My First Time Winter Sowing

Gillian Cantello, Environment Committee

I have always loved gardens, but I am far from being an accomplished gardener. I had never grown anything from seed. That changed when I became part of the Convent Glen Orleans Wood Community Association’s Environment Committee and got to know some of the members, who are wonderful gardeners.

One of the first projects the Environment Committee undertook was to plant a pollinator garden at Orleans Wood Elementary School. This took place in spring 2023 and, at the time, I didn’t know the first thing about native plants or why they might be a better gardening option. That project, which was funded by Ecology Ottawa, taught me so much about gardening with native plants.

Then, last December, one of the members of the committee suggested we get together to do winter sowing. I thought it was a great idea, and offered my garage as a place to do it. Since I have a small home, one of the things that appealed to me about winter sowing is that the seeds germinate outside.

The seeds we had, which included Joe Pye Weed, fireweed, swamp milkweed, great blue lobelia, and Canadian columbine, were all from the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library. Our potting containers included strawberry clamshells, vinegar and distilled water jugs, and small seedling pots. For the vinegar and distilled water jugs, we removed the lids and cut the tops off. We filled each of our “pots” with about 3 inches of potting soil, and then planted the seeds in accordance with the instructions on the seed packages. Next, we watered the soil and, in the case of the vinegar and distilled water jugs, taped the jugs back together again.

Now the pots were ready to place outside and become mini greenhouses for my native plants. I chose areas that were partially shaded, like along my back fence. For the seeds that were in open pots, I used an old window screen to cover them so that the animals wouldn’t dig them up. Then I left them alone for the winter months.

In the spring, I kept an eye on the pots to make sure the soil never dried out. Once the seedlings started to grow and were clearly viable, I planted them in my garden. I was so thrilled to see all of the little seedlings grow into healthy plants. I will definitely be winter sowing again this winter. Maybe next year I will be able to harvest seeds and return them to the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library for someone else to use. Winter sowing is now an important part of my efforts to gradually convert my gardens to primarily native plants. If I can do it, anybody can!