Too detailed for me. For me, Hollyhocks, coreopsis, foxglove, poppy, calendula, columbine, platy, snaps, maltese cross, lettuce, penstemon, rose campion, petunia, and chives are just fine started any time.

I didn't think calendula would make it this early. Does it germinate later or can it really take untold number of frosts?
Petunias, now that is surprising. I really must buy more soil.

Paula, thank you for sharing this info. Bakemom, are you saying I can wintersow my Laura Bush Petunias now?

I'm saying that I successfully winter sowed petunias early. Whether you want to sow them now depends on your comfort zone. Calendulas germinate when they are ready. Remember, they are self seeders for many people.

I am zone 5 too, and I'll have to agree with Bakemom that a few of the items on the list could be done earlier.

Lettuce - It's one of the very first things I sow, usually in January. They germinate mid March, and are planted out by late April. My last frost date is usually mid to late May.

Penstemon - most are hardy to zone 4, and should be fine sown as early as January

Petunia - last year was my first to try them from seed. WS in late Feb., germ. in late March, planted out by early May. They also survived way past the first frost in the fall.

On the Calendula, I sowed some as early as Feb. and some as late as May. They all germinated fine, but I did lose a few sprouts from some late freezes.

Thanks for sharing what worked for you!
Bonnie

THANKS paulan and everyone else! Now I'm concerned however. I've never WS'd before and until this thread understood it was ok to just start putting soil into "recycled things", pop any seeds I could get my hands on into the soil, cover them, label them and put them outside. Then they would come up when they were supposed to. QUESTION then: Does it really matter when I WS some stuff and put it outside? WHY? Help me understand?!!?! THANKS.

OK - easy question. There are a few annuals that will germinate easily and quickly in a freaky warm spell, but then are very sensitive to subsequent freezes and cold temps. For me, zinnias, cosmos, morning glories and marigolds get sown later - like in March. Perennials and hardy annuals are fine, and those seeds that germinate late can be sown anytime.

My own personal rules of thumb are these:
Perennials- I'll toss them in anytime.
Annuals that reseed IN MY ZONE I'll also do anytime.
Annuals that reseed in higher zones, I'll watch what the people in that zone do, and I'll follow suit in a 2-week increment depending on the zone they're in. For instance: I'm in Z5...if someone in Z6 is sowing something 'questionable-to-me' say in Mid Feb, I'll wait til end of Feb to sow that one. Likewise, if someone 2 zones higher is sowing something at a certain time, I'll follow suit FOUR weeks later...2 weeks difference per zone is what I typically use as my own guideline.
And the really sensitive stuff I look at germination time, and will sow it so that it won't sprout til my last frost date is cleared. Ie: 10-15 day germination I'll start 10-15 days BEFORE my last frost date (which is May 15 here), so I'll sow it on or about May 1st. Follow?

I pretty much do as Bakemom describes. Early, any time, for perennials and hardy annuals. I've had many perennials and cold hardy annuals like poppy, BBs, larkspur, snapdragons, and petunias sprout very early and survive even heavy freezes.

I hold off until closer to spring (around April) only for a few things with I know can sprout easily and are very sensitive to frost- zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, coleus and the like. These tend to sprout very quickly at the first sign of warmth (within days) and just do better if I wait until April.

Karen

Yep, that all makes good sense! Thanks for the prompt response. Seeds are in locally...this weekend WE START! WHOO HOO!

Okay here is my question. I'm trying to sow all my perennials first, then hardy annuals, then tender annuals late. If I lose some, I lose some. But my quesiton is hollyhocks. I have thousands to sow, and I need to know when for sure, as I NEED my hollyhocks and sure dont want to lose them. I live in northern z5... when do you all wintersow hollyhocks??

Thank you for posting this list!
It;s my first time winter sowing! So sad I have not seen it earlier...
I was so impatient, unfortunatelly I think I planted way too early ( late November, early December) I planted delphiniums, poppies, lupines, lovage, wormwood, snapdragons, aster,alysum and others.... Nothing sprouted yet,thank God. The containers are on a beach bed, covered in a foot of snow...
Do you think any of them will sprout? They had lots of freezing ad thawing before they became solid blocks of ice... too early planted, will they die from it?

I just remembered I also planted columbines, hollyhocks, dianthus, sweet william, and probably others that I can;t remember now, any of these will survive, or do I have to buy seeds again?

Votetrapper,
I highly doubt you'd lose any Hollyhock seedlings...those things have to be purposely killed to not produce for me. I've left them hanging around in a WSed container for a year and it still was alive for the following year. Those bad boys are hardy buggers. They are absolutely fine to sow now. Could be you'd get some blooms in the late summer, early fall (though not as big as they will be the following growing season).

Linda

This helped sooo much. thank you.

Tammy

Same here; I start hardy-to-me perennials and hardy annuals starting in December. Tender stuff I hold off until April-early May.

Paula...I just noticed in your list: Cerinthe and Shrimp Plant are the same :)

Voletrapper... my first year (2003-4) Hollyhocks, Delphinium and Foxglove germinated in early Feb and I had them planted out in the garden by the end of the month! I don't think you have anything to worry about LOL!

adiro, I think you will be fine with most of what you have already sown. I sowed delphinium and oriental poppy last year in Jan and the soil in their containers froze solid, plus, there was about an inch of water sitting in the containers on top of the frozen soil for about 2 weeks. The delphinium and poppy seeds sprouted fine and grew without any problems.

Lois in PA

Anybody wsow sunflowers?
Thanks
Audrey

I see now sorry! March! I will print and hang up that great list paulan70 posted!
Thanks
Audrey