Hi Ianna!

Valentines Day is the day I start peppers, tomatoes - things that have to wait until frost is gone and are slower to grow. Except for WS; those are the first.

I have a 'seed calendar' that I record when I want to plant everything. Usually I plant with my schedule in mind so I will have time to take care of the seedlings and time to plant them out. I plant some seeds with the bloom time of the plant in mind as to when I want those flowers. I travel a lot in April and May, so I want to have as little as possible for DH to have to take care of.

Usually a seed pack will tell you how long a plant takes to flower. So I just go to the date I want blooms and count backwards! The worst thing that happens is when the seedlings are too big indoors and I have to pot them up or keep their stems (sweet peas) from tangling - what a time and space consuming mess that can be!

I'm in Zone 6-6b; sounds like I'm about a month ahead of you. Our safe planting date is mid-May. Mother's Day is a huge day for our nurseries; everyone wants to buy momma a hanging basket!

I start sweet peas indoors because I want to enjoy the flowers before my Cincinnati summer melts the poor things! Mostly though, what I plant indoors varies from year to year.

Am I rambling? I should have a cup of coffee before I sit down to my computer! I'm just jittery with the anticipation of spring!

Mickie

Hi Ianna - I have been trying to get back to this since you posted! lol. I spent the afternoon mucking out my plant room, and finally found my Journal. I ALWAYS start my seeds too soon, and my slips, roots, etc. too late. I am about to go through my seed file box. I am trying to be very frugal this year, and don't want to waste or leave seed too long. I have my plan for the year in my mind, and keen to get going - I need come spring to order a load of compost, to continue the outdoor garden expansion.
I have a lot of pelargonium slips started around Christmas - I don't think that there is a good or a bad time for them. I also have slips of purple heart, ivy, spider plants rooting in water that need to be transplanted. I need to figure out how to slip some hanging begonias, not that they are terribly wonderful, but to save a little money on my hanging baskets this year. The thing I find interesting is the comparison between plant out dates in this zone. Traditionally, north of the border, we plant out on the long Victoria Day weekend. South of the border, same zone, they plant out in the Memorial Day weekend, which is a week later. lol.

Seed I plan to start, sort of in order: Peppers, Tomatoes, okra(one more time), then cucs, squash, melons and pumpkins.
In the short term, I will try some WSing.

I cannot wait for spring!!!

Nancy.

I'll start the tomato & pepper seeds the first week of February. Dh put my cold frame together on Friday, so I'm all set.

Nancy, I've never grown okra. We don't even eat it, but I'm thinking about trying the red burgundy once I pull the tomato plants in mid July. I've heard the plants are gorgeous and don't get as big as the green variety.

All my perennials are already sown using the wintersowing method. I started back in October with shrubs and tree seeds. Hardy perennials went out this month. Annuals will go out in late February to mid March. I'm still trying to decide on my tomatoes. Last year I started them indoors on 2/8 and I had HUGE plants on April 12 when I planted out. I don't want to go through that ordeal again. And, with a trip planned in late February, I may just wait until I get back.

Tom, I've always started my tomatoes around the 20th of January with transplanting beginning around mid-March. Same thing as you ... they're huge by then. That's why I decided to wait a little later this year.

I`m envious. Last year, I started tomatoes in Feb. which was a mistake. It was another 4 months before I could bring them out. I`m going to have to wait till end of March this year. I also lost quite a few tomatoes because I tried hardening them far too fast. I work and so many times, the plants stayed out far too long. Maybe this year will be different.

I plan to concentrate on tomatoes this year. I have a number of heirloom to try out. I``m excited

I get John Scheeper's emails and a great one about seeds came today. I think you can find it on this site; and lots more!

Here is a link that might be useful: seed stuff

Ianna - which heirlooms will you grow? I have saved seeds for Brandywine (yum), yellow pear cherries (that just sounds wrong!!) and Oxhearts. Do you have any recommendations for bell/sweet peppers? I always crash and burn, whether I grow them or but the plants.

Nancy.

I'm going to try some heirloom tomatoes this year, just a couple of plants each of Cherokee Purple, Arbuznyi and Black Seaman, first time growing these three. For cherries, Snow White and Cheerio.
Half a dozen or so different heirloom pole beans, my Italians, Uncle Steve's, Barksdale, Insuk's Wang Kong, Oregon Giant, Cherokee Trail of Tears (main crop), Rattlesnake and haven't decide what else. I have a lot of different beans to try so will be growing single poles of most for the taste test. Two heirloom lettuce Croatian and Crisp Mint, might try some hot peppers in tubs, that way I can take them in the greenhouse if we have a cool summer. I'm also going to attempt Chinese Red Noodle and Pretzel beans in the greenhouse since these like the heat I don't know if this will work but they say nothing ventured nothing gained.

Going to try Montreal Melons again but will probably build a cold frame on top of a raised wooden planter DH built me last year. A couple of heirloom cucs Longfellow and Kaiser Alexander will find a home on the top of a couple of compost boxes, I have six :o).

Since I only have a couple of raised beds designated for veggies, I'll be planting a lot of the veggies amongst the flowers, well that's the plan so far, for this year, it could change.

Annette

...and now back to your question :o). I'll be starting my tomatoes in a couple of weeks in the house, then they'll be moved out to the greenhouse, grown and potted on until the weather permits. The beans some I'll start in the greenhouse in April and transplant out, others will be direct sowed late April. I'll direct sow the melons in april covering them with hot caps. Lettuce direct sow beginning of march. I'm in zone 8 PNW

Annette