I am in zone 7 also and I started most--but not all--of my seeds months ago. The short answer is "probably" too late for starting seeds. Even with those temps (I am jealous), the shortening days make a difference, but they might overwinter and start growing again in spring if they survive winter. I would absolutely look for transplants though--do you have a garden center or farmers' market where you could buy lettuce, kale/collard, arugula, spinach, etc. seedlings? The Asian green tat soi and the salad green called mache are both particularly cold hardy. It also makes a difference if you use season extending materials like row cover or plastic. It is pretty amazing what you can grow over winter with some protection.

I planted in the fall - perhaps too early, in Sept - and the leaves never died back. Our winter was exceptionally warm. These look amazing and the stem is FAT. I planted after 2 weeks of chilling the bulbs in the fridge. Then I acquired more bulbs...in the winter...these were also chilled for 2 weeks. A few varieties were planted in the ground in December. A few more were planted in the ground in January. Eight varieties were planted in containers, and started indoors, in February. The container varieties are nearly as big as the fall planted ones, at the stem just above the soil. The container varieties have been outside for a month now. I am newer to this and read a fantastic book. What I read is that if the cloves are not subjected to cool weather, once planted, the clove division and wrapper formation gets messed up, later in the season. Well shall see!

If you go to the monthly "show us your gardens" thread, you'll find photos of what various folks are growing. I don't generally grow grasses, but I do grow ribbon grass in a container. I started doing this since it spreads badly in a regular bed, but I like the way it looks in a container. I then put containers nearby with other plants for contrasting foliage and flowers. None of the plants in the vignettes from my garden below are particularly uncommon, but the foliage contrasts give them a long season of interest. Though they are growing in the ground, these would work in larger containers. I like the contrast between the deep green of the hosta and the flowing gold of the golden Hakonechloa grass. The dying columbine foliage just adds a bit of color that could as easily come from a Heuchera. From June 2010 The old-fashioned Geranium sanguineum has woven itself around this yellow-flowered daylily which begins blooming around the time the Geranium flowers end. The Geranium's flower color is echoed a darker shade by the Euphorbia, but I mostly love the way the daylily foliage sort of explodes out of the Geranium. From June 2010 This is a terrible photo, but I like this combination of the large blue-green hosta, the delicate-looking cranberry which would trail over the side of a pot, and the white-edged Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' which blooms for me all season with tiny scented white or pale lavender flowers. From June 2010 If you use the search function near the bottom of the main New England forum page and look for Bill _RI_z6b he has posted some photos of his gardens and you can get an idea of some of his plants. For what you plant in containers, the general rule of thumb for selecting perennials is to chose ones hardy to 2 zones colder than your zone since they will freeze deeply without the ground around them to insulate them. My containers that stay out year round are wooden whiskey half-barrels and clay chimney liners AKA chimney tile. The chimney tile is buried a 6-8 inches deep to keep it upright, and it is bottomless. Craigslist or Freecycle might be a good source of damaged chimney tile. I haven't found that metal or plastic pots stand up well to the weather since they sometimes have split on me, though perhaps heavier metal or plastic would do OK. I have heard that the foam fake terracotta pots do well, but I haven't tried them. Before buying plants mail order, check with the G*arden W*tchdog (replacing the * with a) for honest reviews. You'll find that White Flower Farm varies in quality, and you can often get better quality for less $ elsewhere in my experience. I will second ctreynards's recommendation for Brent and Becky's bulbs, however. I also have done well with mail order from Avant Gardens. http://www.avantgardensne.com/

Well, bad news today, Amazon is sold out of the Opalkas.. I will call Laurel later today and see if she has any. What I would do is do a search for "Tomato Plants for Sale, Bay are, or your city or a big city nearby. Why do I suggest that? Well I did a search for Tomato Plants "Orange County Calif". I didn't turn up any nursery that had the kind of maters I wanted, so I found Laurel and ordered them all from her. I had a dentist appointment Tuesday, and on the way home, I stopped at a local Nursery, (about 10 miles from Home). They had every mater I wanted, and nice size and price too!, GRRRRRR. I did not find that nursery when I did my search because it was in LA County!!!!! With Me, I want "Instant Gratification" with my maters, and had I done a better search, they would be in my garden now!!! I'm 70 and don't have the patience, time, or wish to take the chance on something going wrong trying to plant seeds, caring for them, light heat, water, etc, transplanting them a couple times, hardening off etc etc, so I always buy live plants. Hope you find your maters! Gary