Every year, According to a very finely established plan during the winter 'holidays' , we start our sowing in succession from March 1st. Not before! For us, the rest period must stretch out as much as possible! No question of rushing and starting the season too early.

Sowing seeds is good, but it's not mandatory! We mainly do sowing seeds for 4 reasons:

• to get ahead of the season (especially slow-growing varieties)

• to optimize germination rate and growth (controlled conditions)

• to benefit from strong competition against weeds (seedling already growing).

• for fun!

Most flowers can also be sown directly into the ground once the last frost has passed in spring.

Be careful not to start sowing too early!

Although the enthusiasm of gardening often leads to starting seedlings too early, it is important to plan your planting carefully to avoid the following problems:

1. Etiolated plants : Etiolation is caused by a lack of natural light. At the end of winter, the days are still short and there is insufficient sunlight to ensure good photosynthesis.
   Young plants, in search of light, react by excessively elongating their stems, making them fragile and lacking in vigor. Without an adequate light source, such as artificial lighting (suspended 2 inches from the foliage), or by waiting for a more favorable time to sow, the plants may not survive transplanting outdoors and/or produce a poor harvest.
   
   

2. Root Confinement : Root confinement occurs when a seedling is left too long in a container that has become too small for its root system.
   They become too tightly packed and twist inside the container. This can restrict water and nutrient uptake, resulting in stunted growth, premature flowering (dwarfing), wilting, or even death of the plant if this problem is not addressed quickly.
   
   

3. Spacing and Maintenance : Plants that become Too large plants take up more space and require more care before being transplanted.
   To prevent them from weakening, they must be transplanted into increasingly larger pots (repotting), which requires time, resources, space, more water, nutrients and light.

To plan sowing, the logic is as follows;

THE GROWTH WINDOW:

First, we need to know the growing window, the time when it will be possible to grow a particular variety in the regional climate. To do this, we simply need to find the date of the last ground frost in spring, and the date of the first ground frost in fall.
Everything included within these two dates is the growing season or period. Here at Floramama, however, we tend to base the date of the last full moon in May as the date of the last ground frost, but to be safe, we're going around May 25th. The first ground frost has been very changeable in recent years, but we're playing it safe here too and considering it to be around the end of September, so around September 25th.

First possible sowing date = date of last frost on the ground - number of days in sowing

Example for ' Matsumoto Apricot' asters which take 6 to 8 weeks of growth from seed to transplant (days in sowing):
May 22 - 50 = April 2
(note that we take an average based on the number of weeks needed to go from seed to transplant to establish the number of days in sowing) 

Last possible sowing date = date of first frost on the ground - number of days to maturity.

Example for asters ' Matsumoto Apricot' which need 115 days to mature: September 29 - 115 = June 6

THE HARVEST WINDOW:

Possible harvest window = First possible sowing date + number of days to maturity and last possible sowing date + number of days to maturity

Example with of the asters ' Matsumoto Apricot' :
April 2 + 115 = July 26 and June 6 + 115 = September 30.
So the harvest window is between July 26 and September 30.

To determine the precise harvest date, simply add the number of days to maturity to the sowing date.

So if I sow some asters ' Matsumoto Apricot' on May 10, I can plan to harvest on September 3: May 10 + 115 = September 3

It is generally considered that most multiple harvest varieties can be harvested within 7 days (1 plant produces several flower stems in succession).

Here are the average dates of the last ground frost in spring for some regions and their surrounding areas:

May 25 (Montreal)

June 5 (Drummondville, Gatineau, Three Rivers)

June 10 (St-Hyacinthe, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Matane)

June 20 (Chicoutimi)

June 25 (Gaspé)

July 1 (Senneterre)

The pro hack to get ahead of the season: hardy annuals!

Hardy annuals have the ability to thrive in cool temperatures and sometimes even withstand frost. These varieties thrive in cool temperatures and should be prioritized when planning plantings to obtain early spring harvests or extend the season into fall!

They can generally be transplanted into the garden about 2 weeks before the last frost date , providing adequate protection to optimize their growth and reduce transplant shock. This means they can be sown 2 weeks earlier!

Among the most interesting we find:

Bells of Ireland , Poppy , Calendula , Daucus , Cocklebur , Watercress , Baby's Breath, Cerinthe , Iceland Poppy , Atriplex, Scabiosa , Soapwort, Wallflower , Centaury , Rudbeckia , Bupleurum , Matricaria , Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Larkspur, Nigella , Orlaya , Ammi , Snapdragons , Sweet William

Planning crops, and therefore sowing, is a difficult time to get through, at least for me. Remember that it's normal for it to take time, for you to make progress, and then have to go back. It's not a continuous process; you have to adjust and adjust again until the plan makes sense.

So happy planning and good luck holding back from frantically sowing until then!