I'm not sure of the answer, but I'd try it if I were you.

If you do decide to try it, put them on the cool side of the house....north, or under trees or something. Take a serious look at the way water will enter and leave the jugs. Make sure there are ample holes for both.

Lime

Connie: Hardy annuals (like bachelor buttons and poppies) and perennials (like echinaces, butterfly weed, columbine) should be fine as long as they get ample moisture and drainage as Lime mentioned. They definitely need no babysitter. Some of them need the winter's cold strat time. Some of these can sprout in cooler temperatures, and do just fine on their own in their containers.

While I've never gardened as far north as you are, in my zone 6 I don't even think about sowing tender annuals (think zinnias and impatiens) until mid March or so. Most I did in early April last year. If you get an oddball early warm spell they can germinate only to suffer a late spring deep freeze like we had last Easter weekend. They then benefit from a little human intervention, like throwing a blanket over them. So it might be better to sow them after you return, or at least save a few seeds for a possible later sowing.

Some you just will come to know you can do anytime. These are some of the ones that reseed themselves and come up as volunteers in future years. A few of these, at least for me are verbena bonariensis, rudbeckia, hollyhock, petunia, snapdragon. They're always OK, as long as they have moisture and drainage, and they're not TOO hot, they don't seem to care about the temps. They'll take warmth, they take some frost.

Also, if sown very early, some large seeds (like 4 o'clocks, moonflower vine) can rot over time. I don't sow them until March or April.

You'll come to find what works for you in your own zone, and it helps to follow what the expert wintersowers here on the forum in your zone are doing and sowing as the season progresses.

Karen

Connie,

You can sow the seeds which require stratification, or are hardy perennials, or reseeding annuals before you leave. Then save the rest for when you come back.

Although I am a zone 5/6, I will sow all others late in March. Tender annuals are sown even later. Our last frost date is the end of April and I guide myself by that time-line. I usually don't start wsing until after Valentine's day anyway and it's worked just fine for the last 5 years.

If you are still getting 'winter' weather in the time period after you come back, you can even do most of it then. Winter sowing doesn't have to be done in the dead of winter, so go and enjoy your time down south and then come back and get busy!! :O)

Thanks for the knowledge all of you shared. I will wait till I get home to sow the tender ones and all I question.

Connie

PS: Just what kinds do you sow after Dec 21 then besides perennials?

Check out germination database Tom CLothier. If it says short viable, need long time 5 C, takes several months, etc- they probably good candidates to start early- aconitums, hellebore, clematis most go under this group.

It's zone 5b-6a (more 6a than 5b) here and I don't start any tenders until April-May. Perennials AND hardy annuals I start in December. We are still getting freezes thru the month of April so I can't imagine too much is going to even have germinated by March in zone 4-5. My containers stay in full sun all winter thru at least mid May when I start giving afternoon shade to not-germinated containers. Sprouted hardy annuals and perennials are usually uncovered at this time.