Well, tropicals don't WS well. Some annuals and many vegetables will do better either late WS, or earliest Spring WS...if that makes sense to you.

Many trees, shrubs, perennials and some annuals are great candidates for sowing now. A few of those will germinate best if given a warm moist period first, those few you'll find germination higher with if you sow in Fall (obviously too late for that) or keep them sown indoors for a period of days/weeks before putting them outside.

Do you remember which did not do well for you - we could tell you if typical or 'just one of those years'....? Or do you have a list of things you'd like specific experiences with this year?

Only infrequently are seeds wasted by putting out in winter conditions. While some types may be lost, most will just wait until conditions are right to germinate - with perennials/trees/shrubs, that could even be a year or more.

This is my second year at WSing. Morz is right. Annuals and Vegetables March and April.

Did you have trouble with Delphiniums, Larkspur or Columbines. Those are the perennial's that did not do well for met.

I don't think you gain anything with winter sowing annual flowers and vegetables needing only warm temps to germinate. These germinate in about a week or so anyway. It would be unnecessary work so I would simply wait for warm weather. Tomatoes or peppers I would sow early indoors. I only winter sow seeds that specifically need cold to germinate.

Perennials are usually good subjects for winter sowing or even fall sowing in some cases. I sowed a lot of these along with some shrubs in the fall because some need warm then cold then warm etc or a long cold period. Most of my seeds specified 3 months of cold and fall sowing. We start getting pretty warm here in February and March and sometimes have such a mild winter, I always sow mine in the fall. If they are perennials that don't require cold, I don't WS them, I start them late summer or early Sept and winter them over outdoors under protection of oak leaves.

Warm season ornamental grass seed will rot sometimes and you don't really gain anything there either by winter sowing. I can only think of a couple types of grass seed needing cold stratification. I wouldn't winter sow them, rather I'd wait until the weather warms up or do it closer to spring in regular pots or flats outdoors for plugs. Cool season grass types seem like they would be OK. I'm not sure. I just direct sowed mine and they are up and about 4 inches tall now. I plan to do the warm season grasses in late March.

No one has 100% success rates with all seeds. Not even the pros. Some seeds are difficult and have many built in mechanisms to insure survival that must be met. Sometimes smoke is necessary or acid on some seeds. Liquid smoke is supposed to be good on certain difficult seeds to break dormancy. It helps to nick and soak some kinds with hard seed coats and some do good with a 24 hour soak in hot water or hydrogen peroxide before sowing.

Hardy annuals would be good for winter sowing. Lots of these come up by self sowing in the fall and then take off when the weather warms. Typically they are very easy. I direct sow these as well with good results so why take the trouble?

Some might disagree with my reasoning. I noticed it can get pretty darn defensive on the subject of Winter sowing. I'm sort of a "selective sower". I just use regular pots sometimes and sometimes I do the covered ones. Personally, I wouldn't want to mess with separating those closely planted seeds when they come up. Plus, different seeds have different requirements so its not a one size fits all deal.

I also sow using several different methods. Winter-sowing is ideal for those seeds that require cold stratification. Otherwise, I sow a lot of seeds in cups in early Spring, and don't bother to cover them. I just put the cups in plastic boxes and place them up against the foundation of the south side of the house, where it is warmer than the surrounding landscape (the house foundation holds heat).

With some seeds direct sowing is very easy. Poppies and larkspur direct sow very well and frankly it is a lot more work to sow seeds in containers, and then have to transplant dozens of plants. Especially with seedlings like poppies which are quite finicky about root disturbance. I also direct sow a large patch of tall Zinnias, and larger seeds like beans, Sunflowers, cucumbers etc.

Some plants reseed readily and I take advantage of that by transplanting the seedlings where I want them. For example I now have 4 or 5 large patches of Lobelia cardinalis, most of the plants have sown themselves. What could be easier?

bigbob -

Which did well for you last year, and which did not? I'm in a similar zone, so would like some insight! thx!

The biggest problem I've had in my zone (I'm 6 in western-ish MD) is having things sprout and then killed by a random late heavy frost, even if I cover them. So I don't plant most annuals until May or even June. But perrenials and some hardy annuals seem to be fine.

I do WS alyssum, although I did manage to kill it the year before last. But I never WS things like zinnias.

Things like blanket flower, columbine, shasta daisies, bachelor buttons, rudbekia -- things that already WS themselves well without my help -- do well.

If you go to:

wintersown.org

There are lists of plants which have been successfully winterwown in various zones. These are not hard and fast,but they might give you a rough idea
of what has been successful in your zone.
Don't be afraid to try new ones---you just might luck out.
Good luck in your WS and all the best for each of you in 2012 gardening!
Caroline

I had much better luck direct sowing larkspur than wintersowing. I do impatiens, begonias, and coleus inside under lights.

However, I wintersow annuals every spring.
Zinnias
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I wintersow almost everything
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I wintersow my tomatoes, too. I usually choose early DTM, and middle DTM, and a late. I have started them under lights but they didn't produce fruit any earlier.

Karen

kqcrna. What do you mean when you say you winter-sow annuals every spring?

A common sense approach is best in sowing seed, I believe. Its not a miracle cure all to winter-sow. Sometimes its unnecessary but if someone wants to do things like this with seeds that don't need it, its up to them. Especially if it helps get though winter.

Regular pots left uncovered or flats covered in plastic would work fine in some cases. You don't always need a mini greenhouse. Where I live, it would be easy to steam the young plants or have them up too early and then freeze. Pots work fine and are way less hassle. Cold frames are still a good way to go, people have done that for centuries.

Some of the things seem a tad over the top that I have read on this forum and some sound quite reasonable. Sometimes it sounds like good fun and enthusiasm but sometimes it sounds a tad cult-like and maybe a bit militant.

This will be my 3rd. year wintersowing..I have tried foam coffee cups,plastic cold cups inside another clear container, plus 2 liter soda bottles.. and I prefer milk jugs over everything. Since there is just DH and myself, we only buy milk or beverages in 1/2 gal. milk jugs but this year I noticed that the caregiver for a neighbor uses 1 gal. milk containers and I asked if she would save them for me or if I could raid their recycle bin when the put it out at night for morning pick-up. Because my beds are getting crowded, I have stopped collecting milk jugs and will only do 18 or 20 and they are already for me to get started. The foam coffee cups and cold drink cups didn't work out at all. The 2 liter drink bottles have that molded bottom on them and I didn't find them easy to work with; poking drainage holes in that hard molded bottom even with a soldering iron tool was hard. Getting the seedling and soil from the 2 liter bottles was difficult for me when I went to plant them into the flowerbeds, so I'm sticking to milk jugs. For you newbies, my DH had two soldering irons and I knew he had not used neither in many years so I confiscated one that I keep just for my wintersowing project. Warning, they heat up quick and you need to make sure you don't lay it anywhere that it can burn a hole into something good. I have hot pads that are made with tile inserts and I lay it on there. It works for me. The first year I tried WS, I found a brand new mini blind at a thrift store for $3, it made enough markers to last me 2 years and I still may have some left over that I can use this year. Go to Michael's or AC Moore or even Walmart and invest in paint markers..about $3..they come in a variety of colors and I found that certain colors worked better for me than others. You can't go wrong with using black..they come in different types of points. I found out the fine point works best for me. I have not tried a #2 pencil but many swear by it and most people have #2 pencils lying around the house.
For newbies..the first year many people held my hand from afar and it's overwhelming at first, but you'll gain a lot of knowledge from reading others posted messages on the wintersowing forums and don't be afraid to ask questions. There's always somebody that can help you out. Don't ever think your question sounds stupid..remember we all were beginning wintersowers once. Wintersowing helps to wile away those months of winter weather. You'll be hooked when you see your first signs of germination!

T-Bird

These did well:
Hollyhock
English Daisy
Stokes aster
Lupine
Delphinium
Foxglove

Actually, I guess I did pretty well since the only ones that did poorly were the clematis. Last year I didn't do many because I was a worried newby. Trying many more this year. Wish me luck.
bob

Bob, clematis can be cranky :) They can also take a couple of years to germinate depending on which type, you always want to be prepared to hold on to those seed pots.

My own luck with clematis from seed isn't consistent - I have a couple of species types that will self sow, one frequently (clematis campaniflora), the other only very rarely (clematis addisonii). I have one WS seedling from Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' that I grew to flowering size and liked well enough to keep/plant (it does not resemble 'Mom' - it's a smaller white flower with a purple-blue center), that pot took 18 months to sprout.

This is probably about the best clematis site you might find in the last many years and a good one to bookmark. UK, so similar weather to my own:

Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis from seed

thanks Bob! Good info for me!

"kqcrna. What do you mean when you say you winter-sow annuals every spring? "

I mean just that. I use the same method, outside in jugs, but not in the dead of winter. I don't sow my tender annuals until March or April, but the method doesn't change. This goes for annuals like zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, tomatoes, rud hirtas, allysum, etc.

Karen

You guys in Ohio must have cooler springs. Us dumb Okies call that spring sowing. We'd have cooked babies for sure if we did 'em in jugs. It can get pretty warm (hot) here that time of year. Most of that stuff is super easy to just direct sow in these parts.

Easy to overcome cooked seedlings- just put 'em in shade. After they sprout I open the top of the jug and move 'em to more sun. I've done the same in summer with 90ð temps.

I guess technically it is spring sowing but the weather doesn't always feel like spring. I watch the 10 day forecast- in warm years I might do my annuals in March, in cold years more like mid April. This past year was still cold in May, and WET. We had over 13" of rain in April alone, and no sun. I'll bet Seattle had more sunny days in 2011 than Cincinnati.

Some years we're in the 80s by April. Just have to go with it.

Karen