|
| Last winter was my first wintersowing season and I was pleasantly surprised with my success. With my newbie pack and my own purchases, I had great luck with all of the items below. I have to admit that I was surprised how well the annuals did and I will definitely do more petunia, zinnia and cosmos. What is everyone else planting? Have you all started to make your wishlists yet? I need ideas!
2012 Successes:
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by ladyrose65 6bNJ (My Page) on Mon, Nov 19, 12 at 21:54
| Beautiful pictures. I am really going to work hard on perennials this season. At least I think I stopped buying for the season. You must tell me how you got the salvia to grow? I've tried packs of seeds, they get to a certain height and go blip? |
|
| @ladyrose65, I just got lucky with the salvia because I didn't do anything special at all. Maybe it was the variety or because we had a mild winter down here. Anyways, it is still looking good right now. |
|
| Katy Bug, Did you repeat both Zinnias and Dianthus on your list by accident, or are those seeds you really really want? LOL I just put in an order to Swallowtail Seeds. I've become addicted to Coleus plants and they have a wonderful selection. I also added some other annuals and perennials to help fill my new, larger sunny beds. I can't remember everything, but I got some scabiosa, salvia, rock cress, ageratum, and other stuff the butterflies like. Your list looks like an excellent start for a second year winter sower. I've grown many of those plants and they all did well. Happy sowing. Martha |
|
| Hi Martha, the zinnia and dianthus are listed twice because they I planted 2 different varieties last year. That was my list from my 1st year wintersowing. I need to start making my list for this coming year. I have never tried coleus from seed before. |
|
| I grew coleus from seed under lights last winter. I think I sowed them too thickly and kept them too moist, because I got a heavy layer of green algae-like stuff growing on the surface of the containers. Some containers germinated wonderfully and other not at all. I ended up tossing the whole kit and kabuddle (did I spell that correctly?) LOL I'm going to try again, but with much smaller containers and just a few carefully sprinkled seeds. As far as my wish list, I'm looking for purples, blues, whites and pinks. I go back and forth between soft, pastels and hot reds and yellows. But this year I'm trying to fill in my purple bed. I have allowed some whites and pinks to sneak into the area, but I have an entire bed on the other side of the drive which will be exclusively warmer colors. I'm planting both annuals (for quick color) and perennials as an investment in the future. I'm hoping to be in this yard for many more years, and I want to make it into my haven away from the world. Have a great day! Martha |
|
- Posted by girlgroupgirl 8 ATL (My Page) on Sat, Dec 1, 12 at 10:49
| I've had some trouble WS a wide variety of perennials the last few years. So my annuals list as grown, so many interesting annuals, and loads of herbs (as always). Basil: Hairy Lemon plus my usual load of veggies & fruits! |
|
| Girlgroup, Do you grow the nettles for butterfly host plants? I had a patch of it at my prior home, and it reseeded itself pretty easily. I never collected seeds, and don't think I would want to try, since I really dislike the "sting". I think I saw some nettles in my new wooded back area. Maybe I'll search them out and try to encourage more growth for my butterflies. Martha |
|
| I do have some seeds headed my way, but other than that, I haven't done much shopping or prep work for this year's WS. Like Martha, I like anything that attracts butterflies. The ones that have sprouted for me include: Common, Swamp, and Tropical Milkweed Good luck! Happy sowing! Brad AKA Moonwolf |
|
- Posted by ladyrose65 6bNJ (My Page) on Mon, Dec 3, 12 at 17:55
| Brad, what is your take on Rue, does it attract Swallowtail cat's. The plant looks like an invasive weed. I am skeptical about planting it. |
|
| Ladyrose65, I've had better luck with fennel and dill attracting Swallowtails than Rue. But, I'm hoping to get some Giants, and they need Rue or Hops or citrus, I think. So, I keep some Rue around as well. Golden Alexander is also supposed to be good for Swallowtails, but that one was very weedy and invasive, and didn't attract anything that I was aware of. Martha |
|
- Posted by ladyrose65 6bNJ (My Page) on Tue, Dec 11, 12 at 23:06
| Thanks Docmom, I bought the Fennel, Dill, Anise, Lovage, and Borage. I think Borage can be invasive, I'm going to plant it near the woods. |
|
| Ladyrose, so sorry for the wait to respond to you. It's been hectic getting things ready for Christmas and I've been forgetting to check on here lately. THank you, Martha, for responding! I hardly noticked any buttterfly activity on my Rue (or Dill for that matter), I have it planted right next to my Butterfly Bush. I will have to try Lovage again. Bronze Fennel germinated very well for me, but I gave it away. The Swallowtails around here have LOTS of Queen Anne's Lace to lay their eggs on, so maybe that's why I don't see any egg laying ST's on my plants. Monarchs did lay eggs on my common milkweed though :-). Brad AKA Moonwolf |
|
| This photo was taken several years ago.
I have to winter sow more rue this year. My plants are old and woody. I gathered seeds from my sister's rue plants. One plant had 10 black swallowtail cats on it. Two years ago I had six parsley plants. In the Fall I went out to the garden to cut the parsley to dehydrate it and there was nothing to cut off. The plants had black swallowtail cats eating the plants.
Don |
|
- Posted by ladyrose65 6bNJ (My Page) on Sun, Dec 16, 12 at 16:30
| Wow! Thanks Don for the pictures. I think I'm more excited about WSing the herbs than my flowers. We get a lot of Monarchs. I hope to attract the swallowtails this summer. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Winter Sowing Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.