Patience

These foxgloves remind me that 

patience and perseverance pay off,

in the garden and in life.

Seven years ago,

after my mom pulled all the weeds, 

this bed was empty.

Except for an old climbing rose, 

that you can't see hiding behind the Miss Kim lilac.

I bought six plants, all flowers, 

that year from the farmer's market. 

Four of them are still alive.

Finally, this bed is looking full.

  Five years ago I discovered winter sowing.

I planted fox gloves that first year, 
and the year after that.

But they never sprouted.

The poppies always grow though, 

and the oriental poppies come back every year.

Last year I tried again with fresh fox glove seeds.

Something changed. They sprouted.

But fox gloves require extra patience, 

the biennials don't bloom until year two.

But now, look at them now.
So many more blooms to enjoy.

Winter Sowing: Grow Beautiful Flowers and Plants Cheaply

winter-sown zinnias

If you're suffering from a case of spring fever, or just want to enjoy some pretty flowers cheaply come summer, then I highly recommend trying winter sowing.

What is winter sowing? Well, it's a cheap and simple way to grow plants from seeds without needing any fancy equipment, like seed trays and grow lights. Nor do you have to dedicate precious space inside your home or spend time watering, turning, hardening off, or kitty proofing your precious seedlings. Winter sowing only requires some used containers (I prefer milk jugs), potting mix, seeds, and space outside. Not only is winter sowing an inexpensive way to grow new plants, it's also a way to grow things that may not be readily available at your garden center. Specifically, winter sowing works for seeds that need cold stratification, things like perennials, and self-sowing annuals.

poppies!

Why bother winter sowing when you can just direct sow seeds in the garden? If direct sowing seeds works well for you, then by all means go ahead, but it was a giant flop in my garden. In contrast, when I create these little ghetto greenhouses, as I like to call them, I'm able to cheaply grow plants that are hard or expensive at the local greenhouse and my winter sown seedlings are father along, have higher germination rates and are ready to be planted earlier.

Sweet William

Now most of the yearly additions to my garden are winter-sown flowers. I've had success growing zinnias, rudbeckia, columbine, cerinthe, nasturiums, cleome, bachelor buttons, sweet alyssum, Sweet William, poppies of all kinds, cosmos, coneflowers, monarda and more using this method. It's still a little early to try any tender annuals yet this year, like cosmos and zinnias, but I've already sown poppies and Foxgloves so far before I ran out of containers.

So if your game, here's a step-by-step guide to winter sowing. First, the best resource for any and all winter sowing info is wintersown.org. There you will find seed lists by gardening zone, FAQs and more.

cosmos

Once you've studied up, you'll need to gather some supplies. You'll need translucent containers; recycling previously used containers is encourage. Gallon and half-gallon milk jugs are my favorite, but you can also use two-liter bottles, juice containers and whatever else you find handy.

You'll also need fertilizer-free potting mix (not potting soil). The only place I've found this is at a gardening center and I have good luck with Pro-Mix brand. And, of course, you'll need seeds. Once you have your supplies you're ready to get started.

First, punch holes in the bottom of your container to allow for adequate drainage. I use one of the boyfriends pics to do this, but I've also used a drill for heavier plastics. If you're container has a cap you can discard it at this point because you're not going to need it.

Next, if using a jug, cut the top most of the way off, leaving a hinge between the body and lid. At this point I label the inside of the lid with a number. If you label the outside it tends to fade away by planting time and you'll be left with a mystery plant. Next fill 2-3 inches with potting mix, moisten the mix and let it drain. Then add seeds, cover them lightly with mix, and tape the container back together.

 

Now all that's left is to put your container outside, in a place where it will receive rain and sun, and sit back and relax until spring. Snow on the way? No worries! Your seeds will know when to sprout.

my collection of ghetto greenhouses

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

The zinnias are blooming, the zinnias are blooming!

I know I'm a little late, but I didn't want to miss two Garden Bloggers' Bloom Days in a row. So without further ado...

Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers. This spring, after I planted my wintersown zinnias, something ate them right up. Dismayed at the idea of not having zinnias this year I direct-sowed the rest of the seeds I had on hand in pots. And they turned out beautifully, so beautifully in fact that I'm putting this on my mental to-do list for next year.

I just love poppies. This is the first time I tried growing the gorgeous venus poppy (winter-sown of course), and I'll definitely do it again. The only thing I long for is to have many, many more of them.

Coneflowers

Ditch lily

daisies

cosmos

Cleome

I'd forgotten about sowing these white coneflowers until they bloomed. I used to not plant white flowers, I thought they blend in too much with my white house, but I've come to love them.

Also blooming in my garden:

• Balloon flowers
• Coreopsis
• Dianthus
  
• Gladiolas
• Lavendar
  
• Liatris
• Snapdragons
  

Want to see more blooms? Visit May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of every month to see what's blooming in gardens around the world.

Gardening for the Rest of Us, Part II

Read Part I here

My second gardening season I bought some more flowers from a mail order company (cough, Michigan Bulb, cough), because that seemed like a more affordable option. I still tried to follow my great gardening plan where I could and adjust it as needed, but after a while I just started plopping things in where I thought they would look good. I supplemented the mail order plants with cosmos and a few perennials I found on sale locally for 33 cents each. I also direct sowed some seeds right into my flower beds.

Some of these efforts did better than others. Half of the plants I ordered either didn't bloom in the first place, or didn't come back a second year. Direct seeding wasn't a great success either, although some things like bachelor buttons and sweet alyssum did grow and even bloom from seed. The tiny perennials I bought locally did the best of all of the plants that year, and I still have most if not all of them. Still, my garden was sparse. I longed for the lush full gardens that others had, but I figured creating my garden would be gradual process. Every year it got a little better.

That winter I discovered something that would make the biggest difference in my garden: winter sowing. I was skeptical that you could plant seeds in plastic bottles and containers in winter and get plants in spring, but I decided to give it a try. And you know what? It works! If you want to have a variety of plants cheaply, then you must try winter sowing.

Now most of the yearly additions to my garden are winter-sowed flowers. This spring I planted poppies, zinnias and holly hocks, all of which were winter-sowed. I've also successfully winter sowed Irish Eyes Rudbeckia, columbine, cerinthe, nasturiums, cleome, bachelor buttons, sweet alyssum, Sweet William, poppies of all kinds, cosmos, coneflowers and more.

Read part III

The Garden's Not Done Yet

This hasn't been a good summer for blogging, too much to do too little time, but it's been a great summer for my garden! I didn't want to miss yet another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, so here's a better-late-than-never trip through my September garden.


Pic details: 1) zinnias*, 2) zinnias*, 3) roses, 4) poppies*, 5) snapdragons* 6) globe amarath* 7) lavender 8) Irish-Eyed Rudbeckia* and 9) nasturiums*.

I especially love that most of these flowers were winter-sown (everything marked with an asterisk). Winter-sowing is a super-easy way to get loads of interesting and cheap plants without having to babysit seedlings.

Want to see more blooms? Visit May Dreams Gardens every month on the 15th to see what's blooming in gardens around the world.

Pink Garden Pom-Poms

My pretty pink peony poppies did not show up in time for my Pink Parade for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, they wanted to make an entrance. And what an entrance it is.

Their stems may be wild and twisted (I wonder if they always grow like this, since this is my first experience with them?), but their blooms are gorgeous pink puffballs that make me smile.

Like so many of my flowers, these poppies were winter-sown and oh, so worth the effort.

My First Peony! (for Green Thumb Sunday)

I'm so excited to show you my very first peony bloom on my very first peony. This is my second attempt at planting a peony, the first one died over winter. But this peony is very much alive and smells fantastic. Now I want more peonies, much more! If only I have endless room to plant them!

Finally, it's a good year for dianthus in my garden.
Usually it's too dry and hot for them to do much.

These little dianthus are some of my 33 cent bargains. They didn't bloom last year so I was surprised to see the delicate magenta blooms.

I just solved my own little garden mystery and found out these are Sweet William. I swear these were winter-sown and planted last year and didn't bloom, which was why I didn't know what they were when they bloomed this year for the first time. That always amazes me when a little seedling seems to disappear, but returns next season and thrives.

Allium orephilium

The chives and catmint that I profiled a few weeks ago are still blooming like crazy as well.

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join Green Thumb Sunday every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

It's Planting Time!

Holy crap I'm tired and I can't wait to see how my back feels tomorrow. Why does my body feel abused? Cause it's planting time! So far I've planted two containers of flowers on the front porch.

Plus five earth boxes with tomatoes (Black Krim, Rainbow Heirloom,
Golden Girl and Early Girl) and cucumbers (regular and lemon).

Plus this cherry tomato plant.

But I still have all this to plant: more flowers, zucchini, peppers and more tomatoes.

Oh and these containers of winter-sown seedlings. Time to get back to work, right after the Redwings game, that is.

Introducing the Side Garden

I'm thrilled with my little side garden, even though it's still very much a work in progress. All the flowers in my side garden were grown last winter as part of my winter sowing project.

My goal in planting them here was to have something pretty to look down on out of my bedroom window. Unlike my other garden beds, I just plunked the tiny seedlings into the small bit of cleared former rock-filled yard. I just love the way it turned out, just like the cottage garden style I'm going for! There's Zinnia, Love in a Mist, Cleome, Brown-Eyed Susans, some mystery purple flowers I've now sure of (the spikey ones, in case anyone can help me out), and even a tomatoes plant or two (thanks to the compost). These plants are so large and healthy too.

See the tiny little white Love in a Mist? I just noticed them today, although those seeds were three years old!

This little side garden has made me a winter sowing convert for life!

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join Green Thumb Sunday every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.