A few days ago I took a walk at a nature center with my husband and seeing all the native plants going to seed reminded me that it's important to sow plants that thrive here, but to not sow plants that might be invasive. We need to use some wisdom and not get carried away with the compulsive urge to sow every seed we can find. ;-O It is important to remember that Winter Sowing really is all about watching and following Mother Nature--not just the cycles of the season, but keeping my eyes open for what is growing in my area.

In response to this I made a few webpages over the weekend to help maintain this concept. There are several WS forums, blogs and discussions popping up across the internet and it's vital to the WS movement that we don't ever become a venue for spreading invasives--that would not be good at all, no no no. The first page has some common sense advice, but most important, at the base of the page are some good links for reference. The second page is a table of North American Links for depts of natural resources, state and province parks, and museums of natural history. All of these links will be regional starting points where WSers can learn more about their native environment, geology, weather patterns, etc so they can begin sowing plants that are beneficial and most importanty, so they can sow plants which are not harmful to our local ecological systems.

Observing the Natural Environment

Observing the Natural Environment Link Table