont know what I'd do without it. I got my leaf bags this year from my daughters elementary school down the street. I asked the janitor, and he looked at me like I had 6 heads. I explained why I wanted them, and he still thought I was nuts, lol. But he said I could take em, so I did.

The milk jug and leaf posts remind me of something that occured here this fall. I had picked up a couple pickup truck loads of bagged leaves and tossed them over the alley fence into my garden. Even neighbors hollow at me asking if I need more leaves. Sure toss em over which they do. So Garbage man comes by with yard waste truck, stops outside my fenced in garden, looks at me in back yard, questiongly, I shake my head NO. so he shrugs his sholders and drives on down an empty alley. More I thought about it maybe I should have asked him for the baqgs he had on his truck??? HaHa. jim

Yeah, ya should have!! Now you know for next time, lol. I dont know if he actually would have given them though. Alot of towns use that to make their own compost. We're not allowed here to take the leaf bags that are out for the truck..that's why I asked at the school.