I'm in zone 8. I started some hardy hibiscus, vitex shrub, coneflowers, and daisies. I plan to get them started in the house and then move them to the greenhouse. I figured I might as well give it a shot...won't learn anything if I don't try.

 My best tip for starting seeds is to keep a chart listing the type and date started.  Believe me, this really comes in handy the following year!  Update your list at planting time,,,adding comments to adjust things you may want to start earlier or later.

I am in zone 5,,,typical planting out date is May 15-30.

I winter sow in jugs in Jan. and Feb., and start many other seeds under lights inside:

 Tomatoes and Peppers - March 25

Perennials around March 15,,and most Annuals - March 15-30

Fast growing annuals like Coleus, Tithonia, Balsam, Easter egg plant, Zinnia, Marigold, and vine type plants ,,,I start April 5-10 

I'll admit, I use to get anxious and start things way too early, but it works much better to hold off and not have plants growing out of the pots way too soon!  

 ~ Connie      ~ Zone 5     ~ MN                                                                 

Oh, I neglected to mention that some cool season annuals like pansies or violas are planted here to brighten winters.

Smitha, do you have a hard time growing lettuce because it's hard to figure out when it's cool enough not to kill it?

Personally, I think Texas weather can be quite unpredictable....This year was so rainy that some seeds I planted just drowned. Other things that did grow got a slow start. Then we had a lot of hot dry weather. The two previous years were just plain hot in the summer -- probably upwards of 30 straight days of 100+ degree temperatures and no rain. That was really hard on everything. No matter how much water I would give things, I encountered problem after problem. The only thing that really toughed it out was cosmos!

This past Easter, we got 5 inches of snow. I guess that was a fitting tribute to the kind of wicked winter we'd had...much colder than normal temperatures and quite a bit of rain -- even some flooding rains. With such unpredictable weather, it's hard to know how to establish any kind of planting schedule. You never know whether it will work or if you'll have to throw all of your planning out the window.....It sure would help to have a sense of what the winter holds for us before planning a schedule, at least I think it would!

Can someone explain the concept of planting by the moon? I have heard of it, but don't know what it is....I think I might have to get myself an almanac....I know of no farmer in Iowa who would consider planting anything without consulting the almanac first.

Susan, the Texas Yankee and the Forum Manager

 

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Oh this is great...We moved from zone 8/9 to what some say is still zone 8 here...but I am sure it is more zone 7/6...so this information is very helpful to me...
I am wondering though...my dahilas are still blooming but it is getting very cold aready...should I dig them up or chance it and let them stay in the ground until done blooming?..

Gardening
Y'shua is My Boss
"So then neither is he that plants any thing, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase."
1 Corinthians 3:7

Smitha do you plant by the almanac or just by the moon? We plant by the almanac. Dale

This is how I do it right now and iot constantly changes.

For flowers, if they are perennials I start them anytime of the year. I do follow gardening by the moon to get good days to sow. it has worked well so far. Since I am in Z9 and my patio is west facing, I always have sun. Even during the coldest days I can leave plants there to soak up the sun.

Warm season annuals like zinnia, marigold etc I start in Feb end (which is the last expected day of frost here in Z9a). I can get a second round from seeds from mama plant in mid summer. Cool season annuals I start in fall Aug-Sep time frame. These will bloom in winter and spring. The advantages of a long growing season..

Veggies I follow annual flower guidelines. Warm season veggies get started indoors in jan. cool season veggies in Aug (broccoli, cabbage, lettuce). Also some warm season veggies can be grown for a second round. The summers are incredibly hot and all veggies practically shut down. fall is revival time. Sep - Apr is the best time for most veggies.

Fall is also bed redoing, dividing and sharing time...

I am in zone 8, so this is what I do for that zone.

If I wanted to plant lettuce, I could pretty much do that outside from the end of October to maybe mid to late April. The same would apply for all cool weather crops -- provided we dont' get any hard freezes.

I would start tomatoes from seed in January so that I could start hardening them off in March.

I plant wildflowers and bulbs in the fall -- usually in September or October for some early spring blooms.

Wildflowers typically start blooming in mid to late March here, but that is largely contingent on how much rain we get over the course of the winter.
I would plant beans by direct sowing them in March or early April.

Around here, people plant pansies all winter.

I will probably think of more stuff later.

Susan, the Texas Yankee and the Forum Manager

 

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T

Are you talking about starting them in a greenhouse, wintersowing outside, or inside with grow lights ??

Maybe everyone can state how they start them also, so people know how you have done them..I am going to be wintersowing this winter outside in milk gallon jugs..and I am in zone 6, so I have been told feb would be best.

I also learned this winter that COSMOS DONT LIKE TO BE SOWN INSIDE... and Sunflowers do BEST started outside right in the spot you want them to grow.

Zone 5/6

IF I was planting begonias and pansies from seed, I would do it in December, January at the latest, if I were planting inside under grow lights or in a greenhouse. Pansies can also be winter sown, but they will be slower to mature.

Blessings all -- praying for your needs.   Theresa    T

OCTOBER:

Zone 5/6 -- Greenhouses take cuttings of geraniums in the fall for the next year. I will take some and get them started to root in my basement with grow lights. This will give me time to pinch them back a couple times after they root, for better branched geraniums.

It's a little late for planting garlic, but still possible, quick before the ground freezes.

Flowering bulbs -- same issue. It's a little late, but still possible to plant flowering bulbs that bloom in the spring.

I bring in potted plants to put in basement "Grow light" area.

I will dig tender bulbs right before hard frost, within the next week or so. If I miss them and they get the first frost - no big issue, as long as I get them out before the ground freezes. This includes my canna, dahlias, and glads.

Blessings all -- praying for your needs.   Theresa    T