I used to start my wintersowing on the winter solstice, because that was what so many of the people advised on the wintersowing forum where I first learned about the method. The thing about wintersowing at the end of December, for me, at least, is that I don’t have time to appreciate it.

Holiday visits, baking, cooking, wrapping — that’s what I’m doing in December.

But, as I mentioned in the last post, by the 2nd week of January, when my daughters’ birthdays are over, and we are officially finished with the holiday season….this is my mindset then:

So, now I wintersow starting around mid-January.

The first few containers went out yesterday. Here’s what I have planted so far:

1. Bachelor’s buttons ‘Black Magic’

2. Milkweed

3. Bee balm (which Mr. Brown Thumb sent me like two or three years ago and I just now unearthed from my stash….)

4. Purple coneflower

5. Hoary vervain

This is my third year in a row trying the hoary vervain. If I don’t get some germination this year, I give up. Even though it’s a really pretty native and it has one of the best plant names, ever.

I’m trying something a little different this year in regard to how I store the containers until I’m ready to plant them. I used to plop them, in  milk crates, in a sunny spot in my yard (usually in one of my raised beds) but then it takes longer for the soil in the raised bed to dry out because there was all of this plastic-covered wet soil on it. So I have these two 4-shelf mini greenhouses that I use for seed starting and for helping me harden off my seedlings in spring. I took off the covers (they get really brittle and rip easily if you leave them outside all winter — something I learned the hard way) and will be stowing my wintersowing containers there.

I really don’t know why it took me so long to think about doing that. I think I saw all of the wintersowing ladies putting theirs on the ground or on their patios, so I thought I had to do it the same way or something. Such a follower….

So, I have the first five done. I would have done more, but I ran out of milk jugs. I am going to have to encourage my kids to drink milk faster, at least for the next few weeks.

Are you doing any wintersowing this year?