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I'm in the Southwest, high altitude so we get freezes until early April. I was surprised to see photos of northern gardens with containers of winter sown seeds, surrounded by snow. In a way, they seem to act like tiny cold frames. The only plants that failed were Chinese cabbage because they don't like transplanting and they bolted right away. As the weather warms, I remove the cap from the milk jug so they don't overheat. I'm also a big fan of those little Jiffy 7 peat pellets.
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Linda that sounds like an excellent idea. What part of the country are you in?
I potted up some geraniums to bring in for the Winter and a couple of bean seeds sprouted, flowered and set beans. Unfortunately the cat ate them.
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cwillie, they're like terrariums. I poke holes in the bottom for drainage, and cut the jug crosswise in half except leaving it attached at the handle to form a hinge. Fill with potting soil - I usually get the soil moistened well in a bowl first - add the seeds and cover with dirt. Then I seal the two halves with duck tape all the way around. I put the cap on the bottle and it stays nice and moist inside. If I have to add any water, I add thru the top. I mark the seed info with a Sharpie. I try not to undo the tape because I've found a good tight seal is really important. Put them in the sun and let them do their thing. I like not having to go thru hardening off the seedlings.  I've had success with cold weather items like broccoli and leafy greens.    It's the easiest seed starting I've ever done and the plants transplant without any shock.    I'd like to try this with flower seeds this year.
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I'm curious Linda, are you keeping the milk jugs intact like a seed starting terrarium or are you cutting them down into pots?
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I put spinach seeds and lettuce seeds into gallon milk jugs and set them outside. They'll germinate when it's their time and then I'll transplant to the garden. It's called winter sowing and has worked well for me. I still have garden debris to clean out --
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Mina, and others...
You weren't off topic, and your post was lovely.
Geez, what was I saying-even I cannot figure it out now-I am thinking it went along with another post which was deleted.
My point was the website issues were taking over all the threads.
Coming here to 'Gardening as therapy' has always been like a mini vacation for me.

I am still surprised that my bouganvillia has kept a bloom all through the winter weather. But I will need to go grasshopper hunting, dig around in the dirt for eggs?
The cape honeysuckle vine has been prolific in blooms since October-orange blooms everywhere. A few succulents have orange blooms too. This was nature's design, not mine, but I like it.
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We are having an extended January thaw, so much for the predictions of an old fashioned winter!! I really don't mind not having to shovel, but I worry that this may mean a cooler that normal Spring.
My big old Christmas cactus has one bud...LOL. Well, it was always more of an Easter bloomer, maybe I'll get more later.
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Every thread goes off topic at times but it is never for very long before it is back to the subject of caregiving.

Lots of rain here in NorCal and central California. Does it mean the drought is over? No!! Water management is a big part it.

I am hoping the iris bulbs don't rot even in our sandy soil here that is not getting a chance to dry out. It is nice having all this rain and snow pack for the Sierra Nevadas. There has been flooding north of us and in the coastal wine region.

Many bulbs will start to bud and bloom next month, almonds will blossom next month too.
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My point being,
Wanting to talk about the topic
Which is gardening
And having a personal relationship
With a human being, or several
Not being concerned with website development.
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Jinglebts.....I too, would love a Saarinen tulip table in my future! I am not an architect but do have a Master's in Historic Preservation......have worked on restoration of some Arts and Crafts cottages.....very delicate operations.....originals, or near to, can be very dark, claustrophobic even.....as charming as people would like them to be, given their lovely woodwork and details.....it takes a very delicate, considerate hand to bring these homes into the 21st Century......I've seen both very good and very bad updates.....

I am no big fan of "modernism" and certainly not "mid-mod" (ughhhh.....I grew up w/that, hated it then, still hate it now!)......but after years of working at the Saarinnen-designed GM Tech Center, esp. the Design Center, I have a true, hard-earned appreciation for his work.....just visit in the fall, enjoy the "campus" (yessss.....he designed both indoor and outdoor spaces) and the sunlight reflecting off the building's exterior.....brilliant!!!

OOOPS!.....I'm inadvertently hijacking GA's lovely thread, so sorry.....I hope she will forgive me since we are neighbors, so to speak, and both love Cranbrook where Saarinnen and Eames (his best friend) taught for so many years.
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Egads....GA have you been having thunderstorms all night like we have here? Very disconcerting in January.....very loud.....torrential rain....ugh....after the High Wind Warnings (60 MPH gusts) last night.....now this....

Re: Roses.....I have a huge, ancient rose bush (no idea what kind) out back....which faces West, and to your point, is absolutely assaulted by all the weather, all year....this bush was here when I bought the house 20+ years ago....the only thing I've ever done is to pull out old, dead canes.....she blooms profusely every year.....deep, blood-red roses.....what a survivor!....the blooms lay down all over my slate patio and I do so very little to help her!
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Cwillie, your amaryllis reminds me, when my grandmother moved to AL many of us got treasured plants from her beloved yard. Several years later when she died I was living in TX and walked out my front door to leave for the funeral back home only to see her huge white amaryllis blooming beautifully. I called my mom and asked if she thought it was a sign from my grandmother. My mom was having none of that! She immediately said "no, it just means it's time for the amaryllis to bloom!" I've since moved several times and still have it and smile each spring when it blooms.
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GA: Arts and Crafts is my second most favourite style of architecture. I like those little squat houses with the stone pillars. I also like Charles Rennie MacKintosh et al. Including the tchotchkes.
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That's the ticket, Ali. Bloom where you are planted.
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71 degrees, I'm jealous!
I am watching my indoor amaryllis spring up higher every day, I have a collection of bulbs I've saved over the years but somehow only the red ones bloom consistently. I'll take any colour in Jan/Feb, looks like 5 or six buds started!
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GA, I finally found your gardening thread! I spent a few hours this afternoon cutting back roses and have the scratches on my arms to prove it. It's 71 degrees outside after being in the 20's just a few days ago. I'll have many confused plants if this keeps up, like daffodils trying to peek out before spring. My roses are all knock out roses that you really don't have to prune a lot, but they get too leggy over time if you don't. I also have a beautiful Lady Banks rose on an arbor that has the most incredible yellow blooms in spring. Anyway, a nice afternoon outdoors and glad to do some reading here
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The David Austin roses also have the most wonderful fragrance, a true "old rose" fragrance. I just loved inhaling that fragrance when they were in bloom!

I don't think your Arctic Flames will ship until your planting season. It's been my experience that the companies go by zone hardiness and ship for your spring season.

It's so cold now it's too cold sometimes for even people to be outside!
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I ordered 4 count of the 2 yr old Arctic Flame Sub Zero rose bushes. I don't know when they'll ship, but I'd take them anytime. I'd love to get them started in pots indoors, then transplant when it's warm enough.

I don't think they'll ship for a couple more months, though.
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I'm looking at the David Austin website, GA, and I get what you're saying! Those petal counts that go into the 100+ count... wow. Those are such neat looking roses. And every shade, hue, and style of rose I never imagined. Yes, very nice website.
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David Austin - Wow. No, I had never come across him. What a wonderful job he has, curating roses for a living.
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GA, thanks for sharing about Dutch Gardens. I looked them up online and was surprised to see they're located in Bloomington, IL. The catalogue I have ordered from before, Burgess Seed & Plant Co., is ALSO in Bloomington, IL, making me think these 2 nurseries may be 1 nursery? Who knows. There is no street address listed for Dutch Gardens (in Bloomington, IL) that I can see and their price on Arctic Flame is just a tad more. Both describe 2 year old bare root dormant plants.

Interesting! :-)
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jinglebts , I confess that I'm really not very familiar with his furniture. I'm partial to Arts and Crafts architecture, and some of the furniture, but most of what I have is "poor girl, kit assembly" pine furniture, which I do like.

Ali, I just checked out Arctic Flame - it's a real beauty! Dutch Gardens, one of my favorite catalogue plant suppliers, has it on sale. I could easily add a few of those to my garden as well!

DG states that it's hardy to zone 3, so it should survive in your area.

A word of caution though - I lost almost all my roses that I planted in the garden, because it was open to the south and west winds, the latter of which blew around the house back into the garden, and devastated the roses.

A neighbor told me she saved her roses by putting up a slat fence, like the kind seen on beaches for winter protection.

Have you ever looked through David Austin's website or his catalogue? If you haven't, prepare to sigh so much you'll find yourself breathless.
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I think I finally figured out what to replace the too-big, one's dead, row-of-4 Red Twig Dogwoods out in front of house here.

I think some Sub Zero rose bushes would go there nicely. Says they have 2-4' spread (good size), come in a nice pretty red called Arctic Flame, and will work for my zone 5b. I can get a 4 count of 2 year old starter plants for quite reasonable, and hopefully future home owners will appreciate my efforts. I know that dead bush out front isn't particularly attractive, so I'm wanting to figure something out for early Spring planting.
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... interested ... gosh.
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GA: I love Saarinen ... I have a Pinterest board with a collection of mid-century modern pieces, but I particularly like the Saarinen tulip table and the Eames chair with the footstool. Funnily enough, my first husband and I rented an apartment in Manhattan, Kansas, and it was furnished with an Eames chair. I didn't recognize it then bc I only became interest in moderne in the '70s (this was the '60s, and I think it was the real deal). The rest of the furniture was ghastly, so I thought it rather odd that there would be this really nice leather chair in amongst the ugly.

My ex recently came to see me and I asked him abt it, and he said he thought not, but I think it was original. If only ... I can barely afford the Pinterest board now! (I need a new laptop.)
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I wouldn't worry GA, it seems that after every thaw we hear people talking about their poor plants breaking dormancy, but I figure the plants a few degrees south must get freeze/thaw cycles all the time. As long as we remember to plant for our zone we always see them blooming come Spring without any worries :)
(And if winter continues with this pattern I wouldn't mind one bit!)
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My poor confused plants....After frigid, Arctic weather, we've had a welcome break of mild weather with temps soaring into the 40's. I noticed after my walk today that my roses have new leaf buds. The lunaria (money plants) are sprouting.

Another Arctic front will be approaching tomorrow. My poor little rose leaves and lunaria leaves will probably be frozen by tomorrow night.

Years ago I used to wrap burlap around the roses, or use rose cones, but gradually got lazier and lazier and didn't protect them after I lost all the David Austin roses. Now I need to design something to save the climbers from a similar fate.
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CW, the milk is so diluted there is no odor. Before I use it, I fill the jug to dilute the initial application, and keep filling the jug until it's clear of any milk residue. With all this water, the milk water tends to soak down into the ground quickly.

I was concerned about that when I started using the milk water, so that's why I use so much clear water to dilute it. So far, I've never smelled anything beyond the first application. So by the time it could begin to smell, it's absorbed into the ground and highly diluted.
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Cwillie, I have 2 Christmas cactus plant and I cant get them to bloom either. They get morning light. Maybe I will try moving them out of the window. My orchid has big plump buds and will bloom soon plus it is growing out another bloom stem.
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Thanks Sharyn, most of my houseplants do vacation outside for the summer. My more modern (15 yr old?) cactus bloomed like crazy soon after I brought it in, but my big old fashioned one is more fickle. It has always been more of an easter bloomer, so I am hopeful I will see buds forming in a few more weeks.

GA, I've read about milk for plants, doesn't that get stinky??
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