I'm not a big flower person. I do start tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, onions and lettuce (Buttercrunch & Romaine), broccoli in mid March. I'll be trying enchinacea & rudbeckia to at that time. I have already winter sown quite a few of these (as well as some other flowers) too. Winter sowing can chase away some of those winter blues.

Also, take a look at www.wintersown.org

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing

Hi there Mr. Bill,
I also do wintersowing but I do start some of my more tender plant seeds about now mainly because I need some ready to bloom by the time they go outside (as soon as it warms up). I mainly garden for hummingbirds so early flowering is a must for me. The biggest problem with starting seeds early is that they tend to get leggy before they can be planted out but you can just keep pinching them back to help prevent the legginess. I also start quite a few plants from cuttings of plants that I have overwintered. Right now I have at least 15 Cupheas taking up lots of window space.

Penny

Thank you for the information. I can't beleive I have not found any information about this on the web before. I have had a veggie garden for years but never got into flowers & trees untill last year. I tell my freinds my motto is "garden big or go home". Last fall I planted over 3000 tulips. Can't remember how many iris roses daylily ect. I just bought 20 each 72 pellet trays for starting seeds si I guess I will use them this year and maybe try the WS as well. I will try and take some pics this spring.
regards Mr Bill

I forgot to mention that I tend to plant my seedlings much earlier than the recommended last frost date. If we have a sudden short lived cold snap or even snow, I just cover the plants with a flower pot, 1/2 of a two litre bottle etc. to protect them until it warms back up a bit. Also wintersown seedlings tend to be jusyt a bit hardier since they have been outside right from the beginning.

Penny