Winter Sown Seeds Update

In addition to directly sowing seeds in pots on the Winter's solstice, I also followed the advice of fellow garden bloggers and used the 'mini greenhouse' method of winter seed sowing. 

As Catherine from 'A Gardener in Progress' suggested, I used the baking tins w/plastic tops, commonly found at grocery stores.  I sowed four varieties of flowers on 2.15.12 and they have all sprouted. 

Lavender - Lavandula Angustifolia, Munstead Strain
Columbine - Aquilegia - McKana's Giants
Delphinum - Pacific Giants Mixture
Bachelor Buttons - Polka Dot's Mix 

It's been a fun experiment for me to see if I could achieve results, and I have.

All of the seeds have sprouted, in both of the mini-green houses that I've created. I've worried they might be too soggy in their snug little homes, but they seem to be surviving for the moment. Our weather has been quite damp, with heavy rain and even snow. On the rare dry day, I've opened up the mini green houses to help them dry out a bit. 

With our big house move slated for the early summer, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all these sprouts as working in the gardens won't occur until all the interior home renovations are done. (boo!) 

I'm sure I'll think of something. If these guys survive, I won't want to waste them :)

Next winter I will sow a lot more seeds. This was a fun, winter project and I highly recommend it. It made me feel more confident about frugally growing things and I will be sure to add many varieties next year as I'll have a big new yard to fill, and I will look to add varieties for hanging baskets and containers too. 

Cheers, Jenni