Hello Heather,

I am not in Zone 3 but Lisianthus is very slow growing from seed. I think it could be winter sown in Zone 3 but it takes about 7 months from seed to bloom even if it's started indoors. Usually you need to start the seed indoors in November or December to get blooms in summer. I suppose that you could winter sow it and grow it on but you would need to bring the plants indoors before frost as they would probably not survive the winter.