Southern Perennial Gardening

Have you ever started plants from seeds? I will be starting my gardens at my new home from almost nothing so I have been researching various ways of starting plants from seed. Several years ago, I started seeds indoors under lights. I had good luck with some of my seeds, but I don’t have the room where I am now to start seeds indoors.

I began my research thinking I wanted a cold frame, then I stumbled on the winter sowing forum at Garden Web. All thoughts of building a cold frame went out the window, winter sowing was exactly what I was looking for.

So far I have sown seeds of:
Achillea
Hollyhock
Alyssum
Hardy Hibiscus
Larkspur
Hyssop
Salvia
Poppy
Mallow
Liatris
Verbena
Flax
Coneflower
Aster
Nicotiana
Ox eye Daisy

Winter sowing is exactly what it sounds like. Many plants shed their seeds in the summer and fall and these seeds fall to the ground where they remain through the winter and during the warm days of spring these seeds germinate and grow. In winter sowing, you give the seeds a protected environment to grow in and according to Trudi Davidoff, the gardener who started the winter sowing forum and creator of the Winter Sown website, more of the seeds germinate in this protected environment.

If winter sowing sounds interesting to you the winter sowing forum and the Winter Sown website are great places to find all the information you need to get started.

If you are looking for seeds, some of my new favorite seed sources are:
Nature Hills Nursery
eBay
Renee’s Garden

Good luck and happy winter sowing!