Knowledge from Olle Garden Bed: 10 Flower Seeds Most Suitable for Winter Sowing

Although the snowy days in winter have some ethereal charm, in most cases, the cold season is an endless gray and gloomy day. Therefore, in spring, a colorful garden is a welcome sight with sore eyes. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.

However, to enjoy the blooming flowers soon after the change of seasons, you need to garden in winter. Some flowers need cold weather conditions to germinate, so when the temperature rises, they are ready to germinate.

How to sow in winter

Winter sowing is a method of outdoor sowing in winter. Long term low temperature promotes seed germination of some flowering species, which is called cold stratification. In addition, it is well known that winter sown plants are more resilient and robust than indoor sown seeds.

Here's what you need:

Transparent or translucent plastic containers, such as milk cans or 1-liter soda bottles

A sharp knife

Light commercial potting mixture

First, cut a cut in the middle of the container and around its circumference. Make sure not to cut off the upper half completely! Instead, leave a 1-inch uncut area that can act as a hinge. Punch holes in the bottom of the container to drain.

Fill the container with potted soil to a depth of about 2 to 3 inches. Water the mixture in large quantities to allow excess water to drain. Sow and pat the soil gently to make it firm. Remove the cover and replace the upper half of the container and secure with tape.

Label the container with date and plant variety. Place the container in an outdoor area that is sunny and exposed to rain. However, you need to protect the container from rain and wind.

Pay attention to the soil to ensure it is not too dry; If this is the case, moisten gently. In most cases, seasonal precipitation is sufficient. As the temperature rises, the top is opened during the day and closed at night. Soon you will have fresh seedlings!

The best flower seeds for winter sowing

One of the easiest ways to choose the flower seeds sown in winter is to read the package and look for keywords such as self sowing, cold stratification, cold tolerance and perennial. All this shows that seeds are very suitable for sowing in cold weather.

If you are still unsure, a list of flower seeds that will thrive when you plant in the winter is ready.

Alyssum

Alyssum is a hardy annual plant with tiny white four petaled flowers that can be used to cover your landscape. It has narrow lanceolate grayish green leaves with fine hairs. The flowers have a honey sweet taste, which is floating in the wind.

The best time to plant these plants is when the frost has passed and the flowers will blossom about two months after sowing.

Bachelor button

Another hardy annual bachelor's button flower is blue, although now you can also find red, pink and white tones. They can be sown in January at the earliest and require minimal care. They thrive in sunny areas. However, you need to dead head plants, as they tend to self seed in large quantities.

Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bush are also called butterfly shrubs. The flowers grow in a cone at the end of the branches. The plant performs well in seed production and dissemination. According to a study by Changmu Garden, each flower spike can have more than 40000 seeds.

Columbine

Columbine is a perennial plant, which can grow beautiful and colorful bell shaped flowers with little care. Ideal conditions for this plant include cool temperatures, sufficient sunlight, and well drained soil. They are also very resilient and drought resistant, but if they stay wet for too long they will rot.

Please note that from the time of seed planting, Columbine will not blossom in the first year. So when this happens, don't worry!

Coreopsis

The coreopsis is a perennial plant, with vibrant yellow flowers that look like daisies. The flowers are mainly single flowers in full bloom. Higher varieties can flower on erect stems, which is very suitable for cutting. When planted earlier in the year, they are more likely to bloom in the first year.

Forget-me-not

Forget-me-not is an annual reseeding, which is very suitable for winter sowing, because the plant can produce a large number of small pale blue flowers, and can cover the ground in early spring. They like humid environment and partial to full sunlight.

Please note that these plants will seed themselves and provide you with another blue ocean when they finally die.

Foxglove

Foxglove seeds are very suitable for winter sowing. The plant is biennial, producing pink purple, drooping flowers, oval, soft, fluffy. Flowers like sunny or partially cool places, and the soil is well drained.

Most importantly, they are an important source of bee pollen.

Hollyhock

Hollyhock is another biennale on the list that produces cup-shaped flowers with few stems. The plant likes well drained soil in sunny areas, and has tall spikes covered with colorful flowers, including pink, purple, white, blue, red and yellow.

These are ideal for providing a lush background to your garden, although they take two years to display their flowers.

Poppies

Poppies need natural freeze-thaw cycles to germinate, so they are very suitable for planting in winter. Because of their bright colors and simple planting process, they are an ideal complement to most landscape situations. The plant needs a sunny location and limited watering to thrive.

Snapdragon

Goldfish has many amazing colors, ranging from soft to bright. In cool areas in summer, they bloom for a long time from early spring to autumn. They can even withstand short periods of frost. This hardy year is worth all the work!

Flowers bloom better in winter

Winter sowing allows you to take advantage of environmental factors to achieve a garden in full bloom in spring. Since most of the work is done by nature, the process is relatively easy and budget friendly, with amazing results.

In addition, compared with indoor plants, the plants produced by this planting method are sturdy and durable. Therefore, now is the best time to start planning landscape design, so that you can start the germination process early next year.