23 Cool Cold Hardy Annual Flowers To Winter Sow For Cut Flowers | Perennial Garden HACK
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Winter sowing is an easy and cheap way to start plants from seed. You don't need a greenhouse or any special grow lights. In this video, I share 23 cool hardy annuals that I will be growing from seed outdoors using the winter sowing method. Many of these flowers would be great as cut flowers. The flowers are Alyssum / Lobularia, Ammi / Bishop's Flower, Bells of Ireland, Bidens, Calendula, Canterbury Bells, Cleome, Cosmos, Dusty Miller, Feverfew, Forget-Me-Not, Larkspur, Love-In-A-Mist / Nigella, Nicotiana / Flowering Tobacco, Pansy, Petunias, Scabiosa, Silene, Snapdragon, Strawflower, Sweet Pea, and Verbena Bonariensis. Many of these plants are pollinator magnets and have a great vase life. Edit: I'll also be winter sowing dill since I already have the seed on hand. :) Also, if you have English / Common / Lawn daisy seeds, those also thrive in cool weather.
Winter Sowing Playlist: • Winter Sowing
Seed Saving Playlist: • Collecting Seeds
Let's chat! Leave a comment if you have a gardening-related question that I can answer or an idea for future videos!
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#cutflowers #gardeningtips #budgetgardening #perennials #seedstarting #sowingseeds #plantingseeds #flowers #gardening #wintersowing #flowerfarming #flowerfarm
Do you plant cold hardy annuals? In the fall, winter or spring? Which ones do you have a lot of luck with?
Also, when it comes to putting duct tape on my milk jugs, I will be putting the tape all the way around (versus just a few pieces like I do for perennials that I winter sow). This is to protect the seedlings once they germinate in case we get a hard freeze.
Love your kitty!!!
Awww. Thanks, Valerie! 😊🐈
Another wonderful video. I tried winter sowing Cleome for the past 2 years and have not had any luck with germination, but I am trying again this year. For me, the snapdragons that I start indoors can be planted out much earlier than the wintersown ones. That way, I get flowers earlier in the season. I followed what Danielle from North lawn flower farm suggested, which is, start seeds indoors 12 weeks before the last frost and plant the seedlings outdoors 6 weeks before the last frost.
Hi Seeta. Thank you. If I were a flower farmer or selling cut flowers, then I'd probably start cool flowers indoors, or better yet, I would have planted them out last fall. But since I'm just doing it for fun, I'm ok waiting and just winter sowing the seeds. But I do see the benefits of doing it both ways. Thanks for sharing, friend! 😊🌸
I’ll be interested to see how well some of those older seeds germinate. I tried winter sowing last year, and I’m hooked. I did learn a lesson about over seeding my containers: I’ll be more conservative this time. I like sowing in pots and then putting a clear tote with holes drilled in the bottom over the pots. This way when we get freak warm days I can remove the totes so the seedlings don’t get too hot. It’s already February 3…I need to get going! Oregon Zone 8b
Hi Jan! I will be heavily sowing the old seeds as I don't have high hopes for them. But you never know. I don't mind overseeding as long as I can get to the containers and thin them out early enough. That's my challenge. One of my goals this year is to tackle them early (as soon as containers start sprouting and seedlings are putting size on). Great idea about your new method of winter sowing. It's cool to see so many great ideas out there for winter sowing. I winter sowed a ton of perennials already since some need at least 30 (or more) days of a cold stratification period. Thanks for sharing, friend! 😊🌸
Wow! I had no idea of how long of a shelf life seeds have! Here I am, worrying if my 3 and 4 year old seeds will bloom! Didn't know! Thanks for sharing!
Well... I'm not holding much hope for those very old seeds. But it's now or never lol. Different seeds have different shelf lives. For your seeds, you could always look up what the shelf life is for each kind of plant, or you could do what I do and just use them up. Onion seeds are only viable for 1 year or so, so those are definitely seeds you don't want to hold onto. Good luck, friend! 🤞🏼😊🌸
I had no idea it was possible to sow cold hard annuals outside. Definitely going to try this. Thanks for posting another wonderful video!
Hi Carol. Some people sow these as plant starts in the late summer in order to get a head start on the plants come springtime. I may try to do that later this year. But I'm looking forward to seeing these sprout in the milk jugs come spring and hopefully get some early blooms. Others like to start them early under grow lights and then plant them out weeks before their last frost. I plan to start all (or most) of these under my grow lights also but in very small quantities. I want to experiment and see which ones bloom first in the garden. 😊🌸
Thank you for the Ocean State Job Lot tip! I'm in CT. I look every morning to see what you have to share for the day. Love your podcast reliable for New England. Keep up the good work!
Hi Marlene. Thanks so much for the support. 🙏🏼 My daughter goes to UConn so I'm in Connecticut quite a bit. I love Ocean State Job Lot. Lots of great gardening finds. Happy gardening, friend! 😊🌼
Lots of great information…thank you!
Thanks so much! 🌸😊
Another wonderful video. love your kitty
Hi there. Thanks so much! I filmed most of the video in the morning, but the outro was done around dinner time, so the kitty was trying to tell me (and all of you) that she was hungry. Poor kitty! 😅🐱🐈
As always good advice!
Hi Judi. Thank you so much for the feedback and support, my friend! 😊💗
Wow, you are going to have lots of plants! So exciting! I called my local Starbucks and should be able to pick up some jugs. The young man didn't have a clue what I wanted them for but that's ok 😉 I'm glad you mentioned dill below because I have some leftover from last year. Happy planting!🌻
Hi Carla. I sure am going to have a ton of plants and I'm very excited about this!
That's awesome that your local Starbucks is getting you some jugs. Yay!! Come spring, I think I'm going to have "plant out seedlings with me" videos just to inspire everyone so that we're not overwhelmed with how many plants we have to plant out.😅🌷
Thanks, Vida, for a great overview on winter sowing. I also tend to save old seeds and keep my fingers crossed that they will germinate.
@@bellarosa009 You're very welcome. It'll be interesting to see if any germinate. 🤞🤗
Aww your son’s handwriting ❤…. I’ll be feeling that way in the fall when I have another one leaving for college. Thanks for all the videos on winter sowing!
Hi Jen! I'm such a sap about that kind of thing. I ever have their valentines hung up from when they were in Kindergarten and up. 😅💗 Hugs to you, Mama. It's so hard when the kids go to college. Thank goodness we have our gardens to take our minds off of missing our kiddos! 🌸
Thank you! 🌺🌸🌼
You're welcome! 😊🌷
Great video! This is the one I’ve been waiting for. I have most of these seeds and waited to see when you would plant them. I’ve been anxious to start and now I’m ready. Thanks again. 😊
Thanks, Celeste! I know I'm missing other cool hardy flower seeds, but I only went over the ones that I had on hand. Technically, I could have winter sown all of these a month ago, but I'm just getting around to it this week. If you wanted to sow these indoors under grow lights, you'd need to know your average last frost date and count back from there, but that's a whole other video lol. I have dill so I'll probably add that to the batch as well. Happy gardening, friend! 😊🌸
One you didn't mention here is gomphrena. I winter sowed them and it worked out well here in zone 6 , North east Ohio. I didn't sow them until late March.
Hi Jan. This is great to know. Thank you for sharing! I plan to winter sow some warm loving flowers in March and April. I'll be sure to add Gomphrena to my list. Happy winter sowing, friend! 😊❄️🌺
I’m in central Ohio. Do you remember if you sowed them around this time last year or a month or so later?
Why are you winter sowing gomphrena? They are a heat loving plant.
Your timing was perfect! I just finished winter sowing my perennials, spinach, onion, and broccoli, (49 jugs so far) and I was just thinking of starting my hardy annuals. It was very helpful information that you provided. Thanks again.
Hi Maureen. Oh wow! You have winter sown a ton of containers so far. That's great! I still need to sow perennial seeds lol. I hope to finish that up soon. 😅🌸🤞🏼
HOOKED on winter sowing too! Keep up the WS vids. Inspiring
Hi Tatiana. I love it! Yes - winter sowing is so much fun. I still have LOTS of perennials I need to sow. The question is should I do Lady's Mantle or Great Blue Lobelia next? Hmmmm.... 😊🌸
Hello, neighbor . I'm also in zone 5b New Hampshire. Thank you for sharing ❤
Hi neighbor! You're very welcome. I hope you've been able to do some winter sowing. All my milk jugs are now covered with a layer of snow, with more snow coming in a few days. 😅❄️
@budgetgardeningvita yes, and still adding, 😂. I have a seed addiction 🤣🤣🌸
@Kitkatheb Same!! 😂🌱🌸
Thanks for sharing 😀
You're very welcome! 😊🌻
Thanks 💗
Hi Peggy. You're very welcome, my friend! 😊🌸
Thank you again for this great video.
I am winter sowing foeniculum vulgare, not to grow for harvesting as vegetable, it looks stunning and ornamental in my garden; wild insects love it so much. It self seeds very readily in my zone 6b, so I bet it is suitable for winter sowing.
Hi there! Thanks so much! I had to look the plant up and it looks like it's fennel. Great suggestion! I'll have to see if I can find seeds for it. Thank you for sharing, friend! 😊🌼
@
Yes, exactly, it's fennel.
It's very easy to care for, blooms for a long time, needs to be supported because it grows so tall, but it's a paradise for insects. It looks great and impressive and is easy to propagate.
Good luck! 🌼😊
Thank you for the list and seed ID-helpful when collecting or mystery seeds 😊.
I just sowed alliums today-veg. I had 2023, 24 + 25 seeds and watch the old ones pop because I sowed them heavy 😅there will be plenty of onions I’m sure. Next will be celery then brassicas to get under low tunnel in April. It makes counting weeks a bit tricky when stretching the season. Gearing up for sorting through to find those flowers I can WS. Hope it works by planting in the garden and covering with jug top.
I have many new to me flowers and not many seed to a pack so may split between indoor/outdoor. Pinetree seed tend to be lower quantity and price and that’s ok because I just need enough to try and to collect seeds if I like them.
The list will make for quick sorting. Lol, you must have sorted as well with 2012 seeds.
You're very welcome. This week I'll be busy sorting seeds as well. I really need to start my onions and I also want to start some tuberous begonias. I'm sure I'm missing something else that I should be starting lol. I plan to winter sow all my brassicas this year. Last year I sowed brassicas indoors and I'd rather use that space for flowers, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. I was surprised at how many old seeds I had! 😅🌸
New to winter sowing and this makes me so excited to sow some of my annuals and perennials. Im in MN, 5a, how cold is too cold to set them outside? We are still in low negative temps at night and hardly any snow (forcast looks like snow closer to mid feb). I dont think we will get any colder, January is usually our coldest month. I will say in my garden, i can always count on my calendula & chamomile (at least a few pop up), feverfew, borage, st johns wort, and anise hyssop to always come back. :)
Hi Jessica. You're going to love winter sowing! There is no minimum cold for setting out the containers. We've had negative temps and snow and the seeds in the containers are dormant and just fine. Happy gardening, friend! 😊🌸
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Dusty miller blossoms it's second year....is it a biannual? Thanks again, have a wonderful day
Hi Patsy! Great question! Dusty Miller is a perennial in zones 7-10. Here in New Hampshire zone 5b, it's considered an annual but I've had it overwinter during mild winters. When it does overwinter, it blooms that second year. The yellow flowers are not very showy and the plant is really just grown for its silver foliage. However, when it does bloom, that's when I can collect its seeds. 😊🌻
Are you waiting later to winter sow or doing it now?
Hi there. I plan to winter sow all of these this week (fingers crossed). They will remain dormant for a long time as they'll be covered in snow. The key is when they eventually do germinate, if we get a very hard freeze, I'll need to protect them (frost is fine). They can tolerate cold but not a very hard freeze. I don't foresee them germinating for me here in New Hampshire until probably the end of March if I had to guess (or maybe even early April). It'll be interesting to see and I'll be sure to share my results. 😊🪻