Most Plants Start Now

Plants that only take a very short time to grow, such as shorter zinnia and marigold, can be held and started as late as April first, but there's no disadvantage if you start these now as well.

Taller zinnia, marigolds, and most other plants benefit from eight weeks to grow until planting out, which means starting right about now is the correct time.

As of now, the cleome and Easter eggplant are growing downstairs under the lights.  I recently added the Salvia farinacea "Rhea" and Salvia splendens (various red parents) to the growing rack as well.  While small, they'll grow!

The taller zinnia are starting now, along with the Melampodium and celosia, which like a little more time than you might imagine (but are tolerant of not having it).  I only bought 100 celosia seeds for a 72-cell flat, so I'm most likely going to have to find something else for the cells that inevitably don't sprout (this also involves pricking out baby plants and moving them into groups of cells to avoid mixing species inside a single 6-pack).

Next up, the shorter zinnia start, followed by the marigolds which are last on the list.  The majority of my marigolds are Janie as they perform beautifully in heat and blossom well from May to frost (usually late October).  They are, however, French marigold and rather short.

In other news, I think I'm a full flat short this year as I didn't plan for it correctly in early winter.  No matter, it's an excuse to haunt places in the area that sell seed and pick up several new friends or revisit old ones!

I'll take photos of the lawn and gardens once the snow finishes melting.  At the current rate, mid-March should be the starting point of the early spring season, but the first garden photos will be delayed by the weather this year.  I don't expect the first flowers until late March.