May: Planting out the nasturtiums

Milk jug crammed full of happy nasturtium leaves

Out of nine 'Spitfire' nasturtium seeds planted March 13th, eight germinated; time to sprouting was 20 days. They grew like weeds in their milk jug and I never had to do a thing for them. I am a believer; wintersowing is great!


I tipped out the soil and found a tangled mess of roots:

Now I see why people wintersow in individual peat pots! Luckily, the soil was nice and loose and teasing apart the roots wasn't very difficult.

I know I'm pushing the May 15th last-frost date a bit but 1) I'm in the Lake Michigan buffer zone, so am less likely to get frost in May than other parts of Zone 5, and 2) my urban backyard is a warmish microclimate. So, on May 1, I planted my seedlings out:

In the raised garage garden, by the trellis with the barely-flowering,
unmanageable, unkillable clematis...

In the back of the prairie garden, in heavy, rocky soil, next to the alley fence 

(and another on the alley side, to dress up my trash cans)...

In the recently top-dressed soil of the prairie garden, amidst downy sunflowers,
under the trellis with the white Henryi clematis...

In heavy clay soil next to a downspout by the veggie garden...

And the last two were potted up along with three more seeds because why not? I watered everybody and wished them luck. If they can escape being trampled by the resident beagle, I think they'll do well.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

April: Seed GROW project

I am excited to be participating in the GROW project this year with many other bloggers! The seeds were generously provided by Renee's Garden; the selected plant is the 'Spitfire' climbing nasturtium. I've never grown nasturtiums before and I rarely grow anything from seed because spring also is my busiest time with work/school obligations. Still, surely I can keep a few seedlings alive and healthy this year!

I have been gardening at this house for 15 years now but wintersowing is still an entirely new concept to me. Thanks to Monica and Kylee, I think I now have the basics down, and the GROW project is a perfect place to try it out. I started pretty late; I planted on March 13 when it was in the 50s and hardly "winter" in Chicago anymore. Still, the nights get cold and I fully expected more snow and bitter cold (and I was right!).


I washed a gallon milk jug, cut it in half, and punched holes in the bottom with an awl.


I then filled it with about two inches of potting soil. I use Miracle Grow potting mix with some perlite mixed in, and moisten it well in a bucket. I planted nine nasturtium seeds to a depth of an inch, covered the seeds, sealed the jug with duct tape, labeled it and set it outside.


I have lots of seeds left over, and some of those will be planted directly in the garden after the last-frost date of May 15.

As of April 1, no sign of seedlings yet.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."