GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

01-03-2006, 09:15 PM posted to rec.gardens

In article says...
If the last frost date for zone 5 is April 30, can I SAFELY sow seeds
two weeks prior to April 30? Or is there some reason that I don't
realize why I need to wait till April 30?

Here in Zone 5 Chicago which I think is Zone 5b the frost free date is
May 15. Last year however we had a frost on May 17 so who knows. For
sowing seeds it depends on what type of plant you're sowing. For spring
planting wildflowers I sow them around the third week of April and they
do fine. Most of my wildflowers are sown in the fall to survive the
winter and come up in the spring whenever the weather allows. Fragile
plants like tomatoes and other veggies are a different matter. I just
buy the seedlings in 4 and 6 packs and plant those after May 15. Due to
the relatively short summers here it doesn't make sense to fool around
with seeding those plants. If you insist on starting from seed you
should probably do that inside.