Hi, beachgrub. I am a 'lurker' also. Like you, I got tired of starting seeds indoors and have been winter sowing for a couple of years. I enjoy growing herbs and veggies to share with family and neighbors as well as having lots of flowers to cut. Sitting in the garden swing is my favorite thing to do and I can watch my little seedlings grow up, show off and make more seeds! What have you sown in your 82 containers? I mostly have herbs and lettuces for now.

A warm welcome to both of you! I have the same story..... 2 years ago tried growing indoors with minimal success and way too much work for the results. Last year was my first year ws'ing and the results are INCREDIBLE with way less work!

BTW my garden swing is my favorite spot too! Lol. I may splurge on a second swing this year to have one in front of my house and one in the back to enjoy all my gardens. My kids love to sit and snuggle with me too so it makes it extra special!

Again... WELCOME!! Folks on here are the nicest, most helpful people you'll ever meet! :)

Welcome y'all! I always killed indoor seeds, and with DH that has asthma we cant have live plants inside anyway. I thought I was at the mercy of the garden centers. Other folks talked about all the great varieties of veggie and flowers they grow...I imagined all the $ they must spend at the gc.

They told me about seed saving, swaps and, of course, winter sowing. I am hooked! Lol....I'm not even through my first season yet.

The folks here are a wealth of info and very kind.

Hi everyone, welcome..like most of you Ive killed my fair share of seedlings and plants, last year was my 1st year with a really good outcome so don't give up..Tracy, I have asthma as well but I don't have problems with flowers or plants in the house..if I had that problem it would probably kill me because I must have my plants, its my zen..does he do an inhaler or shots..Im so curious about this because most plants produce oxygen.

I've sown shasta daisies, bellflower (purple), snow in summer, pansies, gold dust alyssum, and creeping thyme so far. Have MANY more to do! I have a purple/yellow/white theme going here and will do mixed colors in hanging baskets. I also thought i was at the mercy of the nursery prices and it's always like pulling teeth to get DH to fork over some dough in the spring! Lol
Since we live on a beach our house is "the spot" for family get togethers so i loooove having over flowing baskets and gardens to show off. Going for mini-paradise here! Haha
i'm going to try veggies starting in march i think, have a great spot for them and if i succeed it'll come in handy for all the bbq's and picnics. Still not confident as last year i started 20 tomato plants and lost all but 1 and that 1 only produced 1 tomato!! -.- kids and hubby won't let me live that down!

Jodie74, when u say "incredible" what exactly do u mean? Like more than 50% of your containers sprouted or what? It's so hard not to get my hopes up but i'm daydreaming about flower topia hearing everyone rave about WS! please share your success story!

Beachgrub,
50%????? Are you kidding? I'm not happy if I don't get 80% or better, and I'm being conservative. I also don't plant things that are known to be difficult, but there aren't very many of those, really. You guys are going to be amazed! It's so fun.

Martha

I can't stand this suspence! LOL I'll be shouting from the mountain tops if i get 80%. :D

Welcome to both of you!

This is my second year of Winter Sowing and my total number of containers right now is 34. I'll be adding six more here soon once I get more soil. Right now, I'm planting just flowers, trying to finish up all my perennials before starting the annuals. Most of the flowers I'm growing are for the butterflies, both host plants and nectar plants. Last year was a huge success and I can only say the butterflies will be swarming at my place this spring and summer :).

Happy sowing to both of you! If you need seeds, just ask!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Last year was my first time to WS.
I had greater than 90% germ :)
~Happy Sowing~

PlantmastrM - The hubby does inhalers for his asthma, with the indoor plants I think its more the dirt that attracts moss and mold. Mold really seems to affect him. And of course the pollen, I've tried to bring all kinds of cut bouquets and living houseplants in and he has a flair. We dont even open our windows b/c of the outdoor triggers. I really miss the fresh air blowing through the house, I think thats why I enjoy the gardening so much. And he is extremely flexible with whatever I want to plant or do to the yard, its our compromise. :-)

Beachgrub, I love the sound of the "gold dust alyssum"! I have a spot picked out for some already, but I've only seen white, of course, and purple. I will be looking that one up!

I went out today and found 5 more of my pots sprouted. I worry about the weather and will be researching their hardiness.

I made a big rookie mistake....I planted 100+ pots without a clear understanding of hardiness and tenders...somehow I knew it was too soon for the veggies though. One smart thing I did was not to plant all the seeds, only half or less, so it will work out, ill replant if necessary.

TracyOKC, our weather up here in the northwest is often up and down. It's not unusual for us to get a heavy snow and freeze in late March and early April (I live in the mountains) so I always move my sprouted containers to one area and cover them with a layer or two of row cover when extreme cold is predicted, how much depends on how cold it's expected to get. The ones that aren't sprouted stay exposed to whatever Mother Nature has in store for them. I lose very few, and for the most part they come through very well. By the way, welcome to all the newcomers. The people on this forum are just the best - always willing to give help (and seeds, too, sometimes!). I think you will really enjoy it.