The very first seeds started in January was lisianthus. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!

I planted 150 seeds altogether, most in seed trays and some in milk jugs for winter sowing. It takes a good six months for lisianthus to flower so these take patience! Last year my seedlings drowned (too zealous with the watering) so I ‘m being very cautious this year.

I’m growing three varieties: Roseann Brown, Voyage Light Apricot, and Voyage Green. There are 83 seedlings in the tray, and I won’t know how many sprout in the milk jugs for another month and a half.

First February Seeds

On Feb. 5th I sowed the first snapdragons- Rocket Mix, begonias, and sweet peas. I’ll be succession planting snapdragons right through June, so this is the first of 4 sowings.

The begonias are bedding plants for my daughter-in-law, aka my plant enabler and awesome garden assistant. It’s a true money saver for her, since she made the cutest planter fence out of pallets last summer but it holds a lot of plants! We were successful last summer, however we learned begonias take a couple weeks to sprout and are slow growers in the beginning. This year I’m giving them more time to grow before they go outside.

I’ve not been successful with sweet peas the last two years. If this year is a bust, I’m moving on… I learned they need regular, deep watering so I am doing better with that this year and hope it does the trick. They need deep root cell trays, but last year I read you can use toilet paper rolls. Then you can plant the rolls right into the ground, so you don’t disturb the roots. I tried it and it worked to get the seeds started, so I’m doing it again.

I’m starting the sweet peas earlier than last year, hoping more mature seedlings will give them a head start in the ground.

There are two seeds in each tube, with four varieties- Mammoth mix, Royal mix, and two from Floret- Balmoral and Charlie’s Angel. The Charlie’s Angel is a sweet blue, fingers crossed I get good blooms! I cleverly duct taped the rolls of each variety together and labelled.

Winter Sowing in Milk Jugs

I tried winter sowing last year with success with larkspur and bachelors buttons. This year I’m feeling ambitious and tried ten different plants!

I started lisianthus back in January, and sowed Prairie Sun Rudbeckia, Larkspur, Bupleurum, Potomac Snapdragons, Feverfew, Strawflower, Scabiosa, Champagne mix Poppies, and Dara this week.

All you need to do is cut open the middle of a milk jug, leaving a piece attached so it is ‘hinged.’ Cut a few drainage holes in the bottom, add a few inches of plain potting soil and sprinkle the seeds according to the depth recommended. Give them a spritz of water and duct-tape the jug closed. Don’t forget to label the jugs with your handy-dandy Artline garden marker (a sharpie will fade, I speak from experience). I also put a label inside, just in case.

Set the jugs outside – I put mine next to the foundation in the cutting garden area. [Don’t put them under cover since they need rain/snow.] I piled some rocks around them just for stability on windy days.

Now you forget about them until spring! This method is very handy for seeds that need cold stratification like bupleurum and larkspur, and you want to use plants that are cool season hardy annuals. (Cool Flowers by Lisa Mason Zeigler is the best book for learning about cool-hardy annuals.)

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on this project!

If you’re wondering how I keep track of all the seeds, when to start them, and eventually where to plant them, stay tuned for the next post! I’ll share how I keep organized and the garden plan for 2023.

Talk to you soon, garden friends! ~Pam