I know it sounds crazy at first, or at least it did to me when I first heard of it. But within minutes it made sense. Many native plant seed don't mind and even need the cold to germinate properly. So you can still get your hands in some dirt in the winter and plant some seeds! And it takes up no space indoors because you put the pots outside, covered with screen is best so animals don't dig disturb the seeds.
I did it a few winters ago and those plants are now big enough to be planted in the ground. It is not a quick results project. I saved some seeds this year of milkweed, so that is going to be what I start this year. I envision a large area of the property for milkweed. I am hopeful. I was just thinking about it and thought about sharing the idea here.
I learned of it from an in person workshop a few autumns ago - Native Seeds for Sale
When I get the time I plan on planting butterflyweed and swamp milkweed in pots outside. There are some other perennials I want to get started too.
I already have pawpaw seeds planted in buckets. The buckets need to be moved to a better location and covered by screens. The squirrel damage is terrible this year.
They have common milkweed, I want different colored flowers.
There was a caterpillar that ate most of my white flowered swamp milkweed then moved to the common milkweed next to it.
The common milkweed is easier to give to caterpillars in captivity but they feed heavily on orange flowered butterfly weed in the wild.
I want to get a certified Monarch Waystation established. I don't have variety, just bunches of common milkweed.
Nimrod, the idea of winter sowing is to plant seeds in pots which are set outside where the seeds can experience natural freeze thaw cycles needed to break dormancy in some seeds. By planting in pots you eliminate most weed problems and if you label the pots you know what plants are growing there in spring.
But you reminded me of something I have had problems with in winter sowing. If you use pots with attached trays your pots will freeze solid and break the tray. I lost several small pots one year by not taking that into consideration.
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