Yes , you could garden in wintertime , it ’s call Winter Sowing . Have you ever take heed of winter sowing ? Winter Sowing is a method of propagating raw plants for your garden simply by starting seeds outdoors in the winter . Several years ago , I read an clause in Northern Gardener Magazine written by a master gardener , with whom I later became acquainted . After seeing the termination of Michelle ’s winter sowing , I knew I had to sample it . It ’s so incredibly easy and a great way to get some beautiful perennial for your flower garden for extremely cheap .
I start seeds indoors too , but possibly you do n’t have the way or the money for a light setup , or the meter to take care of sister seedlings . If that ’s the case , then winter sowing is for you .
Winter Sowing: The What and How
What is Winter Sowing?
Winter Sowing is basically a operation whereby you create mini greenhouses using semitransparent plastic containers . Once the seeds are sow , these little greenhouses are placed outside in the elements and then we have nature take it ’s course . There are different methods of winter sowing , but I ’m go to mystify with what I know and what has worked well for me year after year .
Not only can you sow in repeated flower and audacious annual peak , but you’re able to also winter sow tender annuals , veggie and herb . At the end of the Emily Price Post , I share a link to a document that give specific instructions for this .
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Supplies Needed:
The Best Seeds for Winter Sowing:
A large part of gardening and encyclopedism is experiment , so if you ’re queer if a particular seed will work for Winter Sowing , go ahead and test it , cause you really do n’t have much to lose . Here is a list of cum that are safe candidates and 1 that I ’ve had achiever with for Winter Sowing :
Winter sowing is the easiest and best way to propagate aboriginal plant . If you are looking to add indigene to attract pollinators , you will detect that purchasing aboriginal industrial plant at your local garden nub can be quite expensive . Winter sowing is a great mode to get those same native plants for a fraction of the cost .
Here ’s a collage for pinning to Pinterest to prompt you of this post later . There are more collages at the bottom of the Sir Frederick Handley Page . Thanks for pinning !
The Benefits of Winter Sowing
Okay , gardeners , this is the best part ! Why winter sow ? What are the benefits of wintertime sowing ?
Winter Sowing Schedule
think , it ’s wintertime sowing , not precipitate sowing . I ’ve see nurseryman start wintertime sowing in the descent during a period of insensate weather . Then a affectionate spell hit and their seeds take up shoot just to be zapped by rime when the atmospheric condition turns cold again .
The skilful metre to originate winter sowing really depend on what gardening zone you are in . For colder geographical zone like 3 , 4 and 5 , this is the world-wide time build that work best :
January , February and other March – wintertime sow perennials that need cold stratification .
Mid – Late March – winter seed stalwart yearly like the unity listed above .
later March – Early April – winter sow tender annuals , vegetables and herbs
If you are in warm horticulture zones ( geographical zone 6 and 7 ) , you’re able to bump your winter seed up a few weeks and even start as early as the winter solstice .
Do n’t get too hung up on a winter sowing docket or a winter sowing calendar . The process is very simple and Mother Nature will reckon out the timing for you .
Steps For Winter Sowing
This is what a Minnesota wintertime look like . Under this mound of snow on the pack of cards are about 20 little milk jugful greenhouses .
Here are the little milk jugful greenhouses making an visual aspect in other spring !
Winter Sowing – What to Do In Spring
When the atmospheric condition bulge to warm up up in the Spring , you ’ll be able-bodied to see your seeds shoot . At this point you ’ll need to make certain your untried seedlings are convey enough water and ventilation system . Poke a few more holes in the top of your containers and/or undo some of the tapeline to let for more air flow . The slight seedlings will love some days with the lids opened completely and then closed back in the evening .
How to Plant Winter Sown Plants
Once it warms up and hoarfrost is n’t an issue , completely hit the lids . At some point , I will either divide and organ transplant seedling into swelled individual pot or directly set them in my garden . I have an country in one of my gardens specially for winter - sown plants . The new plants get to hang out here until they are moved to a permanent positioning in the gardens the next twelvemonth .
Gently remove the full glob from it ’s container . you may do this by turning the container upside down on your hand . This make for best is the soil is a piece moist so that it holds together . Or you’re able to dig surgical incision of the seedlings out of the jugful . If the radical mass is really bound , you’re able to simply cut the container out from the plant .
Once the clump of seedlings is removed from the winter sown container , they can be separate up and repotted , or planted direct in the garden . I like to break chunks off the main bunch and plant those . Some gardeners care to pull aside the individual seedlings and pot those up . It really bet on what you are engraft and how thick the seedlings are .
My wintertime sown plant are always very respectable looking plant life . Here are a few of my successes from my winter sowing last winter . I ’ve always wanted to have a large dapple of Foxgloves , so I ’m work on that maculation of foxgloves by winter sowing . I ’ve also had great winner with Painted Daisies and the bunny girl exhaustively love this improver to the garden . Delphinium is another easy winter sow perennial and is always a lovely summation to any flower garden .
Depending on the perennial choose , the first year they may not flower , but the next twelvemonth they will and they ’ll just keep getting bigger and better each yr . Is there a perennial you desire to try , but do n’t desire to shell out the money for it ? wintertime sowing is a expectant path to get perennial plants for practically nothing . So , go ahead and give winter sowing a try ; play around with it , experimentation and keep track of what works best for you . You ’ll be so happy you did !
Learn More About Winter Sowing
If you would like to learn more about wintertime sowing , below are some link to extra resource :
Here is the original article that got me thinking about winter sowing that appeared in the Jan / Feb 2009 variant of Northern Gardener magazine.janfeb09itssoweasy
Here is another clause written by Michelle that talks about wintertime sowing vegetables . I have n’t done this yet , but I ’m hoping to give it a try this year.38 - 41.SowVeg - NG - Jan. Feb _
Trudi Davidoff , the gardener who in the first place came up with the concept of winter sowing , has aFacebook groupdedicated to Winter Sowing .
Are you face for some other horticulture activeness you could do in the winter ? If so , be sure to check out these posts :
DIY Gardening JournalSeed take off IndoorsWinter action for GardenersHow to Jumpstart Summer Blooming Bulbs
Happy horticulture ( even in winter ) ,
Julie
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