Your Northern Garden: Hot Topics

How to Winter Sow Wildflowers

Mary Schier — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:57:16 GMT

Winter sowing is a popular method for starting native perennials and other wildflowers from seed, which saves money and gives you tons of plants each spring. These plants lend themselves to winter sowing because many of them require cold stratification, a process by which the seed coat breaks and it germinates only after a period of freezing and thawing. Here’s a step-by-step guide to winter sowing wildflowers.

Equipment

For winter sowing, you need the following items:

Clear plastic containers, at least 4 to 6 inches deep. (I like gallon milk jugs, but some gardeners swear by those large lettuce or spinach containers or 2-liter soda pop jugs.)
Potting soil. Your choice on brand and type, though seed starting mix is not recommended since the seedlings will grow in the containers for awhile and need the nutrients potting mix offers.
Seeds. I like the options from Prairie Moon Nursery, but which ever you have or like.
Duct tape
Markers and something to write on. Whatever you write on should be water resistant, or you can write on the inside of the container itself. Labeling is important.

Procedure

1) Wash the containers well in a 10 percent bleach solution. Rinse.

2) Poke several holes in the bottom of the container for drainage and a few in the top to allow rain or snow to drip in. A cheap soldering iron is a good investment for poking the holes. It’s much quicker and safer than a knife or scissors, but keep an eye on it because melting plastic stinks. Also, be very careful if you have children in the home — soldering irons get really hot!

A soldering iron makes quick work of poking the drainage holes in winter containers.

3) Cut around the jug about 4 to 5 inches from the bottom, leaving the handle in place, so it functions like a hinge. For this, I poke a hole in the plastic with a pruning tool, then cut around with a scissors.

Cut around the milk jug to create a hinge at the handle.

4) Put your potting mix in a large bucket and get it very wet. Give the water time to soak in, so you are sure you have a good, loose, wet soil.

5) Prop open the container and fill it with several inches of soil. Pat this lightly, then plant the seeds according to package instructions. Some seeds need to be immersed in the soil, others can just float on the surface with a little soil on top.

6) Write the name of what is in the container on a plant stick using a grease pencil (if you can find one) or a permanent marker. Also, write an identification on the outside of the container as well. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. You will forget what is in the container, if it is not marked. One year, I numbered the containers in multiple spots and lined them up in order, as a back up in case my markers faded.

7) Once they have been thoroughly marked, seal up the containers with duct tape. Do not put the caps on the containers. You need the hole in top to allow moisture in.

8) Set the containers outside and wait. As spring arrives, you will need to check the containers regularly to make sure they have enough moisture. When plants start to grow, gradually make the air holes on top larger and eventually cut the tops off the containers. Here’s a good video that shows you how the seeds will progress.

9) When you seedlings are strong and the weather has warmed up, plant them in the garden and enjoy

Planted, taped and labeled, the container is ready to go outside until spring

How to Grow a Lemon Tree in the North

Mary Schier — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:50:39 GMT

You can grow lemons in cold climates, if you have a sunny window and give the lemon tree some outdoor time each summer.

I grew a Meyer lemon tree for several years in a sunny window from October to May and outdoors during the warm months. It took more than a year to get blooms on the tree and several months for fruit to ripen. It was worth it, however, for the delicious lemons it produced.

I chose a Meyer lemon because they are “self-pollinating,” meaning they do not need other plants or bees to create fruit, though if you have more than one tree, you probably will get more fruit per tree. The flowers have a beautiful scent and the fruit is fun to watch grow in the living room. Here are some tips I uncovered growing lemons indoors.

Order or buy your tree from a reputable supplier and plant it in an ample sized pot. My pot was about 20 inches across, which was big enough to give the roots room but not so big that I could not move it outdoors in spring. Plant in a high-quality potting mix.

This small tree produced eight lemons one year.

Meyer lemons can take a more cold weather than other types of citrus, but you don’t want to leave them outside once the first frost hits. In my USDA Zone 4/5 climate, I moved them indoors in early October.
In the house, seek out the sunniest spot you have. I had a south-facing front window that worked really well for the lemon.
You don’t need to go overboard with watering. Wait until the soil in the pot starts to feel dry about an inch down. This is about every two weeks. When I water I give the pot about 8 cups of water at a time.
Do not fertilize during the winter!
Like other indoor plants going outside, your lemon tree needs to be re-acclimated to brighter outdoor light, wind and rain. Because the pot was heavy, I used a dolly to move mine out to the front porch during warmer days and back indoors at night until temperatures moderated enough for the plant to be outdoors full-time.
The only fertilizer I put on my tree is fish emulsion. In 2018, I gave it a small dose in April after the blossoms formed and more in June, July and August. There are special fertilizers formulated for citrus, and the usual recommendation is to fertilize monthly from April to September.
You may need to help pollinate the plant. The procedure is simple. Get a small paint brush or Q-tip swab and rub it into the flowers that have lots of pollen on their anthers. (These are male flowers.) Make sure you get some of the yellow pollen grains on your brush or swab. Then go to a flower that has the bulbous stigma (also called a pistil). Gently touch the edge of the swab or brush on the stigma. You want to see some grains of pollen present on the stigma after you have pollinated. Continue to do this as long as the plant is flowering. Wait to see the little lemons start developing. If you achieve pollination and are lucky, those little lemons will be big delicious fruit in about eight months.
The bulbous growth in the center of the flower is the stigma, which has a few grains of pollen on it.
Be patient. It takes a long time for citrus to ripen, especially in the North. My Meyer lemon fruit was green all summer and finally started to change color in September. I tested one lemon in October and it was good, but not quite ripe. When I juiced the fruit for the pie last week, it was perfect.
You will be rewarded! Compared to store-bought lemons, homegrown Meyer lemons were incredibly juicy.