2017 Winter Sowing Results

Hi Lovelies!

It’s definitely been awhile. I’ll admit, I really hate saying that because it makes me realize just how much I really do neglect the blog. I always keep meaning to finally sit down and write up a post, but it always seems like a million other things that I need to do suddenly take precedence. Sorry about that, folks.

Anywho, this is a post I’ve been meaning to finally sit down and finish for at least a couple weeks – this year’s winter sowing results.

If you’re unfamiliar with what winter sowing is, I’ve already got a post in which I prepare containers and talk at a little more length. You can find it by clicking here!

I also have already published a rather extensive list of flowers that I began by winter sowing last year. You can find that by clicking here. If I remember correctly, I go into detail about the success and failure of around 50 different flower varieties that I winter sowed into containers. If I had a different experience this year, I’ll also go ahead and include them in my list in this year’s post. I hope that made sense….

Hurry up, already! Tell me about what you winter sowed this year!

This year was quite different than last year. Much to my surprise, the winter was relatively warm and short. I imagine that this may have helped/harmed various seedlings in different ways, but nonetheless, these are my findings:

**Indicates sensitivity to frost

1. Feverfew – Winter sown in January and February. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before last frost had passed.
2. Monarda – Winter sown in February. Poor germination around 50%. Will definitely try again, perhaps at a later planting date.
3. Salvia coccinea – Winter sown in January. Poor germination around 30%. Will try again at a later planting date.
4. Salvia horminum – Winter sown in January and February. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before the last frost had passed.
5. Snapdragons – Winter sown in January. Total failure. Previous winter sowings have been very successful with snapdragons. I believe the failure was caused by inconsistent moisture in containers. Will definitely try again next year.
6. Pansies – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before the last frost date had passed. Flowers are currently in bloom.
7. Cathedral Bells/Cup and Saucer Vine** – Winter sown in February and the end of March. Seeds in February rotted in the container. Total failure. March sowing was extremely successful. Excellent germination. The higher temperatures seemed to be the key to success, despite the instructions on the packet. I’m really, really excited about growing this one!
8. Hibiscus/Roselle**- Winter sown at the end of March. Last year was a failure. However, this year had excellent results. Seeds are VERY sensitive to rot. Do NOT soak seeds. Make sure medium is evenly moist, but not too wet. Will continue to winter sow these, as they need an extended season.
9. Quinoa – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination. Do not transplant well. Total loss after transplant. Likely will not winter sow again.
10. Sweet Peppers** – Pre-sprouted at the end of March and then placed in winter sowing containers. Excellent success rate. Requires cover. Very frost sensitive.
11. Tomatoes** – Pre-sprouted at the end of March and then placed in winter sowing containers. Excellent success rate. Requires cover. Very frost sensitive.
12. Celosia** – Winter sown in March. Excellent germination. Previous sowings in February resulted in failure.
13. Morning Glory** – Winter sown in March. Excellent germination. Previous sowings in February resulted in failure. Warmer weather helped germination. Also, sensitive to moisture and prone to rot. Do not soak.
14. Lettuce – Winter sown in January and February. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before the last frost had passed.
15. Alpine Strawberries – Winter sown in January. Good germination rate. Slow growing. Cold hardy, no trouble tolerating frost. Transplanted into herb garden containers.
16. Scarlet Flax – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination rate. Extremely fast growing. Was not able to transplant into the garden fast enough before plants went to seed in their containers. I plan on trying over winter these plants in the fall, instead.
17. Annual Phlox – Winter sown in January and February. Excellent germination. Seem to benefit from cold and temperature fluctuation. Planted out into the garden before the last frost date had passed. Will try to over winter these plants this fall.
18. Cotton** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Will continue to winter sow these, as they need an extended season.
19. Peanuts** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Will continue to winter sow these, as they need an extended season.
20. Leeks – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination rate. Very easy to separate.
21. Onions – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination rate. Very easy to separate.
22. Spinach – Winter sown at the end of January. Around 70% germination. Don’t seem to like being transplanted. I will most likely just direct sow the seeds in the future.
23. Orach – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination. Very fast growing. May be easier to direct sow as soon as soil is workable. Will try to over winter these in the fall.
24. Shiso/Perilla**(?) – Winter sown at the end of February and March. Excellent germination. Somewhat sensitive to transplanting. However, the germination rate was much better compared to the seeds that were direct sown. Will definitely winter sow these again. Looking forward to seeing these bloom.
25. Broccoli – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. Will definitely continue to winter sow in the future.
26. Cauliflower – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. Will definitely continue to winter sow in the future. 
27. Brussels Sprouts – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. Will definitely continue to winter sow in the future.
28. Kale – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. Will definitely continue to winter sow in the future.
29. Artichokes – Winter sown at the end of February. Excellent germination, though the seeds are sensitive to rot. Ensure that medium is moist, but not too wet. Prolonged cold also caused problems in the past. Do not soak the seeds. Transplanted well. Artichokes need a period of cool weather to trigger flowering, hopefully winter sowing achieved this.
30. Celery – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before last frost date had passed.
31. Tomatillos** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Extremely fast growing. Will most likely direct sow in the future.
32. Wheat – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination. Very robust and easy to transplant. It’s definitely easier to direct sow as soon as soil can be worked, but winter sowing is a viable option if the soil is an issue early on.
33. Basil** –  Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. I have so much basil that I don’t even have enough space to plant it all.
34. Chamomile – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination. Very cold hardy. Small plants are difficult to transplant. May be easier to just direct sow as soon as the soil can be worked. Transplanted into the garden before the last frost has passed.
35. Cilantro – Winter sown at the end of February. Excellent germination. Transplanted easily. Winter sown plants in the garden are healthier than those seeds which were direct sowed. 
36. Dill – Winter sown at the end of February. Excellent germination. Transplanted easily. May be easier to direct sow as soon as the soil can be worked.
37. Lavender – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination (at least for lavender, 14/20 seeds). Very healthy and fragrant seedlings transplanted into herb container after the danger of frost had passed. Really excited about this success!
38. Mint – Winter sown in January. Excellent germination. Easy to transplant. I seriously have so much mint, I don’t even know what I’m going to do with it.
39. Ageratum**(?) – Winter sown in January. Ageratum containers were a failure this year. Last year’s were very successful. I’m not sure what caused the issue this year.
40. Bupleurum – Winter sown in January. Very poor germination for the second year in a row. I will not be winter sowing it again.
41. Calendula – Winter sown in February and March. Excellent germination. Fast growing plants.
42. Cosmos** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Quickly began to outgrow their winter sowing containers. Though these plants are easy to direct sow, I really enjoy having healthy transplants.
43. Wild Dagga** – Winter sown at the end of March. 2/10 seed germination. I don’t know much about this plant at all.
44. Shasta Daisy – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Healthy and hearty transplants.
45. Flowering Cabbage – Winter sown in January and February. Excellent germination. Transplanted into the garden before the last frost date had passed.
46. Gaillardia – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Healthy and hearty transplants. 
47. Globe Amaranth** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination rate. Easy to transplant.
48. Heliotrope**(?) – Winter sown at the end of March. 60% germination rate. I know very little about this plant. The seedlings seem to be very slow growing, so I’ve planted them in a container to watch them closer. Will try again next year, perhaps winter sowing them earlier.
49. Marigolds** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination and extremely easy to transplant. Nearly outgrowing their containers before being planted out into the garden.
50. Nicotiana**(?) – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination and extremely easy to transplant.
51. Nasturtiums – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination and extremely easy to transplant. Last year’s failure was due to rotting seeds. Be careful not to plant too soon to avoid prolonged periods of cold. Also, keep medium evenly moist. Do not soak seeds before planting into winter sowing containers.
52. Rudbeckias – Winter sown at the end of January and February. Excellent germination. Healthy and hearty transplants.
53. Statice – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination rate and easy to transplant before the last frost has passed.
54. Strawflower – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination rate and easy to transplant before the last frost has passed.
55. Scented Stocks – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination rate and easy to transplant before the last frost has passed.
56. Sweet Annie – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination rate and easy to transplant before the last frost has passed. Very fragrant!
57. Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odorata) – Winter sown in February. Excellent germination rate and easy to transplant before the last frost has passed. Previous failures were the result of rotted seeds. Keep evenly moist, but not wet. Do not soak seeds before planting to containers.
58. Tithonia** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination. Germinating in winter sowing bottles has proved more successful that direct sowing. I will continue to winter sow.
59. Zinnia** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination.
60. Indigo** – Winter sown at the end of March. Excellent germination.
61. Verbena – Total failure. Sown at the end of March. Containers completely dried out for over a week – totally my own fault.

That’s it! I hope that this giant list was somehow helpful. Thanks for taking the time to read, and of course, don’t forget to check out the YouTube channel if you haven’t already. It would really mean a lot to me – simply search for “freshcutky”. Bye! 🙂