read recently that a fair few hardy annuals can be started this time of year and over wintered for the spring?? does anybody do this? and if so which annuals can i use?? are they brought on in a coldframe/greenhouse??
Lukeypukey: Two hardy annuals that I have planted because they winter over and come back several years in a row are dianthus, and pansies. Dianthus will come back from the same plant. The pansies will do that only the first year and then will come back from seed they sow. Not sure about other annuals. They come in several colors which is nice also. Hope that helps.
Luke, what is the coldest it gets there during the winter? Does it freeze or just frost? Snapdragons do well even when they get a bit of freezing on them.
My pansies have been evergreen the past 4-5 years now, if I am very careful to pick the flowerheads off before they seed. The main stems die back, but there is new growth from the center. They bloom all winter long, even with freeze and snow. I just leave the old flowerheads in the soil and get lots of new plants from seed also. My weather is 8a, and have had some significant cold weather for this area the past two years. Pansy flowers are great in salads. I thought my dianthus is a perennial.
its usually not too bad carolyn but we had terrible snow last year. around a ft and it hung around for ages. could i sow some pansies this time of year karma?? or is that a job for the spring?
Self-sowed seeds start growing in the fall around here. Last year we had weather down to 20 degrees F, and did have some snow, not a lot. They are usually still very small in the early spring, no flowers yet, but I can tell what they are by their leaves, so don't weed them out.
