I'm only going to guess they did not sprout this late, and while she will answer for herself - here's a few reasons in general....;)

Life gets in the way (like 49 days of guests from Europe this summer did for me)
We can't decide where to put them
We've decided where to put them, but there is something else there that needs to be moved and its blooming and would just be a crime to unearth it right then
We haven't yet removed yet another section of lawn to make space
We lost the tag and don't remember what it is - and are waiting for some kind of sign, like a flower, that will remind us how tall/wide, if sun or shade...
We might be moving or would like to move and plants would transport more easily in pots
We never did have a good place to plant them but just wanted to see if we could achieve germination...

I think Morz nailed it all, well, and that there's always something else to do. Especially if you've sown a bazillion flats and you've already planted a gazillion. A few years back I had a flat of hard hibiscus that didn't get planted until a year(!) after they sprouted. But they did great and they grew huge as a hedge and bloomed like mad. Last year it had gotten so big I dug them up and donated them to a charity sale.

It's always good to get your seedlings planted as soon as possible, but when you can't just move the flats into the shade and keep them moist--the perennials will wait, the annuals will bloom (poorly) in their WS flats. Experience is you best teacher--the most important thing with WS is that it should always be very low stress and sometimes getting flats planted late is part of that lowered stress. It happens and it's okay.

Tom - what they said. Plus, I like to let my WS perennials get some size to them before planting out. They didn't sprout late. I was planning to enlarge the free-form butterfly bed but didn't get to dig the sod until mid-September. Hurricane Irene and it's aftermath got in the way of garden chores, followed by Storm Alfred. You saw the photos of what that did to my little green acre. I spent today on clean-up same as I have the past 14. As I was picking up branches, I saw a spot where I could plant something so I grabbed my spading fork, gloves & trowel et voila! One less pot to overwinter inside the garage. It's not the spot I had planned but it's in the ground where it belongs and I can move it next year.

As I mentioned on docmom's thread, the soil is still workable this time of year, the sun is lower in the sky and the temperature is cooler. The plants are naturally going dormant with the fewer hours of daylight so planting them now isn't going to trigger a sudden growth spurt.

One other advantage to planting out this time of year is no bugs--no gnats, no mosquitoes, no bees or flies. Also, there's no need to wear a hat or only work where there's shade. As trudi said, "...the perennials will wait." If Santa Rosa Gardens is still shipping plants this far north, that's another vote for planting late in the season.

ok! now I see why. that all makes the picture come together! so its ok to let the perennials grow abit., But I would think the plant/plants in the gallon jug would need repotting to a larger container especially if there are more then 1 or 2 plants
I sure thank you all for clearing that up!
Tom

Tom - after seeing the results from year 1 of winter sowing, I ordered 1 gallon pots from an online supplier. I pot up my WS sprouts as soon as they've grown large enough to handle and let them grow a bit in the pots before planting out. Once they're in the ground or I've given them away to neighbors/family/friends, I stack the pots for the next season.

When I discovered winter sowing, the experts recommended that newbies sow seeds lightly. That's good information for some seed types (foxglove, butterfly bush) but doesn't work for all seeds (columbine). It's still trial-and-error for some of us with only a couple years of WS under our belts. You'll discover what works best for you after your first/second/third WS season.

My own 'growing on' pots aren't that big, I use 4x5" deep square pots for most perennials, shrubs, even some trees that I'm taking out of seed pots but not putting into the ground. I find those adequate for resulting rootballs for the first year, some trees being an exception.

Tom, you'll want to consider your own soil, weather too, in deciding when to plant out. My own soil is heavily amended and I'm adding more compost all the time, but still clay based and not always friendliest of tiniest roots so I'm rarely planting out at first true leaf stage like some will. You'll get a good feel for what is best for your gardens when you've had some experience with sprouts in your climate/site.

Morz8, all my planting beds are lasagna beds. they are very fluffy, deep, and rich. So maybe the young seedlings will love it. The lasagna beds also warm up quicker. I have made believers of my neighbors on lasagna gardening. I had tomatoes before anyone here and had tomatoes up until this past friday night when I pulled all the green ones, it got down to 26 degrees. I hope to make believers of the neighbors on WS, lol it is so funny that most all my neighbors are really cheering me on. I was wondering how to obtain the jugs and bottles. They are all saving them for me! I get sometimes as many as 20 to 25 gallon jugs at a time. I now have almost 135 gallon, lost count on the 2 liter bottles and about 30 juice bottles! So I better "get" it right! lol

You're going to do just fine - don't be concerned about the audience you have watching your initiation. Please keep asking questions, we're not going to let you make mistakes :) Or, will at least know how to correct any mistakes.

Your lasagna beds sound great. I only wish I'd spent more time on the soil when I first began planting perennial and shrub borders. And more time on design, on hardscape. On pleasing combinations. In other words, at some point I'd like a brand new garden, brand new beginning, a chance to start over with every thing I've learned over the years!

This year will be my 5th year winter-sowing, although I have 25 years of experience starting plants from seed.

My biggest problem is winter-sowing is so successful, that I have too many seedlings, and not enough beds, or haven't yet figured out where to plant them all! That is why some seedlings sit in the winter-sowing containers, or I pot them up into small pots or cups, until I can figure out where to plant them.

Believe it or not this past summer I finally planted some grasses that I had sowed in 2008! Eeek. They are doing fine though, loving it now that their roots are in the soil.

I find that one of the greatest joys of wintersowing is giving away my extra's to my friends and family who have supported my gardening habit over the years. They also make excellent trades for other's plants.
I sow in 44oz cups from my nearest gas station. They are clear so I can see the root growth. I put two inches of soil in and sow then later add soil till it is up to the top and I see the roots hit bottom. It is a very nice way to get some depth on those roots.

thats just one of the reasons I want to ws, I also want plants to take to the spring plant/seed swap in my area in may. I went to my 1st swap this past fall and made lots of new friends and received lots of plants. I didn't have any plants since this was my 1st yr at gardening, but I did manage to have some seed from some of my flowers. It made no difference to the people there, they would just come by my little table and either bring plants or ask me to come to their table and pick out what I wanted. So I am hoping that by WS I can repay their kindness to me this spring and also next fall. Also I will be able to help another "newbie" to get their start! And most important,WS will give me a chance to send seed packets to people on this forum and to any newbies here.other words to "spread" the seeds of beauty around to others.

later germination of perennials from our unusually cold, wet spring
then grouped them together to let plants root through to soil underneath so summer heat/drought wouldn't kill 'em
spread slug bait around jugs
fall planting is easier because you won't have water them while they establish
plus you have room in the garden beds for something new for next year